It was raining ducks (rather than cats and dogs, or even raindrops) on Saturday afternoon, down by the Pootatuck River in Sandy Hook Center. The Lions hosted another successful Duck Race, and from what I could see, everyone had a pretty grand time. I stopped by the face painting station before the dumping of the ducks to see about having whiskers painted on my face, but I was turned away. Apparently, there is no improving on my whiskers.

He is a little beyond the age limit for the Bee Birthday Album, but I want to wish Dennis Janofsky, owner of Quality Gem in Bethel, a very happy birthday. Dennis and his staff have been providing pretty baubles to residents of Newtown and surrounding towns since 1982, back when he was a mere 31 years old… (You do the math.) If you want to send a special birthday greeting to Dennis, visit qualitygem.com.

Newtown native Eddie Schmidt dropped me a line last week, catching up on his latest projects. Eddie, you may remember, was the producer of Twist of Faith, which was nominated for a Documentary Feature Oscar in 2005. He was also, again with business partner and director Kirby Smith, involved with another documentary the following year, a fantastic offering called This Film Is Not Yet Rated, which delved into the history and secrecy of The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). Earlier this year Eddie’s latest production, Troubadours, a musical documentary about James Taylor, Carole King and the singer-songwriter scene of the late 60s/early 70s (centered around the famous Troubadour Club), premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.

While Eddie isn’t coming home this weekend, a film he is handling the distribution for will be premiering at Bethel Cinema. Harry Shearer’s The Big Uneasy, a “serious and urgent documentary about how the flooding of New Orleans was caused not by Hurricane Katrina,” says Eddie, “but by engineering and oversight by the Army Corps of Engineers.” The really cool thing about this weekend’s shows is that Friday night’s 7:15 screening will be followed by a Skype chat with Shearer himself. The filmmaker has been appearing in many cities with the film during its 60-venue rollout across the country, but he will actually be in The Crescent City when Bethel hosts the June 3 opening, so the filmmaker is doing the next best things: He’ll be talking with and answering questions from fans who have just watched his labor of love. Visit www.TheBigUneasy.com for details about the film, including some trailers, and head over to www.BethelCinema.com for details on tickets and reservations for Friday night’s special event.

I would hate to part with my fur, so I understand how sad it is for children who lose their hair due to medical treatments. Newtown resident Jaime Vavrek is also sympathetic to that plight, and as a local lacrosse instructor, he hates to see children lose their self-confidence, which can happen when hair falls out. So this Saturday, June 4, Jaime is setting up a tent at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, during the Eli Youth Lacrosse Jamboree, and inviting people to stop by and clip away at his own longish locks, that he has grown out while away at college this past year, for a donation to Locks of Love. His hair isn’t quite long enough to send to the organization that creates hairpieces, no charge, for needy children, but he is pretty certain that he can raise a good amount of money for Locks of Love, and get a summer haircut, at the same time.

Did you know that dogs get cancer in about the same numbers as humans, and cats just a bit less often? And a cure for pets is as elusive as that for people. No matter what your species, finding a cure for cancer is a worthy task to take on. That said, once again Newtown will host the Relay For Life, on the grounds of Fairfield Hills, Saturday evening, June 4. Public events run from 3 pm to midnight, opening ceremony is at 6 pm, and the luminaria ceremony takes place at 9 pm. All proceeds benefit the American Cancer Society. If a cure for cancer in humans is discovered, I’m hoping that means that one for pets might not be far behind.

Here’s a cure for the blues, at least: Both the girls’ and boys’ lacrosse teams at the high school captured South-West Conference Tournament titles on May 27. The girls edged Joel Barlow 17-16 and the boys defeated New Fairfield 12-7. Not to mention, Newtown tennis player Rob Beier won a conference singles crown. Congrats, to all! (Check out the sports page this week for Sports Editor Andy Hutchison’s in-depth stories.)

It was wonderfully apparent what a wealth of young talent comes from Newtown at the Les Miserables Reunion Concert this past Monday evening, at the Ridgefield Playhouse. The benefit performance for the Newtowner magazine brought together many of the cast members from the 2004 NHS performance and the summer 2010 performance of that musical, once again under the magical direction of Sabrina Post. Sabrina, of Sabrina’s Encore Productions, wanted to give back to photographer Darren Wagner and his wife, Newtowner editor Georgia Monaghan, for their support of her shows. Plus, it was a good excuse to reunite the many young actors and singers who made those two shows the showstoppers that they were. Monday’s performance had the Memorial Day crowd on its feet at curtain’s close, too. Bravo, to all!

Let’s hear it for our Parks and Recreation lifeguards, especially the ones assigned to Eichler’s Cove. So far, since opening day on Saturday, the lifeguards there have cleared away dead fish from the shoreline, chased off a water snake, and hauled a cinder block from the water. All in a good day’s work, I guess.

Our eagle-eyed Newtown Bee copyeditor Janis Gibson was on the bicycle end of a bike vs car accident over Memorial weekend. She’s okay, but licking her wounds off-site for a few days. Get Well, Janis! In the meantime, I’ll try not to make any faux “paws” till she returns.

There is still time to sponsor a table for the Newtown Chapter of Regional Hospice of Western Connecticut’s annual fundraising and volunteer thank you breakfast Wednesday, June 15, at The Waterview on Route 34, just over the Newtown line in Monroe. This year marks the 22nd anniversary of the breakfast honoring the many volunteers and caregivers of Regional Hospice. Sponsors can buy a table that seats seven guests and the host for $100. Corporate sponsorships are also available, at $500 for a table for 12. Guests are encouraged to donate “tips” to the waitstaff (Regional Hospice volunteers) that become donations to the agency, as do the funds from table sponsorship. The 8 to 9 am event, with a special speaker, is always a heartwarming start to the day. To sponsor a table, call Marg Studley at 203-426-3651.

Until next week, I’ll be dodging raindrops or whatever it takes, as I collect the news about town that everyone wants to know. So be sure to… Read me again.