This will be a busy weekend at the Sandy Hook Firehouse, so it’s time for everyone to roll up their sleeves to pitch in – not to work around the station, but to donate blood. On Saturday the American Red Cross will be holding a blood drive from 9 am to 1 pm at the firehouse. Two local businesses, Western Connecticut Federal Credit Union and the Taunton Press, will be donating $5 each for each unit of blood that is donating. The money will go to the firefighters’ fund for the September 11 tragedy.

On Sunday, the firehouse will be hosting an open house for Fire Prevention Week. There will be plenty of interesting demonstrations, exhibits, free information, raffles, and a visit by Smokey the Bear.

The Lions Club and the Treadwell Park Committee are looking for volunteers who can give at least a few hours on the weekends of October 20-21 or 27-28 to help construct the second new playground at Treadwell Park. Lions Club President Gordon Williams says at least 20 people are needed for the first weekend and 30 for the second, and probably more than that because many volunteers may be able to give only a few hours of their time. To volunteer in any capacity call Gordon at 426-6443 or Tammy Marks at 426-5333.

I’ll be first in line on Saturday morning when the members of the Spay and Neuter Club of Newtown hold their bake sale outside Lexington Gardens. I’ve heard that in addition to the usual baked goods and homemade jellies and relishes, the SNAN members have made homemade dog biscuits and catnip toys!

The Newtown Newcomers Club is holding a hospitality coffee on Tuesday, October 9, at 10:30 am in the lower level of the Newtown Meeting House. Anyone who is new to town or who has had a lifestyle change is invited to come to the event and find out about the organization. Children are welcome and free refreshments will be served.

The C.H. Booth Library’s collection of Newtown High School yearbooks came in handy last week. Corona Vivian Rockwell, who grew up in Hawleyville and graduated from Newtown High in 1941, had lost her yearbook and went to the library, looking for help in finding a replacement for the precious book or to get a copy of the page with her picture on it. Reference Librarian Beryl Harrison found the 1941 book in the collection and made a copy of the whole book for her, which was all of about 20 pages. High school classes were small back then and the yearbooks that reflected those smaller classes were very different from those of today.

By the way, the library is always interested in the donation of high school yearbooks to add to its collection.

A belated happy birthday goes out to Father Bob Weiss of St Rose Church who turned 55 this past Sunday.

Carol Streaman marks her 33rd year of working at the Newtown Savings Bank this month. Congratulations Carol; if you were a certificate of deposit, you could retire!

Town employees, especially those who work at Canaan House, had to work in an unusually cold environment this week as temperatures dropped into the 40s. The town’s policy: the heat does not get turned on until mid October. Brrrrr…..

Newtown seventh graders Chris Miller and Justin Meyer were hard at work Tuesday night working the sidelines during the varsity soccer game between Newtown and Bethel at Blue & Gold Stadium. Their job was to chase down all the balls that went out of bounds. Their payment: a free cup of hot chocolate after the game.

If you go to the police station, watch out. Workmen are outside with excavating machines making some improvements on the north side of the building. It has thrown the parking situation into a tizzy. Inside the building, at long last, workers are constructing the long-awaited combined dispatch center for police, fire, and ambulance calls. The center has been in the planning stages for several years.

Firefighters from all across town took part last Sunday in a fire training exercise at the Walnut Tree Village condominium construction site in Sandy Hook. Firefighters set fire to an old vacant house and then practiced their firefighting skills. The old house came down because Walnut Tree Village is expanding and needs some room to grow. The expansion project now underway will increase the complex from 80 to 190 units.

Finally the clock is back in the conference room where the board of education meets twice a month. But whoever installed it played a dirty trick; they placed the clock behind all the board members heads so they can’t look at it without someone noticing. I bet Dr Reed had a hand in the clock’s placement, since it is in full view from the seat where he sits at the board meetings.

Six students from each class – freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior – were asked to participate in an awkward relay at last Friday’s Pep Rally at Newtown High School. The six students had to compete against each other by moving a two-by-four attached to their feet. The seniors of course were unified and made it across the finish line with no problems. The freshman took second once they figured out how to move the boards in unison. Sophomores and juniors just couldn’t get it together. But the idea was to have fun and it appeared that they succeeded on that score.

 Selectmen Bill Brimmer and Joe Bojnowski were feeling a little uneasy this week after learning that their jobs in town government could be eliminated two months from now… even if they are reelected. A proposed change in the town charter calls for the elimination of the Board of Selectmen, which many feel has become obsolete. That change, if approved by voters November 6, was not intended to take place until December, 2003, but a technical error may result in the change taking effect 30 days after the election. Both men took the news lightly this week.

“Joe and I voted to overthrow the government because we might be out of work even if we get elected,” Bill joked.

I’m assuming I will still have a job next week, so be sure to…

Read me again.