Robert LaPorta shared this “Nicer in Newtown” moment with The Bee: “I wanted to share a simple story with The Bee. My son and I finished up his piano lesson at Julie’s Piano Workshop in Sandy Hook, [Monday night] and when we emerged from the building we saw a beautiful astronomical display in the sky: the coincidence of a crescent moon with Venus and Jupiter. We wanted to get an unobstructed look, and drove around to find one. We found a great spot up on a hill off Walnut Tree Hill Road, [and] realizing it would soon be gone, we rushed home to get a camera to capture the sight. We took the camera and tripod to the parking lot at Tambascio’s [on Route 302], and were setting up for the shoot when a man in a pickup truck stopped to share with us his comments on the heavenly display: ‘Isn’t it beautiful?’ ‘Yes’, I answered, ‘It certainly is.’ He wished us a good night and drove off. Is there anything more Newtown that that?”

Well, here’s a close second. He stepped out of a car, not a phone booth, but it sounds to me like Superman paid a visit to Sandy Hook last week. A car accident on Route 34 last September left a three-foot by seven-foot slab of Roxbury granite disengaged from the retaining wall in front of the Velush-Rogers home, and with wintery weather pending, Craig Rogers and a friend decided one day last week it was time to heave it back into place. They assembled their plank and crowbars, and then pondered the problem of how to lift the half-ton rock up into place. As they prepared themselves for a couple of hours of labor-intensive work, a car pulled into the driveway. A young, fit guy stepped out and offered to help. Well, who’s to say no when manual labor is involved? But not only did Superman practically lift and place the piece of granite by himself, when he noticed it was crooked, he pulled it back down, had Craig and company level the ground, and put it back up into place — all in a matter of minutes. Then, before they could get his name, he dusted off his hands, got back in his car, and headed off. It’s nice to know that there are still people willing to do a good turn just because they can.

Here’s your chance to pay it forward. Newtown police officers will be working with members of the Redding Police Department on Saturday, December 6, collecting donations of nonperishable food items as well as cash donations. The officers will be outside Big Y on Queen Street between 9 am and 2 pm, and everything they collect will then be distributed to pantries in Newtown and Redding.

I know there is a busy weekend coming up, but make some time after the tree lighting in Ram Pasture Friday evening to stop by Koenig Frameworks at 97 South Main Street, if you love literature or photography. An artists’ reception for area photographers Art Anderson, Bob Berthier, and Frank Gardner, as well as a book signing by Newtown author Andrea Zimmermann, is scheduled from 7 to 9:30 pm. What a great way to warm up after a chilly evening around the pond!

A little farther afield, Southbury resident Doreen Osto will be displaying some of her fine art photography at Northern Exposure Photographic Gallery in West Cornwall, from December 13 until February 15. Ms Osto’s black and white images include some of her Newtown scenes. Gallery hours are Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 pm, with a reception planned for Saturday, December 13, from 3 to 6 pm. The gallery is at 413 Main Street in Railroad Square, on the ground floor below The Wish House Gift Shop.

Be careful what you wish for — it might come true. I hear that Suzanne and Tim Kelley were the lucky winners of the 50-inch flat screen television during Caraluzzi’s Newtown Market’s Grand Opening in November…. Only to find that they now need a huge entertainment center to house the mammoth TV. Cha-ching! Cha-ching! And that is not the sound of Caraluzzi’s ringing up their groceries.

Believe it or not the Newtown Service Unit of the Salvation Army still has openings for bell ringers this holiday season. Give Marie Sturdevant a call at 740-2733 or Sylvia Poulin, her co-chair of this project, at 426-6803, to find out about openings. Money collected in the Salvation Army kettles at those locations is spent solely on Newtown residents who are in need of help. Food, dental and doctor bills, fuel, and clothing are just some of the way this money is used.

It wouldn’t be Top of the Mountain without a wild animal report. Christine D’Alessandro sent me a note telling me that the 16-year-old and her 12-year-old sister, Kathryn, had a Thanksgiving weekend sighting that was definitely not a turkey. On Friday, the girls spotted a huge bobcat in their Pumpkin Lane home backyard. The photo she took (from a wise distance away) was a bit fuzzy, but my sharp eyes have no doubt that it was Bob the Cat. “Luckily,” Christine told me, “our cat, Corduroy, who was out in the yard at the time, avoided meeting our new neighbor.” Whew. Corduroy may be down to eight lives! Once again, I remind readers that wild cats are just that — wild. Steer clear.

Everyone else may be having visions of sugarplums dancing in his or her head, but I am seeing delicious slices of pizza from My Place. My Place owners Louise and Mark Tambascio have agreed to donate 20 percent of the gross income for Tuesday, December 9, to the Newtown High School Invisible Children Fund, supporting the NHS sister school in Africa. What a perfect way to get out of cooking a meal and help out a good cause at the same time.

You can dream of sugarplums or pizza, but don’t dream away your chance next week to … Read me again.