Congratulations Maria Batista! The Trumbull resident’s name was selected on Monday through a raffle for an early Designer Bag Bingo prize, a complimentary wash and blow dry ahead of the big fundraiser for Newtown Community Center on October 11. General admission and reserved tickets for the new fundraiser have sold out but there is still one fun opportunity available: a VIP Party Room, offering comfortable seating for 14 in a private space located across from the main bingo room. There, guests will enjoy all the excitement on their own large screen while relaxing at a banquet table complete with mini bottles of Prosecco, a crudités and charcuterie board, and the attention of a dedicated host. The package is available for $1,000. Visit zeffy.com for details or to scoop up that offer.

Meanwhile, organizers are still looking for volunteers to help make that event run smoothly. If you have some time available Friday, October 10, for setup, or Saturday, October 11, they'd love to hear from you. There are multiple timeslots and opportunities available.

Congratulations also to Diane Sarna. The Sandy Hook resident has been named by Bridges To Community as the inaugural Diana Tyler Bridge Builder Award recipient. Diane, who recently retired from a career as an educator, is being celebrated by the New Rochelle, N.Y.-based nonprofit for decades of teaching, service, and nearly 20 years of leading students on Bridges trips. Bridges to Community hosts trips to the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua, where volunteers work closely with community leaders to mitigate poverty through health, education, housing, and economic development programs. Diane will be among those honored early next month when Bridges To Community hosts its first Leadership Dinner. BTC Emeritus Board Member Paul Alcorn will also be celebrated that evening, as the Leadership Dinner Honoree. Since its founding in 1992, Bridges To Community has invested $75,000 in the communities it supports. It has done this, according to the organization, with more than 75,000 blocks laid and 7,500 lives touched, “building more than homes; we’ve built hope, opportunity, and lasting change.” Diane’s legacy, also according to BTC, “is shaping generations of global citizens through compassion, connection, and shared work.”

John Kantzas called this week, asking me to let friends and customers know Eggs & Co. has folded. John has been in the restaurant business for nearly 50 years, he said, and decided Wednesday morning he’d had enough. The doors to the South Main Street eatery are closed for good. “A lot of things have escalated ... there are many reasons that led to my decision,” he said, but he asked that I extend his thanks to those who patronized him over the years.

I’m sending a Good Egg Award this week to Carlen Gaines, who recently made sure some letters and a photograph found their way back to a very grateful person. Carlen found the 30+-year-old items in The Great Room at Newtown Congregational Church and pieced together who they belonged to. How they ended up in that location is still a bit of a puzzle, but the owner of those precious items tells me it’s no mystery how she feels about Carlen: very, very appreciative.

Jeff Belanger’s new book is wicked fun! The former Newtown resident continues to build his career researching legends and lore of the unexplained. His latest achievement is the release of Wicked Strange: Your Guide to Ghosts, Monsters, Oddities, and Urban Legends from New England. The enjoyable read ties in with Jeff’s popular weekly “New England Legend” podcast and his Emmy-nominated television series on PBS and Amazon Prime. The 240-page paperback features photography by Frank Grace and is available through Amazon, jeffbelanger.com, and most locations with books and ebooks. As of this week the first book program in Connecticut won’t happen until November 6, when Jeff speaks at Kent Memorial Library in Suffield, but (a) he has a lot of programs in Massachusetts and New Hampshire already planned and (b) I’ll let you know if I hear of something closer to our home.

Newtown residents should watch their mailboxes for Joan Alexander and John Batchelor’s new postcard series celebrating “Iconic Newtown.” The mother and son dynamic duo, both real estate agents and active volunteers in their hometown, have created five designs printed on oversize postcards that will be mailed at intervals. Joan stopped by this week and gave us a sneak peek at the series, and I’m not going to spoil the surprises she and John have created by telling you which views are featured. I’ll just say I hope local readers enjoy the cards as much as I already have.

Continued birthday wishes to Knox Baggett. Our youngest Bee celebrated her first birthday on September 16, although honestly, I think big sister Violet was more excited about the occasion than the birthday girl. “She’s too little,” the nearly 3-year-old said oh-so-earnestly. “She doesn’t know” what birthdays are yet, the sweet visitor informed a few people while snacking on crackers and making her rounds Tuesday morning. Nevertheless, Violet made sure everyone knew it was her sister’s birthday.

We are just past the midpoint of National Honey Month, an annual observation meant to highlight the importance of honeybees, support beekeepers, and promote the benefits of honey. The timing comes as September marks the end of the honey collection season for many beekeepers in the United States.

Did you know the honeybee is an old-fashioned symbol for the newspaper industry? If you’ve been on a group tour through our office you probably did know that. Think about it: honeybees go out and collect pollen from flowers, return to the hive and work their magic, creating honey which benefits them and many others in the world. Similarly, reporters go out and collect information for stories, then return to the office to write those stories, which when published share information with readers.

If you’re planning to head to West Springfield, Mass. this weekend for The Big E you’ll have a perfect opportunity to celebrate National Honey Month. Cheyenne Bastian-Brown, the 2025 American Honey Queen, is scheduled to be at the massive fair through Sunday as part of her National Honey Month tour. When she isn’t participating in the daily Big Parade, Cheyenne plans to be at the Hampden County Beekeepers Association booth in Farm-A-Rama or touring the fairgrounds. Her presence at the fair with the beekeepers association will allow her to speak to fairgoers about the importance of honeybees in the context of New England agriculture. She will discuss how honeybee pollination keeps our plates bountiful and how honey delivers extraordinary energy.

As the 2025 American Honey Queen, Cheyenne serves as a national spokesperson for the American Beekeeping Federation, a trade organization that represents beekeepers and honey producers across the country. The daughter of Cory and Jennifer Brown of Ralston, Penn., she is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University where she majored in agricultural and extension education. At school, she was an active member of multiple organizations and served in various leadership roles.

I think it’s time to take an active step toward my next nap. Then I’ll continue working on my next collection of news and notes, which will be ready for you next week when it’s time to come back and … read me again.