It occurred to me this week that the perfect low-impact, high-profile use for the campus at Fairfield Hills would be to convert it into the campus of the Electoral College. This is a college that has only one graduate every four years. (Everyone else flunks out.) There wouldn’t be any traffic on parents’ weekend since the main residence hall is at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC. All the alumni are living on decent pensions, so they would probably contribute generously to its upkeep. No extra traffic. No extra expense for the town. What could be better?

People all over town stayed up late Tuesday night to see who would get to wear the “E” letter sweater from the Electoral College for the next four years. The best television viewing was definitely not at either of the political headquarters in town.

In the race to see who had the worst television in its headquarters, the Democrats are the winners. Their TV at headquarters in Sandy Hook was not only tiny, but also black and white, harking back to the 1960 election when Kennedy beat Nixon in a squeaker. Herb Rosenthal had to keep adjusting the antenna to improve the picture. The television in Republican headquarters (below Flagpole Realty) was only slightly better. Although just as small, it did provide a color picture.

I noticed a lot of kids at the polls this week, and not just infants. I’m talking middle school and high school kids, too. I guess they wanted to get a glimpse of democracy in action. According to election officials, kids are now allowed to join mom or dad in the booth, behind the curtain. When I was just a kitten, I remember having to stand outside the booth while my guardian voted.

Longtime election official Marilyn Alexander, dressed in her red, white, and blue, said she had a ball with the kids, asking them if they thought their mom or dad was really who they said they were. Marilyn said some kids laughed while others looked at her as if she were crazy.

A former Newtown resident who recently moved to Ansonia turned out at the polls here in town Tuesday to say she would like to vote. However, she was informed that she was no longer eligible to vote in Newtown. That’s too bad, the woman said, I wanted to vote for that Rosenthal guy.

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal got wind of the story and seemed amused. The problem is Herb is not on the ballot until next year… that is, if he decides to run for a third term.

Former Newtown resident Rick Terrill has been named Conservation Commissioner of the Year for New Haven County by the Connecticut Association of Conservation and Inland/Wetlands Commissions. Rick took over the chairmanship of the Meriden Conservation Commission in last December after the chairman and vice chairman both resigned. Among the board’s accomplishments this year are the South Mountain Preservation Project to expand Hubbard Park in Meriden, the Metacomet Ridge Conservation Compact environmental survey sent out to 17 participating towns, and the commission’s leadership in assisting an outraged citizenry in stopping logging at Hubbard Park.

Doctor Bob Grossman has been doing conditioning exercises on his pancake flipping wrist as he prepares for next month’s Rotary Pancake Breakfast. The jacks are scheduled to be flapped on December 2 at the town hall.

It seems like the old days at Town Hall South. The lower level of the building had contained town offices until February 1997, when the town moved its operations to Canaan House at Fairfield Hills. Except for the Borough of Newtown office, which remained in the building, the area seemed deserted until several months ago, when the town social services department moved to Town Hall South, and more recently, when the Parks and Recreation Department moved back in. Now, when you go there, what had been an empty parking lot can be a full parking lot, making finding a parking space a problem.

A raccoon was spotted wandering around Edmond Town Hall in broad daylight Monday afternoon. At one point, after checking out many of the cars in the parking lot, he decided he liked Finance Director Ben Spragg’s car the best, and he climbed up on it to try it out.

After weeks of watching the goings-on at the town-owned Amaral property along Elm Drive, I think I’ve finally figured it out. The town has turned the property into a playground for bulldozers. I’ve seen the bulldozers on the site happily pushing dirt piles here and there for months now, and frankly it looks like a lot of fun. Forget the scooter. I think I’m going to ask for a bulldozer for Christmas this year now that the town has this great new facility.

I’ll be busy over the next several days scooping up a big pile of information for next week, so be sure to…

Read me again.