Bethel in May 2018: Bears, Poets and That New HQ

BETHEL, CT -- May 2018 in Bethel was a month of polar opposites and odd juxtapositions.

It was a month in which Bethel residents finally put all the busted-budget hand-wringing in the rearview mirror and approved funding for the new police station, and the month when grateful Bethel cops took to social media to are tell the town how much they are looking forward to their new HQ.

It was a month in which The Patch celebrated Mother's Day in a big way in Bethel with two sets of mom/daughter lookalikes, and a bear celebrated being bigger, faster and stronger than you by meandering through your neighbor's backyard in broad daylight.

It was a month where the good guys fished people out of trees, and another guy got sentenced to 10 years in prison for breaking into his ex-girlfriend's new boy friend's house carrying a knife, duct tape, zip ties and rope.

It was a month when the Bethel LGBTQ+ Pride Parade marched into its second year hoping for a modest local turnout, and over 500 people showed up from as far away as Israel and Rhode Island.

It was a month that started with the announcement that Bethel naval officer Junior H. Ducatel was shoving off aboard the amphibious warship USS Portland, and ended with the Town of Bethel announcing the creation of the position of Honorary Poet Laureate.