What do Navy veterans, a biologist, Newtown’s Bike & Trails Committee, real estate agents, a Pulitzer Prize winner and your hometown newspaper all have in common? As of this week, all have been guests on “Two Guys and a Pint,” the podcast created and produced by Newtown residents Gavin Arneth and Brian Hartgraves. Editor Jim Taylor and Managing Editor Shannon Hicks were invited to join Gavin and Brian at their private pub, The Black Beard, and finally accepted that invitation a few weeks ago.

The two longtime journalists were the special guests of the 31st episode of “Two Guys and a Pint,” which dropped this past Monday and is available on Spotify and iTunes, among other online streaming sources. Among other things, the 43-minute episode covers some of the history of this newspaper, a little background on each editor, and answers the question “Why are newspapers still relevant?”

If the biologist featured in the 30th episode sounds and/or looks familiar to “Two Guys and a Pint” listeners, by the way, there’s good reason for that: Lin Vitarbo was also just featured in our Snapshot column.

Special events continue to be announced for the “Timeless Newtown: Embracing Every Generation” series being presented by the Commission on Aging, C.H. Booth Library, Newtown Senior Center and Friends of Newtown Seniors. Among the most recent events was the proclamation read last month to formally announce the series, and the launch of the distribution of copies of Ageism Unmasked: Exploring Age Bias and How To End It. Dr Tracey Gendron’s book will be the focus of talks and presentations being planned for the next two months, ahead of an author event with her in mid-September at Edmond Town Hall. If you haven’t already read the 2022 book that offers the history and present-day realities of stereotypes and discriminations based on age, now is the perfect time to do so.

Free copies of the book will be available this month at the Booth Library Tent at the Farmers Market at Fairfield Hills. The market runs each Tuesday afternoon from 2 to 6:30 pm, and copies will be part of the library’s presentation through at least July 29. I will let you know as soon as I hear of any additional confirmed book talks, of course.

Separately, volunteers are also getting ready for the annual FONS Summer Soiree. The event will return to Aquila’s Nest Vineyard in Sandy Hook on Tuesday, August 5, 5-8 pm. Cost is $28 per person, which FONS board member Bev Bennett-Schaedler said covers one beverage, cheese & crackers, music by Solid Gold Times Two, and “the beautiful view.” Feel free to bring your own appetizers (but reminder: no outside beverages to the vineyard). Reservations are requested by July 31 and can be made by calling 203-430-0633. Guests for this event must be at least 21 years old or accompanied by an adult.

Newtown Knotweed Initiative is seeking volunteers who want to learn about management and educating best practices of knotweed management. A knotweed demonstration plot has been created at Fairfield Hills, near the pickleball courts. If you find the small plot of land, you’ll see it divided into two sections. One side was treated last fall with glyphosate, which has limited growth to less than two dozen plants. The other section has been cut three times already this season and still has more than 100 plants. If you’d like to join the effort to control knotweed locally, NKI would love to hear from you. Visit newtownknotweed.org for more information or just send a note directly to newtownknotweed@gmail.com. Prior experience is not necessary for those new to this undertaking. I do have one request, however: remove all the knotweed you can, but leave the catnip alone!

Next week’s “Invasive Insider,” the quarterly column launched earlier this year by Newtown Conservation Commission, will offer additional information about knotweed and why it’s so difficult to control it.

Knotweed and other invasive plants should be wiped out, but you know what should not be? Food pantries. I hear from my friends at Trinity Church that The Little Pantry could use some love. Volunteers at 36 Main Street would be overjoyed to receive donations of canned soups, canned beans, canned vegetables, pasta/tomato sauce, rice and pasta, and toiletries. Like the other pantries in town, this is open to all who need its offerings. If you’d like to help out, contact the church at admin@trinitynewtownct.org. If you are among those who could use a hand from the pantry, it can be found in the southern area of the median in the church’s parking lot. Its motto is simple: “Take What You Need, Leave What You Can.”

I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend. According to one of our office calendars we’re now well into Picnic Month, and Bruce the Spruce is ready; our three-foot-tall artificial evergreen is enjoying his own picnic for one this month, complete with burger and a basket filled with additional goodies. Bruce could use some sunscreen and bug spray, but I’d say otherwise he has a pretty good idea on how to enjoy some outdoor time.

I’ll spend some time outdoors myself when this week’s heat finally breaks. I hope you know there are places locally that will always provide respite from the heat when things get bad, including Newtown Community Center and Newtown Municipal Center. C.H. Booth Library is usually mentioned as a cooling center too, but I understand recent challenges for its aging cooling system has meant the building has been a little less than comfortable on a few recent days. Fortunately the replacement is on its way and 25 Main Street will soon be reliably chillin’ like a villain once again.

For a few days during the upcoming week, though, don’t forget we’ll all be welcome at Reed Intermediate School, where The Friends of C.H. Booth Library will be presenting their annual massive book sale within the air-conditioned building at 3 Trades Lane. The sale opens on Friday, July 11, with attendance limited to the first 200 people who purchase a $40 ticket. Admission is then $5 for ages 18 and over on Saturday, free for everyone else that day; and free for the remainder of the sale, which continues daily until July 15. Check our calendars and features for additional details on the largest annual fundraising event presented by the Friends to benefit the library.

I’m going to benefit from a catnap this afternoon. All this talk of heat and reading is making me sleepy. I promise I’ll wake up in time to share another round of happy news in about seven days, when it will be time for you to come back and … read me again.