June 12, 1992

If a teacher marks his own success by the successes of his students, Joe Grasso can call himself a master. Any doubts he may have had about his work must have been erased on Saturday night. June 6 had been proclaimed Joe Grasso Day and the high school auditorium filled with students, alumni, and their parents, bent on making sure he understood how the music he had taught them had affected their lives. The event began with the 1991-92 band playing several selections under the conductorship of David Maker, University of Connecticut director of bands. The audience stood clapping as the school song played, as their good wishes carried Mr Grasso to the stage. It was the first of several trips, this time to accept a plaque from drum majors Tracey Willis and Patrick Lohmeyer. When the alumni chorus took a little longer than expected and his skills at ad libbing were taxed he told a story about a trip to Maine when several band members got lost. Upon signal the chorus wasn't ready, he told a couple of other tales. Finally, he spoke in the direction of the closed stage curtain: "If you don't hurry I'll have to sing 'Danny Boy.'" Still no chorus. "So hurry up back there unless you want these people to suffer!"

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The superintendent's conference room was crowded with angry parents when the Board of Education met on June 9 for its regular meeting. They voiced concerns over a variety of topics including overcrowded classrooms, a recommendation to not fill the music director's position, and the possibility of cuts in the Gifted and Talented program. Many of the parents had children who would enter the fifth grade at Head O' Meadow School in the fall. Class sizes there are projected to be 28 or 29 students for that grade. Assistant Superintendent Ken Freeston verified that projected class sizes exceeded board policy. He pointed out that while there would be 18 fewer children attending the school in the fall than had been anticipated, the third and fifth grades were approaching exceeding class size guidelines. School Principal Nancy Onarato has asked for another full time teacher to help alleviate the problem.

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From the they-don't-make-'em-the-way-they-used-to department comes the good word this week that the Town of Newtown will be constructing two wooden bridges this summer: one on Pond Brook near Hanover Road and another on Currituck Road near Obtuse Road. Bids are due to go out soon, according to Public Works Director Fred Hurley. These will be the first wooden bridges built in town within the memory of most of us. Why the sudden step into the past? Bridge designers and engineers are finding that wooden bridges are better bridges. They are stronger that the concrete bridges constructed earlier this century, and they resist salt and corrosion. Nearby towns of Redding and New Milford have also rediscovered the wooden bridge, and we expect that more towns will begin replacing concrete with wood as the idea catches on. Once again, one of the best new ideas is an old one.

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For three hours on June 14-15, the Earth's shadow will slowly move across the face of the moon creating a lunar eclipse. The result will be the reddening and darkening of the moon, visible to the naked eye. This eclipse will begin at 11:27 pm June 14, reach mid eclipse with 69 percent of the moon covered at 12:57 am on June 15, and end at 2:27 am. The eclipsed moon is expected to be a deep reddish brown due to atmospheric dust from the Mount Pinatubo eruption. The next lunar eclipse will be a total eclipse on December 9.

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"People are used to seeing us come in our street clothes or uniforms. We're not going to look scary, just different, like we're from a space ship … we assume that everyone has an infectious disease. In that way we are protecting ourselves at all times." Those were the words of Nancy McLachlan, Newtown Volunteers Ambulance Training Committee member, speaking about precautions local EMTs would begin taking to protect themselves from diseases. It could happen at any time, anywhere. A person who does not know he has AIDS is injured by a lawnmower and bleeding profusely. A woman is so sick she is projecting vomit uncontrollably, and happens to have tuberculosis. A mother with hepatitis is giving birth earlier than she had planned - in her own home. In each case, the copious amount of body fluids with which ambulance volunteers come in contact threaten lives of rescuers, but next month, EMTs around the country will suit up with protective gear in such instances, looking unrecognizable.

June 16, 1967

George Wheeler, owner of Newtown Shopping Center, has placed two signs there which say that all unauthorized persons found trespassing on the property after 10 pm on week days or after 6:30 pm on Saturdays will be prosecuted. 'Nough said.

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Vandalism is much too prevalent, not only in Newtown but everywhere. This week vandals harmed greens at the country club, destroyed mailboxes and damaged a fence on Riverside Road, and defaced buildings at Dickinson Park. The one bit of youthful misbehavior, which we really class as good-natured fun without harm to property, occurred at the high school. There must be one or more future steeplejacks in the graduating class, for on Wednesday morning a large sign tied to the belfry proclaimed "Class of 67," with inference that its members are looking forward to graduation. The sign was topped with a small pennant and bunches of colored balloons streamed from the bottom. This work of art (?) had been carefully placed without damaging the building.

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The June issue of National PublisherThe Bee's extensive auction coverage to its present, prize-winning 20-page format. Editor Smith reports that requests for copies of the section have been received from weeklies across the country., management magazine of the Newspaper Association, contains a feature article, "Newtown Bee's Antique Section Goes Statewide." The article resulted from Bee Editor Paul S. Smith's participation as a panelist at the January meeting of the New England Press Association in Boston. It traces the development of the supplement as an outgrowth of

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Newtown's annual Progress Festival will open on July 3, in response to requests for additional recreation and entertainment events. The program will run for ten weeks and offer a schedule designed to appeal to all. Leading off will be an old-fashioned Independence Day celebration at Dickinson Memorial Park. At 7:30 pm there will be a program of patriotic songs by the High School band, chorus and the Newtown Choral Society under the direction of Joseph Grasso. This will be followed by a reading of the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence, the Star Spangled Banner, a twenty-five-minute all aerial fireworks display, and dancing on the pavilion until midnight.

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Gaydosh and Fodor, architects chosen for the school building program, have presented a report on the renovation of Hawley School. The original building is now 46 years old, built in 1921. The addition, put on in 1948, is 19 years old. The charge to the architects as spelled out on page One of their report, was to find out if it is "functionally aesthetically, and economically" possible to bring this building up to standards comparable to those in the recently constructed Sandy Hook and Middle Gate Schools. Two tentative plans were presented. Both plans would involve electrical rewiring, more toilets, replacing of old wooden sashes, and to meet modern state standards, elevators since the building is of more than one story.

June 12, 1942

Those things of lasting value: As news from the week's issue of The Bee has passed over the editor's desk, he has realized, perhaps more than before, what profound changes the war is making in all of our lives. Announcements that the Redding Ridge School and Romford School in Washington will be closed "for the duration" indicate what is happening in our educational system. Colleges have already turned their curriculums upside down to provide courses intended to train fighting men. Some steps are also being taken in our high schools, though more slowly, as in Newtown's own lack of homemaking courses for the girls. But aside from that, other changes are affecting us, brought about by rationing. In the face of it all it behooves a keen perception on the part of the public, recognizing those things that are of lasting value and working for their preservation with increased energy.

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Plans are in progress for the public card party to be held at St Rose Hall on Wednesday evening, June 17, starting at 8 o'clock, under the auspices of the Rev John D. Kennedy Assembly, Fourth Degree, Knights of Columbus. Various card games will be played, with prizes awarded at each table. Refreshments will be served at the end of the evening. Proceeds will be used to purchase a flag for St Rose church.

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The many friends of Maureen Maulick, daughter of Mr and Mrs Ernest Maulick of Main Street, will be sorry to learn that she is suffering from scarlet fever. She was stricken on Sunday, noon, June 7. Her case has been severe and she is under the care of Dr W.F. Desmond. In commenting on the health aspect, Dr Desmond urges parents to watch their children carefully for about a week. As a rule, scarlet fever starts abruptly with a fever and vomiting and a sore throat and headache, from three to seven days after exposure to the disease. In this case, it has been impossible to quarantine all contacts because of the exceptional activity and large number of people the little girl was with just prior to her illness.

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"Chuckie" Botsford, son of Mr and Mrs Charlie Botsford of Huntingtown district, continues to show improvement at the New Haven General Hospital, where he has been a patient since Saturday, suffering from head injuries sustained when he fell from the top of a barrel on which he was standing, to the concrete barn floor.

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Sergeant Dean Perry Pays The Bee A High Compliment: "Three copies of The Bee" came today and I noticed that the address was out of date again. My address is listed below. Today, when the papers came, one of the men said when he saw me open them up, "The Newtown Bee, that … thing has been following me all over hell for the last two years." This remark, regardless of how it looks, is a compliment of the highest order, coming from a Marine. When my brother gets tired of sending me The Bee for Christmas, I'll buy my own subscription." Pl. Sgt. Charles D. Perry. Marine Corps Unit 535.

June 15, 1917

A masked carnival will be given for the young folks at the Town Hall on Wednesday, June 27 to benefit the ambulance fund. All arrangements have been completed and parents are planning to send their children from all districts. The High School pupils will take an important part in the evening's program, as well as other young people. All young people going in the grand march must be masked and will be charged 10 cents admission. The general admission will be 25 cents.

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Following the old Connecticut Post Road winding through the Berkshire Hills, one comes into the little town of Brookfield. At Brookfield Center, where years ago at the sign of the Liberty Pole the picturesque stage-coach would draw up, now as of old will be found the Post Road Inn. The old-time cook's skill has descended to those presiding at the Inn and though the great, roomy fireplaces have been displaced by the electric grill and other modern devices, certain old-fashioned, half-forgotten dishes are prepared and served. Here, tourists will find old-time hospitality and will delight in the memories surrounding the old Post Road Inn of today.

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The associate editor happened to be around the Boothe Homestead in Stratford last Saturday, and stopped in to see what kind of place Mr Boothe had. You know that the fine clock that used to tell the time of day for miles around has stopped. Mr Boothe thought that the Assessors and the Board of Relief had not treated him fairly when they raised his taxes on account of his having put the clock where everyone could see it. The clock is an expensive affair and cost the Boothe family a pretty penny. It would seem that the Assessors and Board of Relief did not do right when they taxed the clock, which was a public improvement. However, Mr Boothe has got the clock and it seems a pitty that he does not let it run, rather than let it be idle, and trust "the powers that be" to mend their ways.

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A canning demonstration will be held at the Town hall Tuesday, June 19, the Grange cooperating with the Farm Bureau in charge. A lady demonstrator will be present, and all ladies of the town, and others, are welcome.

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A COMMUNICATION. To the Editor of the Bee: Dear Sir: Several have spoken to me about the appearance of the lawn in front of Trinity Rectory, and I have spoken with the leading lights about it, with this result: "Mow it yourself; you are lying around the street doing nothing." Very Pleasant! C.G. Peck.

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When the writer stepped out of an automobile in Sandy Hook, Wednesday, after a trip with Reverend G.T. Sinnott on school business, the Pootatuck school children presented him with four big beautiful bouquets of pink lady slippers.Please consider sharing your old photographs of people and places from Newtown or Sandy Hook with 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.