Where were you when the lights went out?

I was prowling along Main Street South on Tuesday night when I suddenly found myself in the dark. It was blacker than the lunar eclipse that was scheduled for Thursday, May 15. Lights on utility poles, in restaurants and stores, and the interior lights of homes were abruptly off.

It turns out CL&P was doing some emergency maintenance that had been decided upon earlier Tuesday. The good news was, some people – like our first selectman and those who work for some of the town’s major electric customers – knew about the interruption in advance and expected to lose their power for about 15 minutes. Me, I was like most of the town’s population in being caught off guard, but at least the loss of power last less than 20 seconds. The bad news was, the outage was still long enough, as Pam Jackson said on Wednesday, “that we had to run around the house re-setting all the clocks and VCRs.”

Janet Woycik showed up at the 18-member library board of trustees meeting with a flashlight and announced that the lights would go out at 9 pm so the trustees had better move the agenda along quickly. They did, too, even though they weren’t convinced that Janet wasn’t trying to put one over on them. Sure enough, at 9 am the boardroom was plunged into darkness. No one said a word until after the lights came back on seconds later. It was probably the quietest moment in board meeting history.

Word had it First Selectman Herb Rosenthal was quite neighborly and contacted the homes near his on Main Street to let them know what was going to take place.

Lucky for me cats can see in the dark… even if I only needed to use that talent for a few seconds Tuesday night.

The winner of this week’s Thinking-On-Your-Feet Award (actually, he won it sitting down) goes to Selectman Bill Brimmer. He and Selectman Joe Bojnowski both attended the May 8 meeting of the Legislative Council in the place of First Selectman Herb Rosenthal, who usually attends but was out of town for the day.

“We’d like to welcome you both,” said Legislative Council Chairman Don Studley. Mr Brimmer replied, “We’re pleased to be here. We sit on either side of Herb, so I guess you could say we’re the bookends.” Bookends they may be, but Mr Brimmer might have added that the First Selectman was quite capable of standing up by himself, even without their support.

Sunday evening’s closing performance of Les Misérables – the longest-running show currently on Broadway and the second-longest running Broadway production ever – will feature the participation of 41 middle and high school students from Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. Newtown High School senior Brett Boles is one of those students.

The students was won the opportunity of joining the 37-member case, as well as hundreds of case alumni, for a special finale at the conclusion of the historic performance on stage at The Imperial Theatre in New York City. The students, ages 12 to 19, have all appeared in their own schools’ production of Music Theatre International’s Les Misérables School Edition, the official and authorized school version of the award-winning musical. In total, 200 student performers from 33 productions auditions for Sunday’s roles. Sunday’s selectees will be prominently featured in the special on-stage finalé, the exact details of which are a closely-guarded secret.

The golden retriever dogs belonging to Susan and Brian White’s family – Ozzie, Blue and Grady – have been adjusting this week to their new sibling, Lilly White. She is an 18-month old bull mastiff who has been finding her crate a safe haven as her friendly golden siblings have been happily welcoming Lilly to the family. Grady, also a pup of 1½ years, has been the happiest with a new friend to play with.

Human brothers Andrew, Ian and Emmitt have yet another best friend to play and romp with. Lilly has accepted all her surroundings, but is still trying to understand the non-moving pink figures – decorative pink flamingos that even some humans don’t understand – in her front yard.

Speaking of dogs, Bee office dog Dekedadawkdawg – or just Deke for short – is looking for a girlfriend. It seems a number of people who visited The Bee this week recognized Deke when they saw him chasing around or playing with his fellow office dogs, Bow and Starr, and mentioned an ad they saw in last week’s Bee. Deke is a three-year-old purebred chocolate lab who would like to father some pups. Anyone who owns a registered AKC Lab who would get along with a great big loveable dog whose biggest responsibility seems to be accompanying his owner David around the office and on the road would do well to meet Deke. He’s at the office every day.

Bill Honan stopped by this week and commented that it probably was time to put away the snow shovels that are leaning next to the front porch at The Bee. Maybe not, however, as that day brought not only rain but also a hailstorm.

Police Detective Robert Koetsch has just returned to his sleuthing duties at the police station, following a pleasant vacation to Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The detective says had a good time in the northern climes, investigating its indigenous culture and scenic terrain. Det Koetsch said it is striking how many tall blonde people with blue eyes really live in Sweden. Highlights of the trip included a snowmobiling adventure in a blizzard on a glacier, a situation in which his trusty Global Positioning System electronic navigation gear came in handy.

Now that spring is here, Police Captain Joe Rios is again playing the outfield for the New Canaan Cannons, a team in the Connecticut Men’s Senior Baseball League. The team’s home field is Mead Park, near the train station in New Canaan. The team plays about 25 games each season. This year, the team is making the transition from using aluminum bats to wooden bats, changing the sound of a home run from ching to the great old-fashioned sounding crack. 

After a long absence, George Mattegat, the town’s animal control officer, is back at work at the town pound off Ethan Allen Road. While George was away, Pat Anzellotti, who is the poundkeeper, ran the operation with the assistance of local police officers. I’m sure she’s ready to join me in saying Welcome back, George!

I, meanwhile, have had more than enough of all this dog-related talk. I’m going to go find myself a nice bowl of milk, take a nap in a sunny spot, and dream that you will…

Read me again.