Move over, all you municipal pansies and petunias, the perennials are coming! The Town and Country Garden Club of Newtown has begun its yearly planting program for the town’s three traffic islands, and members say motorists who stop at the light at the intersection of Queen Street and Church Hill Road should watch for changes in the island’s plants and flowers as the weeks go by.

Club member Margareta Kotch was spied Tuesday morning unloading rose bushes from her car, and she stood ready with shovel in hand to dig the holes. “I’m waiting for [club president] Corina Prokai to show up,” Ms Kotch said. “I don’t want to dig the holes in the wrong places.” She said the rose bushes should prove hardy in extreme heat as well as cold. They were donated to the club by Chuck Newman, owner of Planters’ Choice Nursery. Mr Newman’s previous gifts of spirea bushes, peonies, and ornamental grasses are already in place. In addition to providing colorful pink flowers throughout the summer, Ms Kotch hopes the rose bushes will be just as beautiful in the fall when their fruits, called rose hips, ripen.

It was not all fun for the Town & Country Garden Club volunteers as they spruced up the traffic island at Queen Street and Church Hill Road. They were stunned at the arrogance of a few litterbugs. It is bad enough that Newtown’s roads continue to have litter strewn along their sides, but even worse when someone is blatant enough to throw litter out their car window while someone is right there, working on beautifying the ground. One driver stopped at the light had the audacity to toss a cigarette butt into the area the club members had just cleaned up.

While driving in the Queen Street/Glover Avenue area on Tuesday about 9 am, I encountered so much traffic, I thought I was traveling through midtown Manhattan in the morning rush. Not only were students arriving via buses and private autos at Newtown Middle School and leaving the middle school via buses for Reed Intermediate School, but voters also were arriving at the middle school to cast ballots in the town budget referendum. Perhaps Newtown’s next big capital project should be a subway system.

The donut drive-through held by St John’s Episcopal Church in Sandy Hook is getting national attention. The current issue of Country Living magazine includes five photos and an article about the annual activity, which was held last weekend and will be repeated on the first Saturday in June, July, and August from 9 am to noon. The church members sell nearly 1,000 donuts and beignets each time, with the money going to the church’s charitable programs.

Gordon and Lina Williams took a trip California last week to welcome their newest grandchild, Riley Blomsterand. Mr Williams reported that his daughter Cara and grandson are doing just fine.

Marcy Becker says her son, Leif, who is with the Southbury Academy of Karate, is raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society by trying to set a new world record by breaking 500 boards in one minute with his hands. So far Lief has done 200 boards in 20 seconds and he feels confident that he can best the existing record of 415 boards. Anyone who would like to help sponsor Leif in the May 24 competition at Teiyko Post University, and help a good cause, should send checks made out to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to Marcy Becker at Edmond Town Hall, 45 Main Street, Newtown 06470.

When the members of Newtown Spay and Neuter Association held their annual luncheon and auction at My Place restaurant on Monday, the bidding got very spirited. At one point Trudy Haberstroh was bidding against herself. Trudy is a good sport, however, as is her son, who recently donated $100 to help the nonprofit organization’s work in the greater Newtown area. The auction featured new and slightly used items donated by the members and, combined with the raffle, raised $268.

The workcampers from Trinity Church will be holding their annual flower sale and car wash on Mother’s Day weekend to raise money for their June project of helping to repair homes of the less fortunate. The hours for both events will be from 10 am to 3 pm on Saturday. The flower sale will continue on Sunday from 9 am to noon, rain or shine.

Organizers of the multitude of events around town let out a huge sigh of relief when Saturday morning dawned with clear skies and very comfortable temperatures. The 2nd Annual Sandy Hook Festival was not going to be postponed to a rain date, Mary Fellows reported during the week –– all of the events held in Sandy Hook Center would have been moved indoors. Fortunately that backup plan didn’t have to be put to use. I’m sure a number of ball games and tag sales also benefited from the good weather.

Also thrilled to wake up to a gorgeous day was Bee proofreader Maureen Collins, who was married to Randy Natale on May 3 at Sacred Heart Church in Danbury.

 Don’t forget the mail carriers’ food drive on Saturday. Get a plastic bag, put some nonperishable food in it, and place it by your mailbox by 9 am Saturday morning, and the mail carriers and other volunteers will pick it up for distribution to food pantries in the area. This is the 11th year Newtown’s carriers have sponsored the food drive, and this year they are hoping to break last year’s record collection of 1,200 pounds of food. Remember, no glass jars or bottles –– they break too easily.

The boss tells me I break too easily, but I’m going to take a break now anyway. But I’ll be back next week, so be sure to…

Read me again.