Driving around town during the past few days has become somewhat akin to trench warfare, what with the huge piles of snow that have been plowed up at the ends of some driveways. When pulling out from driveways, go slow, or you may wind up in the middle of a traffic accident that you didn’t see coming.

Be especially careful of wayward animals. I have the sad duty to report that a male gray long-haired cat met his end in an accident on Main Street, near the police station, on Monday night. Nancy O’Grady says she was driving down the street when the cat darted out in front of her car too quickly for her to stop. Nancy took the cat immediately to the Mt Pleasant Hospital for Animals, where they did some x-rays and determined that the injuries were too severe to treat. The poor fella was put to sleep by the vet. Nancy feels terrible about the accident, and was hoping to find the owners to tell them what happened, but she has been unable to determine where the cat lived.

Marty Maciag and other members of Newtown’s Rocking Roosters square dance club would like to invite everyone to the free weekly classes that are being held on Wednesdays from 8 to 10 pm in the Sand Hill Plaza enclosed mini-mall. Marty says everyone should give this healthy form of exercise a try and these sample classes are just the place to do it. Square dancing is a lot different these days – for one thing, you don’t have to wear the fancy outfits – and everyone has a good time.

Doug Rogers recently appeared on The Learning Channel in a program about the mysterious crop circles that have been discovered around the world. He is going to bring his slide show to a meeting of the Newtown Woman’s Club at the Booth Library on Thursday, February 10, at 7:30 pm. The Woman’s Club members have invited their husbands to the program and are opening the meeting to the public.

Gordon Williams is just about as busy these days as he was before he retired. He is serving on the jury of a murder trial in Danbury Superior Court and said he finds it very interesting. In a spare moment, he stopped at The Bee to drop off information about the pancake breakfast that the Lions Club will hold on Saturday, February 12 at the Sandy Hook Firehouse. The Lions are raising money to help equip all the fire companies with thermal cameras and to help equip the children’s activities room at the Booth Library. The breakfast will be held from 8 am to 1 pm; tickets are $5 for adults and $2 for children ages 12 and under.

It’s that time of year again for Ken Wilkinson. Ken and other VITA volunteers will be at the Booth Library every Tuesday afternoon from 1 to 5 pm from  February 8 to April 11 to help people prepare their income tax returns for 1999. No appointment is necessary.

 The police department’s new computer system has been up and running for a few days now and things appear to be going well. Like all transitions to new computer systems, it takes a while to get the hang of it, but system users have been schooled in the specifics of the new setup and plan to forge ahead with the new system now that the next millennium bug is 999 years away.

  Firefighters were called to the area in front of Amaral Motors this week for clean-up duty after someone called and reported an anti-freeze spill in the road (South Main Street). The area is now particularly clean. Upon close inspection, the substance turned out to be nothing more than soap.

A group of Newtown’s oldest firefighters gathered for a photo at the Sandy Hook firehouse earlier this week. But what was supposed to be a brief photo shoot turned into something of a reunion as the guys stuck around a while to talk about the good old days when fires were fires.

Rev Steve Gordon was spotted at the Newtown High School boys’ basketball game last Friday night at Immaculate in Danbury. Steve was thinking about leaving early so he could grab some dinner, but was urged to stay until the end of the game for fear the Nighthawks might think he’d lost his faith.

Andrew Sirois had a front row seat at last Saturday night’s color guard competition at the high school. Andrew, a studio production major at SUNY Purchase, provided the soundtrack for every performing guard at the competition, strategically spacing speakers throughout the gymnasium and taking note of what songs sounded the best at certain levels. Andrew, who arrived at the competition hours early to prepare, used all of his own equipment that he has collected over the years as an avid musician and technician. A 1999 graduate of NHS, Drew originally enrolled at the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, but found a program with better direction at Purchase, to which he commutes from home. Asked if he minded the 90-minute round trip, Drew replied that no, he liked to drive. Besides, he only has class on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Megan Koziar can stop worrying this week; she knows she is wanted. The 1995 graduate of Newtown High School was just accepted into Rutgers University’s Physical Therapy program for next year. Megan, who will graduate from the University of Maryland this spring, is still waiting to hear from several other universities, but commented that a major burden has been lifted.

It seems that the Koziar family has a lot to celebrate these days. Besides Megan’s acceptance into Rutgers, Candy Koziar, Megan’s mother, is about to hit the one-year mark since she quit smoking cold turkey. Add to that not-so-small accomplishment the fact that the Koziars’ son-in-law Bill Frisch will appear on Jeopardy during the first week of April. He is scheduled to tape the show sometime in the next two weeks, so right now the family is trying to figure out who is flying out to Los Angeles. It seems that the Koziars are experiencing a run of good luck; maybe Lou Koziar can use it to hit a trifecta at Milford Jai Alai.

And remember it is always a good bet to…

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