Happy Chrismukkah! As we head toward December 25 and the first time since 2005 that Christmas and the first night of Hanukkah will occur at the same time, I offer my holiday greetings to all readers.

Bruce the Christmas Spruce is ready for the big day. The ladies in our Production Department have helped him dress for the occasion, as evidenced by the first photo accompanying this week's column. The usual group of decorators had some help with Bruce this season. If you look toward the upper left side of the tree, you can see an Elf on the Shelf doing her best to add some final lights to Bruce’s crown. She’s being assisted by Santa and a very thoughtful teddy bear.

It took two “sleds,” according to Maureen Will, to get all the items for a municipal employees food drive for FAITH Food Pantry to the Church Hill Road pantry this week. “The municipal elves — including the community center, senior center and Public Works — did the drive,” the director of emergency communications said Tuesday afternoon. The collection filled two large vehicles, and demonstrated “town employees at their best,” Maureen added.

Saturday morning will also mark the Winter Solstice. I misread a description about the solstice earlier this week and thought it was also called the hibernational solstice, which of course made my whiskers do a momentary happy dance. I thought it was an invitation to take a nice nap. After all, the shortest day of the year also means it’s the longest night. I’m sure I won’t be alone when I sleep through the solstice when it occurs Saturday morning at 4:20. I will celebrate the arrival of winter when I wake up, though.

Tony Tuliano shared a nice note this week, along with the link for a video any Newtown resident should enjoy. Tony grew up in town during the 1960s and 70s, and calls Newtown “a very special place to me, especially at this time of year.” Just for fun he recently put together a four-minute video called “My Newtown Christmas Memories.” The music video is full of personal photos including one shared with us just a few years ago for Way We Were, showing him along with Scot and Dale Stanton all bundled up and ready to ride on their runner sleds. There are also a lot of images he found online, he said, “for the visual effect.” Tony’s lyrics have great tie-ins with everything from Curtis Box — yes, the former name of the now-Curtis Packaging — and Blue Colony Diner to Edmond Town Hall and Misty Vale. It’s a quick, enjoyable watch meant to bring back fond memories of those who have lived here as well as those who still do, according to Tony. If you’d like to see the video, visit https://youtu.be/W5PlEoPBkgM

It’s well past Labor Day, yet fans of Panacea are receiving a musical surprise this month. Leslie Ballard reached out over the weekend to let me know she and her bandmates will be playing what she calls “a between-Christmas-Hanukkah-and-New Year’s event called Twixtmas,” December 29 at Aquila’s Nest Vineyards in Sandy Hook. The band is the same Panacea lineup the audience enjoyed in September at Dickinson Park — Leslie on flute and vocals, Christian Martirano on keyboard, Tony Traina on drums, and Corky Ballard on bass and trombone — “but we’ve added season-appropriate songs,” she said. Unlike the performance at the park, seating at the vineyard is limited and there is an admission fee. Tickets are $20 for adults, free ages 18 and under (but they must be with an adult/guardian), and the vineyard asks for at least one drink purchase per person. Soft drinks will be available, as will a food truck. Guests are also welcome to carry in their own food. (No outside beverages, according to the vineyard and its website, which cites its Farm Winery Permit for that rule.) Additional details and reservations are available at aquilasnestvineyards.com.

Rumor has it some NHS grads are already among those planning to meet up for the special Monday opening of the Pole Bridge Road location, just like they usually do for Labor Day weekend. Panacea Twixtmas 2024 begins at 4 and will be a three-hour event. Leslie also said if this year’s take on the British tradition goes well it may be the start of annual Twixtmas shows for Panacea.

The Newtown PD Mitten Tree is growing this month. Readers are invited to donate hats, gloves, mittens, and scarves, which will be forwarded to those who need them through the long-standing program. Donations are being accepted in the lobby of NPD Headquarters, 191 South Main Street, until January 1.

Twenty-five years ago this month Y2K was all the buzz. Remember the worries? The fears that our computer systems were not going to work properly at the stroke of midnight December 31? Such innocent days.

You know how important bees are to the ecosystem. I have a particular soft spot for bumblebees, but honeybees are the ones in the news in recent decades. It’s a mixed message more recently, too. Depending on which source you look at, they’re either one big disease or parasitic infection away from being decimated or on the rise and better than ever. Either way, the US Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will contact beekeepers during January and February, to gather information on colony numbers, honey production, stocks, and sales.

The information will be used for the Bee & Honey Production, Disposition and Income Inquiry, which evaluates conditions from year to year, and promotes programs designed to ensure the viability of beekeepers and agricultural pollination services. The survey will collect data from more than 9,000 producers across the country. NASS interviewers will contact producers who do not respond by mail or online to conduct an interview. NASS safeguards the privacy of all respondents and publishes only aggregate data, ensuring no individual operation or producer can be identified. The survey results provide a statistical benchmark on US honey production and value. The information will allow the USDA, beekeepers, and any other interested parties to analyze data on a state-by-state basis and monitor changes in honey production and value. I’ll be very interested to find out what the survey says. Results are published annually in the Honey report, which will be available on March 14, 2025. All NASS reports are available online at nass.usda.gov/Publications/.

That’s a lot of information to think about, which I hope you will do until next week, when you can come back and … read me again.