Are you ready for Halloween? Plenty of homes up and down Main Street are decked out for this one-day holiday, and ready to greet the goblins that swarm the street, October 31. Don’t forget that Dental Associates in Newtown (11 Church Hill Road) is sponsoring a candy buyback, Tuesday, November 3. If you were the object of too much generosity on Halloween, Dental Associates will pay $2 a pound for wrapped Halloween candy, up to ten pounds per child. Stop in between noon and 2 pm for payback on your bounty. If you are in Southbury, Smile Spot (250 Main Street South) is also doing a post-Halloween candy buyback. Earn $1 per pound, up to five pounds of Halloween candy and know that troops overseas will appreciate your sharing the wealth.

These pumpkins pictured at right sit outside Lorenzo’s Restaurant at the end of Riverside Road, as of last week, when residents Dennie Dyess, Merih Tani, and Chris Giglio indulged their carving mood, days before Halloween.

Great news has come this way from Fred Ferris. Fred has been patiently waiting for a match to come up, allowing him to have a kidney transplant. In the meantime, he has been promoting the paired exchange kidney donor program. His good will has paid off. “I got the call on October 14. I will be getting a new kidney on November 10, at Yale. Someone came in and wanted to donate and I am a match,” Fred tells me. “It is still a paired exchange donation as my paired exchange donor will donate to someone else,” he says, adding that most paired exchange transplants are started by a random person off the street. I think I have to give the Good Egg Award to the anonymous kidney donor whose generosity will turn Fred’s life around. (To find out more about Fred and the paired exchange program, read the story Nancy Crevier wrote for The Bee, “Paired Exchange Kidney Program Opens Up Possibilities For Transplant Hopefuls,” in July) Kidney donor, you are a super Good Egg!

I couldn’t help but admire the FiberWorks display that has been at C.H. Booth Library this past month, and hope you didn’t miss it. The amazing, artistic fiber and quilt pieces were stunning. In particular, I couldn’t help but notice the triptych by Paula Walker, “Fabric Entomology,” one of which is… a bee.

St Rose School is inviting fans of the princesses in Frozen and of Captain America to visit its Gathering Hall for a special Meet & Greet/Story Time event next month. On Saturday, November 7, from 10 to 11:30 am, all are welcome to meet Elsa and Anna, from Disney’s Frozen, who will be joined by the Marvel Comics superhero Steve Rogers in his full patriotic superhero costume. There will be photo opportunities, story time, and light refreshments. A Scholastic Book Fair will also be going on at that time, and parents will be welcome to shop while their children enjoy visits in the hall at 40 Church Hill Road.

Speaking of Captain America, Newtown High School celebrated its Spirit Week this week, and main office secretary Debi Modzelewski shared the photo at right (and some others, equally patriotic) with us. Students Julia Wiberg, Sara O’Rorke, Caitlin Moss, Cameron Vazquez, and Hannah Makris showed off their pride for America Day, Wednesday, in some creative red, white, and blue.

All that spirit will come in handy, as The South-West Conference playoffs will begin for Newtown High’s soccer, field hockey, and volleyball teams this Friday, Saturday, and Monday. Check the sports section for details. Any kind of playoff that involves swatting balls around sounds like fun to me.

We have had some beautiful autumn photos shared on The Bee Instagram Feed at #viewfromnewtown this week. But we all know that Newtown is beautiful any time of year, and full of fun (and wacky) moments, as well. Let others see what you see in our hometown — post your pictures at #viewfromnewtown, too.

Don’t forget that it’s election day in Newtown this coming Tuesday, November 3. Election candidate profiles have been put together for every candidate, in case you are still in a quandary as to who should get your vote. Check it out!

The roads in town are sure an improvement in recent weeks, over what showed up this spring when the ravages of winter were apparent. Most of the wheel-jarring potholes have disappeared beneath slick, new road surfaces, improving not only the infrastructure, but attitudes, too. I just hope Mother Nature isn’t planning to provide us with another road-wrecking winter. You know what else would improve the roadways? Getting rid of some of the litter. I know that Newtown’s “Lose the Litter” campaign takes place each spring, but it might be nice to get rid of the bottles, bags, and what-have-you that has gathered over the summer, before the snow flies. PS: Please don’t toss trash out the car windows…

Along with trash, I’ll be picking up as much news as I can gather this week, so be sure to… Read me again.