The gate that recent visitors have noticed around Bee office manager Sherri Baggett’s desk is not to make sure she stays put and does her work. It’s to keep office dog Rosé’s new “sister,” Piper, close by. Piper joined the Baggett family, and thus The Bee family, this past weekend. Rosé was happy to introduce Piper to her new home away from home on Monday. To be sure, there was a lot of oohing and kootchie-kootchie-kooing going on when the 7-week-old pup made her office debut. A&A’s chocolate Lab, Tique, seems a bit mystified to have been displaced by a younger canine, but I have no doubt that he will be showing Piper the ropes as soon as he figures out how to get over that gate. I would like to be catty about the newcomer, but Piper is extraordinarily soft and fluffy, and pretty darn cute. How can I be? Welcome to The Bee, Piper!

And just in time, in honor of National Dog Day 2012, Best Friends Pet Care will be giving away a free doggy ice cream treat to every dog who visits any of its 42 pet care centers across the US this coming Saturday, August 25. The treats are made of yogurt or soy with dog-preferred flavors like peanut butter and honey. In case you want to take your best friend on a date on Saturday, for a complete list of nearby locations, visit www.bestfriendspetcare.com. (Just in case you missed National Hug Your Cat Day in June, National Cat Day is celebrated on October 29. Free mouse shakes at the Creamery? We’ll see.)

In our neighboring town, the Danbury Public Library has been making some changes, thanks to a grant from the Praxair Corporation. Thirteen new computers have been added to the others on the main floor, among other things. The library will reopen to the public next Wednesday, August 29.

Oh where, oh where has my little dog gone? That’s the tune that Legislative Council Chair Jeff Capeci is singing, sad to report. Two-year-old Wrinkles, his pug/dachshund mix, is lost. She was last seen near Bennett’s Bridge Road this past week, wearing a pink collar with a red leash attached. Wrinkles is a little shy, but if you spot her, please call Jeff at 203-470-3736, and help her get back home.

When Lorraine Hurley helped her Children’s Cuisine of Newtown Cooking School class plant beans in March, outside of her South Main Street home, she hoped to get enough beans to use at the culinary classes she teaches. But the string beans took off, and have been providing Lorraine and husband Mike prodigiously since early summer. “They are still growing, and growing,” Lorraine says. After feeding friends and family as many green bean meals as she could, Lorraine has turned to freezing them. Looks like the next class won’t have to do all the hard work of tilling the soil, planting, watering, and harvesting.

I’ve noticed buses prowling the streets this week, practicing the routes. The lull of summer on the roads is over. Next Tuesday, August 28, it’s back to school for Newtown students, and that means extra traffic by the high school entrance on Route 34, and on Queen Street in front of the middle school. Maybe it’s not just bus drivers that should be practicing new driving routes.

I’m usually only good for a quick sprint up the tree trunk, but I might give the Newtown Road Race a whirl this year. The 7th Annual Newtown Road Race 5K and Newtown Prevention Council Kids Run will take place at 9 am, in Dickinson Park, Saturday, September 1. I’ll be joined by 500 to 600 other runners, I’m told, not to mention the additional 200 kids that take part in the fun run. Both dirt and paved roads make up this gently rolling course, and for the first 700 registered runners, there will be T-shirts and goodie bags. All proceeds benefit the Newtown Youth & Family Services, if you need an incentive to get up and get going. Register online at www.newtownroadrace.com or contact race director Steve Meeker at newtownroadrace@yahoo.com for more details.

Just a note to drivers, not runners: Just prior to, during, and just after the race, parts of Route 302 will be closed, from approximately 8 to 11 am. Any traffic disruptions will be detoured appropriately. To see a map of the course, visit http://newtownroadrace.com/map.html.

I know that this red-tailed hawk won’t fit into that birdhouse, but I’ll bet that whatever little bird calls the house in Kathy Gadoci’s South Main Street yard “home” kept him or herself tucked far, far back in the corner.

Now that we’re in the middle of harvest season, Main Street resident Laura Lerman hopes that local gardeners will remember the Faith Food Pantry. If you have extra produce from your garden, e-mail Laura at harvest@se-ltd.com, and she will pick it up and deliver it to the Faith Food Pantry. It doesn’t get easier than that to lend a helping hand.

Pick your favorite parade viewing spot for the September 3 parade, but don’t feel you have to get there before sunrise this year. If you want to sleep in a little, the parade doesn’t start until noon on Labor Day, so you can be casually late in setting up. You might be a bit hungry by then, but the Newtown Congregational Church can take care of that. The kitchen there will be firing up to serve pancakes — along with free parking at the 14 West Street location — from 9:30 to 11:30 am. It’s just $6 per person, or bring the whole family for $20.

I’ve been informed that this coming week celebrates the invention of the Thurber typewriter, the first practical (although not speedy) typewriter invented in America. That happened on August 26, 1843. Luckily for me, a computer keyboard is much easier to manipulate with my fuzzy paws than a manual typewriter.

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap. I’ll be busy at that computer keyboard this week, you can bet on that, so be sure to… Read me again.