“Modern London” with Toni McKeen

August 04, 2026 at 07:00 pm

Start Time: 7:00 pm

Via Zoom.

Learn about London’s modern skyline, hosted by C.H. Booth Library, registration required; 203-426-4533, chboothlibrary.org.

Category

Educational/Lecture, Miscellaneous

It took a small village of people to help a horse find its way back to its home last week. I meant to mention this, but all the silliness of Scott Baggett’s milestone birthday distracted me too much. I did hear about a lot of good Samaritans who helped a pretty white horse last Monday evening, however. The horse walked part of Mt Pleasant Road, Whippoorwill Hill Road, and Barnabas Road, drawing attention from Animal Control, local police officers, and members of the public, who all guided the animal back to where it escaped from. All of that was done without injury to the horse or anyone involved in its rescue. Well done everyone! Belated congratulations to Elizabeth Young, who had her first play produced this month. If you read Matt Austin’s review last week of Restored to Reason, you’ll know he found the work “fascinating” and the script “engaging.” He also raved about the production as a whole. Unfortunately there were just two weekends of performances, but I hope readers recognize the playwright as former Newtown Bee Theater Reviewer Beth Young, who still lives in town. I was very happy when I put those pieces together. Matt also confirmed it was Beth, and that this was her first play to be produced. I agree with his assessment that it was “really wonderful.” Bravo Beth! Happy Declaration of Independence Signing Weekend! I just made up that holiday name, but for those keeping track, Sunday will be the true 250th anniversary of most signatures being added to that important document. The process of this country declaring its independence from Britain began July 2, 1776 — earlier, of course, but for the sake of this conversation… — when Congress approved Richard Henry Lee’s resolution declaring the colonies “free and independent states.” The Continental Congress spent the next two days revising the words primarily drafted by Thomas Jefferson. The Declaration’s final wording was adopted on July 4, 1776, but the handwritten parchment displayed at the National Archives was prepared after Congress on July 19 ordered an official copy to be “fairly engrossed on parchment,” or written by hand onto parchment. Many historians believe Timothy Matlack did the work of copying the Declaration onto the single sheet of parchment. That document was then presented for signing on August 2, 1776. John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress, was the first to sign the parchment, followed by most of the other delegates. If you’d like to continue celebrating this year’s Semiquincentennial, Sunday of this weekend will be the time to mark the anniversary of those men signing their names and breaking law in the name of our young country. Their bravery and courage cannot be overstated. They were, as lecturer Art Gottlieb noted in a riveting lecture presented July 23 at Newtown Senior Center, “immediately guilty of treason and subject to hanging.” We'll have a full story about that lecture in next week's paper. Kevin Corey was also at Art’s lecture last week. His dog Ricochet was not, but something tells me that may be because the little dog was home picking out his next outfit. Kevin shared this photo with me last Friday, saying simply, “Ricochet wants to brighten your day.” Thank you both! The plan worked. Barbara Wilson is working on a new program for Newtown Historical Society, and she’s hoping a few more readers would be willing to participate in it. Barbara will present “Voices From the One-Room Schoolhouse: A Community Storytelling Event” in late September. The program will feature local residents who learned and played in some of Newtown’s historic one-room schoolhouses. Barbara currently has three residents ready to share their memories, and she would love to hear from others with stories to share. She’d also love to include the owners of some of the historic buildings. If you fit into either category, contact Barbara directly at bkwilsonhistory@yahoo.com. The 2026 La Paz International Book Fair has been underway since Wednesday, hosting over 30 authors from 19 countries. Organizers say recent editions have surpassed 100,000 visitors during the Bolivian event’s 12-day run. Among the books being introduced this weekend will be Permeabilia: Las palabras de la imagen, a collection of fine photography by Newtown resident Joseph Kugielsky. Joseph’s book, with writing by José Sanjinés, a professor at Coastal University in South Carolina, and published by Bolivia-based Plural Editores, will be introduced Saturday night. Sad news found its way to our office last week, when Dennis LaPak called to let us know his father had died. Frank LaPak was a longtime member of our layout/production staff, having joined us after a stint as layout editor at the New Canaan Advertiser. He joined our team in 1981, well before he and his family moved into town about a dozen years later. He retired at some point, and we even threw a big party for him at the former Fireside Inn (I know, I’m dating myself now!), but then he decided to continue working in the layout room once a week. Meanwhile, Frank continued his friendship with many of us, including our late publisher, Scudder Smith. The two often caught up at The Pleasance, where for years Frank used a lot of the same care and talent he put toward his home gardens to keep the property at 1 Main Street looking beautiful. When he finally stepped away from those tasks, he continued to do everything he could to keep his home and the gardens there as meticulous as ever. This was between rooting for the Red Sox, doing a crossword puzzle or two, cracking a joke and a smile, and showing love to generations of family and friends. We have no doubt Frank and Scudder have resumed their friendship, caught up on the news of recent years, and are affectionately calling each other names once more. We formally said Farewell to our dear friend this week. Calling hours were Wednesday in Danbury, and his funeral Mass was Thursday morning at St Rose. Tuesday will be a little bittersweet as we remember Frank on what would have been his 93rd birthday. I will resume sharing my news next week. I hope you’ll remember when it’s time to come back and … read me again.

Newtown Stage Co Wraps Run of 'Bye Bye Birdie Youth Edition'; 'Footloose' Up Next

Theater Review: Magic Comes To Life In Musicals At Richter's Practically Perfect 'Mary Poppins'

Sticks & Stones Seeking Volunteers For Storm Clean-Up

Berkshire Road Travel Alert:

CT DOT Project To Begin August 3

It's a bit ironic. On July 31, 2025, Bruce Walczak wrote that "evasive answers or silence are unacceptable in government." He also promised to respond to constituent inquiries and to "close the loop," even when there wasn't an immediate answer. Two weeks of silence in response to a legitimate question seems difficult to reconcile with that pledge. The standard wasn't set by his critics—it was set by Bruce himself. Just another politician ... say whatever is necessary to get the job. Original letter: https://www.newtownbee.com/07312025/a-commitment-to-responsiveness/

First Selectman Addresses Storm Response

CT primaries are closed to voters not registered with the party's designation. Dems can't vote in Rep. primaries and, vice versa. Unaffiliated and Independent voters cannot vote in them. Keep primaries closed!

Time to Change the Guard

Bruce, welcome to the conversation. Your recent statement after the storm — admitting that you should have communicated “faster, more completely, and more personally” — was fine as far as it went. But this is not just about one storm. It is about a pattern. You ran on openness, responsiveness, and transparency, even saying that “evasive answers or silence are unacceptable in government.” The problem is that Newtown residents have been dealing with exactly that silence from you since you were elected. Newtown’s Emergency Management page says the town, together with the Office of the First Selectman, provides “critical public information and warning” during emergencies. The town also rolled out CodeRED cellphone registration on March 24, 2022 so residents could receive emergency information directly. So where were you when police were searching for missing 23-year-old Kateri Doty in January? Where were you during the brush fires near the Newtown town line in April? Where were you on April 22, when state police and Newtown police were searching for two people who fled an I-84 crash and a canine search moved into the Church Hill Road area? Residents should not be hearing about a missing person, wildfire conditions, or police tracking dogs moving through backyards from Facebook, neighbors, or kids in town. They should be hearing from their town government. This is not really about whether you personally press the CodeRED button. Or how many task forces you have created. It is about leadership. You are the First Selectman. You are responsible for making sure the town communicates clearly, quickly, and visibly when public safety is involved. So yes, it is nice that you have finally acknowledged the problem. But the public did not need this storm to figure it out. We have been saying it for a long time. Bruce, you were missing when the town needed to hear from you. The question now is whether this storm finally woke you up, or whether this is just another late apology followed by more silence.

First Selectman Addresses Storm Response

The topic may be the same but the narratives every other week differ and I appreciate the installments. Rebuttals on factual content rather than focusing on form would improve the discourse.

Elections Have Consequences XXVI

Who would think that we would start losing count? Maybe not so much a typo as a copy-and-paste error, easy to understand after this much repetition.

Elections Have Consequences XXVI

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