Congratulations to the U15 One Eyed Cats baseball team, which is heading to the Babe Ruth World Series next week! Newtown Bee "Snapshot" column and mentioned that she was fostering the active dog, she has had inquiries from people who would like to meet him this month. Even more exciting, Tyler is one of four adoptable dogs and cats featured in People magazine in the August 7 edition, in the article "Clear the Shelters." Clear the Shelters is a nationwide drive offering waived or reduced adoption fees. Maybe a forever home is in the near future for Tyler. Newtown Bee has triggered some memories. Residents Ellen Speirs and Brigid Demand both contacted the newspaper to provide names of three women standing with past first selectman, the late Jack Rosenthal, on a staircase in the Edmond Town Hall. According to our helpful callers, the women are Becky Smith, Kate Simoneau, and Laurie Phillips with the Junior Women's Club, 1984.newtownctlabordayparade.org. It's only a month away!The Bee's newest golden retriever pup, Libby,  getting the hang of reading this week. Sprawled across the paper on the hallway floor, she seemed to prefer our sister publication, Antiques and The Arts Weekly.The Veil, Conor McPherson's tale of suspense that opened at The Little Theater in mid-July. Newtown Bee Theater Reviewer Elizabeth Young was very impressed with the show she took in, saying, "The dark yet elegant play is a mysterious twist on pre-wedding jitters." She complimented the entire cast, and said "a particularly fine performance is given by Alexander Kulcsar," who plays a "harried, underpaid, and unhinged" estate manager in the play set in Ireland. Remaining performances are Friday and Saturday nights at 8, and tickets are $22. Call 203-270-9144 or visit www.newtownplayers.org/ for reservations or additional information.stamfordmuseum.org for directions and museum FAQs.Old Farmer's Almanac, you might want to know. "How And When Is The Best Time To Pick Vegetables And Fruit" is a fairly comprehensive list of common veggies and fruits, and easy to understand descriptions for identifying ripeness. Check it out at www.almanac.com  under the Gardening tab, if you don't have a copy of the almanac.

I also hear that the Newtown U11 Vipers, while winless at the Cal Ripken championship in Maine, were winners in deportment. Newtown was well represented by a team of youngsters who, despite playing on a field unfamiliar in many aspects, against all-star composed teams, played with enthusiasm and sportsmanship. That's what makes summer baseball fun and memorable. Congrats to this team, as well.

Things are looking up for adoptable dog Tyler. Michele McLeod tells us that since she was profiled in the July 21

A "Way We Were" photo in the July 21

Looking for a special gift for yourself or someone else? Ben's Bells Connecticut has just the thing. Show your support of Ben's Bells this summer by purchasing a limited edition necklace created by Dave Brooker, local artist and caretaker at the Newtown Forest Association Holcomb Hill property. Dave has created a limited edition necklace for the organization, and these one-of-a-kind Kindness necklaces can be purchased for $20, only at Connecticut Ben's Bells studio, 32 Stony Hill Road (Route 6), in Bethel. (Entrance is at the rear of the building.)

The Labor Day Parade organizers are taking the temperature of parade support. Check out the thermometer posters set up around town, where monetary support for the annual event is tracked. Organizers are hoping it will reach fever pitch - the sum of $30,000 to pay for the cost of the end of summer extravaganza. It seems like a big number, but it's really just about $1 per resident. Keep the parade marching. It's easy to donate; go to

Neither bear nor cougar, Dawn Handschuh had her own wildlife experience on July 24. "I was making dinner in my kitchen when I happened to glance out the window - a habit I got into a long time ago because you never know what you will see. This time I saw a healthy-looking bobcat just 20 feet from my front door near an old apple tree, which is a wildlife magnet. I watched it from behind and could see its little bob tail wagging from one side to the other," Dawn tells me, "almost doglike, but slower, more measured. An apple fell from the tree and the bobcat stretched one paw toward it in a playful sort of way, the way cats will do. It remained in that position for several seconds and then casually walked into the brushy undergrowth, exactly where a resident woodchuck has a burrow and is raising 2 little ones I see foraging on apples daily. I wondered if the bobcat would lie in wait for them, but about an hour later, the two babies emerged at dusk, on cue. This is the second bobcat sighting here in 21 years, and the first one, just a year or so ago, was in almost the same exact spot."

We caught

We are heading into the final weekend of performances by Town Players of Newtown of

Feel like buzzing down to the Stamford Museum & Nature Center later this month? In celebration of the National Honeybee Day, Sunday, August 20, the center will host a "Honeybee Open Hive," from 11 am to 2 pm. A press release tells me "On National Honeybee Day, we champion our smallest, most industrious farm residents. Discover the buzz during hive demos (weather permitting) and a honey bee scavenger hunt at our Sunday Farm Market. You'll plant native wildflower seeds to take home and meet some other 6-legged creatures. We'll also have a tasting of a variety of honeys, including SM&NC honey, a honey that tastes like marshmallows, and the 'champagne' of honeys." Stamford Museum & Nature Center is at 39 Scofieldtown Road in Stamford. Visit

Tara Tomaselli and Heidrum Morgan, both of Newtown, are among the eight artists showing now through September 16 at Art & Frame, 60 Newtown Road, Danbury. An opening reception is scheduled for Saturday, August 5, from 5 to 7 pm. You can also catch Tara at the downtown Mystic Outdoor Art Festival, Saturday, August 12, 10 am to 6 pm; Sunday, August 13, 10 am to 5 pm.

Are you new to gardening? Now that harvest time for home gardeners is underway, a useful article is in the 2017

Get your mugs chilled - it's International Beer Day, this Friday, August 4. Originally a local Santa Cruz, Calif. event, it has spread to celebrations all over the world, I'm told. Craft brews are big right now, but it seems that on International Beer Day that one would want to sample world beers. It sounds like an excuse for a party, at any rate. (Purr-sonally, I had a purr-fectly wonderful time celebrating World Milk Day, this past June 1.)

It makes me purr-fectly happy, as well, to hope that next week you will... Read me again.