You know how The Bee’s articles on the annual tree lighting ceremonies in the Ram Pasture always talk about lighting up the season, as if it were just a matter of flipping a switch? Well, Diana and Wayland Johnson did light up the tree that way this year, but a big part of the light show is the luminaria. They are lit painstakingly, one by one, by people all up and down Main Street, Glover Avenue, and Elm Drive.

The most difficult stretch for the luminaria lighters is the long run of candles that must be lit along the east side of the Ram Pasture bordering Route 25. The state highway traffic is thick and fast there. Joe Humiston was the one who pulled that job this year, and the trucks on Route 25 were blowing out the candles as fast as he could light them last Friday afternoon. But in the end, he got the job done in plenty of time for the 6:30 pm ceremonies.

Kym Stendahl and her daughters, Alysa, 10, and Kelly, 8, sat in the gazebo at The Pleasance to watch the tree-lighting. Kym says she got the idea last year when she and Lisa Franze waited there while trying to find her husband. With all the white lights that were strung on the gazebo this year, it was like being inside an ice palace, Kym said.

The Stendahls, Lisa and her 10-year-old daughter Samantha, were spotted eating lunch at the New England Café during the Holiday Festival. They had just watched one of the performances of The Nutcracker at Edmond Town Hall and said there was a small technical glitch that caused some amusement during the performance. The snow that was supposed to come slowly drifting down in one scene fell in a gush around Drosselmeier, leaving the actor standing almost knee-deep in a pile of snow.  “After the scene one of the angels came out with a push-broom,” Kym said. “That had to be a first.”

Nicole Christensen of Women Involved in Newtown (WIN) says there are still copies of the organization’s popular cookbook, Winning Recipes, available at such places around Newtown as the Doughnut Hut, Elizabeth’s Tea Room and Drug Center, and at Danish Inspirations in Westport, or by calling her at 270-7609.  The cookbook contains 372 “tried and true recipes tested by Newtown cooks.” The cookbooks are $10 each and all proceeds will be used by WIN to support local charities.

If you are looking for children’s gifts, Sandy Hook author/illustrator Steven Kellogg will make his annual appearance at the C.H. Booth Library this Sunday, December 12, from 1 to 3:30 for a program and an autograph session. His newly published works, A Beasty Story and The Three Sillies, will be available for purchase along with many old favorites.

When you get your gifts, you can bring them to Sand Hill Plaza and get them wrapped. The Youth Advisory Board of Newtown Youth Services is offering free gift wrapping on the weekend of December 18 and 19 in the gazebo area of the plaza. The hours are 10 am to 3 pm on Saturday and 11 am to 3 pm on Sunday. Call Youth Services at 270-4335 if you have any questions.

The US Postal Service is trying to make it more convenient for everyone to mail Christmas gifts this season. The post office on Commerce Road will be open on two Sundays, December 12 and 19, from noon to 4 pm for holiday mailing.

I’ve always wondered what a day in the life of Governor John Rowland would be like. Guess I’ll just have to ask high school senior Josh Stern, who spent such a day this past Wednesday. Josh arrived at the governor’s office Wednesday morning for a meeting with him and two other students. He then accompanied Governor Rowland on his photo sessions. Afterwards, Josh had another meeting with the governor, and then went on a tour of the capitol building and legislative offices. Josh is doing his senior project on voter apathy, and hopes to continue visiting other state officials at various levels of government.

Ginny Carey found a long-lost family member recently, and she wasn’t even looking. Apparently while Ginny and Caroline Stokes were talking about their respective childhoods during a recent luncheon, both ladies started talking about their hometowns. It turns out both girls grew up in the same area — far from Newtown — and Caroline started blurting out names in her family that were also in Ginny’s family! The two have lived in Newtown for a number of years, and neither knew they were cousins to each other.

Columnist, book writer and public relations business owner Rea Lubar Duncan was in Newtown over the weekend. Ms Duncan came in from her apartment in New York City to be the featured guest for the Garden Club of Newtown’s Annual Christmas Greens Sale on Saturday.

It was hard to tell whether people were visiting Newtown Meeting House for the sale or to visit Ms Duncan, who was greeting everyone who stopped in to see her and signing a number of her books, called Down To Earth. Between bites of her grilled shrimp salad and a cup of soup, Ms Duncan welcomed quite a few friends and admirers who visited her at the table set up for her. Fortunately, the greens sale was also a success. By mid-afternoon, there were very few items left for club members to pack away.

Susan and Paul Milano were seen enjoying lunch outside Newtown General Store on Sunday afternoon. The couple had decided to enjoy the unseasonably warm weather last weekend, bringing their sandwiches outside and sitting at one of the store’s sidewalk tables. With swarms of people walking along Main Street that day for the Annual Holiday Festival, one would assume the couple was also enjoying the different events of Sunday’s festivities. But Sue said no, she and Paul were having more fun soaking in a few of the late-season rays and people-watching.

The Newtown Choral Society has been preparing since September for its holiday concert. The group is in final preparations this week for the big event, which will be presented Saturday night at 7:30 pm at Newtown Meeting House (tickets are still available for $7 each, $5 for children). Mary Andreotta will direct NCS in a performance of Francesco Durante’s Magnificat and Josquin des Pres’ The Ave Maria, in addition to other songs of the season.

During this week’s rehearsal, Mary told the group they would also be performing a short concert on Sunday afternoon. The group will return to Newtown Meeting House, this time to take part in the rededication ceremonies at the historic building. Bee reporter and NCS member Jan Howard said the group decided to make it a little bit easier on itself for Sunday’s appearance, however. “If it took us four months to prepare this big concert,” Jan said this week, “there’s no way we would be able to prepare something too outlandish in less than a week for Sunday.”

The solution? When NCS appears as part of the rededication events on December 12, it will perform familiar carols and songs of the season. “We want people to be able to sing along with us,” Jan said.

I’ve got to go tune up my meow, now, but be sure to return next week to…

Read me again.