You have a short time left to take advantage of the state’s Sales Tax-Free Week, which started on Sunday and runs through Saturday, April 16. Clothing and footwear purchases costing less than $100 are not taxed during this annual stretch.

And don’t forget to show your library card when at local businesses until June 30. C.H. Booth Library cardholders can receive unique offers and discounts on goods and services at participating businesses, just by showing their library card. A full list of the offers is available online at chboothlibrary.org. There are discounts and ... a free cup of coffee. I’ll be right back ...

While I’m sipping this coffee, I have to ask: Are you keeping up with the library’s Armchair Travel Reading Challenge for Adults? This month’s focus is to read books that take place in the Middle East or Central Asia. Suggested reads include The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali, Walking on the Ceiling by Aysegül Savas, A Different Kind of Daughter by Maria Toorpaki, and The Panther by Nelson DeMille. Leave your armchair for just a little while and visit the library for their full list of suggestions, or visit its website, chboothlibrary.org, and click on About, then News, to find a digital copy of April’s list.

It might be a drive, but I must share: Lime Rock Park is set to host The Little Guild’s Great Country Mutt Show on June 5. Free and open to the public, the Great Country Mutt Show is a Westminster-style Dog Show that celebrates all breeds and creeds! It is held rain or shine on Sunday, June 5, from 11 am to 2 pm, at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville. To register for the Great Country Mutt Show, go to littleguild.org. The entrance to Lime Rock Park for the Great Country Mutt Show will be through the main entrance, 60 White Hollow Road, Lakeville.

Friends Of Newtown Seniors (FONS) is offering a writing opportunity to residents in Newtown from middle school age and up. The purpose will be to produce a publication titled “Newtown Writes,” a collection of writings in response to any one of four prompts: life experience, lessons learned, the human-animal connection, and what it is or was like to be 13 years old. Electronic submissions will be accepted between May 1 and June 30. Submissions can be submitted via e-mail to info@friendsofnewtownseniors.org or by mail to FONS, PO Box 413, Newtown, CT 06470. A signed form giving permission for the work to be published is also required.

Newtown’s own Chef Plum will be back with episodes of his Restaurant Road Trip, returning on April 28 at facebook.com/RestaurantRoadTrip and online at CTPublic’s website, ctpublic.org. Restaurant Road Trip is a series that showcases restaurants around the state. As the Restaurant Road Trip Facebook page announced on April 12, “We are so excited to officially announce Restaurant Road Trip is back! We are incredibly excited to work with our new partners at CTPublic and cannot wait to share our new trips with you and hopefully keep Chef Plum out of trouble!” Each episode features Chef Plum looking for the best breakfast, lunch, and dinner in Fairfield County.

The current exhibition at Brookfield Craft Center features work by Janice Mauro, Isabella Saraceni, and Ellen Schiffman, three regional artists whose collected pieces on view explore the concept of healing through spirituality and art, according to a press release from BCC. Isabella — whose studio is right here in Newtown — would probably welcome some fellow residents at the gallery next weekend, when she and her fellow artists, along with curator Daisy Gesualdi and BCC staff will all welcome the public for the closing reception of “Tangible Traces.” The reception is planned for Saturday, April 23, from 5 to 8 pm; the craft center is at 286 Whisconier Road. The exhibition will remain on view until Sunday, April 24. BCC continues to follow current state COVID protocols.

On Saturday, April 30, the Regional YMCA of Western Connecticut is holding a free community event to inspire more kids to keep their minds and bodies active at the annual YMCA’s Healthy Kids Day. All activities are designed to inspire kids to get active while simultaneously teaching families how to develop routines that support mental and physical health at home. The event runs from 11 am to 2 pm, and an RSVP is asked for on its Facebook page, Regional YMCA of Western CT.

Believe it or not, we are still trying to figure out who this handsome gentleman is. He was part of a large group of Men’s Club members photographed at Le Chateau in May 1997. We ran the full photo in the March 25, 2022, Way We Were column, when we had the names for most of the men in the photo. Last week we thought we figured out who this was. Two readers thought it was Coach Harold DeGroat. A look at some archive photos led us to think the same thing. We were, unfortunately, incorrect. A caller who reached out during the past week pointed out that the celebrated coach died in 1973, so that could not be him in the photo after all. We’re sharing a close-up, one more time. Send an email to Managing Editor Shannon Hicks (shannon@thebee.com) or call the office (203-426-3141) if you know who this is.

Ann Marie Cordisco has been very busy during the past week. She has been raising funds for over a month for an orphanage that has been helping Ukraine orphans and half orphans for more than a quarter of a century. Her lapel Ribbons For Ukraine campaign is a fundraiser for Orphans Aid Society, or OAS. Lapel ribbons in blue and yellow, with a small sunflower attached, were already available for a $5 donation at Bagel Delight, Farmhouse Restaurant, and Queen Street Gifts when we introduced Ann Marie’s efforts to readers in last week’s The Newtown Bee. Within the past week, however, she more than doubled the number of locations in town where folks can get one of those ribbons in exchange for a donation. As of April 12, PJ’s Laundromat, Strength & Grace Boutique, Newtown Hardware, and Reverie Brewery have all become locations where the ribbons are available. They can also be found at Monroe Social, 494 Main Street (Route 25) in Monroe. Beyond that, according to Ann Marie, Newtown Community Center will begin hosting a display as of April 18, and Uncle Matt’s Bakery will have one beginning the following Monday. “It really warms my heart to see the community standing with Ukraine and helping support this cause,” Ann Marie, a Ukrainian-American who lives in Newtown, said last week.

The Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk is encouraging residents of Fairfield and Westchester counties to “make and share simple observations of plants and animals April 29 to May 2 as part of a global bioblitz called City Nature Challenge.” As announced, anyone can participate by going outside and looking for plants and animals. Take a picture and upload the observation to the free app/website iNaturalist. More information about participating is available online at maritimeaquarium.org/city-nature-challenge. The discoveries don’t have to be exotic, just outside.

You know where you can discover me simply by promising next week to ... Read me again.