You know its spring when the ice cream shops start to open.

The ice cream shop on Church Hill Road opened last week, and Shirley Ferris says her family’s ice cream shop at Ferris Acres on Route 302 will open on April 28. “We’ve been doing some renovations, but expect to be finished with everything soon and begin making ice cream on April 21,” she said. In the meantime, Shirley has been taking advantage of the spring weather to work outside in her yard. She spent three hours working there on Wednesday, and then took a little nap outside. “It’s a wonderful time of year, with the birds and the peepers and the crocus in bloom — and no flies or mosquitoes,” she pointed out.

Speaking of insects, remember Will Michael who traveled to Washington, D.C., last June to film and record the great Generation X Cicada Invasion? Besides being a full-time Western Connecticut State University student, Will writes, photographs, and produces his own nature show on Charter Communications Public Access Channel 21 broadcast Wednesday nights at 8:30 pm and Thursdays at 3 pm. The program is called Connecticut Naturalist, and Will is as happy as the rest of us that spring has finally come so he can resume videotaping local wildlife.

“I’ve been out three nights in a row at the vernal pools filming the salamander migration,” Will said, adding that he’s very excited about a new underwater camera that allows him to get up close and personal with the amphibians during their yearly mating ritual. The only problem is, running the camera means he also has to be more or less underwater, himself. “I’m thinking about getting a wet suit for next year,” Will commented. Meanwhile, having done with salamanders, he’s moving on. “The wood frogs are out now, and next will be bull frogs.” Tune in Channel 21 for some ribbeting action.

Barbara Terkildsen is organizing a social group for widows and widowers. The first meeting will be at 7 pm next Wednesday, April 13, at 38 Church Hill Road. Anyone who wants more information can call Barbara at 426-5513.

Alto singer Katie Aselin, who lives in Newtown and is a member of The Wooster Madrigals, the premier choral group of Wooster School in Danbury, was among a group performing at Carnegie Hall last weekend. Katie and the rest of the Madrigals were in New York City as part of the annual National Youth Choir concert on Sunday, April 3.

Betty Lou Osborne celebrated her 80th birthday on Wednesday and was squired around by family and friends to lunch, to a lacrosse game, and to dinner. The lacrosse game, played on a sparkling spring afternoon, pitted St Margaret’s-McTernan against the Wooster School; Betty’s grandsons Andrew and Ian White play for St Mag’s. All in all, it was a great day.

The photo that ran in the Way We Were of the old one-room Hattertown School keeps getting a response. Sandra Henning called to identify the student known only as Grant as her late father, Edward Francis Grant, who was born in 1911. Sandra graduated from Newtown High School in 1963, and moved to Ohio in 1967, but returned two years ago for her high school reunion. Her sister, Judy Ragan, a 1961 graduate, now lives in Tennessee.

In days gone by, this time of year was the time kids got out their aggies for a few games of keepsies employing their full arsenal of shots from bombsies and knuckle downs to plunking. And if you have no idea what I’m talking about, you’ve never played marbles, which probably means you are under 40 years old. If by chance you still have a pretty good collection of antique marbles, you might want to take them to the Seventh Annual Historical Society Appraisals Day on Sunday in the community room at the Booth Library. A panel of experts on everything from aggies to zithers will be on hand to let you know what your treasures are worth. The appraisals will take place from 2 to 5 pm.

Next week’s column promises to be invaluable, so be sure to…

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