It’s proof positive: The Newtown Bee June 20, 2014), he received an e-mail from Great Britain asking about one of the featured books. “Specials, Rare And Collectible Books Are A Draw For Book Sale,” is read far and wide. John Renjilian, rare books expert with the Friends of the C.H. Booth Library, shared with me that just one day after the article about the various rare and collectible books for the 2014 Book Sale was published (The Book of Lies had caught the attention of the bookseller specializing in the occult, when he read the article online. “Two days later we had an e-mail from a man in West Virginia asking about the same book,” John says. Pricing collectible and rare books is always a little difficult, but he was beginning to wonder if The Book of Lies was not priced too low, to attract such attention from afar. “The eventual buyer was ironically also an absentee,” says John, sending a proxy to the sale on Saturday, to pay the asking price of $600.

Not only that, but Friends volunteer Toni Earnshaw shares that the Americana Exchange, out of San Francisco, always loves to cover the Newtown book sale. Toni deals every year with the Exchange, which provides information on book collecting and rare books and generally publicizes big auctions, she says, and she tells me they always have high praise for this local newspaper.

Okay, I’m done tooting our horn. Time to toot someone else’s.

Toni and the other adult volunteers at the book sale want to make sure everyone knows how very much the help from high school and college aged youth has been, for the set up and days of the sale. There is nothing like young energy to get a job done!

Kitten Associates, the rescue mission out of Sandy Hook founded by Robin Olson, just celebrated its four-year anniversary. “We’ve saved 325 lives and we just got a finalist nomination for a prestigious national award called “The Petties” held by Dogtime Media for Best Rescue/Cause Blog,” Robin says. Kitten Associates and its companion blog, www.CoveredinCatHair.com, have won dual finalist nominations. CoveredinCatHair, written by Robin, is a finalist in the Best Blog Post for her story about the “Miracle at Bridgeport Animal Control,” where 75 cats were saved from being euthanized when community and local rescues came to their aid. Not only do winners receive a trophy, but they also win a $1,000 donation to their favorite nonprofit rescue. I wonder where Robin’s will go, if Kitten Associates wins…? Robin is hoping everyone in town will vote, every day until August 7, so her foster kittens will benefit from two large donations. To vote visit: http://petties.dogtime.com/finalist-voting.

Lastly, Wallace, the little kitten that Danbury firefighters rescued, with the assistance of Kitten Associates, is in a foster home with four big cats and a dog, having a ball. Check out the feisty little fellow on Robin’s video.

Get ready for a fun-filled evening with friends and family at Dickinson Park. Through collaboration between the Newtown Chamber of Commerce and the Newtown Parks & Rec, a free summer concert and community barbeque will take place Thursday, July 24, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm, at Dickinson Memorial Park Band Shell, 50 Elm Drive. The concert is part of the 6th Annual Summer Concert Series sponsored by Newtown Savings Bank, is free, and appropriate for all ages. Bring a lawn chair or blanket and you will want to bring some cash to buy your dinner from items provided by Butcher’s Best Country Market, the South Main Street store focused on fresh, local products that are antibiotic and hormone free (not to mention, delicious). Classic barbeque food will include burgers, hot dogs, chips, watermelon, soft drinks, and water. Then sit back and enjoy the music of Marybeth Sippin & The Goldrush Band, an acoustic country/bluegrass band with very local roots. The event goes on, rain or shine, so mark off your calendars now.

Here’s another X you can put on your calendar: The Newtown Forest Association 90th Anniversary Year Family Fun Hike takes place at Nettleton Preserve, at Castle Hill Road, Sunday, July 27, at noon. Dr Aaron Coopersmith will lead the walk, showing off the highlights of “The most spectacular view in Newtown!” Feel free to bring the kids and bring a picnic. If you have questions, contact Aaron at aaroncoop@gmail.com. For more information on the Forest Association, visit www.NewtownForestAssociation.org.

If you love the music of Broadway shows like A Chorus Line, Matilda, Les Miserables, Mary Poppins and Newsies, you don’t want to miss the upcoming Sabrina’s Encore Productions’ “Summer Follies 2014.” More than 75 youth cast members from Newtown and the area will perform pieces from a dozen popular Broadway shows, Friday and Saturday, July 25 and 26, at Edmond Town Hall, 45 Main Street. Performances are scheduled for 7:30 pm, Friday, and 2 pm and 7:30 pm, Saturday. Tickets are $15–$18 for adults, and $12–$15 for students; a select number of general admission tickets will be available at the box office prior to each show for $13. For tickets and further information visit www.sabrinasencoreproductions.com.

You call it a lollipop, and mean that hard, ball-shaped candy on a stick. But did you know that the “Lolly Pop” was invented in New Haven, Connecticut? The Bradley Smith Company there stuck slabs of warm, newly made candy onto sticks in 1908, and it is rumored that George Smith named it a Lolly Pop, after a racehorse seen at a fair. He wanted to patent the name, but the Patent Office, according to Wikepedia, discovered the word “lollipop” had been in use for a similar treat since the 1800s. As it turned out, Lolly Pop and lollipop soon became names used interchangeably for a candy on a stick. Why am I sharing this? Because summer makes me think of lazy days and sweet treats… like the lollipop, a candy as long lasting as the days of summer.

I hope your interest in this column is at least as long lasting as a Lolly Pop. Be sure next week to… Read me again.