It’s back to school time, and we started to feel that last week when we said farewell to the second of our two summer 2025 interns. Leah Laughlin, now a senior at Newtown High School, finished her time with us a few weeks ago when she filed her final feature, a story about The Isle of Skoo day camp after she finished serving a week as a mentor there.

Last week we said farewell to Tyler Pruneau, who is heading into his senior year at UConn as a journalism major. Tyler’s final feature for us appears in this week’s Sports section and concerns a trio of Newtown residents who served as summer interns with the Danbury Westerners. His specialty is sports but Tyler also picked up a few non-sports stories for us and he was — no pun intended, natch — a great sport with everything we threw at him. His byline will continue to appear for at least one more year in UConn’s Daily Campus. We wish him and Leah the best of luck with school and beyond.

Newtown Public Schools opened their doors for the 2025-26 academic year on Monday, and we began receiving First Day of School photos soon after many parents put their child(ren) on the bus that morning. Thank you to everyone who participated in this fun tradition, including Kai Sander. His photo of son Dean showed the sixth grader holding this year’s Schultüte, continuing the family’s German tradition of at least two generations.

It turns out we erroneously gave two different deadlines for First Day of School photos in recent weeks, however. Photos should have been received by noon Tuesday this week, but we found at least one location where the deadline was given as next Tuesday, September 2, at noon, so we are honoring that one. We apologize for the confusion, and hope everyone who sent their photos this week understands the decision to print all photos in one big batch next week. If you haven’t already shared your favorite First Day of School photo and you’d like to join the collection, please make sure you email it to Jenna Visca (jenna@thebee.com). We’ll print everyone’s pictures next week.

Banks Baggett said farewell to some of her innocence last week. The six-month-old golden retriever/junior security dog at 5 Church Hill Road was spayed on Thursday. She subsequently spent much of the next day sleeping in the front office, curled around the chair of “mom” Sherri. I thought I was the only one allowed to sleep that much at the office!

I missed meeting this guy (in the photo) when he visited the office recently. This is Gus, and he’s a 5-year-old Australian Shepherd. Gus was adopted by Newtown resident Rosanne Megan Eke three years ago. He’s in training with Newtown-Strong Therapy Dogs, and regularly walks with his mom around the center of town. They stopped for a minute while traversing Church Hill Road on August 16 so he could have his picture taken. I’m sorry I didn’t get to meet Gus, but I’m really happy his mom thought to take and share this picture.

I hope Gus is among those who line our in-town route on Monday — or even participate — when it will be time to celebrate the 2025 Newtown Labor Day Parade with Grand Marshal Carolee Mason and the theme “Pets On Parade.” I can’t wait to see what everyone does to honor that title.

I’m going to ask, as I often do, that everyone reading this respect the properties along the parade route and clean up after yourselves after the big event. We’ve all heard the principle “Leave No Trace Behind.” Please keep that in mind when it’s time to head out after Monday’s parade. Don’t litter. You’re better than that.

Newtown Choral Society will be starting rehearsals on September 10, in preparation for their December concert at The Meeting House, the venue with the best acoustics in town, according to Choral Society President Laura Lerman. If it’s your time to start singing in a group, or to returning to singing, in a supportive atmosphere, contact Laura at 203-313-3064 or lel@se-ltd.com for information on joining.

I understand the approaching weekend is the final opportunity for visitors to White Silo Farm to see the current exhibition there, which includes paintings by Newtown resident Joan Cone. Additionally, Max England has photography and Linda England has some of her acrylic paintings on view at 32 Route 37 East in Sherman. The farm is open Friday through Sunday, 11 am-6 pm. If you can’t get to Sherman this weekend, however, don’t despair. Joan will soon be the featured artist in the recently revamped gallery space at Newtown Senior Center. Her paintings will be shown in October and November, and senior center membership is not required to see the exhibitions. We’ll be chatting with Joan in a few weeks, so you’ll get another reminder closer to the opening.

I suppose if you’re going to take in a 50th anniversary screening of Jaws, doing so in a New England shoreline location would be the way to do it. As the film we just talked about a few weeks ago continues to celebrate that golden anniversary, Jaws will be screened nightly at New England Aquarium’s Simons Theatre, September 4-6. When I say “the big screen,” I’m not kidding! This theater’s screen is nearly five stories high. The theater also features wrap-around digital surround sound. Tickets are $10 each for the show that will make you feel like you’re right there with Brody, Quint, Hooper, and big ol’ Bruce, the great white who still gets everyone’s adrenaline going. Screenings start at 7 pm each night and tickets are $10 each. Visit neaq.org and throw Jaws into the search bar for the ticket link and additional notes.

The only thing missing will be the smell of the sea, but you’ll be right on the main channel of Boston Harbor when you enter and leave the aquarium. If that isn’t close enough, you can always add a trip out to Spectacle Island before or after the show, where you can take a dip in the public swimming area water there … if you dare.

A little birdy told me recently that Kevin Corey is celebrating a milestone birthday this week. That’s why Kevin was our Hometown Newspaper person last week. This week we’re celebrating the approaching nuptials of Madeline Fletcher, who will walk down the aisle and say “I do” to John Fox this weekend, surrounded by family and friends ready to celebrate with the couple. Maddie’s family arranged for her name to be featured in the upper right hand corner of our cover this week and we were happy to oblige.

Do you know someone who lives in town who isn’t regularly written about? We’ve been celebrating people who live in town with that “Hometown Newspaper of…” notation for more than 25 years. If you’d like to nominate someone, contact Shannon Hicks at shannon@thebee.com or 203-426-3141. There is no fee for this fun offering.

Enjoy your holiday weekend, friends. I’ll labor toward another full column and I hope in return you’ll remember to come back here next week, when you can … read me again.