So the holiday season is officially here. I believe the real reason for our Thanksgiving feast is to provide us with enough calories to sustain us as we head out to the stores for our annual shopping binge. The whole experience can be so stressful that it is advisable to always have some holiday snacks nearby. So what if we have amassed a few surplus calories when it is all over. The point is to make it through in one piece, and it always pays to start things off right with a hearty Thanksgiving meal.

Remember in the movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles when Steve Martin tries hopelessly to get home in time for Thanksgiving only to get stopped at every turn? Well, the Kelley family of Newtown was experiencing something very similar this week. First, there was young Patrick, who was stuck in Buffalo, New York, after the area was hit with more than three feet of snow. The college student tried to get out Monday afternoon only to find the highways either closed off or blocked with cars unable to move. He was hoping to get home either Tuesday or Wednesday, but his mother, Mary, was concerned he may not get home until the weekend.

Then there is Mike Kelley, who was scheduled to fly out of Westchester Airport Tuesday morning for an important meeting in Detroit. However, he was unable to catch his connecting flight out of Pittsburgh after the airport in the Steel City was forced to close due to snow.

Speaking of travelers, Bill and Barbara Brimmer are back in town after a two-week trip to Italy on which they visited Rome, Florence, and Venice. While in Venice, the Newtown couple took a ride on a gondola and cruised the city’s famous canals. Along for the ride were the gondolier, an accordion player, and a singer. Those who know Bill will not be surprised to hear that he joined the Italian singer for a few love songs. But, as Bill insists, he was singing to Barbara, not the gondolier.

Joan and Bill Lavery got back Sunday from their honeymoon in Seattle, where Bill was also attending a judicial conference, the Council of Chief Judges of the US Courts. Their return was just in time for the grand opening Monday of the relocated Chase bank office at 30 Church Hill Road, where Joan is the branch manager. Joan said it didn’t rain at all in Seattle, but nonetheless she managed to catch a head cold. The Laverys got married six months ago but with all that has been going on with their jobs, finding time to fit in a honeymoon has obviously been difficult.

Edgar Beers was headed up to Moosehead Lake in Maine this week – a nine-hour drive from here. Edgar said he didn’t mind the drive; it was the moose in the roadway that had him concerned.

While Edgar headed north, young Scudder Baggett headed south, to downtown Manhattan, where he was taking in the sights with his family. While standing on Broadway, a pigeon gave Scudder an unwelcome souvenir of his trip to New York on the sleeve of his jacket.

Town Attorney David Grogins made an appearance at last week’s Legislative Council meeting to explain why he felt a town document regarding Fairfield Hills should not be released to the public. As is his lawyerly custom, Mr Grogins gave a lengthy, detailed explanation of his recommendation. “This was my thinking in a nutshell,” said the attorney. Then after a moment’s reflection he added, “Maybe more than a nut shell.”

George Arfaras was counting his lucky stars late last week after avoiding injury when the ladder he was standing on fell to the floor of the gymnasium at the Newtown Health & Fitness Club. George was hanging up banners a good 20 feet in the air when he and the ladder dropped to the court below.

A man on Palestine Road called The Bee Monday to say he spotted a hot air balloon going down in the distance and wondered if we had heard anything about this. We had not, but we do suggest that people call the police with their emergencies first… then call The Bee.

After all the horror stories of people losing their shirt at Connecticut’s two casinos, I must say it is refreshing to hear that someone actually won. The women in the town clerk’s office had luck on their side at the casino this past weekend. First off, Blythe Dotson and her husband, Fred, both won big in the bingo room. To the delight of his wife, Sue, Jim Shpunt also had a big day, winning big on the slots.

Incidentally, Fred found a lucky penny on the ground on the way into the casino and Jim found one on his way to the buffet.

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal didn’t have much luck earlier this week while at a bank’s drive-up window. As he was lowering his power window, it got stuck halfway down. He was unable to lower or raise the window after that. As rain began to fall soon after, the first selectman was forced to cover the window with a plastic bag.

Last year’s sale of the millennium towels by Newtown BPW was so successful that the women are now offering Newtown 2001 linen towels that feature drawings of local landmarks. The towels are available in red, blue, and green, for $6 each, and can be found at the Booth Library, Joy’s Hallmark, and Lexington Gardens, or by calling Laura Mayer at 426-8669.

More than a dozen local and area agencies and town departments are inviting the public to a free educational breakfast on Wednesday, December 6, from 7:30 to 8:30 am at Town Hall South. Anyone who is interested in attending to ask questions about available programs and services is asked to call 270-4335 by November 29.

Darlene and Don Jackson had barely gone to bed Tuesday evening when they got the call they had been expecting from their daughter, Amy, and son-in-law Rob Ayala in Norwalk. The Jacksons threw on their clothes and quickly drove to Norwalk in time for the birth of their latest grandchild, Aliza Jean, at 12:55 am Wednesday. The Ayalas also have a son, Boone, who is 31/2.

Laura Mayer and her husband, Bob, have a 250-year-old farmhouse on Pine Tree Hill Road, and while they were renovating the kitchen they came across the pages of the April 10, 1912 The Farmer. They also found an old jawbone, which they believe once belonged to a cow. One of the sheets that was really tattered had an article on Babe Ruth, noting that he had just hit his sixth homer of the season (not bad for April 10) in a Yankees rout of the Chicago White Sox, 6-4.

Elsewhere in sporting news, the Jets beat Miami last Sunday, but there is a recount pending. There are chads on the gridiron and Bee pressman James Busby is worried that his beloved Jets may still be upset. Take it to the courts, James!

To find out the latest on hanging, pregnant, or dimpled chads in Newtown, you will just have to…

Read me again.