Based on my hints last week, were you able to guess where Ezra the Rooster was headed last weekend for the next stop on his Semiquincentennial Tour of Newtown? My hints for you last week said Ezra planned to visit the former home of a man twice married (to women who shared the same first name!), whose wives bore him a combined total of six children, and who served as a member of the Connecticut State House of Representatives, among other life points. I know it was a challenge, but I also promised Ezra’s handler that I wouldn’t give everything away in advance.

If you guessed the former home of Judge William Edmond, you get a big gold star! Ezra stopped by 27 Main Street last weekend, where he spent a few minutes on the carriage step still installed in the front lawn before crowing some history about the circa 1787 home. If you’d like to learn more about Judge Edmond and the historic building, visit the historical society’s Facebook page and Instagram feed (both @NewtownHistoricalSociety) for details. I missed mentioning last month’s surprise visit to The Matthew Curtiss House. Ezra visited the headquarters of Newtown Historical Society on Independence Day, which wasn’t on his original itinerary for this historic year, but it’s a perfect addition to his continuing tour, which began last month with a visit to the former Caleb Baldwin Tavern.

Our final groups of visitors from TransitionCT visited our office last week. Reporter Sam Cross had issued an invitation to the clients and staff of the transitional program for adults with special needs, who we often see walking past our office when they’re en route from their office a few doors down the hill from us to Edmond Town Hall and other Main Street locations. Sam invited them to come inside, talk and walk around the building, and enjoy a visit.

There are so many clients of the program that we needed to create four days of tours, with two groups visiting each day. Last Friday was the final walk-through and visit, and like their friends the week before, last week’s groups arrived with handmade Thank You cards for Sam. One visitor really touched her heart, however, when they handed Sam this beautiful rose crafted from Lego building blocks. She was speechless for a moment and dare I say even momentarily teary when accepting the gift.

Thank you again, neighbors. We loved seeing everyone. Photos from last week’s visits are in this week’s Education pages, and will also be shared online in a few days.

Former Newtown musician Lucinda Rowe is featured in The Brightest Star in the Sky, a newly released children’s book by Connecticut author Tricia Aquilar and part of Tricia’s Once Upon a Lullaby series. The series pairs illustrated bedtime stories with music, allowing families to read the story and then scan a QR code inside the book to hear the lullaby that accompanies it. The Brightest Star in the Sky features the timeless “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” performed by Lucinda, who also created additional verses for the recording. The lullaby was produced by Mick Connolly and recorded at Red Room Sound Studio. The collaboration combines Tricia’s original story with Lucinda’s musical interpretation to create an interactive bedtime experience designed to bring storytelling and music together. The Brightest Star in the Sky was just released at the beginning of the month and is available through Amazon.

A reminder this week that Newtown Community Center and Newtown Senior Center will be closed August 24-30. The building at 8 Simpson Street will be closed during that stretch for its annual maintenance. Plans are for the full location to reopen Monday, August 31.

This week we said farewell to Emily Braun, who has been interning with us since late June. Emily divided her summer break between us, working at C.H. Booth Library, and personal time with family and friends. She’ll be heading back to school within the week, so she has filed her final stories for us, although two of them won’t be running for a few weeks. This week we share Emily’s recap of Kate Katcher’s recent author program at C.H. Booth Library within our Enjoy pages. Then in a few weeks her byline will be attached to two features in our 2026 Autumn Home & Garden special section. Meanwhile, Emily also opened up a little about herself for this week’s Snapshot column. I hope you enjoy that, and that she enjoyed her time with us.

Newtown students are also among those heading back to classrooms next week — teachers return on Monday, students on Thursday for the first of two early dismissal days. Between that and one friend at 5 Church Hill Road who mentioned she’s already seeing leaves in her yard, we knew autumn was returning. What really clinched it this week was the sight of something new at a local grocery store: Pumpkin Spice Popcorn.

I’m still waiting for cats to be celebrated the way The Ely Center of Contemporary Art in New Haven is highlighting dogs with one of its current exhibitions. “Deus Ex Bark-ina” is a group art exhibition dedicated to dogs. Works by 56 artists range from pieces that explore these animals “in addition to human narratives as a companion, laborer, and emotional prosthesis; but also as gregarious and vulnerable bodies that blur the lines between love, devotion, control, and obedience,” according to exhibition notes. Michael Morgan curated the collection, which opened last weekend and is on view until September 13. A closing reception is planned for that afternoon, in fact, from 3-6 pm. Visit elycenter.org for additional details including regular gallery hours, address, etc. If you do stop in to see the collection, be a lamb and drop a note in the Suggestion Box for me: look at felines next time.

We may not see many sturgeon in local waters, but everyone can look toward the sky next week to see the moon named in their honor. This month’s full moon will occur Friday, August 28, when we’ll see the Sturgeon Moon, or the traditional full moon of late summer. According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, this moon was named for the giant lake sturgeon of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain. The native freshwater fish was “readily caught during this part of summer and an important food staple for Native Americans who lived in the region.” Anyone who has fish as a staple of their diet is OK by me.

Churchgoers are occasionally stymied by the changing of the clocks, especially when it comes to the weekend when Daylight Saving Time returns. If you attend Trinity Episcopal Church on Main Street, or know anyone who regularly attends worship service there, you can thank me later for my reminder now: the historic church will begin hosting its weekly worship service at 10 am as of this weekend. The good news is, if you arrive on Sunday for the traditional 9:30 start, you’ll have a few extra minutes to greet fellow parishioners and maybe even a newcomer who may be surprised by the change of schedule. You’re welcome.

I’m not fishing for compliments, just a promise that you’ll remember when it’s time to come back and read me. If you’re hooked on my column, you already know it’ll be this time next week when you want to come back and … read me again.