Well this is a heck of a way to start the new year: for our first print edition of 2026, no one will receive a coupon for a free ice cream cake from Ferris Acres Creamery. That’s right — in the hustle of all the recent holidays, everyone forgot to send in a photo of their child (or grandchild) for this week’s Birthday Cake column. For years we have offered this fun way for families to celebrate children’s birthdays. We just need the name, birthday, age they’re turning, and a photo of the celebrant within a month of their big day. To include your child/grandchild, send their name, birthday, age, and an original head and shoulders photo — take those photos nice and close, so we can see those adorable faces clearly, and they look good in the paper — along with your address and phone number, to Birthday Cake-The Newtown Bee, 5 Church Hill Road, Newtown CT 06470, or email everything to shannon@thebee.com. Deadline to participate is noon each Tuesday, so make sure you send something to Managing Editor Shannon Hicks by January 6 if you want to be included in next week’s paper.

While I’m in reminders mode, let me add a few more: we still have 2026 Newtown Bee calendars, but our stock is starting to run low. Readers are welcome to stop in and pick one up weekdays between 8 am and 5 pm. These are the same style we’ve been printing for decades, with the large, easy-to-read numbers for each month in the center of each page. The previous month and the next month are also shown along the lower portion of each page, which I’ve always found very helpful. There is no charge for a Bee calendar, although I wouldn’t tell if you were to drop a snack or toy for me in the front office when you grab yours.

Also, we’re hoping to meet the first child born to Newtown parents this year ASAP. Shannon is keeping her calendar open for next Tuesday, when she hopes she will be meeting the parents of our next honoree. If you haven’t spotted it already, take a look at the notice on page A-9.

Big thanks this week to Thomas Melody, who was quick to tell me he’s pretty sure the photo that ran with last week’s Way We Were shows Helen Reid in the then-new Canine Control vehicle. Thomas not only offered what he called “a pretty good guess” about the former Tunnel Road resident — who also did dog grooming, he noted — he shared a link to a great story in the August 29, 1976 Connecticut Post that featured Helen. She was the newly appointed dog warden for Newtown at that time, according to the story. Helen became the town’s dog warden on August 8, 1976, after this town’s first dog warden, George Mattegat, resigned to go into his own business. Helen was one of 25 applicants — and one of only two women — who applied for the position. The CT Post story did mention her grooming skills, as well as the fact Helen had eight (!!!!) malamute champions, but was going to step back from showing her dogs because her new job would not be leaving her enough time for the necessary training. She did plan to continue to do dog show judging, however. She and her husband Paul had been residents of Newtown for 18 years at that point, the feature also mentioned.

A quick search in our archives then showed the Reids eventually lived in town for more than 40 years before she retired and they moved to Franconia, N.H., “a little town in the White Mountains, ten minutes from Littleton,” she told The Newtown Bee in 1997. Thanks to that quick note from Thomas, we’ve pulled last week’s Way We Were photo out of the archives once more. This week Helen’s name was noted on the reverse and it was refiled, this time in a folder with the label People-Identified.

The wind earlier this week was something, wasn’t it? I woke up Tuesday morning and heard about people with tree limbs in their yard and nearby roads, neighbors finding garbage cans and/or recycling bins in their driveways, and even heard something about a pair of covers breaking free from lawn tractors in one Sandy Hook yard during the overnight and taking short flights. Tuesday morning I watched some very brave men resume work on the roof of Trinity Church. After they made their way back up their ladders, one of the first things they had to do was remove tarps that were covering recent work. That was spellbinding for a few minutes.

I learned something interesting this week: despite having only one national park within our 5,544 square miles, Connecticut ranks within the top 20 states for best hiking locations. A recent study conducted by EDGE Fall Protection LLC analyzed all 50 states based on natural attractions, air quality, protected wilderness, hiking engagement, and trail infrastructure. Despite low scores across most categories, our home state scored highly for protected wilderness. Our one national park — Weir Farm National Historic Park, which straddles Ridgefield and Wilton — draws about 25,000 visitors annually and contributes several million dollars to the local economy. Those things helped Connecticut reach 17th place in the study. Wyoming, Hawaii, and New Hampshire were the top three, respectively.

Newtown is losing one of its dedicated walkers this week. As I say Farewell to you this first week of the new year, please join me and my friends at 5 Church Hill Road in wishing the best to our friend and colleague Madelia Hickman Ring. After eight years with Bee Publishing Company, including the last four as editor of our sister paper Antiques and The Arts Weekly, Madelia is trading in her sneakers and shoe spikes for flip flops and much warmer weather. When she wasn’t running things from her desk on the upper floor of our office, Madelia was regularly seen walking around the center of town many weekdays in recent years. She often made time to traverse the local sidewalks and nearby roads during her lunch breaks, her brisk pace always something to be admired. I’ll miss seeing her walk past my desk on her way out, and then returning a little later. The Nutmeg State’s loss is definitely the Tar Heel State’s gain.

I hope you won’t have anything preventing you from sticking with me, my friends. I’m already thinking about what we’ll talk about next week, when it will be time for you to … read me again.