The delightful bunny house at The Pleasance is ready for visitors again, after a brief closure for “redecorating,” sources tell me. The beloved child-sized playhouse, featuring the figurines of storybook rabbits, had seen a bit of wear and tear from all of the loving given it by little guests, so it was time to spruce it up. The cozy cottage and “garden” are located down the path to the left of the Town Hall South parking lot. Mrs Bunny would be pleased to see you, so hop to it!

Earlier this month, Golden Opportunity director Knettie Archard got an e-mail from her childhood friend, Billy, who lives in St John (Virgin Islands), and who had visited her in Connecticut this spring. “He told me about a conversation he’d had with a customer the previous day — he manages the Little Switzerland store at the Westin Hotel —,” Knettie shared with me. “He asked the couple where they were from, and when they replied ‘Connecticut,’ he mentioned that he had just returned from there. Then they asked what town he visited, and long story short, the couple was Shawn, whom many around town know from her years waitressing at the Sandy Hook Diner, and her friend, Kevin!” It is truly a small world.

Beth Koschel’s Bus #16 was festooned with streamers last Thursday afternoon as she took to the road on her last run of the 2009–10 school year. I wonder who was happier — the students aboard, or Beth?

NHS 2010 seniors who had Sara Washicko as their second grade teacher at Head O’Meadow got a nice surprise in the mailbox last week. Mrs Washicko mailed out cards of congratulations to as many of her former students as she could, something the HOM teacher said she tries to do each year. Now that’s dedication!

If the last day of school wasn’t enough to tell our education reporter, Eliza Hallabeck, that summer was approaching, seeing ice cream delivered for Treadwell Park’s Snack Shack last week did the trick. You know how much cats love dairy products... I just had to remind you that deliciously cold ice cream is available at the Snack Shack throughout the summer. It’s the purr-fect combination with summer, (which started at 7:28 am this past Monday), following a dip in the pool, that is.

There is something else purr-fect going on here at The Bee, and that’s the new NHS intern, Anna Hodge. Anna, who will be a junior next year, has worked for the NHS newspaper, The Hawkeye, and will be one of the paper’s four editors-in-chief for next year. Look for her by-line on upcoming articles this summer! Welcome, Anna.

Along with the collectible and rare children’s books mentioned in this week’s story, “Annual Friends Of Booth Library Book Sale Will Feature Rare & Collectible Children’s Books,” found in the Enjoy section, the Friends of the C.H. Booth Library have shared with me the titles of a few other children’s books that will be featured in the July 10 to 14 book sale. If you’re a collector, maybe the 1947 Golden Book Uncle Remus Stories, by Walt Disney, will capture your fancy. It will be available for $20. Dumpy Save Christmas by Julie Andrews Edwards and Emma Walton Hamilton, is a stated first edition, just $15 at our book sale. This book is illustrated by Tony Walton and generically inscribed by Hamilton on the front free end page, I’m told. Or how about The Gilded Bat, by Edmund Gorey, a 1966 stated first printing, for just $30? A Ring of Endless Light, 1980, by Madeleine L’Engle, is a stated first printing and will be sold for $30. A 1943 copy of The White Goose by Tasha Tudor is lacking a dust jacket, and being offered at $20. If you love bookbindings, Susie’s School-days in France with illustrations by W. Parkinson has an art nouveau designer binding that is just a little worn, and is only $10. As always, collector or not, there will be something for everyone at the sale.

The magic continues for Hawley fourth grade teacher Lea Attanasio’s intergenerational book club. You might have read the story in The Bee earlier in the spring, about her serendipitous receipt of four Kindle e-readers that will help her elderly book club members stay in the thick of reading with their young partners. And now, this coming Saturday, a Japanese television film crew is going to follow Lea as she teaches her older club members how to use the Kindle, at Brookfield Commons. The filmmakers want to make a special segment of the future of the publishing industry and introduce people to the latest in e-reading from America, according to the note Lea received from TV Asahi. The Kindle is scheduled to be released in Japan later this year. “This story has taken on an international twist,” says Lea, adding, “Now if I could just get Oprah to call….”

I’m not sure that I’m willing to use my good beer for this cause, but a note from the folks at Yankee Publishing — those wise people who publish The Old Farmer’s Almanac, among other things — reminded me that it’s time to put the beer out in the garden. Yep, summer returned on Monday and slugs were right there with the change of season. “Place beer-filled plastic tubs or saucers in the garden, set level with the soil, to lure slugs to a drunken death,” according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac. Studies show they prefer imported beer. The other option, they tell me, is to place a few old boards in the garden and turn them over every morning to find slugs as they sleep. Dispose of them by dropping them into soapy water. Eeew. What I’ll do for a few lovely tomatoes.

It’s all about the beginning of summer, but if you’re looking forward to the Labor Day Parade with great anticipation, you might as well go “whole hog” when you celebrate summer’s end: Newtown Hook & Ladder has come up with a new fundraiser to boost its efforts in building a new firehouse. The volunteer fire company has put together something it’s calling Fire House Ride 2010. A 40-mile motorcycle ride starting from and returning to The One-Eyed Pig Bar & Restaurant in Newtown will take place on Sunday, September 12. Registration will start at 9 am, the ride will leave at 10:30, and a pig roast lunch will start at noon. Cost is $30 for a rider (which includes admission to the pig roast), $15 for a passenger, or $15 for the pig roast only. There will be plenty of live music, raffles, and other entertainment during the afternoon. Registration can be done online at www.regonline.com/firehouseride or the morning of the event.

Meanwhile, I’ll be pigging out on news around town. Be sure to…. Read me again.