Well, this is the big week for black cats. Halloween is on Monday, and I expect I will be in great demand for personal appearances. I have been rehearsing my arched-back, bug-eyed screech just to ensure that my spook quotient is up to par. You can look for me all over town.

A reminder that even before they hit the sidewalks of Main Street or even the driveways and front doors of their own neighborhood next Monday evening, children ages 3 to 7 are invited to get an early start on their trick-or-treating during Halloween Fun for Kids activities at Booth Library. On Monday from 4 to 6 pm ‘tweens and teens from the library’s Young Adult Council will read Halloween stories and lead simple crafts for young children with their parents at the library. Costumes are encouraged. No preregistration necessary — just drop in and have fun.

Jack Weber spent last weekend in San Francisco where he ran a half marathon in the Nike Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Marathon in memory of his sister, Joan Blanchard, who died there in July, five months after she was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). Jack raised more than $9,000 to help find the cause and cure of blood-borne cancers and wants everyone who donated to know how much he appreciates their generosity.

Homeowners are often annoyed by passersby who throw beer and soda bottles and cans from their cars rather than recycling them. So justice was sweet in one instance recently. A sign posted on property at the corner of Maltbie and Huntingtown Roads bore a large “thank you” to the beer can tossers. “I cashed them in, bought a lottery ticket and won $1,000,” the sign said.

Support your Senior Center. The 2nd Annual Newtown Senior Center Bazaar will take place Friday, October 28, from noon to 4 pm, and Saturday, October 29, from 10 am to 2 pm. An assortment of handmade quilts, pillows, aprons, afghans, and more will all be offered. The senior center is on Riverside Road in Sandy Hook, within the town’s Multi-Purpose Building.

Rosie Baggett, the junior member of The Bee’s office dog triumvirate, spent a day at the vet’s recently getting spayed. The boss missed her desperately at the office and was a little worried that maybe she missed him, too. So he did what any good boss would do — he sent her flowers. The sentiment was nice, but I think Rosie would have preferred a bone.

Did you see in her recent TV Guide interview that Martha Stewart claims she reads just two newspapers: The New York Times and The Newtown Bee? Of course, she meant The Bee’s sister paper, Antiques and The Arts Weekly, which many longtime readers still call The Newtown Bee, from its beginnings as a section of this newspaper. But we’ll overlook this technicality and gratefully accept the high-profile plug.

It’s an ill wind that blows no good. Local author and Newtown Tercentennial Commission member Justin Scott blew into The Bee office Tuesday noon in the wake of a nor’easter, smiling from ear to ear and looking like the cat that ate the canary. His reason for venturing out on such a blustery, rainy day was the computer disk he held in his hand bearing all the photographic images to be included in the upcoming Contemporary Photographs coffee table book finally ready to go to press.

Justin and Town Historian Dan Cruson have been burning the midnight oil lately, gathering photographs taken by Bee reporters and Newtown camera buffs that reflect Life In Newtown, 2004–2005. Slated for publication in November, the book goes on sale at Lexington Gardens the weekend after Thanksgiving. Justin said he couldn’t be more proud of the result or more relieved to have it completed. “Now I can get back to my writing,” he announced gleefully.

And now I have to get back to practicing my screech. But I’ll be back next week, so be sure to…

Read me again.