We barely had the paper back from the printer last week when we were hearing feedback about the topic of a front page story. One resident had just been to the municipal center, where he took part in early voting, and he was very pleased at how well it went. He didn’t want to share his name, but he did share there was only about a 10 minute wait, “everyone was very nice and civil with each other, and the whole process was pretty smooth.” We’ve heard similar stories, fortunately, and look forward to a smooth conclusion of this initial offering. Early voting for the general election continues to Sunday. The Office of the Registrar will be open until then, 10 am-6 pm daily, for this voting option. Absentee ballots are due by mail (which means you should have sent them in by now), or in one of the secured boxes outside each main entrance of 3 Primrose Street, or turned in directly at the Office of the Town Clerk by 8 pm Election Day/Tuesday, November 5.

Of course the gold standard of voting will also be offered Tuesday. All three polling locations will be open (Newtown Middle School for residents of District 1-6 and 1-7; Newtown High School for District 2-6; and Reed Intermediate School for District 3-6). If you’re not yet registered to vote, (a) what are you waiting for ??!, and (b) lucky for you, there’s still time. Connecticut residents who want to vote may register in person through Same Day Voter Registration. This can be done at the registrar’s office during the Early Voting period and on Election Day at your Election Day Registration site. If you have questions about any of this, visit newtown-ct.gov/registrar-voters, where details for many frequently asked questions have already been posted. If you can’t find what you’re looking for or would prefer to speak to someone directly, call 203-270-4250 or send an email to registrar.of.voters@newtown-ct.gov.

Our local Registrar of Voters office is a very forward-thinking, proactive department. Ahead of the 2020 Presidential Election, reminders and educational announcements from the folks who work there led to more than 90% election turnout. The department received the Secretary of the State’s Democracy Cup for those efforts. We should all do our civic duty and vote anyway, but I’d love to see them keep that cup for another term too. Let’s try to help them out, shall we?

The rush of Halloween will be over soon, but Brian Sacco gave everyone inside the Bee building a good scare this week. Our Plant Manager and general Grounds Keeper found a big hornet’s nest while doing some work at The Pleasance on Tuesday and decided to share his find with the rest of us. Jenna Visca took a photo once she gathered her nerves.

Booth Library is doing something very nice ahead of Veterans Day this year. All ages are invited to visit the lower meeting room of 25 Main Street on Sundays, November 3 and 10. From 1 to 3 pm each day, plenty of supplies will be available to write letters to deployed or hospitalized servicemembers. Homefront Hugs Foundation will be on-site to collect the letters each afternoon. No registration is needed; just drop in and write a nice note.

Bingo! Such a fun game to play, and a great word to yell when you’re the one with a winning board. If you’re a Bingo fan like me — and yes, this black cat loves that game of chance — you’re probably just as thankful as I am that a reminder was issued last week for the remainder of the 2024-25 St Rose HSA Friday Night Bingo. The next games are planned for Friday, November 8, and then it’s time for a holiday break. After the first of the year games resume on January 10, return February 21 and March 21, take another breather in April, and then conclude for the season on May 16. Doors open for each Friday event at 5:45, and all games are planned within the Monsignor Weiss Gathering Hall at St Rose of Lima School, 40 Church Hill Road. Admission is $20 per person, which covers all regular games and a raffle ticket for intermission giveaways. Special games are $1 each. All ages are welcome and these are always fun times.

We’ve had a very good run recently with parents and grandparents sending photos of their children/grandchildren for our Birthday Cake column. For decades we have invited photos for this special offering, which currently awards a vanilla-chocolate ice cream cake from Ferris Acres Creamery to one lucky winner each week. We didn’t have anyone send in any photos for last week’s paper, which meant we couldn’t give away a cake. A whole Ferris Acres Creamery cake ignored! It was probably not very smart of me to try to eat the whole thing.

Aside from pre-Thanksgiving and Christmas special orders, the Creamery has closed for the season. That does not mean we’re taking a break from celebrating birthdays, however. We love to celebrate children and their birthdays year-round so please readers, keep sending those photos and details. We will continue to print the photos and pick one winner each week. Coupons awarded now will be good for the 2025 season, and if that isn’t something to look forward to then I don’t know what is.

Send an original head and shoulders photo of your child/grandchild — just head and shoulders, please, because they’ll get cropped down otherwise and don’t look good in the paper — along with their name, age they’ll be turning, and their birthday. You’re welcome to mail those photos, and your contact information, to Birthday Cake c/o The Newtown Bee, 5 Church Hill Road, Newtown CT 06470, which is how they used to come in. These days, of course, most people send them via email, and everything can go to Shannon Hicks (shannon@thebee.com). Deadline is noon each Tuesday to get everything to Shannon. She’ll pick one name at the end of each week, and will contact parents/grandparents if their child has won the ice cream cake.

My birthday was this week, by the way. I share my special day with Violet Baggett, whose parents live next door and whose grandparents are the Co-Publisher and Production Director of this newspaper. We planned to celebrate our special day after this print edition was put to bed Thursday, by welcoming costumed children to the front door at 5 Church Hill Road.

I would welcome your return next week, when it will be time to come back here and … read me again.