Newtown Friends of Music president Ellen Parrella had a bit of a start when she opened last week’s issue of The Bee. Ellen, who tries to keep on top of the publicity for all of the not-for-profit organization’s concert events, was stunned to read that NFoM’s next concert, a performance by The Los Angeles Piano Quartet, was scheduled for Sunday afternoon. The problem was, the concert is actually scheduled for this weekend. Ellen mentioned she was expecting some confused telephone calls from ticket-holders who were planning on attending a concert this weekend. Things have been sorted out in this week’s Enjoy section. The concert will go on as planned, and if you have a few hours open on Sunday afternoon, you might want to attend the concert, too. The performance begins at 3 pm, and will be followed by an informal reception with the performers. Tickets are $15 for all adults, and children between the ages of 5 to 14 are always welcome to attend as long as they arrive with a ticket-holding adult. Call Ellen at 426-6470.

Members and guests attending the Newtown Historical Society’s program at the Booth Library on  Monday night on “The History of American Picture Postcards” got a few chuckles out of the slides that speaker Carl Kallgren flashed on the screen during his presentation. It seems that in the early days, around 1900, government-issued postcards designated the entire front side to be used for the address and stamp, while most of the back side was taken up by pictures or artwork. “Sometimes, they actually allowed enough space on there for a message,” Mr Kallgren joked. When he showed an image of the old Bridgeport railroad station, he commented that once he had gotten lost while looking for it. “If you find it now, you’re in trouble,” commented Town Historian Dan Cruson from the Twilight Zone at the back of the audience, “because it burned down a couple of years ago.”

Holiday Festival Chairman Nancy Obremski has a number of volunteer opportunities available for this year’s festival, which is coming up in less than a month. Nancy could use some help with the Festival Gala (which will actually be on Friday, December 5, in Danbury), as well as on Sunday, December 7, with signs, ticket sales, the always popular walking tour of homes, New England Cafe, the antiques show, and the arts and crafts show. The arts and craft show not only needs volunteers to help with setting up and breaking down, but also has a few openings remaining for vendors. Call Nancy at 364-0597 for details.

I’m sure if she thought she could get the votes, State Rep Julia Wasserman would back legislation to change the state tree from the stately oak to the Christmas tree. After a couple of years hiatus, Julia will once again be selling cut-your-own Christmas trees at Medridge Farm on Walnut Tree Hill Road this season.

Dawn Escoda and Ivette Gerics are hoping to get a lot of volunteers involved now with Newtown’s first Relay for Life, a relay-style “walkathon” event that raises money for cancer research and services. The relay is going to be held at Newtown High School on June 19 if enough people volunteer now to help organize it. An information meeting is planned for Monday, November 17, at 7 pm in the middle school cafeteria. To find out more call Dawn at 270-7541 or Ivette at 426-3589.

Welcome back to a tan Father Bob of St Rose Church who has just returned from serving as a chaplain on a Mediterranean cruise ship.

I saw Dom Posca this week at Canaan House at Fairfield Hills. As head of the public school system’s buildings and grounds unit, Dom is one busy man. Dom was on his way from Point A to Point B that day amid a job that often involves rectifying one problem, and then having to quickly solve the next one. Sometimes it seems like Dom is the ship’s mechanic, keeping the S.S. Public Education afloat.

I noticed the new paint striping in the rear lot at Edmond Town Hall. Those painted lines on asphalt may not seem like much, but they sure help us cats park our catmobiles straight and orderly. Until the parking lines were repainted recently, vehicles in the lot were parked every which way, sometimes making it difficult to navigate through the parking area.

Police Sergeant Chris Vanghele was at work the other day, replacing a blown fuse on the police department’s new radar speed display. Police post the speed display at strategic points around town to graphically show motorists the speed at which they are traveling, compared to the speed limit in that area. Police say the display deters speeding.

We observed a couple of birthdays here at The Bee this week. On two successive days we celebrated the birthday of The Bee’s most senior employee and The Bee’s most junior employee. Anita Maestas, head of our antiques advertising department, turned 84 quite appropriately on Veterans’ Day, November 11. Larissa Lytwyn, our education reporter, turned 22 the following day on November 12.

Bee Classifieds clerk Sarah Karasch was caught off guard by the weather on Wednesday. The day dawned cold, bleak and damp after Tuesday’s rains, and Sarah had planned on running out for feed for her bird feeders as early as possible on Wednesday. She was worried about the cold weather and the birds that visit her yard on a regular basis. By Wednesday afternoon, when the temperatures were rising and the sun peeking through the clouds, Sarah wasn’t sure if she should stock up on bird food or put some fresh water into the birdbath so that the birds could cool off.

All the bird talk in the office produced this tip from receptionist Sandy Tannone for those who enjoy putting out suet for birds. Sandy has been keeping a Cool Whip container in her refrigerator these days, and she alternates between putting in handfuls of bird seed and drippings from bacon into the container, building her own suet. It’s convenient, homemade, and she says the birds love it.

I’ll have to remember that. I love attracting birds. I’m off to cook up some bacon, but I’ll be back, so be sure to …

Read me again.