Newtown Parks & Recreation announced that as of September 26 the permanent bathrooms at Treadwell Memorial Park are closed for the season, and portable toilets will be made available. Unfortunately, the change was due to repeated vandalism.

Oversize vibrant paintings by Julia Sykes-Provey are on view at The Newtown Municipal Art Gallery through the end of the month. A well-known artist, Julia was the muralist at the recent Newtown Arts Festival and was the artist for the 2014 art for the Festival. She also creates garden sculptures and fabric art. The collection on view at the municipal center is the latest exhibition hosted by Newtown Cultural Arts Commission.

Speaking of the commission and the installation this week of Julia’s one-artist exhibition, NCAC Chair Laura Lerman reached out to offer a Good Egg nomination. She nominated Dan Holmes. “Dan was kind enough to use his pickup truck to transport the pictures from Julia’s house to the municipal center” on Monday, Laura shared. “It was a tremendous help.” Congratulations Dan, you are a Good Egg!

Have you witnessed a kind deed or know of someone who is worthy of a Good Egg award? E-mail the name of the person and your reason they are a Good Egg to eliza@thebee.com, and they too may be awarded the highest honor this cat can give.

The Newtown Senior Center Crafters are planning a pop-up boutique at Newtown Community Center, 8 Simpson Street, on Saturday, October 15. Volunteers will be near the lobby of the community center from 9 am until 2 pm with fall season creations, all very reasonably priced. All proceeds support programming for local senior citizens.

Newtown High’s girls’ soccer team recently got a hat-trick from Sydney Oltran in a win, and the football team had a touchdown hat-trick of sorts by Andrew Swierbut in a victory. Boys’ soccer played three nail-biters and came out on top in two of them. I love running, and so do the cross country team members who had a pair of races this past week. Catch up with all of the teams in this week’s Sports section.

The Hearts of Hope-Newtown chapter has released its 2022 commemorative hearts. This year’s design is by Newtown native Ryan Patrick. The beautiful design is shown here, complete with a pair of roosters and the words Newtown is Hope. Ryan is currently living in Boston, where he is finishing his undergraduate degree at Northeastern University. We’ve seen Ryan’s work for years, from projects and fundraisers during his school years here in town to the logo he designed earlier this year for the 2022 Newtown Arts Festival.

We are proud to say that our office is once again one of the locations where the hearts can be purchased. They are $15 each, and available at our office, 5 Church Hill Road; and Newtown General Store, 43 Main Street. In-person purchases are cash or check. The hearts can also be ordered online through ourheartsofhope.org/shop with a credit card. Local pick-up can be arranged through the local chapter. Visit the website or call 973-224-6900 to learn more.

I noticed there is quite a lot to find at C.H. Booth Library, as always, but particularly in terms of exhibits lately. It has an “I is for INDIAN, Native American Identity Stolen, Sold, and Reclaimed” multimedia exhibit in the Hawley Gallery on the third floor of 25 Main Street. A description for the exhibit reads, “Each of us carries stories of North America’s Native People, consciously or not. For over 500 years, Western perceptions placed upon Indigenous peoples of North America have stripped them of their cultural, ethnic, and linguistic diversity. This exhibit offers an alternative narrative of Native American self-expression. As you walk through this room and back out into the world, continue to ask yourself: What has informed your perception of who Native people are? Who is controlling the narrative?”

The library also has a collection of some altered books by Katie Stevenson on display in its entry hall display case for October in honor of National Book Month, and a “Make your very own altered book with Katie Stevenson” hands-on workshop is slated for Monday, October 24, at 5 pm. See Shannon Hicks's brief write-up and photos about Katie's display, and her adjacent story and photos about some very different altered books by Maine-based artist Larry Clifford, also currently on view at the library, under the Features tab.

This display was spotted at Newtown High School this week. And I had to share it with you. I hope we all find a way to make this happen. It reads, “Bee the reason someone smiles today.”

I couldn’t help but notice this Wildlife Wednesday note shared by the Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary on its Facebook page this week: “Do you have dead trees on your property that don’t pose any dangers? Consider leaving them for wildlife. Woodpeckers peck holes into the trees to eat the insects, which creates homes for countless animals, including flying squirrels, bats, opossums, minks, bees, and 85 species of North American birds including owls, bluebirds, and wood ducks. In fact, experts say there are more animal species in one dead tree than in an entire forest combined!” This cat loves supporting birds (and all animals) and our habitats. And who doesn’t love an excuse for a little less yard work?

I am always noticing the small and big news around Newtown, and I hope that means next week you will ... Read me again.