Jill Metcalf has always loved nature and everything about it. Her yard is full of trees, flowering trees, flowering bushes, and flowers — “It’s truly beautiful,” she said last week, “and all around the yard there is wildlife I enjoy so much.” Jill’s home in Sandy Hook has always been a welcome place for birds of many varieties, a mother deer and baby fawns, and now a mama raccoon and her young ones, who go right up onto Jill’s porch, look into her kitchen windows to say “Hello,” and then share treats with Jill’s cats. The animals share marshmallow and jelly sandwiches, small bowls of food, and plenty of water. “Nature is truly beautiful,” Jill said. She loaned me one of her recent photos. Jill took this while sitting at her kitchen table. Mama Raccoon came right up to the window, looked over one of Jill’s prized spider plants, and smiled for the camera.

Speaking of smiles, Kym Stendahl may still be smiling on the outside but she’s worried on the inside. Kym is, of course, the ringleader of Newtown’s biggest summer event — the Labor Day Parade — and the budget is tighter right now than it has been in a number of recent years. Donations are coming, but Kym mentioned this week that they’re slower than usual. She and the other members of the Labor Day Parade Committee are more than $10,000 short. “It hasn’t been this low in years,” she said. To help her get back into her happy place, we have rolled out the annual Parade Donation Coupon in this week’s Bee. You can find the coupon on page A-8 and anything will help. There’s some good news on the parade front: Kym has secured the appearance of a special guest, and she’s very excited about that. This person is the super strong son of a Newtown resident who recently wowed crowds at Madison Square Garden. Want more info? It’s coming… hopefully, just like the parade on Monday, September 1.

It’s a tough choice this weekend for friends of school-age kids involved in summer theater productions. Three groups are presenting their shows, and all three begin on Friday night. The students of Summer Musical Theatre Workshop will offer Once Upon a Dream at 7 pm, Friday, July 18. Tickets are $10 for this one-time only performance on the stage of the NHS Theater, which will be transformed into a cabaret setting for the evening and where students will perform Broadway musical hits from Hairspray, Wicked, Avenue Q, and other favorites. Call 426-1787 for details; reservations are suggested due to space limitations.

Also on Friday and also starting at 7 pm will be the Newtown Youth & Family Services-sponsored performance of School House Rock. Students entering grades 5 to 8 have been rehearsing this show all week and will also offer only one performance of this Broadway show, at Newtown Middle School. There is no charge for this show.

Finally, performances of Seussical the Musical also begin this evening (Friday). A full performance by the students of Sabrina’s Encore Productions, LLC, the good news is this production has five shows planned for this weekend. In addition to tonight’s show at 7:30, the the company will also be performing afternoon and evening shows Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $18 for all shows; call 304-1236 for details and reservations.

Meanwhile for folks looking for more “serious” theater, The Town Players will continue their performances of Shakespeare’s The Tempest for a few more weekends. The local theater company began its latest production last weekend, and it continues on weekends until July 26. Call The Little Theatre at 270-9144 for additional information (and check out this week’s Enjoy section for a review of the show by Julie Stern).

Mountain bikers still have plenty of time to get in shape for this fall’s race at McLaughlin Vineyards on Alberts Hill Road, organizer Terrence Ford tells me. The Grapes of Wrath Mountain Bike Race will be held Saturday, September 20, and is open to all riders, all classes, he says. Music, food, a kids’ bike race through the vineyard trails will all be part of the fun that day. Plus, first place includes a $1,000 cash purse. I’m squeezing into my biking shorts already. For more information, call Terrence at 526-8247.

If you’ve got stars in your eyes, check out the constellation identification program scheduled for Saturday, July 26, at Kellogg Environmental Center at Osbornedale State Park. I wasn’t too sure myself where that was, so I looked it up and discovered that it is a beautiful park just outside of Ansonia and Derby, just off Route 34 — a hop, skip, and a jump from Newtown. To register for the free program call 734-2513. This time of year, there’s a good chance of spotting some falling stars, part of the Perseid Meteor Showers, the only kind of showers I’m fond of.

It’s that time of year when I spend the bulk of my day with my chin on my paws watching Newtown go by at a slower pace. Enjoy the summer, but don’t slow down so much that you forget to…. Read me again.