Date: Fri 07-Aug-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

Mountain-summer

Full Text:

TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN

We've rounded the final turn and are headed into the home stretch of summer...

fish are jumpin' and the purple loosestrife in the Ram Pasture is high. Before

you know it, we'll all be scrambling for parking spaces for the Labor Day

Parade.

I've already received the first call of the summer asking if there is going to

be a Labor Day Parade this year. Yes, there will be a parade, and yes, it will

be on Labor Day: Monday, September 7, not on Saturday or Sunday. But

contributions to help pay for the parade still are needed. Send donations to

Newtown Summer Festival, c/o Fleet Bank, 6 Queen Street, Newtown 06470.

Newtown's famous flagpole is the theme of this year's parade, and Lt Dave

Lydem, Newtown's unofficial keeper of the flag, is the grand marshal of the

parade this year. Dave says that if there are any groups who need to borrow a

flag to decorate their floats or parade entries, they should call him at the

Police Department.

I think the Board of Education needs fewer technical people and more marketing

people. At Monday evening's school board meeting, George Graikoski of O&G

Industries reported on the progress of the work at the high school. A lot of

small construction glitches have been taken care of this summer, and he

mentioned one very intriguing one. He said a malfunctioning mixer valve on the

plumbing system was putting hot water in the toilets with each flush. I would

think such a toilet could be successfully marketed in colder climes. Perhaps

they could at least put off fixing the problem until after this winter.

A representative of the company doing the survey of town buildings for the

space needs study showed up at the dog pound on Tuesday afternoon to do an

assessment of the building and its contents. The man was last seen smiling

bemusedly as George Mattegat and Pat Anzellotti explained that the television

and the microwave oven were brought from home, the chairs and desk came from

the dump. It's a good desk, too, Pat insisted. It even came with a key to lock

the drawer.

August 14 will be a big day for Newtown Savings Bank President John Martocci.

The bank will have a ground-breaking that morning for its new addition on Main

Street, and John and wife Terri-Ann also will be closing on their new house in

Newtown. Contractor Jim Seitz has built a house for them on Pinnacle Ridge

Road near Rock Ridge Country Club and the Martocci family is scheduled to move

in on August 18. The Martocci's two daughters will be making the move with

them, at least part-time. Amy, 22, attends St Joseph College in West Hartford;

Keri, 20, goes to St Joseph University in Philadelphia. Son Matthew, 24, who

graduated from Quinnipiac College, works for ADP and is moving to Meriden.

John says his family is really excited. "We're in love with the house and we

already have a lot of friends here." It also might be that John is looking

forward to living near the bank. He has been commuting from Rocky Hill for the

past five years.

Another commuter, Police Chief James E. Lysaght, Jr, is also cutting down on

his morning drive time. Jim and his family are now Newtown residents, having

moved from their former home in Bristol. The chief had an agreement with the

Police Commission to relocate from Bristol to Newtown within two years of his

hiring as police chief in 1996.

Work on the bypass road at Fairfield Hills continued this week as a traffic

signal was installed at the intersection in the middle of the campus and the

lights are flashing yellow. The stop signs are still up, however, so drivers

are getting mixed signals to both stop and to proceed with caution at the same

time. I guess it requires what they call "stop-and-go-driving."

I want everyone to know, however, that they have a green light to...

Read me again.