February 14, 1997

The 20 or so town employees who used to work at Town Hall South arrived for work this week at their new offices on the campus of Fairfield Hills Hospital. Crews from C&D Moving of Brookfield pulled up to Town Hall South in their vans last Friday morning to begin hauling maps, file cabinets, desks, chairs, and any other items that had become a part of the town government over the past 20 years. It was all moved to Canaan House, which will serve for the next two years as the home of the town’s land use, building, health, and parks and recreation offices. Public Works Director Fred Hurley said the move went like clockwork.

* * * * *

Newtown educators are poring over Connecticut Mastery Test data that Assistant Superintendent Robert Kuklis calls “the biggest game in town in terms of academic assessment.” This year’s tests show that efforts to improve writing skills in the school system had results, especially on the eighth grade level. It also showed the need for improvement in math.

* * * * *

As the area on and around Walker Hill Road continues to develop, the gunshots heard from the Fairfield County Fish & Game Protective Association fall on increased ears. But as representatives from the gun club point out, their club has been in Newtown for more than 60 years. It pre-exists any local zoning laws, is not in violations, and has no plans of leaving. That’s not what new and recent neighbors want to hear, however. As some sit in their home, listening to the constant barrage of gunfire, some say they cannot help but feel as if they are sometimes under siege.

* * * * *

The Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps responded to 1,238 calls in 1996, breaking all previous records for responses. Of those calls, the corps reports, 234 were due to auto accidents, 266 were from non-vehicular trauma, 646 were for medical calls, and the rest were a combination of emotional problems or standby calls. Danbury Hospital was the destination for 855 calls, while the rest went to St Vincent Hospital in Bridgeport, Waterbury Hospital, Yale-New Haven, and Griffin Hospital in Derby. In 1995 the corps responded to 1,170 calls.

* * * * *

When Judy Grillo went to Social Services to see how she might help the community, she left with a grand idea — Easter food baskets to brighten a week in the life of struggling Newtown families. The project coordinator is now looking for volunteers to contribute baskets for about 50 families and to help with distribution on March 22 at the Multi-Purpose Building in Sandy Hook.

February 18, 1972

It might not have been the biggest thing on the agenda of the Selectmen’s meeting Tuesday evening, February 15, but it’s good news to the firemen, police, and all other drivers of vehicles owned by the Town of Newtown: next week, a new 3,000 gasoline tank and a new 1,000 diesel fuel tank are to be installed at the town garage on Church Hill Road. It’s good news to the citizens, too, for the old tanks had deteriorated to the extent that not only water but sludge was fouling up the vehicles using gas from them. Repair bills were up. The installation will be made at the expense of the supplier of the fuels, at no cost to the town.

* * * * *

Only four people attended a meeting of the new Charter Revision Commission at which the Commission had hoped to hear the suggestions and recommendations of townspeople for revision of the Town Charter. Headed by Chairman Victor Marino, the members present were Mae Schmidle, Barbara Hundt, Diane Swerdtle, Jack Rosenthal, and James Smith. Before the Commission began the meeting, Mr Smith announced that on reading the State Statutes on Charter Revision Commissions, the members discovered that there was a problem with this group which prevents it from voting or doing any official business. The Statutes state that such a board may have from 7 to 15 members, no more than one third of whom may have already been elected to any town position or board. Four members of the commission are on such boards, so the Commission can do very little, and must be either dissolved and re-appointed, or more members — none of whom are elected to any boards — must be added.

* * * * *

About 47,000 customers of the Connecticut Light and Power Company were without electrical power Saturday, February 12, most of them for less than an hour. Newtown, Danbury, Southbury including Heritage Village, Brookfield, Ridgefield, Georgetown and Redding, Woodbury, Bethel, New Fairfield, Wilton and South New Milford were affected. At 8:25 am transmission lines, somewhere between New Milford and Norwalk, feeding substations in southwestern Connecticut, failed, causing power losses of about 20 to 30 minutes in most sections. A spokesman for CL&P said the exact cause of the interruption is still unknown, but the company is still working to find out just what went wrong.

* * * * *

The Newtown Christian Church has called James R. Conner as Minister-Evangelist. Mr Conner comes from a ministry with the Lily Dale Church of Christ in Erwin, Tenn., and is affiliated with the “Go Ye” Chapel Mission of New York. He studied at the Cincinnati Bible Seminary and at the Grundy Bible Institute and has served in the mountains of southwest Virginia. Prior to entering the ministry, Mr Conner was engaged in psychiatric nursing with the Department of Mental Hygiene of the State of California. Mr Conner is also experienced in psychotherapy and family and marriage counseling. He and his wife have one son.

February 14, 1947

The outbreak of fire for a second time at the Club 6-25 Sunday night, three and one-half days after the disastrous one of last Thursday morning, has aroused the suspicion of authorities that the Sunday fire was of incendiary origin. Newtown Fire Marshall Walter Glover has stated his conviction that it was the result of arson, and Fire Chief Peter Feli of Hawleyville said there were indications that a large milk can found at the scene had contained gasoline. The first fire broke out at about 9 o’clock last Thursday morning, when the place had been closed since the preceding night. In spite of valiant efforts by Hawleyville, Newtown and Danbury fire departments, the night spot, which was expensively furnished, was gutted. The second fire, discovered shortly before midnight Sunday, finished destruction of the roof and practically all of the standing walls, excepting the front one.

* * * * *

The Community Auxiliary of the Sandy Hook Fife, Drum and Bugle Corps is sponsoring a Valentine Dance this Friday evening in the Alexandria Room of the Edmond Town Hall. There will be dancing from 8 until 12 o’clock, with music furnished by the King Street Pioneers. There will be two prizes, and admission is 50 cents, including tax.

* * * * *

Invitations have been issued for the approaching marriage of Miss Susannah Johnson, daughter of Mr and Mrs Frank Willard Johnson of Newtown and Pelham Manor, N.Y., and Lieut (jg)Harold William Walters, of Cleveland, Ohio, which will take place at 4 o’clock on Saturday, February 15, at Christ Church, Pelham Manor, N.Y.

* * * * *

The Hopewell Home Economics Group met at the home of Mrs Tracy Peck in Botsford last Wednesday afternoon for a meeting on “Good Nutrition and Your Pocketbook” under the direction of Miss Helen L. Clark, Home Demonstration Agent for the Fairfield County Farm Bureau.

* * * * *

Friends of Harrie T. Wood will be pleased to know that he is showing improvement at the Danbury hospital, where he was taken on Wednesday of last week, suffering with heart trouble. He will be confined there for three or four weeks before it will be possible for him to return to his home in Dodgingtown district.

February 17, 1922

EDITORIAL INK DROPS: To Henry E. Bradley, of Orange City, Fla., formerly of Washington, the editor is indebted for a copy of the Orange City Sunshine, Volume 1 and Number 1. C.A. Allison is the editor who also publishes the Deland Sun and Lake Helen Sentinel. | The editor of The Bee has been requested to call attention in his Ink Drops to the lack of heat at the Town hall on the evenings of Thursday and Monday last, the occasions of the Y. M. C. A. entertainments. It was decidedly chilly on both evenings. The state of the atmosphere in a hall detracts from the pleasure of any entertainment, no matter how brilliant the lecturer or entertainer. Let us have the furnace fires started earlier; perhaps this would obviate the trouble. In Dr Carpenter’s lecture on Astronomy he had a good deal to say about the moon, where there is a perpetual frigid temperature. This may have had some effect on the temperature of our Town hall, that evening, but we doubt it.

* * * * *

Mrs John O. Pitzschler and Baird Pitzschler are convalescing after an attack of the grip.

* * * * *

Mrs Anna Leahey is ill with the grip.

* * * * *

Postmaster and Mrs Robert T. Bradley are the happy parents of a son, born on Wednesday.

* * * * *

Capt C.H. Cook of New Milford has leased a mining right of Harry Wiley in Dodgingtown on the road leading to A.D. Fairchild’s.

* * * * *

Kirk & Patchen, the Bethel electrician, are wiring the Masonic hall at Sandy Hook for electric lights.

* * * * *

Ambler & Conger have rented the store in Keating’s block at Sandy Hook and opened a lunch and pool room there. They opened for business on Wednesday.

February 19, 1897

The jolliest sleighing party ever gotten up in Taunton was the one engineered by Miss Gertie Cree on February 15. The morning bid fair for good sleighing, and invitations were given for a sleighing party which was composed of fair lads and lassies from Taunton and Plumtrees. The party when started, numbered just eleven-twelvths of a Yankee dozen and three tin horns. Their objecting point was Mr and Mrs Frank Bantles at West Redding, which they reached in safety and were right royally entertained with refreshments, games, music from violin, banjo and organ, until 2 a.m., when they bade host and hostess good morning, and departed, arriving home about 4 o’clock.

* * * * *

Miss Marcella Clark, a lady 80 years of age, passed away at the home of her sister, Mrs John Egan, on Tuesday. The funeral was attended from St Rose’s church at 9 o’clock Thursday morning.

* * * * *

Mr and Mrs F.B. Drew of Hawleyville pleasantly entertained, Wednesday night, a party of about 15 Odd Fellows, their wives and lady friends, from Danbury. Several from Hawleyville were among the fortunate guests.

* * * * *

Mr and Mrs C.B. Sherman celebrated their golden wedding, last week Tuesday, by an informal gathering of friends and relatives. Some 30 or more were present.

* * * * *

Chester Northrop has been fitting up and filling an ice house with fine ice from Taunton pond, this week.

* * * * *

A disastrous fire occurred at Sandy Hook, last Saturday morning, completely destroying the building belonging to E.W. Wilson and the stock of furniture and undertaker’s supplies of Wilson & Keating, who occupied the building. The origin of the fire will never be certainly known, but it is very probably that the stove exploded from some cause and did the damage.

Do you have photographs of people or places in town from a bygone era? The Way We Were is the perfect landing spot so that your photographs can be enjoyed by Newtown Bee readers. Images can be e-mailed as attachments to shannon@thebee.com, subject line: Way We Were photo. When submitting photographs, please identify as many people as possible, the location, and the approximate date. If you live locally and would like to loan a photo/photos, please give us a call (203-426-3141) to let us know when you will be visiting.