Sunday was a day of romance for most of us, but for one Newtown resident it was a really hard day at work. According to a report from The Washington Post, “in perhaps the most audacious Taliban attack since the [current] operation [to secure some government buildings in the farming community of Marja] commenced, a coup of insurgents firing rocket-propelled grenades attempted to storm a temporary base used by Brave Company of the 1st Battalion of the 6th Marine Regiment on Sunday evening. The grenade launch was followed by three men attempting to rush into the compound. The Marines presumed the men to be suicide bombers and threw grenades at them, killing all three.” The operation, also according to The Post, began with an airlift of hundreds of Marines and Afghan soldiers on Saturday, and continued on Sunday. It is proceeding more slowly than some officials had anticipated, however, because of “stiff Taliban assistance and a profusion of roadside bombs.”

That’s the company of which resident US Marine Corps Lance Corporal Rylan McCollum is a member. His mom Laurie, who also lives in Sandy Hook, was obviously relieved this week to hear of the company’s success and wanted to let Rylan’s friends know — as well as hers — that he’s still hard at work, and in some very intense situations, but doing well. While it was enough to make her heart jump into her throat and start the tears when she was reading the latest news report, Laurie was calmed and thrilled to find a photo of Rylan in a Washington Post slideshow. He’s off to the left side of the frame of a photo by Post photographer Andrea Bruce, but it’s definitely Rylan inside the 6th Marine Regiment’s headquarters in Marja. And if that isn’t the best valentine a mother can get, even if it’s a day late, I don’t know what is.

I also don’t know exactly to whom this Good Egg Award goes, but maybe you’ll recognize yourself? INSERT GOOD EGG During the past few snowfalls, some industrious and thoughtful person has been snow blowing the sidewalks on Main Street. One Main Street resident caught the gentleman last Thursday “snow blowing the sidewalk on the other side of the street, north of the flagpole, and I know that this man lives south of the flagpole,” she said. If you have been providing cleared winter sidewalks to Newtown Borough walkers, thank you, whoever you are. You are a Good Egg!

Here’s a new rhyme to chant: “Utility man, utility man, go away. Come back again on a less snowy day.” Apparently, that’s the message one utility person got from Newtown PD when parked on Scudder Road at the peak of Tuesday’s storm. Blocking a slippery road is never a good idea, although I do appreciate the dedication to the job. And speaking of that snow, thanks to the diligence of the Newtown Highway Department workers in trying to keep ahead of the snowfall and clear the way for the school buses in the afternoon. It was a challenge.

I’m not really certain if these two items are going into one craft, but those crafty seniors at the Senior Center can use donations of yarn (Oh boy! Yarn! My favorite toy!), as well as of clear glass vases at least ten inches in height. Drop off the donations at the center, located at 14 Riverside Road in Sandy Hook (near Sandy Hook School), during the week.

The Volkswagen L1 prototype shown at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show is bragging 170 miles per gallon efficiency. That’s pretty impressive…. But a recent National Public Radio report recreated a 1957 study by Canadian scientist Brian Hocking to calculate a BEE’S miles per gallon (with honey being the fuel, of course). NPR asked Arizona bee expert Stephen Buchmann to estimate the “bmpg.” He found that if a bee could carry a gallon of honey with it, the little insect would get 4,704,280 miles per gallon. Now you know how so much is accomplished here in the Bee “hive” each week…

Schools and government offices came to a standstill on Monday to honor the Presidents past and present who have served the United States of America. February 12 was Abraham Lincoln’s actual birth date, and this coming Monday, February 22, celebrates the birthday of our first president, George Washington. So I scrounged around the Internet and came up with some fun information about presidents for you to ponder. Is Barack Obama our 43rd or 44th president? Grover Cleveland was both the 22nd and 24th president, so there really are only 43, not 44 presidents to date…. The youngest president ever elected to the office was John F. Kennedy, at age 43, but Teddy Roosevelt was actually the youngest president ever, being only 42 years old when McKinley was assassinated and Roosevelt took office. James Buchanan was our only bachelor president. Presidents Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy were assassinated in office, but 11 presidents have had attempts made on their lives: Jackson, both Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt, Truman, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, both G.H.W and G.W. Bush, and Clinton. Neither George Washington nor Abraham Lincoln had formal schooling, but seven Presidents have been Harvard graduates: John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Rutherford B. Hayes, John F. Kennedy, and George W. Bush. And Lincoln is still our tallest President, topping President Barack Obama’s 6 feet, 1½ inches by 2½ inches.

If you’re still looking for something fun for this Friday night and enjoy history brought to life, consider Karen Tracey and her one-woman show The Life of Amelia Earhart, which will be at Newtown Congregational Church that evening. The performance is being sponsored by the church’s Ways & Means Committee, who will be serving light refreshments after the performance. One lucky attendee will also go home with a door prize. The show follows the life of the famous flier from the time of her sixth birthday until she flew into the history books following her 1937 disappearance. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at the door, 14 West Street.

Then at 3 pm and again at 7 pm, Saturday, February 20, you can view the award-winning feature film co-authored by Newtown native Bill Stern, at the C.H. Booth Library. A dark comedy set at a private boys’ school during the early 1990s, Fifth Form is the tale of prank wars gone overboard, and is geared for an audience teen-aged and up. For more information on the free showings, call the library at 203-426-4533.

Even in the dead of winter it seems there is always something going on in town. So much so that I am going to have to curl up and take a nap to ponder next week’s column. Wake me up, though, so that next week you can … Read me again.