It sure was a soggy week in New England. As the saying goes, there was water, water, everywhere as early June continued its rainy streak.

These days Newtown residents can’t be blamed for feeling like it’s become Hot Dog, Hot Dog Everywhere or even Ice Cream, Ice Cream Everywhere. In a town where we once had a pizza restaurant for every 100 residents (or so it seemed), this year’s bumper crop seems to be hot dog stands and ice cream parlors. Last weekend residents celebrated (or cursed, if they found themselves stuck in traffic) the opening of Swanky Frank’s on South Main Street. Coming up soon will be the opening for a hot dog stand in Waterfall Plaza. Also in Waterfall Plaza is Cold Stone Creamery, one of the town’s new ice cream stands — in addition to the long-standing Ice Cream Shop on Church Hill Road and Ferris Acres Creamery on Route 302. Sundaes has also opened, on Riverside Road in Sandy Hook. Looks like hot dogs for dinner and ice cream for dessert may become the summer meal combo around here.

Speaking of food, consider skipping lunch on Saturday and head straight to Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire Company’s main station on Riverside Road. This year’s Lobster Fest returns on Friday and Saturday, with extended hours on Saturday — volunteers will be cooking and serving lobster (or steak, or hamburger, or — yep! — hot dog) dinners beginning at 3 pm. Judi Richardson, Shannon Hicks, and John Voket, all staff members from The Bee, will be among those serving food and entertainment during the two-day fundraiser. Tickets this year are $19 if you purchase or at least reserve them in advance and $21 at the door. Kids’ meals are $5, and those are the ones that include a hot dog or hamburger. The firehouse’s phone number is 270-4392.

One person who isn’t too upset by the rain that has plagued the area the past few weeks is KidsFit instructor Heather Law. “It’s not pool weather and not playing outside weather,” she says. She figures it’s perfect weather for girls to sign up for her summer SHAPE program offered through Parks and Recreation.

Instead of tending and enjoying her beautiful gardens, Newtown resident and master gardener Sandy Marsilius just celebrated a milestone birthday miles high in the Alps of Switzerland, with her husband, Newman.

If you think it’s hard deciphering IM lingo, pity the LaMarche parents. Ever since their eighth grade son, Andrew, passed the second level of testing for FCC licensing on June 3 in Brookfield, he only communicates in Morse code. This class license is the second highest rank of radio operators out of the three ranks of technician, general, and extra and gives Andrew nearly all privileges on the various radio bands. To qualify for this class, Andrew had to pass two written exams and a Morse code test at 5 wpm.

Hank Taylor and his wife, Liz, dropped into town briefly last week. The couple was on their way from Florida to New Hampshire for Hank’s 50th reunion at Dartmouth last weekend. Years ago, Hank lived on Blackman Road.

If the lighting didn’t look quite the same at this year’s Stardust Revue dance extravaganza last weekend at Edmond Town Hall, it’s because veteran revue lighting operator Sherri Baggett was out of town attending her 25th reunion at Hood College in Frederick, Md.

Police Chief Mike Kehoe demonstrated to the public and Police Commission members this week a radar speed display that could be pole-mounted in various locations around town to inform motorists how fast they are driving in comparison to the posted speed limit. Installing such devices about town is under review as a way to improve public safety. The town currently uses a “speed trailer” on which such a radar display in transported to various spots around town, as needed. I guess these speed display devices are a good idea, but can’t you get the same information from your car’s speedometer?

While visiting the land use office this week, I noticed that Zoning Enforcement Officer Gary Frenette is sporting a handsome wristwatch that bears a gold-colored version of the S-insignia that Superman wears on his chest. The watch keeps perfect time Gary tells me. The watch was a gift to him from his 10-year-old daughter.

Timing is everything, and Tom Mahoney is one person who can appreciate that. How else to explain the timing of Akeelah and The Bee, which will open this weekend at Edmond Town Hall’s theater — just one week after New Jersey resident Katharine Close won the 79th Annual Scripps National Spelling Bee. If watching the televised broadcast of the final round of the spelling bee didn’t discourage you (could you have spelled some of the words those kids were cranking out?), take in a screening of this PG-rated movie about a young black girl from East Los Angeles who faces an uphill battle while trying to make it to the national spelling bee.

And remember, you don’t have to be an excellent speller to…

Read me again.