I’m going to open this week with a Good Egg Award. I realize I offered one last week, but as we close out 2023 I’d like to offer one final thanks to our subscribers, advertisers, and all of the readers who purchase this newspaper at newsstands or off the little red cart staged in front of our office each Thursday and Friday. I am so grateful for everything each of you does to continue supporting this newspaper, its staff, and our continued mission to deliver and record the news of this town, 146 years and counting.

Two dozen local businesses have promised prizes to the parents of The 2024 First Baby of Newtown. We at 5 Church Hill Road are very much looking forward to meeting the town’s new resident, and we’re counting on their parents to reach out. The First Baby of Newtown 2024 will win for their family everything from dining opportunities and champagne to savings bonds, salon visits, and even fitness and home services, all courtesy of local businesses. They will also continue a tradition now entering its 66th year!

The winning parents will be the ones who send the earliest birthdate (and time, if necessary, to break a tie) to The Newtown Bee by noon Tuesday, January 2. Parents must be Newtown residents and will need to submit the exact time and date of the child’s birth; their name and address; and the place of birth, gender, weight, and name of the newborn. Friends, family, and neighbors of newborns, you can help too: Make sure the parents of any Newtown newborns know about this honorary title and all the prizes that come with it. Parents and friends should contact Newtown Bee Managing Editor Shannon Hicks at 203-426-3141 or shannon@thebee.com with this information. The winners will be notified the evening of January 2 and will hopefully be available for an interview in time for the January 5, 2023, issue of The Newtown Bee. As has been done in recent years, a virtual interview between Shannon and the winning family can be scheduled, to continue social distancing measures for all parties if anyone feels more comfortable going that route.

Rosalina Kritzman was the 2023 First Baby of Newtown. The first child of Alyssa and John Kritzman of Sandy Hook was born mid-afternoon Tuesday, January 2, becoming the 65th annual First Baby and winning the love and affection of her parents as well as a boatload of prize certificates.

Last week’s cover illustration was done by Donna Kern Ball, who is still receiving compliments for her beautiful photos of decorated doors and the way she arranged them for us. It was a lovely cover. If you read the “About Our Cover Artist” blurb in print or online last week, you’ll remember Donna is not only a multi-talented artist in multiple media forms, she volunteers for multiple local organizations and serves as our Unofficial Keeper of The Bunny House at The Pleasance. Liz Eaton’s grandson Thomas Rogers was visiting from Florida recently, and Liz snapped this photo of him. The 17-year-old has visited the Bunny House many times over the years during visits to town, his grandmother said, and he was very upset to hear about the recent vandalism the special play place suffered. We were too, of course. We’re hoping that 2024 brings a happier chapter for our property, which is open for all visitors who would like a quiet place to play, visit, walk, or simply relax.

There was some recent damage at the Cullens Youth Association property, but it wasn’t the work of people. I understand last week’s storms caused at least a few trees to fall near Carp Pond, and one of those trees destroyed a full rack of canoes there. The canoes belong to Troop 70, the oldest Boy Scout Troop in town — chartered in 1928 by the Reverend Paul Cullens. The troop is looking into replacing the lost equipment. They’d love to hear from anyone with usable canoes interested in donating them. If you’d like to start that conversation, send a note to CullensYouth@outlook.com.

Regular readers should remember Bruce the Spruce, who was introduced in this column just a few weeks ago when he was dressed for Christmas. If you missed his first appearance, Bruce is a 3-foot-tall handsome year-round evergreen that has been occupying the top of a cabinet in our Production Department since December 2022. In June, he woke up with a smirk and a set of alluring googly eyes. After sprucing him up with a red, white and blue bow for Independence Day, Susie Leniart christened him Bruce the Spruce. He has since celebrated National Bow Tie Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Now he’s ready to ring in the new year, as you can see in the adjacent photo.

New Year’s Day often brings many people looking to reset their eating habits. While doing some reading over the weekend, I was reminded that black-eyed peas are a favorite dish in the south on New Year’s Day. The good news is, one cup of black-eyed peas offers about 20 percent of a person’s daily potassium needs. In addition to lowering blood pressure, black-eyed pea benefits also include staving off coronary heart disease, which sounds very good to me, considering they’re one of my favorite beans. The challenge is, they’re often served with corn bread and pork & beans. Yum!

Meanwhile, if you’d like to follow the fruit path on Sunday, join me in considering Las Doce Uvas. This is the traditional New Year’s Eve dish in Spain, where you are supposed to eat one grape with each stroke of the clock. ¡Ole!

Happy New Year, friends. May 2024 bring you health, happiness, and plenty of peaceful catnaps. I’m going to take as many as I can before midnight Sunday. Enjoy any down time you can find, just don’t forget to come back next week to … read me again.