What did the bee say to the flower? “Hey bud.”

What says “zzub zzub zzub”? A bee flying backwards.

What’s another name for a baby bee? A little humbug.

Are you seeing a theme here? Happy National Honey Bee Day! Observed on the third Saturday in August, this is one of our favorite days here in our Newtown Bee-hive. The unofficial holiday reminds us of the beauty and value of bees. We’ve long understood the value of pollinators. There is good reason why we followed the long-standing tradition of naming our newspaper after the work and life cycle of a honey bee, after all. If nothing else this weekend, please take just a moment to remember the importance of pollinators and everything they bring to the world.

Sandy Hook resident and Lutheran Home Ecumenical Chaplain Leo McIlrath was seen practicing his golf swings on the ocean front of the Outer Banks of North Carolina recently. Leo was vacationing with his family, within his former parish. As daughter-in-law Shannon Wassman snapped this photo, Leo quipped he was within the largest sand trap he’d ever experienced.

School starts very soon. Adults and children have very different responses to that statement, but we’re hoping everyone (a) enjoys the work we’ve put into the Back To School supplement included with this week’s Newtown Bee, and (b) makes note of our requests to share some of your favorite first day of school photos. Last year we had one of our best responses to date. We’d love to have even more photos for the issue of September 8. Parents of Newtown students are once again invited to submit photos of their children prepping for and attending the first day of the school year, set for Wednesday, August 30. The deadline to submit pictures is Tuesday, September 5, at 8 am. Photos should be submitted by e-mail to noelle@thebee.com with the first and last names of those pictured included, along with their grade level, school they attend, and the name of the person who took the photo.

Newtown business Chintz-N-Prints has been decorating homes, businesses and even movie and television sets since 1957. If you’re a fan of the Hulu series Only Murders in the Building, which began its third season last week, keep a sharp eye on the fabrics. Some of them came out of the longtime home décor business at 39 South Main Street! This is far from the first time the destination has been selected for such work. Paul Newman was reportedly a fan, and Laura Gardner and her staff have been tapped to provide fabrics for 20th Century Fox television programs The Americans, The Big C and The Affair, as well as movies including American Hustle, Silver Linings Playbook, St Vincent and Life of Crime, among others. Nevertheless, congratulations to the Gardner family and Chintz-n-Prints staff for this latest accolade.

The annual Connecticut Sales Tax Free Week this year will run from Sunday, August 20, to Saturday, August 26. This is a perfect opportunity to do the lion’s share of back-to-school shopping or to treat yourself or your loved ones while saving at least a few bucks. During the sales tax holiday, most clothing and footwear items priced under $100 are exempt from the Connecticut sales tax. The exemption during Sales Tax Free Week applies to each eligible item costing under $100, regardless of how many of those items are sold to a customer in the same transaction. The tax holiday applies to purchases made in-store, online, mail-order, and over the phone. If you’d like to see the full list of tax free items (as well as those not included in the one week every year you’ll find even me in the store), visit portal.ct.gov/DRS/Sales-Tax/

A reminder this week that Newtown Community Center has a planned closure next week. The Simpson Street location will be closed August 21-28 for annual maintenance. Newtown Senior Center, also at 8 Simpson Street (in its own wing), will be closed August 23-25 for its own summer cleaning and maintenance.

I know I’m blessed. I live within the hearts and minds of those who work at 5 Church Hill Road, after all. But if you have a pet that would benefit from a Blessing of the Animals, St Rose of Lima Church can help. Save the date — Saturday, October 7 — and plan to meet fellow humans and pets at 9 o’clock that morning for the annual service outside the parish’s Holy Innocents Faith Formation Center. It’s always a nice event, especially when the weather cooperates. All are welcome, but please note all critters need to be leashed or in a crate. In addition to the blessings for the animals, there will again be music by the St Rose Folk Trio, and pet medals will be available for purchase.

The Friends of Edmond Town Hall have announced a new event, Newtown Record Riot, coming this fall. Save the date for Sunday, October 22, when the public will be invited to browse among vendors offering records — as in LPs! — and up to 15,000 related items (think 45s, CDs, DVDs and related memorabilia) during the 10 am-5 pm event in the town hall gymnasium. The Friends of ETH are co-sponsoring the event with Record Riots, and will benefit from some of the day’s proceeds… which means the beautiful building at 45 Main Street will ultimately benefit. Regular admission will be $5, with $10 early bird admission at 8.

FAITH Food Pantry has something new for donors: the option to make a donation via Venmo! FAITH Vice President Jill LeBlanc was very excited to share that news last week. FAITH’s user/recipient name is @FaithPantry.

An ongoing project of The Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary, The Senior Paw Project provides pet food, veterinary care assistance and foster/respite care to senior pet owners struggling to keep or care for their animals. Volunteers are requesting donations of cat litter. Specific requests — because these are lightweight options — are Cat’s Pride Cat Litter and Feline Pine. It’s a real challenge, because the Project wants to be able to help senior citizens not only remain independent in their homes, but remain there with their beloved animals, and some forms of cat litter can be very heavy or difficult to work with due to dense clumping. To donate, or get additional suggestions before donating, visit cvhfoundation.org/senior-paw-project/ send a note to info@cvhfoundation.org or call 866-620-8640.

A few weeks ago I asked about lemonade stand memories after hearing about a few siblings in town who did a fundraising stand, which in turn led to a few Bee employees sharing their memories. Reader Edith Poidomani had a very fond memory she shared with me. It seems her grandson Michael did a fundraising stand back in August 2014. “He was in the same Religious Ed class at St Rose as Catherine Hubbard and wanted to do something to support the animal sanctuary that was being established by Catherine’s mom Jenny,” Edith shared. Ron Poidomani Sr — Edith’s husband, Michael’s grandfather — helped the young boy set up his stand at Town Line Body Shop in Monroe. Edith remembers the exact date of the event, she said, because she found the clipping recently from The Newtown Bee story that resulted in that nice effort. Michael’s heading toward his senior year of high school now, and his grandmother is still so very proud of him. “He is as genuine today as he was then,” Edith said of her first grandson.

Belated anniversary/congratulations to Newtown PD Detective Dan McAnaspie. August 8 marked 20 years of service with NPD for him, and that’s in addition to the time he served before this in NYPD. He has served as a detective since 2009, and played a key role in “many serious investigations and arrests,” the department noted last week; served on the Emergency Services Unit and as president of the Police Union.

I’m going to curl up for this week’s nap secure in the knowledge that Detective McAnaspie and others are protecting and serving this amazing town of ours. I hope you too will enjoy some down time before it’s time to … read me again.