Gael Lynch made our morning here at The Bee on Monday, when during our weekly staff meeting we Bees realized we have more than 1,000 fans on The Newtown Bee’s Facebook page. More have signed up since Gael became our 1,000th Facebook Friend, and we truly appreciate the fan base.

Timothy Telesco of Newtown is one of ten AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps members responding to the disaster recovery needs of Austell, Ga. The small southern town requested assistance from the NCCC in processing FEMA applications following flooding in September that left a quarter of the homes there underwater. The NCCC is working with Austell’s Department of Public Works to remove flood debris, gut damaged spaces, and sanitize homes, as well as providing emotional support to residents as they recover.

The Thanksgiving holiday is a wonderful opportunity to bring families together. Lorraine and Mike Hurley were fortunate enough to have family come back to Newtown for food, family, and fun. Hopefully Lorraine had a chance to serve up a French-style Thanksgiving dinner, using her expertise from her four-week intensive gourmet cooking class in Nice, France, while visiting her daughter, Micaela Hurley McMurrough. Lorraine learned everything from choosing foods, preparation, presentation, and of course choosing which wine would best complement the meal. Dinner must have been great, as Micaela was seen on Main Street running, probably work off the Thanksgiving meal.

Friends of the C.H. Booth Library are sad to bid farewell to volunteer Pat Marshall, as she and husband Peter head off to a new life of warmth and rejuvenation in Nevada. But all of their friends here in town wish them only the best!

‘Tis the season! The tree lighting at Ram Pasture this year, scheduled for Friday, December 4, will light up some lives in a new way this year. Diana Johnson and Janet Woycik, coordinators of the event, would like residents to consider bringing a nonperishable food donation with them when they attend the event. All of the donations will benefit Newtown Social Services. Hook & Ladder firefighters will collect the food. Members of the volunteer fire company are usually part of the event, and they will have one of their trucks on hand to receive donations. Residents can begin gathering at 6:30 pm, and the tree will be lit at 7 pm.

Then there is more holiday fun on hand when the Sandy Hook Center Tree Lighting takes place Saturday, December 5, beginning at 5 pm, at the corner of Washington Avenue and Church Hill Road. Follow the luminarias along the roads to the tree lighting at 6 pm. In between, festivities will include karaoke under the tree, carolers, and free refreshments. Local merchants sponsoring the event will be open late on Saturday, with many stores offering additional entertainment and specials. Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue Company members will also be there, providing light which, if this week’s weather forecasts come true, may help illuminate some snow just in time for the tree lighting.

Of course, you won’t forget to purchase a ticket for the Holiday Festival on Sunday, December 6. Presented this year by Newtown Savings Bank to benefit NYFS, tickets are for sale at any NSB branch office, C.H. Booth Library, or either of the NYFS offices through Saturday. On Sunday, tickets will be sold only at C.H. Booth Library. There is something for everyone (including a great selection of holiday books for sale in the C.H. Booth Library Book Nook), so put this on your “to do” list for the weekend. And don’t pass up the Newtown Choral Society winter concert Sunday afternoon at the Meeting House. Starting at 4 pm, tickets at the door are just $10. Purr-sonally, I’m hoping someone at the ETH juried craft fair on Sunday will have homemade catnip toys for sale….

Newtown VNA will be hosting its own special event this weekend. If you are among those out and about for the Holiday Festival on Sunday, consider taking a few extra steps down to the VNA Thrift Shop at Edmond Town Hall. Accessible from the lower rear parking lot, Mae Schmidle tells me the shop is chockablock with all kinds of holiday goodies, all at the shop’s traditional wonderful prices. The shop will be open on Sunday from 11 am to 2 pm.

Ring-a-ding! If you have some time available late afternoon or early evening on an upcoming Friday — just an hour is all that’s needed, actually — Sylvia Poulin and Marie Sturdevant would love to hear from you. The women are coordinating their 25th season of Salvation Army bell ringers in Newtown and they have a few openings available on Fridays, December 11 and 18. Bell ringers are stationed on Fridays outside Ace Hardware, Yankee Discount Wine & Liquor, and Stop & Stop. Give Marie a call at 203-740-2733 or Sylvia a “ring” at 203-426-6803 if you can spare the time.

Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts of Newtown are thinking warm thoughts as we head toward another New England winter. As part of the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Boy Scouting in America, the Scouts are working with One Warm Coat and Women Involved in Newtown (WIN) to collect 100 winter coats in time for the holidays for folks who count on the resources of Bridgeport Rescue Mission. Collection boxes have been placed at the entry areas at Head O’ Meadow School, Newtown Middle School, Reed Intermediate School, and St Rose School. Clean, reusable coats can be dropped off at any of those locations between now and December 11. Contact Antonia Fotinopoulos (203-270-9073 or fotinaa@earthlink.net) if you have any questions.

Ornament tags are still available for the 2009 Newtown Junior Woman’s Club Tag-A-Gift program. The club is collecting toys that have been requested by children in town whose parents could use some help filling Christmas wishes this year, and each ornament has a corresponding gift request on it. Tags can be found on trees at Newtown Savings Bank in Sand Hill Plaza and on Main Street, Union Savings Bank (Church Hill Road at Commerce Road), and Wesley Learning Center in Sandy Hook. Anyone interested in taking an ornament should return the unwrapped gift to the location where the tag was picked up by Monday, December 14. For additional information contact Charlene Calandro at 203-270-6569 or Meri Jitsukawa, 203-270-3767.

The Wilton Dance Studio’s fully-staged annual production of the beloved ballet The Nutcracker, featuring 101 local soloists and dancers, will play two performances on Sunday, December 20, at 1 and 4 pm, at Wilton High School on Danbury Road (Route 7). Newtown’s Hannah MacDonald, an 8-year-old at Sandy Hook Elementary School, is one of the dancers in this month’s production; watch for her in the Party Scene. For information about the production or tickets for either performance, call 203-544-9007 and leave your request. Tickets are also available online by visiting the Studio’s website, WiltonDance.com.

By next week it looks like you’ll be wanting to take a break. So get a cup of cocoa, put up your feet, and …. Read me again.