Thanks to many generous residents, 80 needy families had happy holidays this holiday season. The Newtown Fund and Newtown Junior Women’s Club annually join forces to gather, wrap, and distribute gifts children request on wish lists. One little girl asked for Talking Elmo this year, one of the season’s hot gifts. As none was available, one family donated their child’s Elmo, with a note explaining that a new one could not be obtained so they hoped the girl enjoyed this one as much as the original owner had. The true spirit of Christmas giving is alive and well in Newtown.

It wasn’t a good Christmas for skates, sleds, snowboards, skis, or snowshoes in Newtown, with nary a flake of snow falling for the holiday. I did manage to catch one snowflake on my nose Wednesday afternoon when the smallest of snow flurries passed through town, though. Now I’m dreaming of a white Valentine’s Day so I can spend at least one holiday this winter curled up in front of the a ski lodge fireplace.

As Newtown joins the entire New England region in waiting for the first real snow of the season (the sad flurries on Wednesday afternoon hardly count), word came from former residents Betsy and Dave Evans. The Evanses moved last year to Colorado, and found themselves in the heart of last weekend’s major snowstorm.

Late last week Betsy shared news of the past year, including plenty of information about the big dig-out she and Dave were going through at their home in Estes, Colo. The couple, she said, had 18 to 20 inches of snow on level ground, and up to 36 inches where the town plows had gone through. State offices, schools, and businesses were all closed, more than 4,700 travelers were stranded at Denver International Airport, major interstates were impassable, and a state of emergency had been declared. When she went online to use the webcams set up along many of the highways, “there is virtually no traffic anywhere on the front range,” she said. “It is really eerie to see the webcams showing empty roadways.” Dave and Betsy, needless to say, had a very white Christmas this year.

It may have been raining and it was cold Friday night, but the 50-plus neighbors who attended Dan and BJ O’Connor’s annual caroling party didn’t care. They took their umbrellas and ponchos, and their sheet music, and, braving the elements, spread cheer throughout the Saw Mill Ridge neighborhood with their singing.

Don’t forget to send the names and addresses of friends and loved ones serving overseas to Donna Randle in care of Sandy Hook School, 29 Dickinson Drive, Sandy Hook CT 06482. SHS students will be sending valentines to military personnel who are defending our country. Show your support and send those names in soon!

As much as it irks me to mention the other species — canines — we felines are overcome with sympathy for one little dog that made us gasp with sympathy this year. Pom Pom, now answering to Po, first struggled from the woods at the commuter parking lot near Exit 9 where some kindhearted people saw the poor Pomeranian had severe burns along his back and rushed to help him.

I can only imagine the suffering he experienced during his months of treatments at the Mt Pleasant Animal Hospital, which didn’t charge a cent. Still badly scarred, Po underwent intensive treatments to help him heal, and received hours of professional attention. We are glad that the people of Newtown would make such efforts for their animals.

I heard this week that Po is now “a happy little boy,” according to his adoptive mother and Canine Advocate of Newtown (CAN) Vice President Adria Henderson. “He sort of runs the house now,” she said. We thought that was solely a feline trait, but suspect that Po carries some of our tendencies… See more about him on the CAN website, CanineAdvocates.org.

Tipping our furry ears toward CAN once again we hear that the organization’s fundraising efforts for a new dog pound (which will also have room for cats) has amounted to $90,000! Lead by CAN President Virginia Jess, the effort’s momentum and popularity has been gathering force since last January. We will hopefully have to stand back and dig our claws into the upholstery as CAN launches into an even stronger swell of support in 2007. It is not too late to donate and remember to check if your company will make a matching contribution. Businesses, organizations, and individuals, including plenty of children who asked for donations to the new pound campaign in lieu of birthday gifts, waited outside grocery stores asking for donations, and even set up the traditional lemonade stand.

To all our four-legged friends throughout town who have had struggles to overcome this year including the few dogs who landed in our pound following hurricane Katrina, and Blue, the Sheltie who was captured and now has a home after three years of roaming and eluding capture, we wish you a Happy New Year as 2007 dawns Monday.

They shall go unnamed, but certain Newtowners (including one Bee reporter whose initials are NC) joining the post-Christmas Day throngs in New York City found that an innocent trip to the Charmin toilet paper-sponsored restrooms on Broadway was much more of an event than one would anticipate for answering nature’s call. In a megamarketing and advertising campaign extravaganza, cross-legged hoards are whisked via escalator to the second floor where they are inundated with song, dance, and entertainment as they wait in line before being loudly and proudly escorted to one of 20 private stalls — outfitted with no less than six varieties of paper — and applauded upon exiting. Yikes. Makes me happy for the great outdoors.

It also makes me happy for a cozy fire and a comfortable blanket, where I will remain curled up until next week when you can…

Read me again.