The Newtown Bee received by mail this week a donation of unsolicited lapel pins commemorating 12/14. The pins, in the shape of the state of Connecticut and marked with the number 26, came from a resident of California. The lapel pins are being shared with anyone wishing one, at the office of The Newtown Bee, 5 Church Hill Road. There is no charge.

No need to worry if you are still seeking the perfect holiday gift for someone. Just take a ride around our town and you will find many stores with wonderful options. From toys for the youngest to tools for the handyperson, Newtown businesses offer special gift ideas - and you save time by shopping locally. (I'm heading down to Your Healthy Pet this week, as a matter of fact, to find gifts for all of my canine and feline friends.)

You may notice

coverage of the Toys For Tots campaign within the pages of this week's paper and on our website. One of the organizers for the Newtown Police Department's Stuff-A-Cruiser drives for the US Marine Corps Reserve Toys For Tots program, Matthew Wood reports, "The Toys for Tots toy drive was very successful. We had a lot of volunteers this year and a lot of people came out to donate toys. It was one of our most successful years and we had a lot of help from T.J. Maxx and The Toy Tree to make it successful." I think there are going to be some happy children this holiday season.

I see that residents

Lynn and Larry Williams are offering "A Gift Of Music," Saturday, December 17, at 3 pm. All are invited to join them at the Newtown Meeting House.

Do you or someone you know want to be featured in

The Newtown Bee's Snapshot? That's the profile of a Newtown or Sandy Hook resident that appears each week on page 2 of the paper, as well as online. Submit names and contact information to alissa@thebee.com - and be sure to check with your nominee first, as to whether he/she is interested. It's a fun way to get to know our many neighbors.

I reminded you last week, and I'll remind you again: if you like cake, and you're a kid, make sure someone sends in your photo, age, birthdate, and a phone number to

eliza@thebee.com for our Birthday Cake column. You could win a cake from DOrazio Sisters Bakery.

Head O' Meadow Elementary School Secretary Laurie Martinelli and Administrative Assistant Toni Baranowski pointed me to some special reading material this week when I was in for a visit. Ms Martinelli tells me she scans The Bee each week for news about their students. When she finds those special names and faces, she clips out the pictures and stories. She then adds them to a collection. Each year a new bound book of HOM Students in the News! is added to the school's front lobby seating area. Thank you for reading, Ms Martinelli (and hopefully all you current and future Head O' Meadow students).

Dr Laura Nowacki this week shared this photo of a beautiful journal cover drawn by 19-year-old daughter Micaela Nowacki. This is really an instance where pictures speak louder than words. Thank you, to the Nowackis.

About five years ago, The Bee published a story about Prospect resident Mike Anderson's plans (ultimately successful) to have a Confederate headstone erected in the Bethel Cemetery by the Department of Veterans Affairs for his great-great-great-uncle John T. Pearce - who just happens to be the founder of The Newtown Bee. This week, we received a note from Mr Anderson, who has come across a few more bits of information about Mr Pearce.

"In 1904, it was reported in the Danbury

News-Times that John T. Pearce had reconnected with his childhood sweetheart in Norfolk, Va., they rekindled their interests and married, both at the age of 65 and it was a 2nd marriage for both, also," he writes to us. "They removed to Norfolk, Va. to live." Mr Anderson is still trying to find why Mr Pearce then returned to Connecticut around 1906, seemingly alone. "At the same time he was in Norfolk, his son, Marcus C. Pearce, was there involved in his own small businesses," Mr Anderson has discovered. And that "T" in his name? "John T. Pearce's middle name is Tarleton, on the marriage records."

Last week's Bee article on Lorenzo's also brought up some memories for Mr Anderson, "a place my family would eat at many times in the mid-sixties when we lived in Woodbury and my mother worked for the Fabric Fire Hose Company in Sandy Hook. Also, my great-great-grandmother and her sister were born in Sandy Hook in 1874 and 1875, daughters of John T. Pearce's sister Sarah Frances (Pearce) Rockwell, of whom I'm a direct descendent. Mary Rockwell married Elmer T. Clark and Sarah Rockwell's husband Charles Jay Rockwell repaired wagons for P.T. Barnum."

It's always interesting to have a little more history revealed, and we thank Mr Anderson for keeping us up to date.

We wish longtime Newtown High School Football Coach Steve George all the best. Coach George

announced this week that he is stepping away from his many successful years as head coach of the NHS football team. You'll still find him in the halls of the school, though. While he devotes more time to his growing family, he will continue on as the school's auto shop teacher. Good luck to the coach!

I see that a fancy holiday Minion is watching over the Letters To Santa box outside of Dr Baum's office, at 23 Church Hill Road. If you are still composing your letter to the Jolly Old Elf, it's time to sign and seal that note. Letters to Santa will be accepted at this box only through the end of Friday, December 16. After all, Santa needs time to read and answer all of those letters before December 25. Then it will be up, up, and away for Santa, his reindeer, and sleigh.

Monday's snow and rain gave us a little reminder that winter is imminent - next Wednesday marks the winter solstice, as a matter of fact. That's the shortest day of the year; but take heart. Every day after is a bit longer. While we bear the onslaught of winter, though, keep in mind all of the fun that comes with the season: sledding, skating, snowshoeing, and lots of hot chocolate and toddy. Before you know it, you'll be singing a song of spring.

The song in my heart is one that next week you will... Read me again.