Good King Wenceslas looked out on the Feast of Stephen…

I’ve been practicing my Christmas caroling skills in preparation for Friday night’s tree lighting in the Ram Pasture, and I’ve got to admit that “Good King Wenceslas” is one of my favorite carols. It’s strange, though, that there’s no mention of the Nativity in it. The Feast of Stephen was an old Celtic ritual that took place the day after Christmas, and on that day, among other pursuits, they hunted wrens of all things. We cats hunt wrens all the time, but to make it a tradition for the Christmas season seems a little odd.

Newtown’s tree lighting is a tradition that makes perfect sense to growing numbers of people. The carolers in the Ram Pasture number in the hundreds — even thousands in some years.

This year’s ceremony should be great, but Diana Johnson, who is co-chairing the tree lighting ceremony at the Ram Pasture again this year, is already thinking ahead to next year when the town will also celebrate its tercentennial. Diana wants to do something special for the tree lighting and is wondering whether anyone has any ideas.

“Maybe someone has seen something done in another town that we might want to try here,” she explained. Anyone who has ideas is welcome to call Diana at 426-5418 or drop off a suggestion at the circulation desk of the Booth Library for Janet Woycik, the other co-chairman for the tree lighting.

As you may have heard, Jim Crick, Newtown’s former assistant postmaster and all around great guy, suffered a stroke while on vacation in Hilton Head last month. He returned to the area via air ambulance last Friday, and he is now recovering in Danbury Hospital. Jim’s wife, Joan, says he is doing well.

Jim is an associate member of the ambulance corps and often drives the medic truck (anytime day or night) to the hospital during ambulance calls. Nancy McLachlan and Kenneth Lerman were the two EMTs who staffed the ambulance that took Jim from the airport to the hospital, but many more had volunteered to be part of the crew. Joan said that when she got off the plane with Jim and saw Kenneth’s and Nancy’s friendly faces at the waiting ambulance, she was overcome with gratitude and joy. “This is what Newtown Ambulance is all about,” Nancy said. “Neighbor helping neighbor.” Nancy also said that when his stretcher hit the tarmac the first thing Jim said was, “It’s so good to be home. All I want to do is read The Newtown Bee.” Jim would be delighted with cards and letters but is not allowed to have visitors at this time.

Krispy Kreme lovers should be glad to hear that there will be 600 dozen on sale in the Newtown High School lobby from 8 am to 5 pm on Sunday during the Holiday Festival. The 60 youth from Newtown Congregational Church and St Rose who are going to Lockport, N.Y., next year for their annual WorkCamp are selling the donuts to raise money to cover their expenses. The donuts are $7 a dozen, $1 of which will be donated to the Family Counseling Center.

Steve the Walker at The Pleasance has a new hat — a purple knit cap that someone lost on Halloween night. After Halloween, the cap was hanging in a tree on Main Street, but someone thoughtfully moved it to warm Steve the Walker’s head. If the cap is yours, feel free to retrieve it from Steve’s pate.

The office dogs here at The Bee — Star the golden retriever and Deke the Labrador — have been a bit petulant this week after learning about the winners in the sporting group in the Thanksgiving Day Philadelphia Dog Show. An Irish setter placed first, ahead of a second place Lab and a third place golden retriever. Maybe next year.

Newtown resident Richard Serbagi will be conducting the Concert Society of Putnam and Northern Westchester Counties when it appears at Trinity Episcopal Church on Friday, January 7. Tickets are $30 each and can be purchased at the circulation desk at the Booth Library or at Newtown Savings Bank. No tickets will be sold at the door.

As I was walking along Main Street this week, I spotted some workers decorating an evergreen tree with Christmas ornaments in front of Edmond Town Hall. The brightly colored decorations drove home the message that we have entered the holiday season. All that’s needed now to set off the scene is a coating of snow on the ground in front of the building. Two-inch coverage would do.

Speaking of the weather, I had to clamp onto the ground with every claw I have on Wednesday as high winds blew through the town. The wind kept local firefighters busy, hopping from the site of one downed tree on power lines to the next. After firefighters secured affected areas, electric company crews would arrive to remove the fallen trees and correct the electrical problems that had been created.

Longtime Sandy Hook resident Don Lewis has been doing some prognosticating about the upcoming winter based on the crop of acorns and hickory nuts he’s been finding on the ground around his property on Philo Curtis Road. “It’s going to be a mild winter because I’m not finding any nuts at all this year,” Don said recently. “Some years when we’ve had bad winters, there have been so many acorns you couldn’t stand up. I used to gather them in bushel baskets and dump them in one place so the deer and squirrels would have a feast.” I hope Don’s right. In fact, I’m counting on it. But despite his prediction of a mild winter, Don is heading south soon to Florida to visit relatives and his good friend, former Newtown resident Russ Brown — just in case the oak trees have got it all wrong.

Mild winter or not, I’ll be here right through the thick of it, so be sure to…

Read me again.