A restaurant manager at Carminuccio’s Pizza in Newtown is counting down to May 31. Meagan Bombero is planning to give all of her tips from that day to her cousin’s Relay For Life team, called Bubba’s Buddies. The team is building up to participate in the Shelton Relay for Life, set for Saturday, June 1, at noon to Sunday, June 2, at noon at the Shelton River Walk. Meagan’s personal goal is to raise $1,500, or $100 for each of the years her cousin has been in remission from brain cancer. That is 15 good reasons to eat pizza on May 31!

Angler Emery Klein seems to be using the wrong bait. Last month, Emery managed to temporarily hook a beaver while fishing. Now I hear that this past week he landed a pond turtle. So far, I haven’t heard of him actually catching any fish…

Anyone snapping photos of students preparing or going to the Newtown High School senior prom this Friday, May 17, can send their photos to Eliza@thebee.com, for a slideshow at www.newtownbee.com and possibly in next week’s print edition of The Newtown Bee.

There have been plenty of flocking sightings around town. Flagpole Realty, now at its 71 South Main Street location, shared a photo with me this week of its Odyssey of the Mind “flocking.”  Flagpole’s Kenny Jacobson had no idea, he said, what the festive cardboard birds meant until he found the red bag on the door with the folder. “In that folder there was a note that I had been flocked by Newtown Bait & Tackle through the Odyssey of the Mind Team,” he said. The team is raising money to send the NHS Odyssey of the Mind group to World Finals competition in Michigan next weekend. “We are so proud of our Newtown team — Go Newtown Go!” says Kenny. (PS — He thanks Newtown Bait & Tackle for making Flagpole’s new home “so springlike!”)

The world continues to hold Newtown in its thoughts. From Racine, Wis., Jack Senzig, a music teacher at Red Apple Elementary School, comes a this video of the Red Apple Elementary Kindergarten Chorus. “My kindergartners and choir made a tribute to parents everywhere who have hugged their children a little tighter since the tragedy,” Mr Senzig writes me.  Go to http://youtu.be/FTRWMetC4nE to view the video of “Love You All.” The song is by a band called Cloud Cult, and according to info on the video, was actually written in regard to another tragedy. Staff and students of Red Apple felt this musical gift might be of solace to residents of our town. (I don’t know who she is, but the little dancer in the video at the far left is moving to the beat of her own drummer, and it sure warmed this cat’s heart.)  Thanks, Racine!

Newtown has been paying forward the love, too. A letter was received from Kevin T. Andrews, headmaster at the Neighborhood House Charter School in Dorchester, Mass., just outside of Boston, by a local resident who helped facilitate the shipping of numerous Helping Hands. Helping Hands are artistically embellished handprints of children from around the world, with messages of support. More than 50,000 of them arrived in Newtown post-12/14. After the Boston Marathon bombing last month, students and faculty of Sandy Hook School, where many Helping Hands were displayed, wanted to send them on to share the love. I’m told that some of the Sandy Hook students added their own messages to the hands. “I would like to thank you for your heartwarming condolences and beautiful tribute you made to our school. The Helping Hands you sent to us are very much appreciated and have truly helped us through this difficult time. We have them displayed outside the school library and our students, faculty, and staff have commented on how wonderful and special this gift is,” writes Mr Andrews. “We are truly fortunate to have been the recipient of such a touching gesture and we appreciate your condolences and well wishes.”

Just a reminder on that it is Soccer Night in Newtown, this Friday, May 17, from 5 to 8 pm.  Visit with soccer greats Mia Hamm, Alexi Lalas, Kristine Lily, and others! The event takes place at the Fairfield Hills soccer field and is open to all Newtown residents and Newtown Soccer Club members. For more information, e-mail newtownsoccerclub@gmail.com.

And another reminder to get your tickets ($5 each) for the  Newtown Lions Club’s 13th annual Great Pootatuck Duck Race, which will take place in Sandy Hook Center on Saturday, May 25. Proceeds from this year’s race will benefit the Newtown Lions Sandy Hook Elementary Fund (to help pay for counseling for first responders and family members of the Sandy Hook School children and faculty), and other Lions Club charities.

Don’t be shy about cleaning out your closets. Two of Newtown’s oldest thrift shops, The Cornerstone and the VNA Thrift Shop, are a little low in inventory. Either place would appreciate donations of good, used clothing for men, women, and children and small household goods. The Cornerstone Thrift Center is in the lower section of Newtown Congregational Church, 14 West Street, and you’ll find the VNA Thrift Shop behind Edmond Town Hall, at 45 Main Street. These small thrift shops have assisted  hundreds of people over the years, and epitomize the mantra of “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.” The Cornerstone is open Tuesday through Friday, from 11 am until 4 pm, and Saturday, from 11 am to 1:30 pm, for drop offs and shopping. Hours at the VNA Thrift Shop are each Wednesday, from noon to 3pm, and Saturday, from 9 am to noon.

If you’re seeing green after this Sunday, it might not be envy, but Sandy Hook Green. The nail polish created by OPI will not be available for retail sale, but will be available through the Sandy Hook Promise “Salon-a-Thon” event at Ricci’s on South Main Street, this Sunday. Customers who donate $10 to the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation will receive a bottle, as will anyone who pays for salon services at the Salon-a-Thon. Money raised from the sale of the deep green nail polish will go to the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation, to continue support of recovery programs related to 12/14. For appointments and additional information call Ricci’s, 203-426-1611.

You might spot me, but that’s okay. I’ll be tip-toeing around on Sandy Hook Green claws next week, collecting the best news in town, so be sure to… Read me again.