I never did like mosquitoes. They’re no fun to play with, and they don’t taste good. And now that they’re spreading the West Nile Virus ever closer to yours truly, I have no use for them at all.

So when I heard that there was going to be a meeting of the Health District this week on the topic of the West Nile Virus, I decided to attend. At the meeting, First Selectman Herb Rosenthal pointed out that bats are very helpful in keeping down the mosquito population around homes. Now, I have been know to catch a bat on occasion, but I think from now on, I’m not going to interfere with they as they go about their business.

Herb added that nighthawks – which happen to be the high school’s relatively new mascot – also play a role in ridding the air of skeeters. “We knew what we were doing,” joked Superintendent of Schools John R. Reed, referring to the administration’s decision to remove the Indian as the mascot and replace it with the Nighthawk. I always thought that a cat would be a much better mascot for NHS, but knowing what I do now about the nighthawk, I think I’ll stop being quite so contrary on the issue.

 Town employees held their annual end-of-the-summer picnic last week at Treadwell Park and dozens turned out.

 Among them was Zoning Enforcement Officer Gary Frenette (pictured at right with his fellow town employee Jason Bashura). Earlier in the week, word had gotten around that Gary, a practical joker himself, had never heard of a s’more, that chocolate/marshmallow/Graham cracker campfire treat. Licking their chops, his fellow employees, including Jason, informed Gary that a s’more was nothing more than a pickle with melted cheese. Fortunately, The Bee was on hand to photograph Gary cooking his pickle concoction. Gary caught on to the joke before actually consuming this rather inedible-looking mess.

The members of Christ the King Lutheran Church are inviting everyone to attend their annual Harvest Fair on Saturday, from 9 am to 2 pm. Besides crafts, a tag sale, bake sale, and cookie walk, there will be lots of food, including Paul Schrull’s famous chili.

Caitlin Swetts became engaged last week while on vacation in the Grand Canyon. Her parents, Tom and Cherie, were here in Newtown sitting for, as Tom puts it, the granddog.

What would you do before the ambulance arrived if you saw someone choking or not breathing? Emergency services personnel throughout the area want everyone to have CPR and obstructed airway choking training, so they are planning sessions at 9 am and 1 pm, on Saturday, October 14, at Edmond Town Hall and the Sandy Hook firehouse. Call 744-8118 for more information or to sign up for this program.

 This week we received a letter from John (Jack) A. Cochran in response to an item in “The Way We Were” in the September 8 issue. The item, taken from the September 15, 1950, issue of The Bee, mentioned that four former schoolmates in Newtown High School had taken off from Newtown for a five-day vacation motor and camping trip to Montreal and Quebec. They were Herman Wachsmuth, Harry E. Lake, Jr, Gordon T. Williams, and Mr Cochran.

Those four former schoolmates are now all retired, Mr Cochran wrote, with two of them still living in Newtown, one in Danbury, and one in Massachusetts. Gordon T. Williams has a house on Hattertown Road across the road from the house where he grew up, with one of his brothers living next door and the other just across the street and down the road. Herman Wachsmuth lives on Stadley Rough Road near Lake Candlewood in Danbury, and Harry Lake lives in Centerville on the Cape. Mr Cochran said he has moved from Dodgingtown Road to Brookwood Drive, land that was once farmed and owned by John Visney. He said he and Herman used to hunt there “even though he [Mr Visney] did not approve.”

Have you noticed the new letters on the Edmond Town Hall theatre/movie sign lately? Now people who are driving past the town hall, as well as walkers, can read what is being shown inside the auditorium with greater ease. In the past, the letters caused more than a few drivers to slow down and/or squint as they tried to figure out what movie was being featured each week. Now it’s still important to drive slowly along Main Street, but Tom Mahoney and the board of managers has made it easier to read the writing on the sign.

While the new letters have been used for the last three weeks or so (the first movie was Me, Myself and Irene), one problem is still being worked out: Now that the letters are so much larger, it isn’t as easy to get all of the movie times, rating, running time, etc, into that small space any longer. Tom is working on that, too.

 By now, almost everyone has seen the famous Chihuahua on the Taco Bell TV commercials. Well, the Taco Bell dog’s lookalike was seen outside the building department offices earlier this week. One report even had the little dog chasing Bob Hickey down the hallway.

I walked into the kitchenette at the town offices at Canaan House at Fairfield Hills this week and was mortified. The hulking candy machine was missing, leaving a large cavity in the kitchenette, no pun intended. Thankfully, I am told that the disappearance of this sweet old toy is only temporary and that it will soon be replaced by a similarly saccharine device designed to empty our pockets and fuel visits to the dentist.

Well, good old “Newton” strikes again. People just can’t seem to get it right. This month’s airing of “The Bruce Jenner Story” on E! television’s The True Hollywood Story referred to Mr Jenner spending two years in “Newton, Connecticut” before heading off to college and eventually to Olympic decathlon glory in 1976.

Brendan Carson, a 1989 Newtown High School graduate, called me while he was driving back to Newtown from Alaska this week. Brendan is moving back to Newtown after spending the past year there as a river raft guide. Brendan recently completed writing a novel called Tug of War, a fictional love story based in South Korea. Brendan will be back in town next week and will be signing copies of his book October 7 at the Red Rooster. Brendan was in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, when he finally contacted The Bee office Wednesday afternoon. The 4,500-mile trip should end in Newtown by the weekend.

I talked to Joe Borst earlier this week. He is finally back at home after spending a week in the hospital due to injuries suffered during an accident at his home September 15. Mr Borst was standing on a ladder removing shingles from his roof when he lost his balance and fell. He landed awkwardly on top of a porch railing, rupturing blood vessels that lead to his large intestine. Joe was rushed into emergency surgery where surgeons repaired his injuries.

“It felt like I got hit by a 250-pound linebacker without any equipment on,” Joe said Wednesday.

Socko’s Haunted Yard will be back this year, after being missing from Newtown for the past three years. The Yard will be located behind the Botsford Fire Department this year. Socko is looking for people to help build the Yard. If you are interested, hours are on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, beginning at 6 pm, and on weekends starting at 1 pm. He can be reached at 270-1397. You can bet I’ll be pawing around to see what the Yard will look like.

The interview room at the police station has been repainted a soothing tint of blue-gray. The improvement work was done to repair some superficial damage on a wall. The space now exudes a sense of calm – unless, of course, you’re a suspect.

You are free to go on your own recognizance now, but I’ll be perpetrating my next column in seven day, so…

Read me again.