Ray Shaw tells me he is still getting requests for copies of the 2008 Vintage Base Ball Calendar. So, for everyone who asked, here is the link to the Lulu site where you can take a peek, “find Waldo,” and purchase one if you are so inclined: lulu.com/contest/1475876. Click on Preview This Calendar to look inside. Profits from the sale of 2008 calendars will go to The Harmon Fund, in memory of the late Bee sports editor and vintage base ball team member Kim Harmon. Ray says, too, that he doesn’t have any of these in stock, so this is the only place you can snag one of these future heirlooms. By the way, if you attend a vintage base ball game this summer, make sure you are wearing a smile. Ray is hoping to produce another calendar for 2009 with some of the ballists captured this season. If you see him approaching with a camera, put on your game face — “vintage” hams get preference.

Mr Torrance, Mr Torrance… paging Mr Torrance. Resident Bob Hodge received an unusual phone call at his home office last week, and he’s hoping to help someone else who used to live here in town. It seems Bob’s phone number for his office is an old Newtown residential number that used to belong to the Torrance family. Last Friday morning a Mickey Bowman called that phone number looking for her old friend, Arthur L. Torrance, formerly of 25 Mt Nebo Road. Bob would like to be able to put Mickey in touch with her old friend, but doesn’t know Mr Torrance nor his whereabouts. Does anyone recognize this former Newtowner’s name? Give my friend Shannon a call at The Bee (426-3141) and let her know where Mr Torrance is living these days, and how Mickey can get in touch with him. If you want, we can always see if Mr Torrance wants to call his friend himself. Either way, let’s gets these friends back in touch.

Newtown resident and owner/director of Fry’s Westport/Fairfield Pianos and the Music Learning Center in Danbury Jeff McGill popped up on the national news show CNBC earlier this month. As a follow-up to New York Times’ tech writer David Pogue’s April 17 article about the debut of the Yamaha Disklavier Mark IV, the morning TV show and Mr Pogue visited Jeff for a demonstration of the Internet-connected piano and some musical banter. If, like me, you didn’t rise and shine to catch that news bit, visit cnbc.com/id/24182482/site/14081545 to see the video of Jeff, David Pogue, and the futuristic Yamaha.

There’s another Hot Topic coming up at the C.H. Booth Library this coming Tuesday evening, May 20. This time you have the chance to learn about global warming effects on our own state in the movie Warming of Connecticut to be shown at 7 pm. Librarian Kim Weber says it has been encouraging to see how many people in town have made time to view the other movies in this Friends of the Library series and to listen to the speakers who have been part of the program. There is only one more movie after this one, Kilowatt Ours: A Plan to Re-energize America, on the slate for May to bring this series on learning about global warming to a close, so I am marking both Tuesday evenings in red on my calendar, and hope you will, too.

Apparently, certain others about town circled May 12 on their calendars. More than 50 invited supporters turned out Monday at Toro restaurant on Church Hill Road to enjoy sushi and refreshments, along with an opportunity to benefit Newtown Scholarship Association. Bennie and Becky Wei, the owners of Toro, closed the place for three hours that evening to host an intimate party, which raised more than $1,300. Borough Warden Jim Gaston also presented a written welcome letter and recognition of the restaurant’s generosity on behalf of the borough. According to his wife Stephanie, a member of the association, NSA is hard-pressed this year in the face of growing demand for scholarship assistance. Since 2003, NSA has underwritten more than $200,000 in need-based assistance annually. And since the association was formed in 1937, volunteers and benefactors have awarded in excess of $3 million. The next time Toro is offering my favorite dish of raw fish for any reason, don’t forget to invite yours truly!

Speaking of yummy treats, Maureen Schaedler was recognized by her co-workers at Newtown Health District this week with a low-key treat of muffins and coffee. It seems Ms Schaedler hit her ten-year anniversary of service to the town Tuesday. Her friendly voice on the phone, and pleasant demeanor at the district’s counter, has been a welcoming asset to the district, and we hope it will continue for another decade! Congratulations, Maureen.

A red-faced friend of mine, too embarrassed to let me blurt out her name, has some information to share that she hopes is useful to others. Her keyless entry pad to her garage quit working a couple of weeks ago, and not being wise to the ways of electronics, she decided to wait until a more savvy helper could get it working again. The first thing this savior did was peek behind the pad. Not only is her pad keyless, it is wireless, too. It seems that keyless entry pads require a new battery every now and then to get them to work. Who knew? One small 9-volt battery later, she was able to effortlessly slip in and out of her garage door… Just an FYI, the little remote that turns your car on from afar also occasionally needs a new battery.

Can you canoe? The Boy Scouts in Troop 70 can’t at the moment, but they would like to. Grandville Reed and members of Troop 70 are looking for used 12- to 14-foot canoes and 10- to 12-foot kayaks that still have some life to them for Boy Scout activities. If you have one that you were otherwise thinking about sending down the river for good, give Granville a call at 426-8459.

In the dignitary visitor’s department, Registrars of Voters Karin Aurelia and LeReine Frampton welcomed Lesley D. Mara, Deputy Secretary of the State, who came to Newtown on Wednesday to check out the procedures local voting officials have instituted since Newtown became one of the pilot communities for the state’s new electronic voting machines. (I hope they don’t run on batteries.)

My voltage is feeling low and in need of recharging, but I hope you will have the energy next week to… Read me again.