It’s October! Hooray! Welcome to my favorite month, host of my favorite holiday and all things spooky and eerie, just like me. What do you think will be the most popular Halloween costume this year? I can’t wait to find out. Meanwhile I’ve already started seeing some lovely seasonal decorations appear. Thank you in particular to my friends at Newtown Hardware, who placed hay bales and flowers and a very handsome black cat cutout in front of their store last week. That’s my favorite location so far.

Which leads me to another thought: it’s time to start reminding (or educating…) those who may not realize it: “Halloween on Main Street” is not a formal event, nor is it a Town-sponsored event. It’s an informal celebration that has grown on its own as people discover the beautifully decorated homes and safe passage on sidewalks. Thousands of people head toward that beautiful stretch of town each October 31, and my guess is a large percentage do not realize most of the candy and treats that are shared with costumed visitors is paid for by the homeowners.

If you don’t live on Main Street and plan to do trick or treating (or take your children there), please plan to donate some candy well ahead of Halloween. Collections are traditionally done at Trinity Episcopal Church, right on Main Street; Newtown Parks & Rec, 8 Simpson Street; and Caraluzzi’s Newtown Market, 5 Queen Street. Organizers of those collections will make sure the donations are disbursed among the homeowners who live along the very popular corridor. I’ll let you know if I hear of additional locations for donations in upcoming weeks.

For the second time this year, Reporters Sam Cross and Jenna Visca have attended a show at The Bushnell. The two friends were there on opening night this week when Kyle Mangold, Joe Verga, and the rest of the national touring company of The Notebook — and about half of Newtown, judging by all the other familiar faces in the audience — celebrated their first Connecticut performance. As Sam shared in her feature last week (“Two Newtown Residents Touring The Country With ‘The Notebook’ The Musical”), Kyle and Joe are longtime friends and were both cast in the touring production. The tour launched in Cleveland in early September and will continue until next August. Performances continue until Sunday in Hartford, and at each show The Bushnell is offering a fall celebration during the two hours prior to each curtain. A Talkback is also planned following Friday night’s performance. Visit bushnell.org or call 860-987-5900 for full details. Say hi to the guys for me if you head out to a show.

Newtown Bee Editor Jim Taylor and Managing Editor Shannon Hicks would like to offer their thanks to Friends of Newtown Seniors, and particularly Ned Simpson. Ned moderates the annual FONS Roundtables at Newtown Senior Center, and recently invited Jim and Shannon to be guests of the program. His initial invitation was a few months ago, but the program regularly meets on Tuesday afternoons. That’s a difficult day for our editorial staff, so Ned graciously moved the September Roundtable to a Thursday, and Jim and Shannon sat down with 20 people on September 24. The group talked about some of this newspaper’s history, achievements and challenges, hopes and plans for the future, and much more. It was an enjoyable program, the two editors mentioned last Friday morning. There were some very good questions and encouraging discussion around the room.

The second annual Potters’ Path will be open this weekend. Sandy Hook resident and artist Barbara J. Allen has again coordinated the two-day event, which will welcome visitors to the clay studios of seven ceramic artists within southwestern Connecticut. Winding from North Haven to Bethel, the path offers stops in Sandy Hook, Bethany, Bethel, New Haven, North Haven, Seymour, and Woodbridge. Each studio will also have a guest artist, so travelers have the opportunity to meet up to 14 artists during their travels. The studios will all be open 10 am to 5 pm both days. Visitors will be encouraged to linger, interact with the work, ask questions, and engage in conversation with the potters. Artwork will be available for purchase.

At Barbara’s studio at 43 Osborne Hill Road in Sandy Hook, a portion of all sales will be donated to American Foundation for Suicide Prevention-CT Chapter. Visit potterspath.com to learn more about the second annual celebration of creativity, community, and the vibrant cultural landscape that is Connecticut. If you’re reading this before 5 pm Friday, brochures with addresses and a map outlining the 2025 Potters Path are also available in our front office at 5 Church Hill Road.

Saturday will also be the day of the next FAITH Food Pantry Drive-Thru Food Drive, 10 am-noon, FAITH Food Pantry, 46 Church Hill Road (behind St Rose Church). Volunteers will be available to help unload donations for the town’s nondenominational pantry, and this month’s requests include cake mix, cleaning supplies, crackers, juice boxes, ketchup, pasta and rice sides — however, all donations of nonperishables, cleaning supplies, personal toiletries, pet supplies and financial donations will be gratefully accepted.

The pantry also maintains an Amazon Wish List, offering another convenient way to help our friends and neighbors — and there are many of them. The pantry regularly helps over 500 Newtown residents every. Single. Month. Its online wish list is mainly comprised of items that cannot be purchased with SNAP benefits, like spices, sanitary napkins and tampons, and other items. If you’d like to check on the most recent wish list, find FAITH Food Pantry-Newtown, CT on Facebook and look for any of the posts announcing the monthly drive-thru food drives. I’m pretty good with technology but I can’t figure out how to explain finding their list directly through Amazon. If you’d like to learn more the pantry can always be reached at 203-837-0816, and its website is newtownfoodpantry.org.

Also a reminder that not only is Ferris Acres Creamery — and other seasonal ice cream shops — heading toward the end of their 2025 season, but the current series of Birthday Cake coupons for the Creamery will expire on October 30. I’d hate to see anyone miss out on some free ice cream, which is what will happen if the coupons aren’t picked up from our office and used by that date.

The Birthday Cake column will continue through late autumn and winter, of course. The very longstanding offering invites parents to share a photo of their child, along with their child’s name, birthday and the age their child will be turning. Those photos and details run in the paper, and then one child’s name is selected each week to win a coupon that then grants them a basic vanilla-chocolate ice cream cake from the Creamery. Through the issue of October 25, coupons will continue to be given out for this year. As of the print edition of October 31, coupons will be updated and they will then be good for a birthday cake in 2026, once the Creamery reopens — although we do ask parents to please pick up the coupons within a week or so of them being won. When they aren’t picked up, they pile up on the desk of our receptionist.

Here’s an easy one for my friend Isaiah Morris, who loves riddles more than almost anyone else I know: What is the highest rank in the Popcorn Army?

(Answer: the Kernel!)

As always, if you have a riddle to share with me, Isaiah, and/or other readers, send it to me at mountain@thebee.com. I’m always open to happy bits of news via e-mail as well. I’ll share more news and notes next week, when it will be time to … read me again.