May is the month when the sap rises, seedlings start to assert themselves, and birds filled with amorous impulses sing their hearts out from dawn until dusk. No wonder lots of folks struggling through the muddle of middle age get a little distracted in this first blush of spring with thoughts of their own lost youth. These pangs can get pretty rough, and people have been known to blow a lot of money on sports cars, or face lifts, or easy-does-it adventure vacations. It’s a little embarrassing for kids to watch their parents chasing around after their inner adolescent, so it was only a matter of time before youth had pity on their elders and came up with an outlet for these unseemly impulses.

The clever kids in Newtown Youth Creating AIDS Awareness for Peers (NYCAAP) are sponsoring a Parent Prom called “Time in a Bottle,” on May 12 in the Alexandria Room at Edmond Town Hall. Couples will be able to enjoy an evening of food, dancing, and fun to help raise money for NYCAAP service projects. The event begins at 7 pm and is open to the public. Tickets are $40 per couple or $25 per single. Call Newtown Youth Services at 270-4335.

This week saw the beginning and an end of traditions at the Newtown Choral Society. Jeff Corbeil, who has taken tickets at the society’s concerts for as long as anyone can remember, did it for the last time. Jeff, whose mom, Anita, is currently president of the group, enters Cornell University in the fall.

Three days before the group’s concert, on April 26, member Meg Freidrich and her husband Karl had a beautiful baby girl, Allison Fay. Grandparents are Andy and Bonita Cartoun. Both Bonita and her daughter sing with the group and are betting that the new addition will be singing out soon.

Head O’ Meadow teachers Ken Royal and Jini Woodies are not twins, but the two will be celebrating the same birthday on May 10. Happy Birthday!

Newtown Middle School students in cluster 6D spent time on Friday planting 500 trees at the transfer station in celebration of Arbor Day. I am not too sure what some of the students expected when they were told about planting the trees, but I think they thought they were going to spend a few hours at the spa. Several students could be hear saying “eeeww, ants!” or, “You just got dirt on me.” So much for the myth of Newtown’s rural character.

Newtown Middle School SPOKES Club members need people in the community to sponsor middle school students who are participating in the Read-A-Thon May 7 through May 10. The group is hoping to raise $500 to help build a home in Haiti.

Former Newtown residents Rick and Sue Medve moved north a few years ago to West Ossipee, New Hampshire. I guess they figured it was a nice place to retire, and from the sounds of it, I’m sure it is. But Rick and Sue were hit with 150 inches of snow this past winter and some of it was still on the ground less than two weeks ago. Rick said he was snow blowing the last of the white stuff out of his garden April 22.

I saw one of those “Critter-Grams” (large cutout signs often seen in front of the schools) out in front of the post office on Commerce Road. It seems Carol was having a birthday and her co-workers wanted to wish her well. The way I figure it, they probably figured a birthday card sent in the mail probably would not have arrived on time.

Congratulations to Walsh Logging & Mulch, which last week captured the women’s basketball title at the Newtown Health & Fitness Club. One face on the team seemed to especially stick out. It was Megan (Kearns) LaCava, who graduated from Newtown High School back in 1987 and now lives with her family in Southbury. She is married to 1982 NHS graduate Joe LaCava, who has spent the past several years as a PGA caddy for Fred Couples.

I ran into Mike Porco down in Sandy Hook this week. Mike recently purchased several of the buildings in the center and moved his construction company office there. Mike has become a bit of a fixture in the Hook these days, prompting some to refer to him as “The Mayor of Sandy Hook.”

Last Saturday, there were a bunch of kite flyers at Ram Pasture. They were probably getting ready for this Sunday’s annual Parks & Recreation kite-flying contest Sunday at noon at the same location.

Have you noticed the regimented system now in place at the recycling center these days? No longer can you simply drive in and dump your junk… even your recyclables. Now, town workers are doing a much closer inspection of your stuff. It slows things down a bit, but it makes for responsible dumping.

Larry Decker tells me that last Saturday at 5:20pm on Hanover Road, a white pickup truck towing a trailer lost a chain tightening device. The owner can call him at 203-944-1304 to claim the device.

The elusive bobcat that was seen last fall is back in town. Meg and Orlando Soto spotted the animal one evening last week, around 7 pm. Meg mentioned in an email that “[the bobcat] was slinking along my stone wall. He turned around to look at my husband and I, stared for a bit, and then made his way, slowly, to the clearing to join the dozen deer as they enjoyed their evening meal of sweet grass. He is quite large. My husband thought he was a fox, but I got a good look at that unusual ‘cat’ face.”

I’ll be out and about slinking around myself this week, catching up with Newtown’s elusive news items. As usual, I’ll be giving a full report next week, so…

Read me again.