Date: Fri 15-Dec-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

Mountain-weather-Christmas

Full Text:

MOUNTAIN FOR 12/15

I would have thought that people would have stopped dreaming about White

Christmases long ago, once they realized what was involved in getting one. All

the cold weather, followed by snow, sleet, and rain is enough to make me dream

of a green Christmas somewhere nice and civilized - like the Amazon.

This week, some of Newtown's parking lots seemed more like ice skating rinks

than places to park cars. Cold temperatures kept the ice frozen and venturing

across some of these lots seemed more like a journey across the arctic tundra.

I sure am thankful now that no one ever saw fit to have me declawed. I need

all the traction I can get these days.

Still, I have to admit that Newtown can be breathtaking at night with all the

snow and Christmas lights. Electric meters were whirring all over town as

residents got their decorations up and running in time for The Bee's Christmas

Decoration Contest deadline. The judges of the event, Cindy Curtis, Diana

Johnson, and Larry Newquist, will have their decision on winners in time for

next week's paper.

Morgen McLaughlin and her staff are busy decorating the vineyard for the

Christmas season. There will be free sleigh rides on Friday, December 22, from

6 pm to 8 pm at the vineyard on Alberts Hill Road in Sandy Hook. Morgen has

arranged for a horse-drawn sleigh with a driver who will be dressed in

Victorian garb. The sleigh holds only four to six people, however, so

reservations are a must. (Call 426-1533).

The flag atop the Main Street flagpole hadn't been flying so brightly at night

in recent weeks after one of the two electric lamps which illuminate it burned

out. On Wednesday, Police Lieutenant David Lydem, unofficial keeper of the

flag, supervised as the burned-out lamp was removed and a new lamp installed.

Energywise Lighting Company of Riverside Road donated the 1000-watt electric

lamp which was installed by the Connecticut Light and Power.

I saw Monica Rose and a helper fixing the lights on the tree down in Sandy

Hook Center this week. Monica, who lives in the white house next to the Grey

Horse Gallery, has been very involved with the Christmas festivities down in

the Hook, stringing lights on the tree and putting out the luminaria that

lined the streets for last Friday's tree-lighting ceremony.

INSERT SNEAKER PHOTO HERE

Someone helped decorate Church Hill Road this week with this sneaker. It was

kicking around the center of the road for a couple of days before it managed

to make its way to the side, thanks to innumerable thumps by passing tires.

The snow plows should help lose it forever.

Alan Denslow is back in town, working at Newtown Hardware. Alan sold his house

in Newtown after he retired and moved to Watertown three years ago, but I

guess he misses his old stomping ground because he says he may be moving back

again.

On Monday afternoon Sue Heithaus was seeing red, rather it was grey, but she

preferred beige. Now if you think that is confusing, just imagine how she felt

when she went to the cellar to have a first look at the new carpet being

installed in the family room. Seems the owner of the rug store put the wrong

carpet in the truck and the installer put it in place. On Tuesday the grey

went out, the beige came in.

The government has been pretty tight-lipped about the details of sending

troops to Bosnia. But I did hear that William Mattegat, SPC Communications for

the Army headed to Bosnia last Friday. His dad, George, said he has his own

vehicle outfitted with a radio - mobile communications. Right now, it looks

like William will be there for the year.

I just came across an interesting fact reported by the College Entrance

Examination Board. The board says students of music and the other arts

continue to outperform their non-arts peers on the Scholastic Aptitude Test

(SAT). As a whole, in 1995, SAT takers with course work or experience in music

performance scored 51 points higher on the verbal portion of the test and 39

points higher in the math section, as compared to students with no course work

or experience in the arts. High school band members and parents will be happy

to know that I passed those statistics on to Tom Wyatt.

Another interesting fact, which I suspect is true though I can't get anyone to

confirm it officially, is that the people who read this column are five times

more likely to live a happy, rewarding life than those who don't. That should

be enough to get you to...

Read me again.