February 3, 1995

BATTLE OF THE BEAVERS DRAGS ON: To what length and expense does one go to in order to coexist with a growing beaver population? Some Newtown residents, business owners and officials plagued by chronic beaver problems have recently had to make some tough decisions. As a result, state-licensed trappers have been and continue to be active in killing the animals at the written request of property owners. “We have property down by Sand Hill Plaza where a tributary of the Pootatuck River runs around our property and have been troubled by beavers damming the tributary and trying to make it into their own little lake,” said Kevin Moran, General Manager of General Waterwork of Connecticut, Inc. “We have seen beaver activity for two or three years, but it has worsened last fall and got to the point where we hadQ to start tearing down the dams because of the flooding. But as quickly as you pull it down, those little guys get back in there and patch it up — It’s hopeless.” The flooding caused by the beavers has eliminated a buffer zone for wells, which must be 50 feet from the stream. The potential health hazard of a contaminated water supply is one of the primary reasons the company decided to contact the Department of Environmental Protection for names of local trappers. “The water company’s concern was a pretty important one,” said Public Works Director Fred Hurley. “There is flooding now that is threatening the well caps of the town water supply.”

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The Newtown Montessori School invites the public to attend its winter book fair on Saturday, February 11, and Sunday, February 12. The fair, at the school’s Jacklin Road building, will run from 10 am to 4 pm. Proceeds from the book fair will be used to buy new books for the school children.

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LEARN THE LIBRARY COMPUTERS: Anyone interested in learning the public access computers (PAC) which were installed at the Cyrenius Booth Library, can sign up for a training session to be held at the library February 10 at 10 am. The class will be limited to 10 people and reservations may be made by calling 426-4533.

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There is a serious need for infant and toddler care in Newtown, according to Child Care Connections, an organization of childcare providers. The group’s statistics show that there are 30 state licensed childcare providers in Newtown and only four full-time infant openings among these providers, and there are no openings in the Middle Gate district. Child Care Connections is offering a prospective provider workshop on Tuesday, February 7, at 7 pm at the group’s office at 246 Federal Road in Brookfield.

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Lillinonah Audubon Society, a chapter of National Audubon Society, will hold its next members’ meeting on Thursday, February 16, at the Parish House of the South Britain Congregational Church. Social time is at 7:30 pm followed by the meeting and program. Guests are welcome. Bluebird Update will be the subject of the program presented by Jenny Dickson, wildlife biologist with the Connecticut Environmental Protection. Ms Dickson coordinates the Wildlife Division’s Bluebird Restoration Project. In addition to the nest box distribution program, the restoration project also involves a statewide nest box survey to assess box use and population trends. She will give tips and updates on bluebird behavior patterns, nesting time, migration and feeding habits.

January 30, 1970

At a special joint meeting with the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, January 27, the Park and Recreation Commission requested the expenditure of $4,000 to secure plans and specifications for improvements of the swimming facility at the town park. In presenting its request to the selectmen, the commission referred to a report it prepared covering the existing problems and their causes and also containing a step-by-step program aimed at alleviating problems. Before the issuance of its own report the commission had retained the services of a professional engineering firm for an independent study of the swimming facility. The problems associated with the use of the existing facility were found to fall into two major categories: first, the presence of dirt and other undesirable foreign substances in the pond water; and secondly, a lack of adequate information on water supply and potential pond contamination. The commission has suggested the following steps: paving the pond bottom, turfing the surrounding beach areas, replacing various feeders and pipes, thoroughly testing feed water and pond water quality and quantity. The commission estimates the work will be about $50,000.

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Horseback riding lessons sponsored by the Newtown Park and Recreation Commission will begin this Saturday, January 31, at the Open Gate Farm on Hanover Road. The lessons are open to elementary and high school students. Interested persons are asked to be at the stable at 10 am for a detailed explanation about the riding lessons.

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“How to Live With a Child Who is Different” will be the topic of guest speaker Helen L. Beck at the February 5 meeting of the Connecticut Association of Children with Learning Difficulties. Miss Beck’s talk is of great interest to many families in the areas with children who have learning disabilities. The meeting is at 8:15 pm in the Norwalk High School library. The association has also announced a new summer day camp for children with learning disabilities which will run from June 29 to August 14, in Wilton. The camp will be limited to an enrollment of 20 youngsters. In charge of the camp program is Geoffrey Beitner, a senior at William and Mary College, who will have assistants helping him.

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NEWTOWN FAMILY MOVES TO SOUTH AMERICA: The Bee has learned that a Newtown family will be spending approximately two years in Uruguay. The John Davis family of Taunton Lake Drive left by jet from Kennedy Airport on January 28 for Montevedeo, where Mr Davis will be based with IBM World Trade. Accompanying them are Mrs Davis’s children Eliot Titus, 12; Meg, 10; and Pam, 8. Mr Davis’s son John, who is a junior at Bethany College in West Virginia will remain in the states to finish school, but he will be joining the family during vacations and after graduation. Ricky, the family cat, who took all his shots bravely, has gone along too.

January 26, 1945

Half a million people living in Southwestern Connecticut will have a new 1,000-acre recreation area for their convenient use when the new Paugussett State Park on Lake Zoar in Newtown is opened next spring. The newest acquisition of the State Park and Forest Commission, the Paugussett Park is intended primarily for public use, although its woodlands will become part of the state forestry program. The location is one of the most ideal ever acquired by the state, for it is almost dead center in the area bounded by Bridgeport, Danbury, Waterbury and New Haven, and it is convenient to one-third of the state’s population. Most of it was acquired by purchase from Harold C. Kimball of Yonkers, N.Y. and S.T. Georges of New York City, but the tract includes 55 acres which were a gift to the state from Mr and Mrs George C. Waldo of Fairfield. Mr Waldo is chairman of the State Park and Forest Commission. The state forest is a picturesque spot of natural beauty. Years ago, the land was owned by the old Coe Brass Company of Naugatuck, which built a spur track into it from Stevenson and from 1894 to 1911 harvested thousands of cords of wood annually. Scattered throughout it today are remains of charcoal pits used to convert wood to charcoal for the Coe foundries. The area abounds in Indian lore and dates back long before the Paugussetts when it was part of the old trail that tribes of the Algonquins from Massachusetts and Mohicans from upper New York State traversed to reach “the great salt sea” around Stratford and Milford.

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Friends in town will be pleased to learn that John J. Northrop, who has been confined to his bed by illness since December 4, is now much improved. Mr and Mrs Northrop are in Paterson, N.J.

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Mrs Paul A. Cullens and daughter Mary left for New York City on Monday, en route to St. Petersburg, Florida, where they will spend some time with Mrs Cullens’ parents, Mr and Mrs Samuel Robinson.

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The scheduled session for Health Education at the Fairfield Hills Hospital has been postponed until Wednesday, January 31, at 8 o’clock. As previously announced, Dr W.W. Peter, associate professor of public health in the Yale School of Medicine, will deal with the problem of tuberculosis among American Indians.

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William Hayes, who has been enjoying a brief vacation from his duties at Warner Store in Sandy Hook, was in New York City for several days.

January 23, 1920

The Sandy Hook Library will be closed on Saturday in respect to the memory of the late Smith P. Glover.

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The exercises recently held in the Ancient History class were so successful that three of its members, Gertrude Wellington, Isabell Tiemann, and Helen Joy, on Thursday night at the Congregational Church Forum, will, clad in Greek costumes, give a short conversation, typical of ancient times. This conversation, as well as being interesting, will show the public something about the work the history class is doing.

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Dr W. H. Kiernan, while making a call in Zoar, got stuck in a snowbank Wednesday morning, and had to be drawn out. James O’Connell and Mr Keane assisted in digging out the doctor’s car.

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The thermometer registered at 12 degrees below zero at E. C. Platt’s Tuesday morning.

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In carrying his milk away Monday morning, Henry Pettit was obliged to shovel through the snow drifts from a point near his house to Patrick Finnell’s. Mr Pettit sells his milk to Foland and leaves it at the platform near Elmer Fairchild’s.

Please consider sharing your old photographs of people and places from Newtown or Sandy Hook with The Newtown Bee readers. Images can be e-mailed to kendra@thebee.com, or brought to the office at 5 Church Hill Road to be scanned. When submitting photographs, please identify as many people as possible, the location, and the approximate date.