January 26, 1990

Jim Crick, arriving at the Stony Hill Inn under the pretense of dinner with a few friends, walked into a room filled with close to one hundred people, all there to honor him on his retirement from the Newtown Post Office. Jim Crick had become a fixture at the Newtown Post Office and, during his 41 years, 11 months, and one day there, he served the customers well, and always in a cheerful manner. He was polite, accommodating, and, as a number of the speakers noted that evening, a true asset to the postal system.

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Smokers seem to be a dying breed. Smoking will be banned from Newtown’s Edmond Town Hall (ETH) effective Thursday, February 1. The ban, a decision reached by the Board of Managers in a meeting Wednesday, January 17, will bar the public and town employees from smoking in town hall.

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On Friday, January 26, officials from Newtown, Bethel, Redding, and Danbury Hospital will sign the contract for the regional paramedic intercept program that will be established in those towns. After vehicles and other equipment are obtained, the program will begin, probably by April 1, said Rudy Ramsey of Newtown, chairman of the Housatonic Valley Paramedic Services Council. The ambulance corps in each town will continue to respond to all calls and to provide all transportation. But the paramedics also will be dispatched to calls when it’s important to have personnel having paramedic trainings.

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With their season coming to an end, coach John Gallagher and his St Rose boys varsity basketball team matched up with St Joe’s of Brookfield on Wednesday night, January 24, for what may have meant the Parochial League title. In a contest that was expected to be a tight battle, St Rose controlled the game from the outset, winning easily, 58-43. The team clinched at least a tie for first. A single St Rose win or a St Joe’s loss, over the final two games, will give the St Rose Rams the league championship.

January 29, 1965

The Public Building Committee and the Board for Education have been looking at potential building sites for a new high school — and they are still looking. Members have examined ten sites in all so far, but they want to be absolutely sure that no desirable and available site is overlooked. The Public Building Committee and the school board wish to hear by February 1 from any person or persons desiring to sell at tract of about 40 acres lying either in the Borough or within a mile of Borough limits.

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A ruling adopted by the State Board of Pesticide Control on January 15 eliminates the use of DDT in future aerial spraying for the control of forest insects among which the gypsy moth is a leading defoliator in Connecticut woodlands. Reliance by chemical means will  henceforth rest on the use of carbaryl (Sevin), a relatively new material which the board has voted to place on the approved list for aerial application. This is a short lived though effective insecticide and breaks down rapidly to harmless metabolites.

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On Friday, January 22, the seventh and eighth grades at Newtown High School attended an assembly on “Space Flight and Satellites” sponsored by NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. An introduction to space was presented to the group. Also presented were ideas concerning the early contributions of the Chinese people toward space flight utilizing gun-powder and fire-works. The program concluded with demonstrations and information on the Gemini project (two-man space vehicle) and Apollo (our three-man spaceship to the moon). Gemini will be launched this April and Apollo sometime in 1970. The speaker also illustrated how man will dock or park in space, how he will leave our atmosphere, and how he will attempt to reach the moon and return safely to the earth.

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Sarah Larrabee has been named Newtown’s 1965 Betty Crocker Homemaker of the Tomorrow. She scored highest in a written homemaking examination taken by senior girls on December 1, and is now eligible for state and national honors. The state’s highest ranking girl will receive a $1,500 scholarship from General Mills, Inc, a sponsor of the annual Betty Crocker award, with the state runner-up to be awarded a $500 educational grant. In addition, the state winner’s school will receive a complete set of Encyclopedia Britannica.

 

January 26, 1940

Plans for Newtown’s contribution of funds to the National Finnish Relief Fund were begun on Tuesday, when Edwin V. Haigh of Danbury, chairman of the North Fairfield county district, appointed Arthur T. Nettleton chairman of the local committee. Every real American’s sympathies are with the little democratic country struggling so valiantly to ward off the invasion of communism from Russia. Anyone desiring to aid financially, can do so by leaving their contribution, large or small, at the Newtown Savings Bank. It is hoped that everyone in town will make some kind of donation.

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More than 14,000 new telephone directories are being delivered this week to all telephone subscribers in Danbury, Kent, New Milford, Newtown, Redding, Ridgefield and Washington. The new directory carries on its cover a red band which calls attention to the time the new numbers will go into effect. Until 11 am, January 26, the old directory should be used. After that time, the new book should be consulted. Exchanges included in the directory, with the lates figures on the number of telephones in each exchange, are: Danbury, 7,957; Kent, 318; New Milford, 2,043; Newtown, 1,020; Redding, 487; Ridgefield, 1,542 and Washington, 910.

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The Newtown A.C. hockey team made its first appearance, last Sunday afternoon at Sherman, when they tangled with the Timber Trails Week-Enders at the rink of the Timber Trails Inn. The outcome was most satisfactory for the Newtown team, as they tallied 6 goals to their opponents’ 1 in a fast and exciting game. On this Friday evening at the rink of the Russian Village, Danbury-Norwalk road, at 8 o’clock, Manager Paul Smith will again put his team on the ice, when they will meet “Don” McLaughlin’s Redding Rangers. The local A.C. team is expected to be taxed to the limit, as they will be opposing a team comprised of former college stars and French Canadians who are well informed in the art of puck chasing.

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After having served 39 years as postmaster at the Hawleyville post office, Edmund C. Platt resigned his position a few days ago, to take effect on February 1st. Mr Platt was appointed by President William H. McKinley in 1901. William A. Honan has been appointed acting postmaster and will take over his duties as postmaster on February 1st, at which time the post office will be moved into Mr Honan’s store.

 

January 29, 1915

The two dancing classes which have been conducted by W.A. Daniels at the Town hall, finished the term on Saturday evening, at which time a number of friends of the members were invited in. The members have made good progress in dancing the new dances. A pleasant evening was enjoyed by all present.

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THERE IS NO MILK IN BELGIUM FOR THE BABIES: The most heart rendering cry that can come from a civilized nation! Yet that is the latest cable from the most stricken land in the history of the world. All those who wish to donate money for milk for the Belgium babies can leave the same with Miss Adaline Hurd, secretary, or Mrs H.N. Tiemann, Jr, guardian of the Camp Fire Girls.

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A popular Sandy Hook citizen, who is noted for his amiable qualities, has lately developed a very marked case of Forditis. It seems that he has lately purchased a new Ford car, and while attempting to go into the barn, crashed into the barn door and busted down the door. The gentleman did not want his little exploit to get out to the public, so he had his man cart the lumber up the other road and then after dusk, carried the boards down across the lawn to the barn. A very neat repair job was done and the boards were covered with new green paint, which nicely matched the old. The funny thing about it is that the big dent on the fender matches the dent in the timber on the side of the barn. The gentleman in question is a veteran and a skilled auto driver, and the little accident was due to auto-excitability, or Forditis.

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It now seems to be an assured fact that the State road through Sugar street to the Bethel line will be constructed the coming season. This will be good news to all residents of the western and southwestern sections of the town, and will be a great benefit to both Newtown and Bethel.