The March Lion finally stumbled into town this week turning St Patrick’s Day white and putting an end to plans by the high school band to participate in the parade in New York City.

The 90-minute school delay meant the trip was cancelled, much to the delight of some other high school bands in the parade. The Nighthawk Band had won first place in their division in the parade during the past two years.

Another casualty of the snowstorm was the program by local author Justin Scott at the Booth Library. His program has been rescheduled for May 18.

With so many activities cancelled and postponed by snow, it was a slow news week, so news organizations throughout the state were tracking down every possible lead on stories, which apparently led a reporter from a Danbury radio station to call First Selectman Herb Rosenthal to find out about Newtown’s new bat shelter. Herb didn’t know what he was talking about; Newtown has a dog pound, but the budget is so tight that the bats have to fend for themselves.

As it turns out, the reporter had heard about a meeting in Newtown on the future of the Batchelder site, which used to house an aluminum smelting plant. It’s an important issue for Newtown, but once the reporter realized there were no flying mammals involved, he wasn’t interested anymore.

Moving right along from bats to coyotes, last week a Castle Hill resident reported seeing two large coyotes in her yard and cautioned Newtown residents to keep a watchful eye on their small pets. This week we got a call from Main Street resident Birgitta Cole after she saw two coyotes Wednesday morning at 7 am in her back yard. She spotted them as she opened her back door to feed her outside cats that were waiting on the back porch. “The coyotes took off after the cats and the younger cat made it into the barn. The older one who doesn’t move too fast went up a tree and barely escaped by a whisker. I called Animal Control but there didn’t seem to be anything they could do,” Ms Cole said, adding, “That was too close for comfort.”

Anne Martin came into The Bee to put in a photo of her grandmother, Wilma Heyde, who is celebrating her 90th birthday. Anne said she wanted all Wilma’s friends to know that there will be a surprise open house for Wilma at the Martin home at 23 Bridge End Farm Lane from 1 to 5 on Sunday, but since she doesn’t know all the friends, she decided to invite them all through The Bee. Now Anne’s biggest task is to keep Wilma from reading the paper this week. Anyone who would like to attend should call Anne at 426-0174.

I got totally lost at Fairfield Hills last week and somehow ended up at a meeting of the Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA). These meetings are normally sparsely attended by lost persons and aficionados of the arcane art of sewering. At the meeting, a developer was requesting WPCA permission to connect a proposed 80-unit condo complex to the town’s central sewer system. The developer, his consultants, plus the owners of the development site, showed up. There were so many people in the room, I couldn’t believe it. It really was a happening place. I think I just may go again if I can ever find my way back.

Talk about preaching to the choir! Woodbury antiques dealer Tucker Frey took the opportunity recently while attending a Newtown Historical Society lecture by Richard Prowse on Norwalk pottery to remind everyone on the room about the upcoming Antiques Appraisal Day scheduled for Sunday, March 28, from 2 to 5 pm, at the Newtown Meeting House. “Bring in your oldest, most unusual and intriguing objects for our panel of experts to examine,” Tucker announced, speaking for himself, Wayne Mattox, Steve Stieglitz, and Jack DeStories. “If we don’t know what it is, we’ll be honest and tell you. But at least we’ll have a lot of fun guessing. Bring it on!”

Now all of us can start rummaging in our attics and closets to see what ancient treasures we find. Not only might we stump the experts, we’ll be cleaning house in the process.

Speaking of spring cleaning, did you remove all the old sticks and pine needles from that bluebird nest box yet? As soon as the snow melts the bluebirds will be ready to start housekeeping, so don’t procrastinate.

The folks who work in the town clerk’s office in Edmond Town Hall tell me that if you want some good bedtime reading be sure to pick up a free copy of the town’s 2003 Annual Report there. The 116-page booklet, which incidentally is highly legible, describes in detail the activities of the town for the fiscal year that ended last June 30. The softbound report has a pale green cover, with silver lettering. Very classy!

Thank heavens for small favors. The state Department of Transportation (DOT) has modified the timing on the traffic signal at the intersection of South Main Street (Route 25) and Wasserman Way, making life somewhat simpler for local drivers. In the past, southbound motorists on South Main Street who wanted to make a left turn onto eastbound Wasserman Way had about five seconds to safely make that turn after they got a green left-turn arrow to do so. It sounds like enough time to make that turn. But if there are several drivers lined up to make that left turn, the third or fourth driver who attempts the turn is taking a chance as the traffic signal turns green for northbound drivers who want to drive straight ahead. The DOT has retimed the signal so that motorists now have more time to turn left under a green left-turn arrow. The signal timing was changed to make its safer for school buses that are making left turns onto Wasserman Way.

My timing, on the other hand, has always been excellent. At precisely this time next week, you can be sure to…

Read me again.