It’s not three, but four, that’s the lucky charm for the Mattera family, with 4-year-old Maggie winning last week’s Birthday Cake from The Bee. Maggie’s older brothers, Matthew and Christopher, were also cake winners — on their fourth birthdays, as well, says mom, Kristen. Interestingly enough, each has picked up the cake at a different bakery: Matthew’s came from Luigi’s in Trumbull, Christopher’s from Andrea’s on Queen Street, and Maggie will devour a cake donated by DOrazio Sisters Bakery in Plaza South on Route 25.

We understand that Newtown’s Town Clerk and Fire Marshal became engaged last weekend. Congratulations to Debbie Aurelia and Bill Halstead!

Have plans for lunch this Sunday? Newtown United Methodist Church on Church Hill Road will host a Soup Luncheon beginning at 11 am, in its community hall. A suggested donation will get you at least eight soups from which to choose, NUMC Mountains of Hope team member Don Singer says. Proceeds from the event will help the team, which will be returning to Haiti in January. There are also openings and possible scholarships for those who may want to join the group, said Don. He can be reached for additional information about Sunday’s lunch and the team’s work at 203-521-1343.

I think Allie Kost, a Hawley Elementary School student, is pretty dreamy. I like her artwork that my sharp eye spied in the school’s hallway this week. I’m sure that dreams about cats are sweet dreams.

Maybe you’ve been dreaming of being reunited with this handsome fellow. The big orange and white cat was found in the Autumn Ridge and Butterfield section of Newtown. A compassionate resident brought him to the Brian J. Silverleib Animal Care & Control Center in Newtown, after finding him in the garage. Please contact the shelter on Old Farm Road (off of Trades Lane, behind Reed Intermediate School) at 203-426-6900 if you know where he belongs.

Fifth grader Maddie Stites is planning a Second Annual Kids Walk for Dogs as part of her organization called Kids Lend A Paw (KLAP), Saturday, November 3, at 11 am, at Fairfield Hills, starting at the trailhead at Mile Hill Side. Maddie tells me, “We ask for a $5 donation per kid and dog, and for adults if they could please bring a dog supply that ASPCA needs like canned food, towels, toys, collars, leashes, laundry detergent, etc. There will also be a raffle for a $100 gift card to local Newtown restaurants. Last year we raised $400, but this year I hope to raise $500!”

Predictions are beginning to come in for what the big costumes for Halloween 2012 will be. We have heard Tan Mom, any of The Avengers, Honey Boo Boo, Big Bird, and zombies may be among this year’s top picks. The Bee will be open for trick or treaters next week, and we are looking forward to seeing who and what shows up in town this year. We will be handing out candy and taking photos beginning at 5:15 Wednesday afternoon. See you then.

If you want to give your costume a trial run, managers at Edmond Town Hall have announced that anyone who arrives in costume for Saturday’s 1 pm matinee for Paranorman will be treated to a free small popcorn.

Members of Trinity Episcopal Church collect and distribute Halloween candy to Main Street residents each year. Residents are invited (encouraged!) to drop donations of bagged candy at the church any time between now and Sunday morning. Drop boxes have been set up in the front and rear entrances of the church, at 36 Main Street. On the afternoon of October 28, members of all ages of Trinity will gather in the church’s John Beach Room to sort, bag, and deliver candy along Main Street. In the past, residents of that area have welcomed thousands of costumed children to their door. It’s only fair that those who plan on partaking in one of the town’s largest unofficial events bring some candy to the party.

If you collect too much candy on Halloween (is there such a thing??!) there are a few options for what to do, come November 1. Dental Associates will be doing its 10th Annual Candy Buyback this year. Children can bring in up to ten pounds of candy, for which they receive $2 per pound from The Tooth Fairy and a lesson in good dental hygiene. They can then write a letter to a serviceperson overseas as part of Operation Gratitude, a California-based organization that sends (candy) care packages to service personnel. This year’s event will be Tuesday, November 6, with the Newtown office at 11 Church Hill Road accepting candy between 9 and 11 am. Also participating in Operation Gratitude is The Smile Spot Children’s Dentistry, owned by Dr Stephen Kest and located at 250 Main Street South in Southbury. Dr Kest accepts up to five pounds of candy per child, at $1 a pound, and then forwards to Operation Gratitude. Children can send a message to troops in the Armed Forces, and be entered into a raffle for an iPod.

There may not be an official reward for the return of the truk — the formal name for the decorative ball at the top of a flagpole — that came off the Main Street flagpole last week, but there is at least one reward being offered. Pizza Palace co-owner Dila Dushku has announced that the person who finds and turns in the 16-inch-diameter ornament that went missing October 16 will be thanked with dinner for two at her Church Hill Road restaurant.

Are you wondering who recently repaired the bench near the Chase Building at the corner of Main and West Streets? I have good word that it was the Gaston guys, Jim and son James, who took it upon themselves to make the sitting place usable again. Is there a better view of what goes on in the center of town — not to mention the flagpole vs car skirmishes? I don’t think so. Thanks, Jim and James— You are Good Eggs! I’m going to keep on “trukkin.” But even if I don’t turn up the truk, I’ll turn up some news or at least a better joke. So be sure next week to… Read me again.