Your Newtown legislative delegation is challenging residents to help fill the Newtown Social Services Food Pantry. State Representatives Mitch Bolinsky (106), Dan Carter (2), J.P. Sredzinski (112), and State Senator Tony Hwang (28), along with the Newtown's Social Services Department, remind Newtown residents that they are holding a food drive until the end of February, to benefit Newtown families in need. Newtown Social Services Department has a significant need for food donations year-round, especially during the winter months. They oversee a variety of programs for town residents, including the Connecticut Energy Assistance Program, Operation Fuel, Renters Rebate program for the elderly and disabled, and The Salvation Army Emergency Food Pantry. You'll find collection boxes for canned and packaged foods, diapers, toiletries, warm clothing, pet food and other nonperishable consumables, until February 28, at the following locations: Newtown Municipal Center at 3 Primrose Street; Edmond Town Hall at 45 Main Street; C.H. Booth Library at 25 Main Street; and Caraluzzi's Newtown Market at 5 Queen Street For those who wish to give a monetary donation, contact Ann Piccini, Newtown Social Service director, at 3 Main Street (Town Hall South, lower level), or call 203-270-4330.

There's another food drive coming up in town, this one for felines. Caraluzzi's Market, 5 Queen Street, will host The Animal Center's Cat Food Drive, March 1 through 15. Donations of Friskies brand wet and dry food are requested, but all donations are welcomed. Collection bins will be located inside the store.

Winter outdoor enthusiasts certainly have not been disappointed by the past few weeks of snow. It has made for some unhappy commuters, though, as slippery roads have become as common as slippery snow trails at area ski resorts. Please be sure to give your fellow travelers a little extra space when stopping in traffic, and don't get mad at the slow poke. He or she might be aware of icy patches you haven't yet encountered.

Turns out that a certain Great Quarter Road resident was at once troubled, then thankful, when his mailbox flew from its post during a snow storm. The box hit a snow bank in the wake of one diligent town plow driver's pass, and although the box owner twisted his aluminum mailbox back into shape the next day, and propped it in a snowbank, he also sent an e-mail to Fred Hurley, director of Public Works. Mr Hurley was gracious enough to send two town employees out one afternoon to replace the post and box soon after. Meow.

(There is no denying, though, the snow has made Newtown a rather picture perfect winter town.)

Neil Callaghan, director of operations for Golden Opportunities in Sandy Hook, and wife Susan, were all smiles last month when Kathy Romagnano, president and CEO, and Beth Ann Fetzer, community development officer at Danbury Savings Bank presented them with a grant for $2,000. Golden Opportunities, a nonprofit devoted to preventing isolation in the elderly population, will use the grant to support the FISH transportation program and for arts programs in the nursing homes where GO volunteers visit, Neil tells me.

I saw an AP story that legislation is being considered to ban people from driving with dogs in their laps… why is it no one has to tell cat owners not to drive with a cat in the lap, let alone make a law about it?

On Monday, February 16, we celebrate the leaders of our country, namely the presidents. Of course, I had to find some new news about these venerated men (and maybe a woman, one day?) Did you know that Abraham Lincoln was a licensed bartender? And those fun Lincoln Logs for building are named for our 16th president, commemorating the cabin in which he was born. How about this - Grover Cleveland (22nd and the 24th president) was once a hangman in Erie County, N.Y., overseeing the execution of two men during his time in that position. Herbert Hoover (31st president), an orphan, picked bugs from potato plants for $1 per one hundred bugs, and also worked as a miner before climbing the ladder to the highest post in the country. George Washington (he's number one) had to borrow money from a neighbor to get to his own inauguration, which, by the way, was when our capitol was located in Philadelphia. Richard Nixon (37th president) was the first to visit all 50 states… and the first (and only) to ever resign. Everyone in Teddy Roosevelt's (26th president) family owned and walked on a pair of stilts, first lady included. Kind of cool; it seems our presidents are only human, after all. You can find these and a lot more odd facts about the US presidents at randomhistory.com.

Whether you are preparing for the Christian Lenten season or not, the Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper at St John's Episcopal in Sandy Hook is worth digging into next Tuesday evening. A donation of $9 for adults, or $4 for kids ages 4-12 (free for under age 4) fills your plate and belly with pancakes, corned beef hash or sausage, and applesauce. A beverage is included, too. The pancake feast runs from 5 to 7 pm. Find out more by calling 203-426-3112.

I had to pause when passing through the lobby just outside of the children's department at the C.H. Booth Library, where artist Mary Barrett Anders has a display of beautiful Asian brushwork set up in glass case there. The display is sponsored by the Newtown Cultural Arts Commission, which also promoted the previous exhibit by area pottery artists. Between the permanent art pieces in the library collection, the rotating art work exhibited in the meeting room, and the numerous changing displays in cases throughout the library, C.H. Booth is becoming as much a place for art browsing as book browsing.

I'll be browsing for news, of course, so I hope that next week you will choose to… Read me again.