Is it too soon to start reminding everyone that daylight saving time is just around the corner? We jump the clocks ahead one hour Sunday morning, March 9, and linger in the extended daylight hours until November 2 this year. I guess I can sacrifice that one hour of sleep to gain more fun-time at the end of the day, especially since we actually gained an entire day this year. Shouldn’t February 29 be a universal holiday every four years?

If you can’t make it to Broadway, make a point of seeing one of the school musicals coming up in the spring. Historically, these plays have given Broadway a run for the money in the talent, scenery, and production, and no doubt this year’s selections will also be crowd-pleasers. Newtown High School will produce Hello, Dolly! Thursday, March 13, through Saturday, March 15, at 7:30 pm, and on Sunday, March 16, at 2:30 pm. At Newtown Middle School, get ready for a treat when the drama club there presents Beauty and the Beast, Friday, March 7, and Saturday, March 8, at 7 pm, and Sunday, March 9, at 2 pm. In May, look for the Reed Intermediate School drama students in High School Musical, May 16 through 18. And you won’t get caught off guard by any backstage hand strikes or writer’s strikes, either. With these kids’ dedication, the show must go on.

Before all the snow fell last week, I thought maybe I would see police patrol officer Steve Ketchum back on his black-and-chrome Harley-Davidson Electra Glide motorcycle for some traffic patrol work. Now I guess we won’t see our own Heck’s Angel until it gets a little warmer and the sand is swept up off the streets.

Town Clerk Debbie Aurelia has an intriguing arrangement atop her desk. A broad, tan ceramic vessel holding a shock of reedlike plants lends a sense of the Orient to the room. I suppose it lends a calming air to harried tax payers who visit the office.

Not everyone is looking for calm, though. I’m sure there are plenty of people hoping for a little “Jazzmatazz” in their lives, and C.H. Booth Library will be the place to find that Saturday, March 1, when Newtown’s own Bruce Degen and Manhattanite Stephanie Calmenson will be there at 1 pm to promote their newest children’s book of that name. The illustrator and the author will spend about an hour talking about the making of Jazzmatazz! and other children’s books, and then remain on hand to sign copies of their books. The program is geared for those age 5 years and up and no registration is needed. I’m going to get there early enough that I don’t have to huddle beneath a chair, I think. Do you think that Bruce and Stephanie will be inspired to write Catmatazz if they catch sight of me?

Jeff McGill and his family spent part of vacation week skiing at Sugar Bush in Vermont — the only week that rain and ice put a damper on otherwise near-perfect conditions that the area has enjoyed all season. They still managed to have a great time slipping and sliding down the mountain, though, he said, and he even had a chat one evening with former Newtowner Phill Truckle, who is now the innkeeper at Tucker Hill Inn in Waitsfield.

I can never resist looking at HolidayInsights.com, where I find out things like the upcoming March 3 holiday, If Pets Had Thumbs Day. Or how about March 9, Panic Day? (Only if you forget to put your clock forward one hour.) March 14 is National Potato Chip Day, not to be confused with National Chip and Dip Day on the 23rd. Apparently it takes three weeks to recover from Panic Day when you can celebrate I Am In Control Day on the 30th. Ah, so many holidays, so little time to celebrate….

I would definitely celebrate if you marked next week to… Read me again.