Congratulations to the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement. As announced on the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement Facebook page, “A special documentary on the creation of the Choose Love Movement won honorable mention in the 2021 Love Wins International Film Festival.” The announcement went on to read, “Thank you, producer and director Peter Stewart, our faithful ambassador, supporter, and overall creative soul who made this amazing video! In 2020 it won first place in the ACM National Awards, Exceptional Merit in Doctors Without Borders Film Festival, and was an award winner in the Accolade Global Film competition.” Watch the video online at youtu.be/rrvjhm09k5c.

Fine... I will also share a special “congratulations” to all the dogs out there, as August is National Dog Month. It is a month to celebrate pet dogs and all they bring into our lives. I personally thank Piper, Liberty, and Pickles — The Newtown Bee’s office dogs — for the joy they bring to work every day. I could not do my job as the paper’s roving cat columnist without their love and support. They truly know how to keep us Bees on our toes and I am always impressed by their work ethic, as exhibited by Liberty’s ability to keep an eye on floor in the picture above.

If you support animal welfare, you may also want to know about the 2021 Goat Games, a nationwide event running August 14 to 21 that raises awareness and funds for farmed animals across the country. The Catskill Animal Sanctuary, a nonprofit, 155-acre refuge in New York’s Hudson Valley, is hosting the event. The Goat Games are co-hosted with the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries, the certifying body for sanctuaries, according to an announcement. The virtual event challenges people to “run, walk, bike, hike, or create an activity of their choosing to raise funds for ten farmed animal sanctuaries across the US. These sanctuaries provide a haven for animals who’ve been abused, abandoned, or worse. A goat champion has been designated for each of the ten sanctuaries, and ‘athletes’ will rally behind the goat representing the sanctuary they want to support. Catskill Animal Sanctuary is represented by Chester, an energetic adolescent rescued from a local ‘humane’ farm that was forced to close its doors.” Find out more online at app.mobilecause.com/vf/goatgames.

Sea Horse Stables at 50 Poverty Hollow Road will be hosting an Equestrian Open House on August 8 from 11 am to 3 pm for the community to learn more about the facility and community involvement. A tour of the facility will be available along with arts, crafts, vendor tables, a chance to meet the owner and trainers, raffles, and more. Who could say nay?

Four weeks into her retirement, it was good to see Nancy Crevier checking things off her wish list. Our former editor was among the 30-plus people spotted in the lower meeting room of Newtown Meeting House last week, when the Society of Creative Arts of Newtown hosted its first in-person public event in more than a year. Nancy had long hoped to get to SCAN programs, but they often conflicted with her job — editing, writing, reading, and all that used to get into the way, after all. Curious about last week’s guest artist? See page A-12 for photos and a brief story.

Newtown Police Officer Maryhelen McCarthy heard back from the town of Surfside, Fla., recently. McCarthy sent a photo of Ruth the Turtle with a cut-out heart placed over the turtle’s neck with the words, “Our hearts are with you! Your friends in Newtown, CT, and Ruth the Turtle,” to the town of Surfside, Fla., following the collapse on June 24 of a portion of the Champlain Towers South condominium building — as covered in the recent “Paying It Forward: Local Officer Sends Support Message To Surfside Following Condo Collapse” story by Alissa Silber. Ruth the Turtle, a multicolored sculpture of a turtle, was a gift to Newtown from Surfside following the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy, and it was a gift that caught the attention of McCarthy at the time, creating a bond with Surfside. Surfside responded to McCarthy’s support with a letter that read, “Dear Officer McCarthy, We want to gratefully acknowledge your thoughtfulness with the card and prayers. We found it most encouraging and uplifting during this difficult time. Your caring has made a difference to our community. Thank you for your kindness.”

The Newtown Cultural Arts Commission has issued a final call for artists and vendors interested in participating in the 2021 Newtown Arts Festival. This year’s event is being planned for Saturday and Sunday, September 18-19, at Fairfield Hills. Festival Chair Barbara Snyder has openings for weavers, jewelers, woodturners, metal workers, and sculptors. Interested? Request an application by e-mail to newtownartsfestival@gmail.com.

Do you have the Annual Italian Festival on your calendar? It’s set for this Friday, August 6, from 5 pm to 9 pm at the Amerigo Vespucci Lodge, 10 Christopher Columbus Avenue, in Danbury. If interested go to sonsofitaly.org or call 203-748-9956 for more information.

Tom Kretsch and Shapleigh Smith are returning to Newtown next week. The two former residents, who collaborated on a current photography exhibit at C.H. Booth Library, will be the artists on site for a “Meet The Artists” event on Monday, August 9, from 6 to 7 pm, in the meeting room of the library, where their work is on view. Kretsch, who lives in Westport, and Smith, who lives in Stowe, Vt., spent some time taking photographs on a wintry day in Vermont. The resulting work is on view at 25 Main Street until Labor Day weekend. Guests on Monday will have another opportunity to meet the two friends, listen to their story, and learn about the elements of photography they used in their work. Registration is requested and can be done by calling 203-426-4533 or e-mailing jnash@chboothlibrary.org.

And thanks this week to Dan Honan, who reached out after reading last week’s Way We Were column. The photo that ran with the column on July 30 showed a group of young men in uniform surrounding an adult and a dog. The only note on the back of the photo was “Pine Tree Patrol Trip-1939.” We are pretty confident the man in the photo is the Reverend Paul Cullens, who had organized that special patrol for Newtown Boy Scouts and who led multiple excursions over the years. According to the note this week from Dan, his late father William “Bill” Honan is part of that group. Bill is in the back row, all the way to the left. “In the summer of 1939, he was 15 years old and a member of Boy Scout Troop 70,” Dan shared.

I promise to keep up my patrols for Newtown news as long as you promise next week to... Read me again.