Date: Fri 28-Jul-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

Mountain-hot-weather-SNAN

Full Text:

MOUNTAIN FOR 7/28/95

When the humidity was reaching toward 100 percent and the temperature was

reaching toward 100 degrees, my energy was bottoming out at zip this week. I

started to get a little green around the gills, so I decided to head on down

to Lake Zoar, maybe get my paws a little wet. But when I got there, I noticed

that the Lake itself was getting a little green around the gills.

This is high season for algae on the lake, according to The Bee's resident

algae expert, Andy Gorosko. Andy says lake seems especially emerald in the

early morning hours after the water has been sitting still overnight. But

after Northeast Utilities opens up Shepaug Dam and Stevenson Dam, which are

hydroelectric plants at the head and base of Lake Zoar, respectively, the

water flows through the lake during the daytime, making it seem less green.

Another thing that makes me a little green with anxiety is the Spay and Neuter

Association of Newtown. I know the group does great things on behalf of

animals and animal owners, but you've got to understand that having a society

of humans out there conducting meetings on the status of your fertility can

make a guy a little edgy.

Anyway, I heard that the members of SNAN received five telephone calls in a

little over a week from people who found litters of kittens which apparently

were dumped by their owners on the side of the road or were abandoned on the

lawns of strangers. In one case the kittens were only about a day old, didn't

even have their eyes open yet, and probably won't survive. It's a very sad

story.

It's this kind of thing that SNAN is trying to prevent, so in that context,

their mission has my complete support. Anyone can call SPAN at 426-5730 for

low-cost spaying and neutering. (SPAN doesn't have any facilities for taking

in unwanted animals.)

Responsible pet owners know that it takes two to tango and will make sure that

pets of both sexes are fixed. Male cats make better pets if they are neutered

because they won't spray and they won't be as inclined to roam. So please help

SNAN help us.

It's a banner week for thrift shop junkies. Both the VNA Thrift Shop in the

back of Edmond Town Hall and the Cornerstone Thrift Shop in Ricky's Shopping

Plaza are having bag sales. The bargains are $3 a bagful at each shop. The VNA

will be open Saturday morning from 9 to 12. The Cornerstone is open Monday

through Friday from 11 to 4 and this Saturday from 10 to 3.

Emergency services dispatchers Lorribeth Lajoie and John Reed, Jr, were

honored this week for more than five years of service with the town's 911

emergency dispatch center in Edmond Town Hall. Chief Jim Crouch said the

plaques were given to the two dispatchers to recognize the excellent job that

they have done in what is often a very stressful job.

This week it looked like they were building a bypass road from Queen Street to

China - the direct route! The gaping pit that work crews have dug at the

intersection of Queen Street and Grand Place for one of the main junction

boxes of the sewer system is pretty deep, about 20 feet deep I figure. If the

sewer installers keep at it much longer, local travel agents could be booking

trips to the Great Wall, Beijing and Shahghai via the Queen Street Tunnel

Authority.

Alas, the erstwhile little red schoolhouse at Hawley School is no more! Used

in the rcent past as a maintenance shed for the school system, the town

Tuesday used a Kotmasu excavator to level the wooden building in the

schoolyard. The building had outlived its usefulness. Besides eliminating

potential safety hazards to schoolchildren, demolishing the building allows

for more parking at the Church Hill Road school.

Motorists heading into Newtown on Monday morning noticed that the fancy

"Grooved Roadway Ahead" electronic sign on the westbound lanes of I-84 near

Lake Zoar had a different message: "Happy An Three - A.J." No one knows how

A.J.'s anniversary message got onto the sign, but by Tuesday morning the topic

had switched back to the grooved roadway.

Speaking of groovy experiences, the Booth Library is looking for musicians to

play during the library's mega book sale on Labor Day weekend. Single

performers or groups are invited to play or sing for an hour or two. For more

information, or to schedule a time during the sale, call Dave Hanson at

426-2951.

So everyone, go tune your ukeleles, but be back here in time to...

Read me again.