Congratulations again to Ellis John Carlor, who has been named The 2024 First Baby of Newtown. His mother Anne shared with me this week that not only was he the first child born to Newtown parents this year, he was also the first child born on January 1 at Danbury Hospital!

We did have a few other entrants, however, and even one couple who is still waiting to welcome their little one into the world. Congratulations and best wishes to everyone celebrating the birth of a child. I also offer a reminder that we love sharing birth announcements (and engagements and weddings) in our pages. Year-round, we look forward to sharing that news, and encourage photos in addition to the details. There is no fee to run any of those announcements; we just ask that baby and wedding announcements arrive within six months of the big day. Engagement announcements should still arrive before the day of the wedding. We have forms available to guide parents and couples with their announcements, or you’re free to write up your own if you have a style you’d like to use. Contact Managing Editor Shannon Hicks or visit our website (NewtownBee.com), hover over the home/house icon near the top of the page, and then click on Submission Forms.

We almost had a First Baby last week. Shannon Hicks was having a conversation via email with a man who told her his wife had given birth to a son, 82 minutes into the new year, and they were hoping to win our First Baby of Newtown 2024 prize package. It wasn’t until Shannon and the man were well into their conversation, however, that it came out he was emailing from Newton, IOWA. Oopsie. While Shannon had to break the news that no, our contest doesn’t cross town lines, never mind multiple state lines, she did make sure to offer continued congratulations on the birth of the healthy little boy.

I’m not sure how long our Birthday Cake column has been running; it’s easily been a few decades. We’ve heard from people who are adults now, who won the cake when they were children, so we’re at least in our second generation. I had a great laugh this week with a woman who stopped in to the Bee office to pick up the certificate for her daughter, a recent winner. Mom told me she’d won the cake a few times when she was little, at a time when we were working with a now-defunct bakery that provided a birthday cake to each week’s winner (today’s winners are treated to ice cream cakes from Ferris Acres Creamery). What made us laugh was the fact that at least twice, the only cake available for this winner was a rum cake! Woohoo!

The busy bees at 5 Church Hill Road are working on updating and collecting advertisements for The 2024 Guide To Newtown. Sales reps are calling on their regular customers, but we also encourage anyone with a business who may not advertise regularly to contact us for this annual guide that covers all things Newtown. Truly! Where else can you find, in one print publication, information on this town’s government officials, Newtown Health District, Town holidays, Borough officials, emergency services, clubs and organizations, schools and education, sports and recreation, communities of worship, places and phone numbers you should know, and even who our state legislators are and how to contact them? Our Editorial staff goes through all those sections every January, checking names, phone numbers, descriptions and all other details, just to make sure we then publish and share the most up-to-date information available (at the time of publication, of course).

If you’re part of a group that isn’t already listed in that guide, please contact us. There’s no fee to be listed. Clubs & Organizations is already the largest section of the Guide, but there’s nothing that says it can’t grow further. This year’s deadline for additions, whether paid advertisements or additions to the different sections within the Guide, is Friday, January 19. Call our office at 203-426-3141 if you’d like to join the party. Business owners can also contact our Advertising department via ads@thebee.com, and representatives of clubs, organizations, sporting groups, and other entities we may not already know about are invited to contact our Editorial department at editor@thebee.com.

The first snow of the year arrived last Thursday morning. Just a little dusting that made everything pretty for just a few hours at sunrise, but I’ll count it. The first proper storm arrived late Saturday afternoon, of course, and stuck around for about 24 hours. While we were again warned by many “experts” to prepare for Snowmageddon, it seems Newtown was blanketed in 4-8 inches of snow, depending on where you live. I know there were a few fender benders during the storm, but I didn’t hear of any major crashes due to the weather. I was among those laying low, of course. Last weekend was the perfect time to be indoors with a good book, or a bowl of milk. Your choice. I know what makes my tail curl.

For those of you counting down — and I know you’re out there, already done with this snow and related winter weather — the Connecticut Flower & Garden Show will return to Hartford next month! That’s usually a fun day trip if you can get there. Another fun trip — not now, of course, but in warmer weather — is to head toward the east side of the state, to Harkness Memorial State Park. According to a recent survey by Journo Research that analyzed Tripadvisor reviews that contained positive descriptors such as “stunning,” “beautiful,” “breathtaking” and “gorgeous” across 260 botanical gardens in the country, the Waterford location was #4 based on the percentage of reviews containing those key words. According to a note I received last week, 75.86 percent of Tripadvisor reviews referenced the beauty of this botanical garden. The only gardens that were better reviewed were Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park in Tallahassee, Fla. (first place); Blue Spring Heritage Center in Eureka Springs, Ark. (second); and Fellows Riverside Gardens in Youngstown, Ohio.

Me, I’m counting down toward the Scripps Spelling Bee in May. This week organizers shared a few rare wintry words to add to our vocabulary. The dogs at The Bee office are often as guilty as I am in enjoying some apricity, or the warmth of the sun in winter. Piper and Libby (and Pickles, when she stops in for a visit) regularly pick a spot on the rug in the front office here, right where the sun shines through the window on the southern side of the building, to enjoy a good nap. Hiemal is another word of the week, this one meaning “of or relating to winter.” It’s a synonym to wintry, hibernal, winterish, and the equally rare brumal.

You know who else has a countdown happening? Justin Scott! One of our most prolific local authors is about to celebrate the release of his newest novel, called The Sister Queens. Justin has written 19 novels on his own, co-authored another dozen-plus, and is probably well into his next release. Let’s not rush things too much, however. His new historical thriller is due for international publication by Severn House on February 6. Justin will be in Manhattan that evening, celebrating book #37 with an author talk and book signing at The Mysterious Bookshop. I’ll be there in heart and mind, and look forward to seeing him a little closer to home very soon.

Barbara Gardecki will be celebrating a milestone birthday this weekend. Make sure you offer birthday wishes if you see her. She’s earned them.

I have lost track of how many times Newtown Police Department has warned residents and visitors with the following message: do not leave vehicles unlocked. Public parking lot, private driveway, it doesn’t matter. Unfortunately, break-ins and vehicle thefts happen in Newtown. The best tool we have against them is to make it difficult for the bad guys. Don’t leave your keys in the ignition, and lock the doors. We heard about someone last week who left their vehicle unlocked in their driveway, and someone took items out of it overnight. (I’m no legal beagle, but is that technically a break-in?) Just be safe, friends.

Me, I don’t need sunglasses or keys or a wallet, among the things you silly people often carry and leave behind in vehicles. I’d be very upset if someone were to leave my toys or kibble in an unlocked vehicle, though.

You know what else would upset this old cat? If you forget to come back next week to … read me again.