Last week I mentioned C.H. Booth Library has added medication disposal bags to its growing list of nontraditional offerings. After all, 25 Main Street is home to The Library of Unusual Things, which allows card-holding guests to borrow everything from a portable air compressor, lighting magnifying glass and a croquet set to pickleball paddle sets, iPads and a Discman. With summer break well underway, this week I was reminded that the library offers free and discounted passes to select museums and cultural sites across the state. Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo, Discovery Museum & Planetarium, The Mark Twain House & Museum and adjacent Harriet Beecher Stowe House, many state parks, and Stepping Stones Museum are all part of the program.

Physical passes are checked out from the library, just like books, etc, so you’ll need to visit the library to borrow one. All passes are first-come, first-served, and the loan period is two days. Grab your CT Library Card and head to the Children’s Circulation Desk on the first floor of the library to borrow one. If you’d like to see the current list of available passes visit chboothlibrary.org/tailored-for-you, then click on Children, and then Museum Passes.

As we step another week closer to the 2025 Labor Day Parade, there’s some good news from our current Keeper of the Flagpole. Chris Gardner mentioned last week that a new gilded finial for the top of the Main Street flagpole has made its way to town. You may recall the flagpole was hit by a full-size pick-up truck being operated by a Bethel resident back in January. The driver was reportedly traveling west on Church Hill Road and then just continued straight into the 100-foot-tall landmark. The collision vibrated up the flagpole, causing the finial to snap off and crash onto Main Street. The finial was damaged beyond repair, leaving the flagpole without its topper for six months.

Chris plans to have the new finial installed atop the flagpole within the next few weeks. He confirmed he’s also planning to give the pole a top to bottom paint job, as mentioned during a Borough Board of Burgesses meeting in January soon after the crash. Bottom line, he said: the flagpole will have a shiny new coat and finial in time for the big parade on September 1.

Meanwhile, Chris continues to do touch-ups as often as possible, keeping the lower reaches of the flagpole tidy after each minor scrape and ding. I hear he was out there very early Monday morning, in fact, after someone sideswiped the pole on Sunday.

I’m still struggling to understand why Governor Lamont and state tourism folks decided last year it would be a good idea to not only declare Connecticut the Pizza Capital of the World but have continued and now kicked things up a notch. The campaign began in September with billboards placed at the state lines on I-84 and I-95, greeting those arriving in the Constitution State with the slogan “Welcome to Connecticut: Home of the Pizza Capital of the United States.” In May the Connecticut Pizza Trail — the top 20 pizza places across the state, as selected by those who opted in to a poll hosted by Connecticut’s Office of Tourism — was unveiled. An expanded list of the state’s top 100 locations will be unveiled online in the autumn. Now, however, Connecticut tourism officials are taunting people in New York City, New Jersey, Chicago and even Detroit with a series of billboards clearly meant to elicit responses.

As reported last month by The New York Times, the rollout includes billboards with taunts that include “The Nation’s Best Pizza: Not You, New York” and “There’s No Shame in 2nd Place.” Several are “provocatively placed close to the city’s top pizzerias,” also according to the paper, including near Roberta’s in Brooklyn, Lombardi’s in Little Italy, John’s of Bleeker Street in Greenwich Village, and Joe’s Pizza, also in Greenwich Village. A phone number is included on each billboard, encouraging those who see them to share their thoughts on the message, and New Yorkers are not holding back. Some of the calmest messages include “Danny, third generation pizza guy, Bronx born, gluten intolerant and still offended!” “Let’s be honest, Connecticut is barely a state,” “Connecticut is just filled with people commuting to New York to get pizza,” and simply “Lies!”

I don’t get it. We have plenty of good pizza right here in Newtown, and more if you take some time to travel across the state and beyond. Why kick the beehive unnecessarily?

On a happier note, I offer a reminder this week that we have tickets at 5 Church Hill Road for Botsford Fire Rescue’s Summer Bash raffle. Tickets went on sale a few weeks ago and will continue to be sold until the day of the event — Saturday, August 23 — and the top prize is a 2008 Hawley-Davidson FLHX Street Glide owned by late BFR Assistant Chief Pete Blomberg.

Three additional prizes are also up for grabs: a $500 Amazon gift card, $250 Amazon gift card, and $100 Jewel of Himalaya gift card. Tickets are $25 each and available at Botsford Fire Rescue’s station, 315 South Main Street, Monday evenings between 6-9 pm. They’re also available at the Office of the Fire Marshal (Newtown Municipal Center), the office of this newspaper, and now they’re also being sold at NAPA Newtown, 111 South Main Street. The four winning raffle tickets will be drawn at 9 pm August 23, and winners do not need to be present.

Admission to the Bash itself is free. The community BBQ and fundraiser will run 2 to 10 pm at Botsford’s firehouse. The family-friendly event is open to the public and will feature a full afternoon and evening of fun, food, and entertainment, all to support the volunteers who serve the Botsford and greater Newtown community. Event highlights will include activities for children, from 2-5 pm, including bounce house, dunk tank, games, and more; BBQ dinner and refreshments served throughout the event, and live music by local performers into the evening.

That’s it for me this week. I’m not going to taunt you with anything other than a request to remember that in seven days it’ll be time to come back and … read me again.