Belated anniversary wishes to Newtown Lions Club. The 75th anniversary of the local Lions fell on January 22. While working on this week’s Way We Were, Managing Editor Shannon Hicks found a story in the January 28, 1949 issue of this newspaper that covered that historic event. Just two months after an organization meeting, over 150 people gathered that Saturday evening 75 years ago for a dinner dance that included the formal presentation of the permanent Charter to the then-newly organized Lions Club of Newtown. Take a look at this week’s Way We Were for a few additional details about the big celebration. The local Lions are still very active in town, of course. We regularly hear from the club about upcoming fundraising activities, new members, and plenty of donations to local, regional and even international nonprofit organizations. Today’s members would make their founders very proud. If you’d like to learn about the local chapter, contact Membership Chair Ed Miklaszewski (calling him Ed M, or just Ed, is fine, I promise) at membership@newtownlions.org.

The Friends of Edmond Town Hall is looking for new members. The engaged volunteers have a shared goal to continue lively programming at Edmond Town Hall while working with the ETH Board of Managers. Friends are professionals from various backgrounds, and would love to hear from more readers. Here’s a perk: when you volunteer you get to stay and watch the shows for free! If you’d like to learn more, contact the Friends at 203-512-9100 or friendsoftheeth@gmail.com.

Of course this weekend everyone gets to see the movies for free at Edmond Town Hall, thanks yet again to Ingersoll Auto of Danbury. Free Movie Weekend will return to 45 Main Street with six screenings of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. Shows of the 1971 film starring Gene Wilder are planned for Friday through Sunday, February 2-4. You don’t even need a golden ticket to take advantage of the special offer. Go online to edmondtownhall.org to reserve tickets in advance or just stop at the box office ahead of each show.

Later this month, the origin story Wonka will be the featured film. Released just a few months ago the musical fantasy film stars the oh-so-beautiful Timothée Chalamet in the title role. Tickets for that weekend (February 16-20) will be the regular $4 price. As always check our online calendar any time and our print edition calendar a little closer to those dates for additional details.

Newtown United Methodist Church is trying what Reverend Stephen Volpe describes as “something that isn’t new, but is new to us” this year for Ash Wednesday. On February 14, Pastor Volpe will be in the church parking lot of 92 Church Hill Road from 7 to 8:30 pm. During that time he will distribute ashes to anyone who would like them. “It is a drive-through Ash Wednesday event open to all people regardless of church affiliation or lack thereof,” he said, adding all are welcome. Visitors won’t even need to get out of their vehicles, he added.

Ash Wednesday also falls this year on Valentine’s Day, and Bruce the Spruce is ready. Currently nicknamed Bruce the Valentine Spruce, the 3-foot-tall artificial evergreen in our Production department is now wearing red hearts, a pair of wings, and even a Cupid’s arrow.

And yes, for those readers with really strong eyes, that’s a Flat Bridget still hanging on the wall to the left of Bruce. Bridget Seaman is still very close to our hearts, nearly three years after the sudden death of our friend and co-worker.

If you thought you saw a new name in our masthead recently you weren’t wrong. Jenna Visca has joined our Editorial team as our newest reporter. Her first published story was “Library’s Partnership With NewsBank Offers Free Newspaper And Magazine Content,” and it drew some very positive responses on our Facebook page. Rebecca Hall mentioned Hoopla, the web and mobile library streaming platform with audio books and movies and comics and more. Holders of library cards from many libraries, including our hometown Booth Library, have access to that platform!

Cara Reilly also responded to Jenna’s story, saying the library card “opens the door to so many wonderful free resources. Our library is among the best with a wealth of programs (that you don’t even need a library card to attend), materials, and actual things you can borrow like a metal detector, pickleball paddles, and a sump pump just to name a few. Check it out!” …and yes Cara, we saw what you did there. Ha! Good one.

Which leads to my question of the week: Have you ever been surprised to learn what’s available at C.H. Booth Library?

Some members of Newtown Congregational Church were surprised to find a cardboard shelter set up outside their church building last Sunday morning. Fortunately it was all good news: NEWS workcampers had spent the previous night sleeping outdoors. Newtown Ecumenical Workcamp Servants are preparing for this summer’s service trip, which will take them to Biloxi, Miss. (one of my favorite places!), and they took part January 27-28 in their annual sleepathon. As NCC Pastor Matt Crebbin explained Sunday morning, the annual event is one part fundraiser, one part “a chance to experience, in a small way, what it’s like for those who are unhoused.” While many previous sleepathons have been conducted in very cold temperatures, this year’s challenge was the continued rain we’ve been seeing in recent weeks. The public is welcome to support these young men and women with a donation. More than 30 high school students from a few of Newtown’s communities of faith, along with adult chaperones, will be working through the housing rehabilitation efforts of Back Bay Mission. Donations will help cover the cost of travel, supplies, and other fees incurred by the group when it spends a week helping homeowners in the Gulf Coast city with needed home repairs. Checks can be made out to NCC, with NEWS on the memo line, and mailed or dropped off at Newtown Congregational Church, 14 West Street, Newtown CT 06470. If you’d like to know more about the program before donating, I get it. Contact Laura Terry at LauraLTerry@Live.com or 203-470-3547.

Also on Sunday, NCC member Bob Keegan was caught off guard during post-worship service coffee time when his friends and fellow congregants sang a rousing round of “Happy Birthday.” Matt Crebbin announced only that Bob would be celebrating “a milestone birthday” during the upcoming week. He declined to mention which one.

Bob Mitchell reportedly has a big birthday this week, at least according to his friend who called our office on Monday to request Bob’s name as this week’s Hometown Newspaper person. “Of course!” we said — a request for someone’s birthday is one of our favorite ways to fill in that special place that occupies the uppermost right corner of page A1 every week.

If you’d like to be considered for that honor, or if you know someone who should be so honored, contact Shannon Hicks at 203-426-3141 or shannon@thebee.com. We try to highlight people who aren’t written about too often in the paper, and they do need to live in town. Those are the only “rules,” however. That, and a person’s name should only appear once in that location.

I’m going to disappear for now. I’ll be back again next week, though. I hope you too will return to … read me again.