The Tooth Fairy finally met Sophia Baggett last week. Miss Sophia, oldest grandchild of Co-Publisher Sherri Baggett and Production-Circulation Manager Scott Baggett, had been enjoying a corn dog when she went from having a full set of teeth to suddenly having “a window” in the lower level.

Sophia was ahead of National Tooth Fairy Day — a misnomer considering the unofficial observation is celebrated twice annually — on August 22, but we’re not going to tell her that. I just hope she enjoyed the visit and will remember to take good care of her teeth for the rest of her life. National Tooth Fairy Day will return in six months, on February 28. While a few different sources fail to explain why those dates were selected to celebrate the magical tradition, many noted the American Dental Association recommends having teeth cleanings twice annually.

Others who had a head start on National Tooth Fairy Day this week included a group of divers affiliated with an aquarium in East Rutherford, N.J. For at least the second consecutive year, Sea Life New Jersey hosted divers who donned their favorite Tooth Fairy attire and then went looking for real shark teeth embedded in the sand in the museum’s Ocean Exhibit. The exhibit is the home to various creatures including Black-Tip Reef Sharks and Southern Stingrays that lose their teeth into the floor of the exhibit. Sharks can lose as many as 30,000 teeth in a lifetime, so the Shark Tooth Fairy stays busy! This year’s dive began on Tuesday, August 19, and the found teeth were given to museum visitors through close of business on Friday.

Banks Baggett — our newest office dog/Security Staff member — has discovered fiber, of the ephemeral kind. Banks has started exploring the joy of chewing paper, cardboard and even mail when she finds any of the aforementioned. She really enjoyed trying to open a letter to Madelia Ring last week. Of course Banks didn’t realize most letters are opened by lifting the flap on the back of an envelope. The six-month-old puppy instead went to town from the lower right corner of the front of the note sent to the editor of our sister paper, Antiques and The Arts Weekly. Fortunately the well-meaning canine didn’t get too far before someone found her mid-process and gently pried the personal note from her pointy little teeth. Madelia received her letter intact if a little ragged, and Banks moved on to find the next paper towel roll with her name on it.

Hook & Ladder members lowered and removed the winter flag from the Main Street flagpole Tuesday night, this time to accommodate two groups of workers. One team was hired to do painting, and another to install the new finial. Keeper of the Flagpole Chris Gardner expected those tasks to be completed by the end of the week, at which time the summer flag that was recently repaired by Queen Street Cleaners seamstress Rosa Cordova would also return to its post. Chris had been hoping the timing of all that work would have the flag back in place and the pole looking sharp in time for the Labor Day Parade on September 1, and it looks like that will indeed happen.

Speaking of the approaching holiday, signs have been posted along the parade route, reminding residents and visitors that the center of town will be closed to all vehicular traffic for up to seven hours on Labor Day. Please remind friends and others who may be visiting you that day that they will not be able to navigate Main Street, Glover Avenue and Queen Street, as well as some adjacent sections of Mt Pleasant, Church Hill and Currituck roads, among others. The only vehicles allowed on the parade route between 8 am and 3 pm will be those in the parade. All others will be detoured.

Bridgewater Country Fair was last weekend, and at least two local fire companies participated in the traditional Firemen’s Parade Friday night. Newtown native Chris Capozziello was given the honor of driving Hawleyville Volunteer Fire Department’s recently restored 1948 Mack fire truck. That truck served Hawleyville as its first pumper for 15 years before being sold to a fire company in Weston, Vt. It found its way home about two years ago and has been given a full makeover by Matt Pfahl’s Mack and Antique Truck Restoration in Bethlehem. Chris’s operation of the truck was one of the first public sightings of the truck since its return to Hawleyville. I saw a nice photo of Chris with the truck and he looked deservedly proud to be the one at the wheel that night.

During the same parade, Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue Company and its Ladies Auxiliary picked up its fourth straight Best Overall Fire Unit win this summer from CT Parade Marshals Association. The win of Bridgewater’s Porges Trophy, the latest CPMA win this season, all but guarantees the company will retain the state title again this year, but that won’t be confirmed until the state fire convention in October. Well before that, Sandy Hook and Newtown’s four additional fire companies will all be among those participating in the Newtown Labor Day Parade. We’ll have the full Line of March in next week’s paper, which will probably be around the same time some parade die-hards start putting chairs out for their September 1 viewing locations.

Organizers of the Timeless Newtown series have asked for one final reminder that free copies of Ageism Unmasked: Exploring Age Bias and How to End It are available at multiple locations around town for at least one more week. This is the book by Dr Tracy Gendron, PhD, that multiple programs have focused on in recent months. Dr Gendron will then be the special guest at Edmond Town Hall next month, in a program moderated by 16-year-old Brookfield resident and business owner Maxim Kapytka. Max has been invited to moderate in part thanks to questions, comments and even outright challenges made due to his age and his wish to run a business.

Through next Friday, copies of Ageism Unmasked are available at C.H. Booth Library, 25 Main Street; Edmond Town Hall, 45 Main Street; Newtown Community Center, 8 Simpson Street; Newtown Municipal Center, 3 Primrose Street, Newtown Senior Center, 8 Simpson Street; and NYA Sports & Fitness Center, 4 Primrose Street. Additional details about the September 18 program are available in our calendars and within a press release in this week’s paper.

It’s nearly time for me to take a nap. As I ponder which of my favorite locations to visit this time, I can see from one of my office windows the new playhouse being raffled as the 4th Annual Around Town Real Estate Custom-Built Playhouse Raffle prize on the front lawn at 17 Church Hill Road. That would be a great place for this cat to nap, or for your favorite child or two or three to play in. Around Town Team member Chris Haggerty built the sturdy little structure, which was again done with donated materials from East Haven & Ridgefield Building Supply.

As in years past the playhouse is being raffled as a fundraiser FAITH Food Pantry, the nondenominational organization that has been providing food and other necessities to Newtown residents for 42 years and counting. Tickets start at $10 each and can be purchased online. If you buy multiple tickets, the price lowers per ticket. Visit aroundtownct.com/winthishouse or find Around Town Real Estate on Facebook or Instagram for the link to enter. Last year the raffle raised over $2,000. Organizers are hoping to help the pantry with an even larger donation this year. Ticket sales close September 6.

Now that he has retired after 43 years with the Town of Newtown, Tim Whelan may even want a playhouse for visiting grandchildren. I’ll mention it to him. I’ll also mention at this point that I hope you remember to come back next week, when you can … read me again.