Just in time to welcome the first full day of autumn, Newtown High School Greenery will have mums and asters available for sale in the lobby of the school beginning September 24. The plants have always been lush and wonderful in past years, and I have no reason to doubt it will be any different this year. A yard full of brightly colored blossoms takes the chill out of autumn, so I am going to make it a point to get over there and support the Greenery next week.

Harumph. Harumph. Excuse me, but I seem to have a frog in my… washing machine? I don’t know who was more surprised: Newtown Bee Associate Editor Shannon Hicks or the dizzy, damp frog she found when she opened up her washing machine one night last week after doing a load of laundry. There’s just no explaining how the high hopper ended up in there, but I have no doubt that he was extremely grateful to see the light of day again. I just want to know, what do frogs thrive on? Hot water or cold water wash?

University of Vermont sophomore and 2006 NHS graduate Elisa Van Buskirk and some of her pals spent a recent weekend helping to demolish a house for episode of Extreme Makeover Home Edition being filmed in Vermont. It involved lots of sledge hammers, hard hats, and heave-hoing into huge dumpsters, but she reports that it was a fun experience and she got to meet a couple of the key stars of that popular program. I wonder if she has taken out any walls of her dorm since then?

Walkers can step forward to support the Newtown Health and Wellness Fund and Parks and Rec programs that involve health by registering for the September 29 Health Walk. The two-mile stroll sets off at 8:30 from the Newtown Middle School that morning and is open to all ages. Although it is Columbus Day weekend that is traditionally the peak for foliage in Connecticut, the dry summer could push that date up, meaning that walkers will have an opportunity to exercise, support a cause, and revel in the beauty of New England all at once. The Parks and Rec office has all the info on registration at 270-4340.

Residents and tourist are likely to have started sighting several examples of a new species of bear this fall. Seventy-seven creatively painted bears are on display through the public art project A Bear Affair, and can be seen throughout northwest Connecticut and southern Berkshire County, Mass., through the month of October. A Bear Affair maps are available at several locations, including the Northwest Connecticut Chamber of Commerce, Northwest Connecticut Arts Council, Northwest Connecticut Convention and Visitors Bureau, as well as town libraries and town and city halls, or by visiting ABearAffair.net. Newtown resident Carol Smith has a bear included in this project. Hers was one of the first to be spotted earlier this month when organizers began putting the finished bears on public exhibition, in fact. Sponsored by Kent Village, her bear can be found at the intersection of Routes 7 and 341, in the center of town.

Incidentally, the Northwest Connecticut Convention and Visitors Bureau has put out a great little booklet called Unwind. It doesn’t matter if it is antiquing, eating, outdoor family time, or romance that you are seeking, this booklet lists all the information you need to enjoy the Northwest region of our state. To get a free copy visit litchfieldhills.com.

Time is ticking, but you can still get a library raffle ticket this week. Tickets are just $10 each and purchasers will be vying for four great prizes: diamond earrings custom designed by Morton’s Jewelers (plus a Branson Ultrasonic jewelry cleaner), a Compaq Presario laptop, a four-hour “Sheer Indulgence” spa session at Ricci’s Salon and Spa, and an iPod. The drawing will be at 5 pm on Friday, September 28, at the library, and winners need not be present to win. Of course, you have to buy a ticket in order to have a chance at these prizes. Visit the library for details and tickets. Proceeds will benefit the library as it continues to celebrate its 75th anniversary.

Word has it that fellow resident and artist Jennifer Thermes is one of 200 children’s book illustrators who has joined Robert’s Snow: For Cancer’s Cure to design and transform a five-inch wooden snowflake into an original piece of art to be displayed in two galleries and auctioned off online to support sarcoma research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. Like actual snowflakes, each of the illustrators’ designs is unique. Jennifer’s snowflake is called “The First Snow!” Other notable illustrators participating in the program include Mo Willems (Knuffle Bunny series), Kevin Hawkes (The Library Lion), and Patricia Polacco (Rotten Richie and the Ultimate Dare).

The project was developed by children’s book author and illustrator Grace Lin, whose husband Robert Mercer was diagnosed three years ago with sarcoma, a cancer of the soft tissue and bone. Mr Mercer died from the disease last month, but the snowflakes continue to increase awareness about the disease and also to raise research funding. The snowflakes will be on view at Child at Heart Gallery in Newburyport, Mass., October 3–22, and then at Danforth Museum of Art in Framingham, Mass., October 30 to December 7. The snowflakes will be auctioned during three online auctions (November 19–23, November 26–30 and December 3–7), and proceeds will benefit The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Want to see this year’s snowflakes? Visit RobertSnow.com.

And even if you decide not to visit that website, I hope you’ll visit this column again next week to… Read me again.