Be careful what you wish for. Did I really mention needing “a good soaking rain for Newtown gardens” a couple of weeks ago in this very same space? After 14 inches of rain fell over last weekend, Monday, and Tuesday, I apologize.

Rain-sodden residents might want to take a break from their mopping up chores to attend a slide presentation at the Booth Library this coming Tuesday at 1 pm about monarch butterfly migration, sponsored by the Garden Club of Newtown. According to presenter Eric Mollenhauer, who has worked for 30 years in science education, the story of the monarchs can teach us a great deal about the adaptability of species, about climate change, and about the necessity for habitat preservation.

Then after the lecture is over, you can go back to building the ark if you want to.

Speaking of water, we hear from across the Atlantic that our friend Maria Ricci, grandmother of onetime Sandy Hook resident Alessandro Trombini, will be celebrating her 90th birthday on May 27. She is shown here working on a piece of embroidery at her worktable in Val Bianca, Calasca, Italy.

 You might remember that in July of 2003, this brave lady boarded an airplane for the first time ever and traveled by herself from her home in Italy to visit her family in Newtown.

Maria was photographed by The Bee with her great-grandchildren, Virginia and Matteo Trombini, standing beneath David Merrill’s American flag and 9/11 memorial that is painted across several tree trunks along Route 302, or Dodgingtown Road. “My grandmother was born in Cerveteri [Rome] on May 27, 1916,” said her grandson, Alessandro, who works for Dow Chemical and lives now in Wollerau, Switzerland, with his wife, Laura, and their two children. “She is well and still enjoys working on her embroidery. Virginia and Matteo are also fine. They attend the Zurich International School where there are students from all over the world. More than 60 nationalities are represented. We really enjoyed our stay in Newtown both for the people we met and the place. We liked it so much that we will be back one day,” Alessandro said. If you want to write to the Trombini family, their address is Schwyzerstrasse 60C, 8832 Wollerau, Switzerland.

A small hand-lettered sign taped to the locked door of the old, compact passenger elevator in Edmond Town Hall makes its abundantly clear. The sign, written with a black felt-tip marker on white typing paper, reads “Use New Elevator.”

The nearby new elevator located on the north side of the building at 45 Main Street is finally in operation after a protracted construction process. The elevator serves all four levels of the building. The brass-colored, mirror-finish ceiling in the new elevator makes the passenger car appear larger than its actual size to its riders. The tower that holds the elevator also holds a staircase connecting all four building levels. Workers this week were doing some final outdoor site work on the project, which includes new external stairways and sidewalks, plus improved parking facilities.

When Marilyn Alexander stopped in to talk with Nancy Crevier she also brought some happy news with her: Marilyn’s oldest son, Naval Reserve Commander Paul Alexander II, has gotten married. He and Connie Ingram exchanged vows in front of her three children, his two children, and a handful of Naval officials on May 4 on the flight deck of the USS Shreveport, which was docked that week at Port Everglades in Florida for Fleet Week activities. Marilyn and husband Paul did not attend the wedding, which was kept very small due to its location (background checks and all that), but she was thrilled and excited for her son nevertheless.

When Kaaren Valenta, former Bee associate editor, went to London with her husband, Jerry, recently it was for a reunion with two other former Newtown couples. The Valentas, who now live in Florida, joined Carol and Charlie Foss at the London home of Dan and Mary Beth Scheid. The Fosses sold their home on Riverside Road in Sandy Hook last year to move to their cottage in New London, N.H., where they are now building a soon-to-be retirement home on Little Lake Sunapee. The Scheids formerly lived on Berkshire Road in Sandy Hook but have been living in London for two years on a posting with Dan’s employer. While the three couples were in London, Dan celebrated his retirement; the Scheids are moving to a vintage row house that they are restoring in downtown Philadelphia.

Have you noticed the posters around town yet for this year’s Lobster Fest? That’s not a typo where it lists earlier hours for Saturday. The festival will return next month to Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire Department’s main station on Riverside Road on Friday, June 9, from 5 to 9 pm, and Saturday, June 10, from 3 to 9 pm. That’s right — for the first time in a number of years, the second day of the festival will begin at 3 in the afternoon. That means you’ll have more time than ever to sit down and enjoy a fresh meal of steamed lobster, maybe some sides from the raw bar, live music and raffles. Ticket prices are a little bit higher this year, too. Advance tickets for a full lobster or steak dinner are $19. At the festival, tickets will cost $21. The price for a children’s dinner — hamburger or hot dog — remains $5. Keep an eye out for most members of SHVFD to purchase some tickets, or leave a message at the firehouse, 270-4392.

I think I should negotiate for a lobster clause in my contract that provides lobster claws in my dinner bowl. With any luck, I’ll be back here next week with butter on my chin, so be sure to…

Read me again.