April 7, 2000

EDITORIAL INK DROPS — A TAX BREAK FOR SENIORS: A proposal to provide senior citizens in Newtown with tax abatements appears to be back on the agenda of the Legislative Council after several weeks of inactivity on the issue. The council’s ordinance subcommittee is determined to craft rules governing tax abatements for the elderly in time for them to go in effect when tax bills go out in July. The subcommittee members will have before them two proposals. One would extend tax relief to all of Newtown’s 2,000 senior citizens, at an estimated cost to the town of $3.3 million. The other would limit tax breaks to those who need them the most.

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HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER OF Joe Ratyna.

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In a lawsuit, through which he seeks to regain the post of police chief, James E. Lysaght, Jr, alleges the Police Commission acted arbitrarily, capriciously, in the abuse of its discretion, with bad faith and malice, and without just cause in firing him. Police Commission members decided Mr Lysaght did not demonstrate the leadership, planning, and management skills necessary for the effective and efficient operation of the police department, and thus fired him last month. In the administrative appeal filed last week in Danbury Superior Court, Mr Lysaght alleges that in terminating him March 3, the Police Commission acted illegally.

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Doug Rogers swears he had no idea the gas prices were going to skyrocket when he put a down payment on his new car last October. He purchased his state-of-the-art car for the simple joy of owning something new and exciting, not to mention innovative. But as the price of unleaded gasoline climbs to more than $1.50 per gallon, Mr Rogers is getting 70 miles to the gallon in his new hybrid vehicle, which runs on both gasoline and electricity. The Newtown resident recently picked up his new Honda Insight — one of just a couple of thousand currently traversing America’s roads.

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Tennis players looking to play on the new courts at Dickinson Park will have to go elsewhere for the time being. The courts, pavilion, and the Elm Drive entrance to the park were closed last week as town workers got set to pour the foundation for the park’s new bathrooms. The park’s Brushy Hill Road entrance is open for those wanting to use the softball field, basketball courts, or FunSpace.

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For Newtown Middle School sixth grader Drew Harmata, science has always been a favorite subject, and now he is getting recognition for his talents. Drew was recently recognized by the United States Achievement Academy as a United States National Award Winner in the category of science. According to the USAA, this award “is a prestigious honor very few students can ever hope to attain.” The USAA recognizes fewer than 10 percent of all American students. … Drew was nominated by his science teacher John Girard, himself a former USAA winner, along with 11 of his fellow students who comprised the top 15 percent of his class.

April 4, 1975

EDITORIAL INK DROPS — A SOUND VOTE FOR NEWTOWN: The spirit of a Town Meeting came alive again in Newtown on Monday evening as over 430 voters of the community turned out to decide the question of maintaining or relinquishing zoning for municipal properties. Such a Town Meeting is very interesting, as it brings to light many side factors which operate in the community. For one, it further proves that it takes relatively little work and promotion to acquire the proper number of signatures to call a Town Meeting. But beyond all that, all efforts fall flat unless the momentum is maintained. Eager and willing signers are easy to come by, as many of the people who put their hand to a petition have little knowledge of just what they are authorizing or of the eventual repercussions which might be involved. Monday night’s meeting proved that most people are not willing to exert any more effort than is required to sign a name, as the final count to support the resolution was even less than one-sixth the number of those who signed the petition which placed the question on the agenda.

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The Newtown Federation of Teachers and the Board of Education will sit down together again and begin all over to try to come to an agreement on a new contract for the Newtown teachers. Possibly the first of such negotiations will take place within a very few days. The decision to go back to the negotiating table came Monday night, and was one made by both sides at two different meetings in the Middle School. The teachers, over 200 of them, gathered in the auditorium to discuss the arbitration award handed in March 26. While they were doing so, the Board of Education was meeting in closed session in the Superintendent’s office at the other end of the building.

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Starting April 1, Senior Citizen Transportation has been extended to Newtown on Fridays. This is an extension of the existing Senior Citizens Transportation Program run by the Danbury Area Chapter, American Red Cross, according to John Dolan, Chapter Chairman. Service in Newtown will be on a Dial-A-Ride basis as in Danbury, made possible by a grant from the Area 1 Area on Aging to the Danbury Red Cross. Newtown residents age sixty and over are asked to call the Red Cross office in Danbury two business days prior to their appointment.

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According to the count by the Registrars of Voters, some 435 voters were in attendance at Monday night’s special town meeting but when it came time to vote on the resolution calling for exempting municipal property from the local zoning regulation, only 31 persons stood up to vote. Several speakers went up to the mike in the Newtown High auditorium to urge the defeat of the resolution, and the bursts of applause forecast how the vote would go as the town meeting, under the crisp guidance of moderator William Lavery, moved rapidly toward its decision.

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In light of the fact that the Town has had trouble recently with its garage and complying with Occupational Health & Safety Act standards, First Selectman Frank DeLucia has proposed a local committee to be established to keep abreast of the standards as they relate to municipal facilities. Also, at their Tuesday night meeting, the Selectmen approved having the Southern New England Telephone Company make a free survey of the Town’s communications facilities relative to the possible installation of an emergency 911 number, and set up a meeting to discuss Newtown land owned by the Bridgeport Hydraulic Company which will be released for sale over the next few years.

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It has been a tradition in Newtown for several years now that come Eastertide, the Jaycees kindly sponsor an Easter Egg hunt for the small fry in town. Being careful planners, the Jaycees see to it that the hunt is open only to children from infancy up through age eight, and so that everything is done fairly and squarely, the hunt is divided so that certain age groups are competing with one another. This ruling, obviously, was made so that the bigger kids wouldn’t grab up all of the eggs from the ones much younger and less nimble than they.

March 31, 1950

A ceremony of historical significance took place last Friday afternoon in the founder’s room of Edmond Town Hall when Arthur T. Nettleton, for more than 50 years a loyal and constructive leader in the town, was presented with a plaque which was a cross section of the town’s recently dismantled wooden flagpole, a landmark which had stood as a town institution at the head of Church Hill Road for many years. The presentation was made by Judge Paul V. Cavanaugh, under whose direction the plaque had been prepared, and the ceremony took place in the presence of a group of representative citizens of the town.

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At a special meeting of the Board of Managers of Edmond Town Hall held at the Town Hall on Monday evening, March 27, sealed bids for the proposed addition to the Town Hall to provide additional space for town offices and for the Visiting Nurse were opened and found to be as follows: The Mutual Construction Company, Inc., of Bridgeport, $51,400; Luke F. Sweeney, Inc. of Danbury, $46,404; The Gellatly Company of Bridgeport, $42,640; Tomlinson and Hawley, Inc. of Bridgeport, $47,735; Newtown Contracting Company of Newtown, $62,913; Kroogman Brothers of New Haven, $51,900; The Edward E. Bray Company of Bridgeport, $41,344. On motion duly made, seconded and unanimously carried, the contract was awarded to the lowest bidder, The Edward E. Bray Company. The work which is to be done in accordance with plans and specifications prepared by Jerome P. Jackson, architect of Sandy Hook, is to be started at once and completed within five months.

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Mr and Mrs Otto Heise and son, Will, of Brook Road, Palestine District, left for New York City last Friday, and on Saturday left by plane from LaGuardia Field for Nassau where they will spend two weeks.

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Dr Waldo F. Desmond and son, Danny, returned home Monday night from a week’s trip to St. Petersburg, Fla. On this Thursday Danny resumes his studies at Loomis School in Windsor.

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At a meeting on Friday evening, March 24, members of the VFW Charles Howard Peck Post elected George Jackson as their commander. Other officers elected at this time were Harold Morgan, senior vice commander; Jerry Jackson, junior vice commander; William Daniells, chaplain; Robert Kayfus, quartermaster; William Slocum, trustee; and Herbert Carey and Joseph Huston, county council delegates. These officers will be installed in a joint installation with the auxiliary on Thursday, April 13, at 8 pm in St John’s Episcopal Church, Sandy Hook.

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Coach Harold S. DeGroat was named for the position of vice president-elect of the recreation division of the Eastern District Association of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, a division of the National Health Association, at its convention held in Atlantic City last Wednesday and Thursday.

March 27, 1925

Barbed wire, poultry netting, tar roofing paper.—[S. Nalevsky, Huntingtown. Adv.

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Maine seed potatoes, Lowell’s Animal brand fertilizer, barbed and plain wire, poultry netting, rubber roofing, timothy seed, red top seed, garden seed in bulk and packages.—[Corbett & Crowe.Adv.

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L.C. Morris, Funeral Director and Embalmer. NEWTOWN, CONN. Telephone Call 70.

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Mrs Jerome Platt has returned to her home in Dodgingtown after spending four weeks with relatives in New York.

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There was a most remarkable accident down at Botsford on Friday morning, when lightning struck and killed two horses belonging to John Fanetti at the residence of his brother-in-law, Nicholas Pennachio, near the Botsford railroad station during the freak thunder shower about 7.30 o’clock. Fanetti, who was cleaning out the stable just behind the horses, escaped without injury except light shock. There was no damage to the barn and the only evidence of the bolt is a hole in the ground outside the barn about three inches in diameter on the east side of the building. The team of horses that were killed were valued at $500, and were recently purchased by Fanetti who carried no insurance. An old horse that stood beside on the dirt floor of the barns was uninjured.

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THE NEWTOWN LIBRARY. A suggestion from Danbury. In reading over your valuable paper regarding the Newtown Library, I would like to offer a little suggestion to make a neat sum to help along. Every one likes to eat away from home at times, and I am sure if the ladies of Newtown would get together, canvas the town for donations of food, say chicken, potatoes, butter, sugar, coffee, and anything to make up a good menu for a good chicken supper and charge 75c or $1 a plate for a good cause, and a committee of ladies to cook and serve it, it would be well patronized from Danbury and surrounding towns. If it could be done the place to hold it would easily be donated, and make it a social gathering as well as a neat sum could be realized from it. Has any one else any suggestions to offer?—[C.S.

April 6, 1900

Daniel Kane of Zoar moved into his new home, last Saturday, which he has recently bought of the Eliza Winton estate.

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Charles Dixon, who has been living in Zoar, moved to Bridgewater, last Friday.

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Mrs Loren Peck, mother of Arthur L. Peck, has been quite critically ill.

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Letters addressed to the following persons remain uncalled for in the Newtown post office April 1, 1900: Daniel Decell, Rosa James, Bridgie Leahy, J. Sadleir, one foreign.—[George F. Duncombe, postmaster.

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DEDICATED TO LOCAL TROUT FISHERMEN. It always seems to me most queer / How fisherman who fail / To land a single spotted trout / Still always have a tale. —[Selected.

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At a hearing on Saturday, March 31, before Referee John W. Banks, at Bridgeport, Samuel Cohen of Sandy Hook was given a discharge in bankruptcy. At the same time a dividend of 35 8-10 per cent was declared. This is the first and final dividend on this estate.

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John H. Blackman is able to be out once more, after being confined to his house with one of the popular grip colds.

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.