After seeing gas prices leap nine cents a gallon in four hours this past Saturday, I’m feeling extremely thankful that my travels rely solely on my four furry little paws to get me around. And maybe it’s just my imagination, but there seem to be more bicyclists on the road the past few weeks than ever before, and I suspect it is not just the nice spring weather bringing them out.

Excel Tutoring LLC has joined the race for the cure, or more commonly known in Newtown as the Relay For Life. Employees and Relay team members are trying to “Paint The Town Purple” to help raise community awareness in the fight against cancer and to support the 2008 Newtown Relay For Life, which is coming up quick. Area businesses, homeowners and churches are all invited to purchasing a bow to display outside of their establishments or homes. The bows are available for a $5 donation and are available at Excel Tutoring at 20 Church Hill Road and also at Newtown Car Care on Commerce Road. All proceeds will go to the American Cancer Society and will be donated at the Newtown Relay for Life at Newtown High School next weekend.

If you thought that town historian Dan Cruson’s trademark white mane has been looking even more lush than usual the past few weeks, it hasn’t been your imagination. Dan took on the part of Samuel Clemens, more commonly known as Mark Twain, this past Saturday for an Allen and Helen Hermes Art Series event at the Mark Twain Library in Redding. The library, a legacy of Mr Twain’s, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, which also coincides with the author’s move to his Redding estate in 1908. So shortly after 4 Saturday afternoon, “Mr Twain” pulled up to the library in a 1913 Mercer sports car — the advertised 1908 Thomas Flyer Model F Tourabout experienced mechanical difficulties — to kick off the celebration. I’ve no doubt plenty of onlookers were rubbing their eyes to make sure the wild white-haired gent getting out of the automobile wasn’t really Mr Twain, raised from the dead, when they saw Dan.

Where in the world is The Bee now? Master Sergeant James P. Rebman, USAF reservist, home after a four-month deployment with the US Air Force at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, shared this picture of himself holding a copy of our favorite hometown newspaper taken while he was there.

Sgt Rebman was assigned to Bagram from January to May, attached to the 455th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron. As much as I like seeing The Bee take some road trips, I’m most happy to know that Sgt Rebman is back safe and sound and reading my column (no doubt) from the comfort of his home. Welcome back!

The (almost) final numbers are in for the 30-Hour Famine event that members of Grace Christian Fellowship participated in back in April and the numbers are amazing. After the registration, car wash and donations, the young adults of GCF, who joined members of First Assembly of God in Brookfield, Cheshire Assembly of God, Danbury Chinese Alliance Church of Brookfield, New Life Community Church United Methodist of New Fairfield, and Walnut Hill Community Church of Bethel, raised $10,992.46! And that’s with one church still not turning in its final numbers, which means the final tally will be even greater. With government matching grants it’s even more impressive: The teenagers went without food for 30 hours and will have raised a total of $43,969.84, or enough money to feed 120 kids for a whole year through World Vision United States, the organization that created and hosts 30-hour famines. “Congratulations” almost doesn’t seem a strong enough accolade for these teens.

For those who prefer not to fast, regulars know this, but occasional visitors to Sandy Hook Diner may want to make a mental note: Beginning this weekend, the Church Hill Road eatery will be open seven days a week. That’s right, breaking a longstanding tradition the diner will now be open on Sundays. I wonder if this means Father Bob, who is a weekday regular, will have trouble deciding where to have breakfast on Sunday now?

Also in Sandy Hook Center, The Sandy Hook Village Farmers’ Market starts this coming weekend. The event will return to the park area behind 3-5 Glen Road (the same area where last weekend’s wonderful duck race and festival took place) and will run Sundays from 9 am until 1 pm, June 1 to October 26. The market will once again offer flowers, fruits, and vegetables grown by local farmers, plus baked goods and other treats. There are nutritional seminars and monthly family activities also scheduled. Call Mike Porco’s office for details on those special events or other information, 426-2427.

If you have been wondering how to help in the southwest China earthquake, contact Newtown resident and chef Patrick Wilson at ptw1143@aol.com or 914-478-3500, extension 105. While on a culinary expo trip for the Culinary Institute of America to China earlier this spring, Patrick struck up a friendship on the plane with a Chinese woman and her daughter, who took it upon themselves to show him the local sights of Chengdu while he was there for two weeks. Following the earthquake, he heard from Yough-Yough, an office manager, and her daughter, Amy, in a letter that reads in part, “I quickly to the building of the underground car park, opened on the car I went to my daughter Amy’s school, when I see Amy when she cried, she said I almost can not see your mother, when he ran a falling bricks, the scene of her classmates were killed two and injured five students. From the earthquake occurred up to now the hardest hit ball of the resumption of work has ended, and enter the aftermath of the epidemic prevention work, because, aftershocks continue to Chengdu, the majority of people were still sleeping outside. Amy and I are outside every day, Amy did not dare to school, Amy and I dare not go home at night, slept on board every day, I do not know how long this time to continue to the end.” They are just two of the tens of thousands displaced people in Chengdu who need assistance. If you or an organization with which you are involved wants to help, get in touch with Patrick and he will try to put you in touch with Yough-Yough.

There are up to 2.5 million people in Myanmar who are in need of immediate life-saving aid after the May 2 Cyclone Nargis disaster to provide food, water, shelter, and emergency medical care.  Jim Crouch, former Newtown chief dispatcher, is working with an EMS team in Indonesia and hopes to be able to respond to Myanmar with a medical team. He tells me that the Myanmar regime has had a change of heart and is now letting in some teams from what they consider “friendly” nations. “We at Medic One have scrambled to form a volunteer medical team that is now ready to go and do its part in saving lives. The team is a Medic One project under the name of AREMT/Indonesia,” Jim says. What Medic One needs now is the money to support the team. If you can pledge any amount, please send the check with your name, address, phone number, and amount pledged to:

Wisma Medic One

Project Myanmar Emergency Response

Medical Response Center

Jl. Prapanca Raya No. 6A

Jakarta 12160 Indonesia

or e-mail jimmy@medic-one.org for more information.

There are always an amazing number of Newtowners who step up in times of crisis, at home or abroad, so I have no doubts that Patrick and Jim will be hearing from plenty of hometowners soon.

No matter what project you are involved in, don’t forget next week to… Read me again.