Daniel Hasselberger received an early birthday present recently, thanks to the generosity of a nearby nonprofit company working as a ministry. Daniel is a 12-year-old Newtown resident, born with a condition known as polymicrogyria (PMG), a brain malformation caused by the CMV virus contracted in utero. Daniel will turn 13 on November 22, and thanks to Pete Brady, a/k/a Handy Dandy Handyman, Daniel and his family can now enter their Sandy Hook home with fewer struggles. Pete and his crew, based in Brookfield, replaced a malfunctioning ramp with a new one. The 18-foot addition offers a lighter pitch for family and caretakers to enter and leave the house. Mr Brady started volunteering as a part-time handyman for seniors in his church parish community. Today, The Handy Dandy Handyman Ministry is an official nonprofit with more than 1,000 volunteers helping 400 seniors in seven greater Danbury towns. I’d like to thank Mr Brady for extending his kindness — and for sending one of his HDHM carpenters, Mark Lucas, to Sandy Hook for a Saturday — to a family who can always use a helping hand. This looks like an opportune moment to award the Good Egg to Mr Brady and his crew. You are Good Eggs!

Newtown Social Services and Women Involved in Newtown (WIN) have collaborated for more than 40 years to bring food to those who could use a hand during the weeks from Thanksgiving until Christmas. While WIN member Mandy Monaco is confident that everything will once again fall into place by next week when it’s time to collect all of the donations that help Newtown families put food on the table between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I’d like to remind everyone of this project. Schools, Boy and Girl Scout groups, town offices, businesses, and other groups of people have already signed up, but help is still needed. A drop box for donations of any kind has been set up at Berkshire Motors, 25 Berkshire Road, Sandy Hook. If you have some time on Friday, November 19, to organize and/or deliver Thanksgiving & Beyond Baskets, give Mandy a call at 203-426-5600.

Shredding paper is one of my favorite pastimes, so I’ll be there, Saturday, November 13, from 9 am to noon, when the Newtown United Methodist Church will sponsor a paper-shredding event, open to the community. Shredding will be done by Proshred, a secure professional document shredding company, at The Village Square Shopping Center, 401 Route 111, in Monroe (next to Dairy Queen, across the street from McDonald’s). Cost is $10 per box, and proceeds will benefit youth involved with Mission to Mozambique. For more information feel free to send e-mail to AnnetteGriffith@earthlink.net or call Quintin Brantley at 203-268-1760.

Speaking of paper, The Man Who Came To Dinner at The Westport Playhouse features a copy of The Newtown Bee — because of its large size. The play runs this Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

“My money was on Marsha Moskowitz,” Patty Graves tells me. Patty’s family was one of the many sponsors for Newtown resident and bus driver Marsha as she ran in the New York City Marathon this past Sunday, November 7, on the Shoe4Africa Team. “Allan and I went into NYC to watch the amazing assembly of athletes take over the City,” Patty says. From their viewing spot at the 17th mile at 75th Street and First Avenue, they watched thousands of runners for three hours, and then they spotted Marsha. “She was running comfortably down First Avenue. Allan and I leaned over the aluminum barricades, stretching our arms, waving our hands, calling, ‘Marsha! Marsha! Marsha!’ She turned our way and gave us a big smile,” Patty says. As Marsha ran past, they could see the big white letters spelling out “MOSKIE” on her red T-shirt. “I know few people who make the commitment to be in shape to run a marathon,” Patty says. “In Newtown, they are the Big Fish in the little pond. I wonder what it feels like to be in the sea of marathon runners?” Whatever the answer is — Marsha, are you out there? — Patty and Allan know it is great fun to cheer on a marathon runner. Congratulations to Marsha!

If you feel like going to the theater this weekend, be sure to check out The Westport Playhouse’s production of The Man Who Came To Dinner.” One of the props is a copy of The Newtown Bee, cast in its crucial role because of its large size. If you’re in attendance, be sure to cheer when The Bee appears.

Cheered on and cheered up here at The Bee this week were “Ms Eliza” and “Ms Kendra,” who received a batch of handwritten and decoratively embellished thank you notes from second grade students of the Saugatuck Elementary School, in Westport. Reporters Eliza Hallabeck and Kendra Bobowick assisted the students during a tour of The Newtown Bee and other Newtown sites recently. It’s so nice to be appreciated!

NHS student Sarah Walton has finished her internship with us at The Bee. I hope you had the chance to read one of her terrific stories that ran in the education section this fall. We all want to wish her the best of luck as she makes her way through the remainder of her senior year.

No need to worry about the historic stretch of sidewalk between the Meeting House and the C.H. Booth Library that has been lifted out of place this week. I am assured that the walkway pieces, some of which were trod by our town’s founders, will be reset. Three hundred years of travel and New England weather can cause some upheaval, so workers from Conor Landscaping are simply releveling the sidewalk to make it safer. As a matter of fact, on Tuesday they hoped that the work would be finished by the time you read this note.

Looking for something to do on these dark and chilly evenings? If you are interested in learning how to play Mah Jongg, a rummy-type game played with tiles instead of cards, an experienced member of the Newtown Mah Jongg Group will teach you. The group is seeking new players for the weekly game that meets from 7 to 9:30 pm in various members’ homes. Call Linda Rogers at 203-270-1488 for more information.

“Dark and chilly” reminds me that I’d rather be cozied up to the fireplace than out and about. But I know you’re counting on my sharp eyes to pick up the goings on around town this coming week. I’ll be pawing at the keyboard, so be sure to…. Read me again.