Date: Fri 02-Oct-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

Mountain-chestnuts

Full Text:

TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN

With the days getting shorter and the nights getting longer, office work

begins once again to take on a timelessness to it. Many people are now heading

off to work in the dark and by the time they get home, eat dinner, and watch

the evening news, it's dark again. It's easy to get disconnected from the

outside world, unless some of it happens to come in through the door.

That's what happened last week when Julia Wasserman showed up in the office

with a bucket of chestnuts she had just scooped up in her yard. Of course

everyone had to weigh in with recommended roasting techniques, many of which

included open fires. We stopped short of setting a stack of papers on fire,

though, thinking the boss might object, so we had to improvise, using the

office microwave. After slitting the shell of the chestnuts, we waved them for

a little over a minute in a container with a little water in the bottom. It

wasn't exactly like the New York street vendors, but the chestnuts weren't bad

that way.

Anybody got some apples they want to bring in? Maybe we can microwave a pie.

Mae Schmidle is sure appreciative of America and apple pie these days. She's

just back from her tour of China, and she says she thinks she lost about five

pounds. She isn't sure whether that's from walking "about 75 miles a day" or

trying to learn to eat with chopsticks.

The thunderstorm that rolled through Newtown Sunday evening created some real

excitement on Berkshire Road when lightning hit a big pine tree at the Scheid

residence and literally blew the tree apart. Mary Beth Scheid said the noise

was so loud that for an instant she thought it must have hit the house. A

chunk of the tree even sailed across the road into the Carney's driveway.

Fortunately, except for the tree, the lightning didn't do any other damage.

For the first two weeks of the football season, Tom Zamuda and the Newtown

High School culinary program have been manning the grills at the concession

stand. This week, however, they can't make it, so the Blue & Gold Booster Club

has recruited a long list of rookie chefs to take over the spatulas. They'll

be busy Friday night as a big crowd is expected for homecoming against

Brookfield. Here's a list of the men who will be behind the grills: Bill

Garbarino, Chris Hoffman, Tom Curran, Jim Roodhuyzen, Larry Isler, James

McCullough, Dave Bell, Bill Vollmer and Phil Carroll.

If you're out on Sunday afternoon, and the kids want to visit a firehouse, the

Sandy Hook firehouse will be open to the public as part of Fire Prevention

Week. Next door, at the Newtown Senior Center, the American Legion Auxiliary

will be holding an open house from 2 to 5 pm to explain about the many

activities and projects of the Legion's women's auxiliary. There's no cost or

obligation to join and there will be plenty of free refreshments.

Town Clerk Cindy Curtis Simon and her staff were all excited Wednesday

afternoon about their plans for dinner. Cindy, Sue Shpunt, Blithe Dotson and

Jean Salvatore were heading off after work to Southbury, where this year's

annual Connecticut Town Clerks Association meeting was being held. Then they

were going by bus to Waterville, where they would catch a train, then a

trolley to go to the Vi-Arms restaurant in Torrington. Afterwards, they were

going to reverse the route and take a trolley, train, bus and car back home.

Get well wishes to library custodian Jim Kearns who was in Danbury Hospital

this week.

Residents living alongside Lake Lillinonah should be sharpening their saws and

oiling their power drills if they need to make any lakeside repairs. Northeast

Utilities plans to begin lowering the lake's level by seven feet starting

October 23, weather conditions permitting. Residents can then make any needed

repairs to structures such as docks along the water's edge. On October 30, the

lake will start rising to its regular level.

You've heard of carrying coals to Newcastle; or carrying owls to Athens. Well,

there are no more owls in Athens -- but thousands upon thousands of cats. On

their return trip from Athens, the other day, Fred and Ellen Parrella observed

a 6'3", 240 lb Greek carrying a small container with a nine-week-old kitten.

He attracted everyone's attention asking if he was allowed to bring a kitten

into the US. He said he had inquired at the US Embassy in Athens and they were

not able to give him an answer. At immigration at JFK Airport some children,

standing in line and waiting, were even more surprised to learn that the man

had paid money to purchase the kitten and that its name was "Greed" (in Greek,

of course). He was last seen on the American side of the immigration line,

kitten and all.

Dr Thomas Draper is on vacation in Spain this week resting up for what should

be a very busy next couple of months. First, his son-in-law, Congressman Jim

Maloney will be seeking re-election to the Fifth District in November. Then,

in December, the long time pediatrician will be retiring after many, many

years of caring for Newtown's youths.

Congratulations go out to Newtown High School student Chris Hubert who

received his Eagle Scout badge this past weekend. Chris received the honor for

his many accomplishments in scouting, including the creation of the memorial

garden at the Congregational Church, where he serves as a deacon.

Due to recent weather conditions, the vivid display of leaves changing color

doesn't seem to be in the cards for this fall. So instead of the intense reds,

yellows and oranges normally seen in this part of the country in October, we

can expect a much more subdued range of color like tan, beige, brown and muted

reds. It may not a dramatic display of fall color, but a subtle one.

If subtle just isn't your style, however, I suggest you come back here next

week and...

Read me again.