I love a good kitty story. A young golden and white cat appeared at the residence of a home near NMS one day a couple weeks back. Deciding he would have more fun living in a barn and around other animals, Patty, who lives there, dropped him at a friend’s farm on Toddy Hill Road. During a quick call to her friend days later, she learned the cat had disappeared, but, “I came home one day, and here he was,” Patty said. “He was back. I couldn’t believe it.” Apparently he prefers the city life to the country life. “I am keeping him here now, and he has a little bed,” Patty tells me, for now. Need a purring kitty to keep your lap warm this winter? Call her at 304-1203 and ask for Nesclick.

Looks like Bobby Bobcat from Pumpkin Hill is making his way south for the winter. The Wellman family took this photo of a furry visitor in their backyard at 33 Boggs Hill Road last Saturday.  At least, I hope it’s the same one…. I’d hate to think that bobcats are as plentiful as deer in Newtown.

I have no doubt at all that it was the inspiring rendition of the National Anthem by Newtown’s 13-year-old Taylor Varga at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs that helped the UConn Women’s Basketball Team to dominate No. 4 ranked Oklahoma last week. Taylor crooned the “Star Spangled Banner” a cappella, and the top-ranked UConn Women tallied up an impressive 106-78 final score. Coincidence? I think not.

Democratic Registrar of Voters LeReine Frampton is used to counting thousands of local voters, who this year helped earn Newtown the 2008 Democracy Cup for the highest voter turnout for a town its size in Connecticut. But just a few days after celebrating this honor with fellow Registrar Karin Aurelia and Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, the Framptons were counting again. This time it was six beautiful little Cocker Spaniel puppies. Even as a feline I must begrudgingly admit that congratulations are in order in recognition of the Framptons’ new arrivals.

I guess they were competing with Booth reference librarian Beryl Harrison, who sent me this (OK… adorable) photo of her eight border collie puppies. The little canines were all snuggled down for a nap in an inspiring circle, Beryl said, so she just nudged them a bit, added a red bow and — Voila! Instant Christmas card. Congratulations to all of our puppy grandparents.

After spending a few hours stationed outside The Big Y last weekend collecting food and donations for Newtown and Redding food pantries, members of Newtown’s police department will shift their operations to Sand Hill Plaza this weekend. Officers will be conducting a toy drive outside the TJ Maxx on Sunday, December 14, from 10 am to 2 pm, collecting donations of new toys for needy children. The police have made it easy for last-minute shoppers to run into the department store, plunk down a few dollars, and make a donation for Stuff A Cop Car with Toys For Tots.

Middle Gate Brownie Troop 157 recently spent one of its meetings creating ornaments that will help Newtown Junior Women’s Club with its annual Tag-A-Gift program. Each year around this time, NJWC receives an anonymous wish list from The Newtown Fund, with just a child’s age, gender, and gift wish on it. Each wish is then attached to a handmade ornament, which is then hung on a tree. This year, the ornaments have been hung at Newtown Savings Bank (Sand Hill Plaza and on Main Street), Union Savings Bank, and Wesley Learning Center. I’m offering a reminder that anyone interested in taking part in Tag-A-Gift can still do so. Tags should be picked up by Saturday from any of those three locations, because the unwrapped gifts need to be returned to the location where the tag is picked up by Monday, December 15. For additional information contact Marya Gaiser at 426-6275.

It seems I almost caused a family feud in the Alexander family a couple of weeks ago, when I must have fallen asleep at the keyboard and failed to mention that it was not only Marilyn Alexander’s sons who had feted her at Edmond Town Hall on November 1 for her (I cannot tell a lie) 70th birthday, but her daughter Kathryn and daughters-in-law Connie and Gabriela, as well. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. I hope this mends the fences now!

Prrrrrrfect! The Rotary Club’s pancake breakfast was delicious I hear. Utilizing the brand new griddle, volunteers made the most of the kitchen and pantry adjoining the Alexandria Room. Lines were out the door and down the stairs where scents of syrup and sizzling butter settled. No one was happier that Board of Managers Chairman Jay Gill, who had been hoping to see the kitchen refurbished, bringing the catering space and banquet hall next door back to its full potential. But does he take credit? No. He hands congratulations to managers’ member James Juliano. “Jim championed it from beginning to end,” he said. Mr Juliano spent long days working with contractors — many local tradesmen and business owners — and literally hands-on, he saw the kitchen reshaped into something modern, up to code, and a benefit to the town hall and community.

I ran into Colleen Poundstone last weekend while checking out the Christmas trees and other goodies at the Sandy Hook Fire & Rescue main station. She told me that son Derek — The World’s Strongest Man — will be competing again on Christmas Day and we can watch it from the comfort of home. ESPN will be broadcasting a strongman competition that day that will begin at noon, and if you want to see it again (or miss the live broadcast) it will be rebroadcast on ESPN a few days later.

The only thing I’m going to be lifting is my head from my pillow. I hope you are strong enough to open the pages of the paper next week to… Read me again.