There has been a change of venue for Friday night’s family ice skating party. Instead of the temporary rink at Fairfield Hills, the February 7 event has been moved to the Dickinson Park pavilion rink... weather permitting (it’s been one of those weeks, after all.) There is still time to sign up for the event, which will run from 6:30 to 9:30 pm. DJ Kevin Koschel will provide the music, and there will be a small bonfire. There is no charge, but reservations are requested so that organizers know how much hot chocolate will be needed. Visit Parks & Rec’s website, www.newtown-ct.gov, and then click on Parks & Recreation (search for Activity 214101A), or call 203-270-4340 for information.

It is bad enough how bold the deer population in Newtown has become, but employees at LMT Communications, for the second time within a week, have heard coyotes howling outside the office at 84 South Main Street — during lunchtime hours. “This afternoon,” Jessica Fila told us last Thursday, “we heard them once again and just about 10 minutes ago, we actually saw one roaming in the office backyard.” The coyote was about the size of a Labrador retriever, said Jessica. Now that’s enough to make me want to eat my lunch at my desk. Chances are, the coyotes are more scared of people than people are of them, but don’t approach any wild animal unnecessarily. And please, keep your small pets indoors.

I’m told that Pat Glover surprised her husband Lee this past Saturday with a 85th birthday party at Maggie McFly’s Restaurant in Southbury.  His son, Lee Glover, Jr, sister Joan Glover Crick, and plenty of other family members were on hand to fete Lee on this milestone birthday. “Lee was truly surprised,” his niece Maureen Crick Owen says, “and had no clue that his wife had organized this great birthday celebration.”

Julia Provey and her daughter Eva made the most of Monday’s snow day. While everyone else was lamenting the wet, heavy snow that fell, and fell, and fell, the mother/daughter team got busy and created these peaceful snow sculptures.

Here’s a nice way to take a break from shoveling this weekend. Kelley Jansson (Johnson) will be at LeReine’s Cuisine, 31 Peck’s Lane, Sunday afternoon, February 9, for a book signing of her new memoir, Hatched In Newtown, from 2 to 4 pm. Copies of the book will be available for $15, with an additional $5 donation requested to support the Newtown Scholarship Association. (I’m particularly fond of Kelley’s reminisces on her cats…)

Keep an eye on that weather, though, and check websites (including newtownbee.com) if you plan to attend any of the numerous musical events scheduled in town for this weekend. Mother Nature will be kind to us, if we’re lucky, and the shows will go on…

I’m already getting ready for next month’s productions of Peter Pan at Newtown High School and Grease: School Version at Newtown Middle School. Exact times and dates will be announced in the coming weeks in The Bee, but I know students are already hard at work at both schools to give Newtown two great musical productions. So get ready to don your pink jacket or pixie dust, Newtown!

Hope springs eternal, and HealingNewtown is happy to remind us that there are a couple of great events to look forward to, when spring arrives.  An American Girls Mother’s Day Tea with American Girls illustrator Christine Koracki is scheduled for Saturday, May 10, from 11 am to 1 pm. Then on June 22 (yes, it will be here one day), get into some Hands On Painting with Roger Hutchinson of The Painted Table, from 2 to 4 pm. Keep your eyes open for all the details, once winter fades away.

 “Ready the course!”  Was that Starfleet commander Will Riker?! Maybe so — I heard a rumor that Star Trek: Next Generation star Jonathan Frakes was in our own little village late last month… It seems the actor/director came to the area as a favor to a professor friend from Long Island University. Commander Riker was assisting students working on a graduate student project, a 13-part series about Roosevelt and the OSS, the early secret service agency. Why Newtown? Well, it seems we have buildings with rooms that are an ideal double for White House rooms of that era. My secret source says only that the Star Trek star was “very personable.”

Congratulations to Venture Crew 70 for winning the recent Klondike Derby held in Redding. The co-ed crew included the only four girls among the 400 Scouts taking part in the skills competition. Moving from station to station, Scouts showed off their prowess in events like knot tying, lashing, fire building, and even putting up a tent blindfolded. Way to go, Crew 70!

I say, hats off to CVS Pharmacies for deciding that cigarette and tobacco sales there will be a thing of the past by this fall. Despite an expected loss of income from tobacco sales, this company is committing itself to helping its customers find a healthier path in life. (I do hope catnip doesn’t fall in that category.)

The Connecticut State Library has some suggestions on how to express your adoration of your local library during February, “Library Lovers Month.” Contribute to your library (a must in the case of our own C.H. Booth Library, now in the middle of a comeback from devastating flood waters last month); Be a Friend (as in Friend of the Library); Volunteer; and Promote — don’t forget to remind everyone what a resource our library is during power outages and disasters, when in need of information, or just as a gathering place. Find the details on being the best Library Lover at www.librarysupport.net/library lovers/how.html.

I don’t want to point the finger, but it was the Newtown Choral Society exhorting the virtues of “Snow” via the Irving Berlin melody during its December concert… maybe after this week they’ll be changing their tune.

Cross Country Cat by Mary Calhoun has always been one of my favorite storybooks. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if cross country skis are the mode of travel I’ll be needing next week to make my way about town in search of the news that will make you want to… Read me again.