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If the giant Bob the Builder birthday greeting outside the St Rose rectory this past week didn't clue you in to Father Bob Weiss' 60th birthday celebration, maybe the flock of pink, plastic flamingoes on the lawn there did, or the raucous renditi

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If the giant Bob the Builder birthday greeting outside the St Rose rectory this past week didn’t clue you in to Father Bob Weiss’ 60th birthday celebration, maybe the flock of pink, plastic flamingoes on the lawn there did, or the raucous rendition of “Happy Birthday” bursting through the doors of the Sandy Hook Diner on Saturday morning. Father Bob’s usual Saturday morning iced tea was accompanied this past weekend by a pile of presents, a birthday cupcake, and lots of enthusiastic singing in the crowded diner in honor of his September 30 birthday. I guess Father Bob won’t be able to lie about his age after all the hoopla….not that he would.

Newtown Senior Center Director Marilyn Place is excited about some changes coming her way. An architect has been on the premises of the Riverside Road facility the past week and plans for the expansion of the center have been presented to her for her consideration. The thought that by this time next year the center could be comfortably hosting the many programs at the site has her jumping for joy.

Seniors can also look for a change in the venue of the annual Holiday gala in December. For many years, the Senior Center has hosted the event at The Fireside Inn on South Main Street, but with the longtime Newtown banquet icon out of the picture, Marilyn has been scampering about for new digs. She is happy to report that The Waterview on the Newtown-Monroe town line has been very accommodating and that seniors will be treated to new environs for this year’s dance and feast. Looks like the winds of change are blowing in the right direction.

Newtown’s own Michael Scalzo was one of four candidates recently sworn in as a municipal firefighter in the City of Westport. Mr Scalzo was among 235 applicants for the four openings. According to a local report, Westport Fire Chief Christopher Ackley described our hometown hero as “the cream of the crop.” Mr Scalzo has become the latest in a long line of local residents and volunteers who have been recruited to municipal firefighting teams, undoubtedly due to the fine skills and training developed right here in one of Newtown’s five volunteer fire companies.

There was an example of divine comic timing at the 10:30 mass last Sunday at St Rose Church. Just as the hymn “We Are Called” was announced, someone’s cellphone rang.

Lin Hertberg of Main Street tells me that he has acquired a new German shepherd puppy, a frisky pooch who is still learning. The playful puppy, who is growing quickly, enjoys romping at Huntingdon State Park, an area where Newtown, Redding, and Bethel meet. Lin tells me that he is training the dog to behave well in public and before too long, the shepherd should develop good canine manners and be quite the sociable dog.

The town has done a repaving project at Town Hall South, improving and generally smoothing out what has been a rather bumpy asphalt surface there. The new pavement slightly increases the parking area at the building, a heavily used structure that houses the police station and several town offices. The repaving work follows a past project that added a new storage area on the south side of the two-story building.

On Tuesday, Town Conservation Official Rob Sibley celebrated his birthday. We’re not going to say which birthday it was, but it was his birthday. I’m told that that the many reptiles and amphibians in town, who live in the various wetlands which Rob inspects for water quality in the course of his duties, got together and sent Rob a very nice birthday card, thanking him for his efforts to keep their habitat in tip-top shape.

I see that Richard “Fuzzy” Simon, a Police Commission member, is sporting a new haircut that is more in line with his nickname and considerably shorter than his previous haircut. Fuzzy explained that he decided it was time for a buzz cut, a short buzz cut. Although his haircut is pretty short, the hair will grow back, he explained. The next time the electric trimmers will be set to the one-quarter inch length, not the one-eighth inch length, he said.

Last Friday night was the 2nd Annual Danbury Light the Night Walk. Held at Western Connecticut State University. The September 29 event went off well, reports Ginny Chion, who helped a lot of Newtown residents organize their participation efforts. “We won’t know for a few weeks how much money was raised,” Mrs Chion said this week, “but there was a good turnout. It was a good evening.”

Newtown Middle School Interact Club members are still raising money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (for which Light The Night was a fundraiser). The students are selling red bracelets with the word “Relentless” on them, and also continue to sell red paper balloons for $1 in the school cafeteria during their lunch breaks. Adults who would like to help the society can also purchase a balloon, reports Mrs Chion. Balloons are displayed and available for purchase at Bagel Delight on Church Hill Road.

Caroline Stokes, now living in Southbury, raised a monarch butterfly this August from a caterpillar to a chrysalis in her Heritage Village apartment. She brought in fresh milkweed every day for the caterpillar to eat, and there was a period of intense anxiety when it escaped from its cage and she couldn’t find it. Luckily, it had crawled onto her dining room table and spun its chrysalis off the edge, where it hung for a few more days, eventually changing colors from black to orange. When the butterfly finally emerged, Caroline was there to watch it fill its wings (an all-day process) and fly up into her curtains after sipping nectar from a chrysanthemum bloom she’d brought inside “just in case.” After a few days and when the weather was good and sunny, Caroline opened her patio doors wide. It wasn’t long before the monarch flew out, presumably ready to join in the great butterfly migration.

It’s time for me to fly, but I’ll be back next week, so be sure to…

Read me again.

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