People calling up The Bee to place classifieds this week probably looked out their windows for thunderheads, but all the rumbling they heard over the phone wasn't from the weather. The Bee initiated a new popcorn maker this week, which has taken up
People calling up The Bee to place classifieds this week probably looked out their windows for thunderheads, but all the rumbling they heard over the phone wasnât from the weather. The Bee initiated a new popcorn maker this week, which has taken up permanent residence in the classified department. The theatre-style maker rumbles away a couple of times a day, churning out an endless supply of free popcorn for employees and customers. So the next time youâre in the area, stop by the office and have some popcorn.
Although the boss insists that there will be no charge for the popcorn, Iâve been thinking about setting up a toothpick concession stand â $1 a pick!
Sarah Burns has solved part of the mystery of the missing photographs but she still doesnât know where the ones are that she took of her children. Mrs Burns dropped film off at the Newtown CVS store in September and when she picked up the finished prints, they werenât of her kids â they were obviously of a young coupleâs wedding. She took the photos back to CVS and left them, hoping that someone would claim them â and return hers. She kept checking back at the store, but the wedding photos sat there unclaimed.
Finally Mrs Burns picked up the photos and brought them to The Bee, hoping someone could identify the church or the restaurant shown in some of the views. No luck there, but the priest looked suspiciously like the Rev Bob Weiss of St Rose. Sure enough, it was Father Weiss.
It turned out that the brideâs uncle had taken the photos and dropped the film off at CVS. When he went to pick it up, he was told that his photos hadnât turned out. He was disappointed, but he never thought to question it. Father Bob made sure the family got their wedding photos, but he hasnât been able to help Sarah Burns. No one knows where her photos went.
Gordon Williams has been hobbling around on crutches for the past week ever since he and Phil Kotch went hiking on a section of the Appalachian Trail near Kent. Gordon was fording a brook, stepping on the rocks, when his foot slipped and down he went. His dog, Molly Pitcher, was so excited seeing her master lying in the water that she jumped in on top of him. Dog and master were disentangled finally, but Gordon knew he was in trouble. Still he says he was lucky that the spill happened where it did because he was only about a 12-minute hobble from help, at a point where the trail came very near the highway. When he thinks about some of the other places that he and Phil have hiked, and how far away help would have been, it makes him count his blessings.
Those entering Newtown in Botsford may be a bit confused these days thanks to the newly-erected Newtown Insurance sign that actually says, âNewton Insurance.â
I guess those sign makers will never get it right.
In an age of e-mail and cellular phones, technology cannot displace the powerful message of the college care package. Emily Warner knows that and said as much when she received a care package from her parents, Dr Neal and Diane Warner, at Skidmore College where she is a junior studying education and Spanish. Emily and other students were featured in an Albany Times-Union article that told how packaged greetings from home still brighten their day. Emily is shown in a photo opening her box of cheer and examining the contents: an orange plastic pumpkin light that sticks on a window, bright orange marshmallow pumpkin puffs (a takeoff on those familiar bright yellow Easter chicks), clear Christmas-style lights with small orange jack-oâlanterns, and Cheez-Its (Emilyâs favorite). The Warner family communicates by e-mail, phone and letters, and squeezes in a visit about every six weeks, but it was still an undeniable treat for Emily to get the brown cardboard box with its bubble wrap and Cheez-Its.
Shawn Rosenthal was busy this past Halloween, but he did not collect that traditional trick-or-treat fare. The high school freshman spent most of that Sunday night going door-to-door and collecting spare change. At the end of the night, Shawn had a large coffee can teeming with pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters. He was out to turn a buck, but not for himself; Shawn donated his collection to Interact, a high school service club, which has just concluded its Penny Wars fundraiser. The contest was to see which high school class could earn the most money⦠in pennies. The proceeds, about $500, are slated to go to the purchase of an affordable house for a family in Haiti. Interact can now count on some additional money, thanks to Shawnâs selfless effort to help the clubâs fundraiser.
If the magnets on your refrigerator are jumping off for dear life and the smell inside brings tears to your eyes, the home economists at Whirlpool House Appliances want to remind you that next Wednesday, November 17, is annual Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day. Itâs a good idea to clean out the fridge in that crucial week before Thanksgiving. Itâs time to free the dust bunnies from the condenser coils under the refrigerator and remove all USOs (unidentifiable shriveled objects) that are lurking in plastic containers and foil packages. They may have evolved into other life forms so if you canât remember when you put it in, take it out. If there are still odors, put a cookie sheet full of baking soda in there for a week. A bowl of freshly ground coffee or a small bag of activated charcoal also will do the trick.
Mark Cooper wants everyone to know that the Newtown Health District now has a Web site where health-related information such as food recalls and restaurant inspection scores will be posted. Check out the site at http://home.earthlink.net/~newtownhd/.
Nancy Wyman, the state comptroller, says that letters accompanying the rebate checks sent to more than 2 million residents beginning in September did not contain the telephone numbers that should be used by anyone who has questions. The mailing of the checks is expected to be completed by the end of December. So if you donât receive a check, and wonder why not, or have any questions, call the state Department of Revenue Services at 800/382-9463 or 860/297-5962.
Communion at the Congregational Church seemed to go extra long this past Sunday morning. It turns out the ushers had run out of grape juice halfway through handing it out. Someone finally found an extra can of juice and the communion continued.
I, for one, never run out of juice, so be sure toâ¦
Read me again.