Things seemed just ducky this past Saturday, as the Lions Club poured thousands of yellow rubber duckies into the Pootatuck River at Sandy Hook Center, one of their biggest fundraisers for the year. It was nice of Mother Nature to cooperate by providing decent weather for all of the day's activities that ranged from visits with therapy dogs to raffle chances to high-kicking karate and dance demonstrations. Thanks to the many Lions who work to make this community event a fun day for all - and raise money for charities.The Bee on Thursday afternoon, it's not too late to remind you that the Wear Orange rally to honor National Gun Violence Awareness Day takes place Friday, June 2. Marchers will gather at Fairfield Hills at 5 pm and walk to Edmond Town Hall on Main Street, where notable speakers are scheduled to share their thoughts. If you can't join the march, remember to Wear Orange on Friday. Gov Malloy has issued a proclamation to urge all Connecticut citizens to #WearOrange on June 2 to honor lives cut short by gun violence, and Newtown First Selectman Pat Llodra has also issued a proclamation this week encouraging all to honor Gun Violence Awareness Day by wearing orange.Newtown Bee intern Sarah Scinto, who now works for the The Citizens' Voice in Wilkes-Barre, Penn., recently earned an award from the Society of Professional Journalists, Keystone State Professional Chapter. Sarah and her coworker Bob Kalinowski earned first place for Online Breaking News in the 2017 Spotlight Contest for coverage of a Donald Trump rally. We may miss her around this office, but are certainly happy to know her excellent work is being appreciated!apzimmermann.com.newpondfarm.org for registration information, or call 203-938-2117. All sales benefit the New Pond Farm Education Center. grimers2018@gmail.com to inquire about these tickets. Tickets for this event can be purchased at www.cmakfoundation.org/events/52/chase-the-music/ or the Waterbury Palace Theater Box Office."www.nhdocs.com/ for more details.info@flagpolephotographers.com. The Newtown Bee and the chance to win a delicious cake? Send children's photo, birth date, age, and daytime phone number to eliza@thebee.com and she'll see that every birthday submission is entered in the weekly contest to win a free cake from Bake n' Cakes in Southbury.

It was a mostly wet and gloomy Memorial Day weekend, but I do hope that even if your picnic plans were spoiled, you took a moment to remember the reason for the long weekend - the many heroes who have died serving our country. It doesn't matter what the weather is like to do that one little thing, one day each year.

If you were lucky enough to pick up this copy of

The Resiliency Center of Newtown issued a call for help last week: the center is in need of 125 cans of shaving cream for "a super fun children's activity." Donations can be dropped off at RCN, which is in the lower rear level of 153 South Main Street (the SCB Building).

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Congratulations to Newtown Savings Bank mortgage bankers Joe Bartolomeo, Vic Falco, and Tom Lutz, who were recently recognized in a special section of Connecticut Magazine as Five Star Mortgage Professionals. The Five Star award recognizes service professionals who provide quality services to their clients, and is presented to mortgage professionals on an annual basis. Joe Bartolomeo is based in Shelton, and joined the bank in 2014. He is a Fairfield resident and affiliate member of the Fairfield Board of Realtors. Vic Falco joined the bank in 2014 and is a resident of Trumbull. Vic operates out of the Trumbull and Monroe branches, and is an affiliate member of the Greater Bridgeport Board of Realtors. Tom Lutz, who joined the bank in 2003, is a recipient of this award for the sixth year in a row. He is a longtime Newtown resident, and maintains his primary office at the bank's Brookfield branch at 99 Federal Road. Tom is an affiliate member of the New Milford Board of Realtors and Northern Fairfield County Association of Realtors.

Here's the buzz on colony collapse disorder, and it's not all bad: winter losses for America's ailing honeybees were the lowest in more than a decade, according to a US survey of beekeepers released May 25. For the past ten years, bees and pollinators have been disappearing way too rapidly, threatened by pesticides, parasites, and disease. There's no guarantee that this will be a continual upswing, but we can always hope. (And congratulations to the NHS Skills21 group for its recent "Bees And Love" Expo Fest Sustainability Challenge Award.)

There's some exciting art to see around town, so if you're out and about, be sure to take a moment to enjoy it. Etchings by Newtown resident DeAnn L. Prosia are on view weekdays at the Municipal Center at Fairfield Hills through the month of June. Then scoot over to the C.H. Booth Library where you can check out the SCAN Juried Spring Art Show & Sale during library hours, through June 11. At Avance Day Spa in the Lexington Villages complex, you can see paintings and mixed media pieces by Katya Lebrija, until June 22.

Just over the border, Newtown resident Andrea Zimmermann will have her first solo exhibition, "World of Nature," at Bethel Public Library, 189 Greenwood Avenue, from June 4 to July 10, with an artist's reception on Sunday, June 4, from 2 to 4 pm. The show features works depicting the natural world in various media, including pastel, etching, block prints, silkscreen, and photography. Many of her works will be available for purchase. Additional framed prints, as well as copies of two of three books written by the author, will also be offered for sale during the reception. Bethel Library is open Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 10 am to 8 pm; and Tuesday, and Friday through Sunday, 1 to 5 pm. For more information call 203-794-8756 or visit

Travel a little out of town this month for art fun at New Pond Farm in Redding. From June 3 to 11, the 101 Marchant Road farm is open daily, 10 am to 5 pm, for an art show featuring the paintings, drawings, and sculptures by the region's finest artists, as well as special daily art workshops for children and adults, a community exhibit, and special events - like a chicken coop tour. The Hunt for the Hens Coop Tour is Saturday, June 3, from 10 am to 4 pm; Tuesday, June 6, from 10 am to 2:30 pm, is the free Watercolor Workshop with Sally Aldrich, for all ages; Wednesday, June 7 from 2 to 4 pm is the free Afternoon Tea and Painting Demonstration with Adele Moros; Thursday, June 8 from 4:15 to 5:30 pm, is a free Pastel Workshop for Kids with Becky Holden; Sunday, June 11, from 10 am to 5 pm is closing day and a last chance to view the show and purchase artwork. Silent auction and door prize winners will be announced at 4 pm. Class sizes are limited, so visit

Some other special works have received accolades. According to a press release that came across my desk, "CMAK [the foundation formed following the death of Chase Michael Anthony Kowalski, 12/14] congratulates the following Newtown High School students whose writings were selected to introduce the movements of composer Saint Saens' 'Carnival of Animals,' to be performed as part of the Chasing the Music Event taking place at the Waterbury Palace Theater at 2 pm, on this Sunday, June 4: Kaitlyn Crumb, Lions; Capri Agresta, Turtles; Elliott Bennett, Elephants; Calista Giroux, Aviary; Trevor Legeret, Pianists... Friends of Carter Brey and members of the NY Philharmonic will be performing the Chasing the Music concert as a benefit to the CMAK Foundation. CMAK is making available a pair of general admission tickets to each Newtown student so that they may attend the event with a parent or guardian, while supplies last. Interested students should e-mail Emily Grimes at

The first documentary film produced about the nationally renowned landscape architect Beatrix Farrand, by Newtown native and six-time Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Karyl K. Evans, will premiere locally at the New Haven Documentary Film Festival, or NHdocs. The screening is planned for Monday, June 5, at 6:30 pm, at The Whitney Humanities Center, 53 Wall Street. Admission is free, and the screening will be followed by a Q&A with Karyl. Visit

Flagpole Photographers Camera Club invites the public to their last competition evening for the season. The assigned subject for June is "After Dark." The program will take place Thursday, June 8, at 7:15, at Newtown Senior Center, 14 Riverside Road in Sandy Hook. The competition is only open to members, but the public is welcome to listen and learn. For more information contact

What could be happier than a photo in

Nothing would make me happier, of course, than to know that next week you will... Read me again.