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THE WAY WE WERE

SEPTEMBER 28, 1973

After nearly 10 months of planning and discussion, a special appropriation to

build a new dog pound for Newtown will be presented to the annual town meeting

on Monday at 8 pm in the gymnasium of Edmond Town Hall. The amount of the

appropriation still is uncertain but it is expected to be somewhat less than

the $41,550 shown in the official warning of the meeting. Negotiations were

underway during the week between the Board of Selectmen and four competing

contractors. The dog pound appropriation ran into problems on September 18

when bids came in much higher than anticipated. The design of the structure

was done by the state 15 years ago and costs have far exceeded initial

estimates. The town is not required to use the state's design, so changes can

be made to reduce the cost.

The Park and Recreation Commission, at a special meeting on September 25,

voted unanimously to accept the master plan for Dickinson Memorial Park

prepared by Allen Organization of Glens Falls, N.Y. The report includes

changes and additions of $221,000 to $289,000. Proposed changes include

switching entrance to the park from Elm Drive to the bottom of Brushy Hill

Road, three new tennis courts, four new basketball courts, changing the layout

of the softball field; creating a multiple use area, apparatus area, and

expanding the picnic area. Creation of an ecological area which would include

a nature trail and a new day camp area were listed as non-priority items.

Some 200 friends, relatives, fellow Democrats and dignitaries turned out on

Saturday night at Newtown High School for a testimonial dinner in honor of

Diana Schwerdtle, former member of the Board of Selectmen. Sen Abraham

Ribicoff, the dinner's guest speaker, sounded the keynote for the affair,

saying that "Diana brought to government what it needs: perception,

intelligence, and courage." Mrs Schwerdtle was appointed to the Board of

Selectmen in September 1972 by the Democratic Town Committee to succeed the

late Sidney Seligmann, who died that month. The second woman to sit on the

board in the town's history, Mrs Schwerdtle left her seat in July, having lost

in the May 1973 town election. Besides Sen Ribicoff, speakers included State

Atty Gen Robert Killian, Democratic Selectman Gerald Frawley, and DTC Chairman

Jack Rosenthal. Other dignitaries included Danbury Mayor Gino Arconti, former

state Senate majority leader J. Edward Caldwell and William Ratchford,

Democratic leader of the State House of Representatives.

Four women who are members of the National Organization for Women (NOW) and

who have children in the Newtown Middle School came to the Board of Education

meeting on Tuesday to say they considered the school system in violation of

Title 9 of the Educational Amendment of 1972 which bans sex discrimination in

classes. The classes they referred to were the ones in home economics and

shop, required courses at the school. Traditionally home economics has been

open only to girls, shop to boys. After much discussion, a motion was approved

to instruct the administration to comply with the law in regards to sex

discrimination in classes.

Friday afternoon, armed robbers got away with $4,500 in cash from the Grand

Union supermarket on Queen Street. Four days later, Newtown police arrested

one suspect and have a warrant out for a second. According to the police

reports, a Danbury man has been arrested for the holdup. Newtown police also

are seeking a Bethel man who is out on a $25,000 bail bond in connection with

two supermarket robberies which took place in Danbury in March.

More than 100 years of New England tradition, experience and fruits of New

England harvest will be packed into a corner of Danbury when the Great Danbury

State Fair opens its gates Saturday morning, September 29, at 9:30 for a

ten-day run. President and General Manager John W. Leahy, Fred G. Fearn, vice

president and secretary, and Jack H. Stetson, superintendent of rentals, have

been at the fairgrounds daily for weeks to supervise preparations for the

104th event. More than one-third of a million people are expected to attend

this year.

Members of the Park and Recreation Commission met with the School Board this

week to request that they be allowed to schedule Sunday programs at the high

school. Because of budget cuts, the Board of Education has had to reduce the

use of schools for non-school activities. Park & Rec uses the school

facilities in the winter for many of its programs and Recreation Director Lee

Davenson pointed out that the Sunday swim at the high school has been one of

the most popular events. The school board pointed out that the custodians have

a contract which requires that they be paid double time on Sundays. To open

the school pool for six hours on 20 Sundays, the cost would amount to $1,000.

A subcommittee was set up to study the issue and make recommendations.

Peter Siczewicz of Settler's Lane has been named a semifinalist in the 1974

National Merit Scholarship Program. Peter will compete for a merit scholarship

to be awarded in the spring.

OCTOBER 1, 1948

Legal action has been instituted by opponents of the planned regional high

school. All members of the board of the regional high school were in

attendance at a meeting last Monday evening when they were served with a writ

and complaint to enjoin the district for the letting of a building contract

and the issuance of bonds for construction of the high school building. The

board, however, reaffirmed its commitment to award the contract on October 6.

The suit names the board officers: Robert J. Clark of Newtown, chairman, Ross

Newell of Woodbury, treasurer, and Mrs Julia Schielke, Southbury, secretary.

The case will presumably come before the Superior Court of New Haven in

Waterbury the first Tuesday in November.

Superintendent of Schools and Mrs Carroll Johnson are the happy parents of a

daughter, born early Sunday morning at the Bridgeport Hospital. The young lady

weighed 8 lbs 3 oz and has been named Katherine.

An innovation in the political life of the town took place last Thursday

evening when the Newtown chapter of the League of Women Voters sponsored a

candidates rally in the Alexandria Room of Edmond Town Hall. There was an

attendance of 150 townspeople who listened attentively to the speeches made by

the various local candidates seeking office in Monday's town election.

Voters in Monday's annual town election will find the polling booths set up in

the Edmond Town Hall gymnasium rather than in the lobby. This change is being

made because a record number of people are eligible to vote in the election. A

change also is being made in the location of the town's annual business

meeting. It will be held in the theater of the town hall rather than the

Alexandria Room to more comfortably accommodate the number of people who are

expected. There are 2,676 names on the list of eligible voters, an increase of

273 since the last election.

Newtown citizens again showed their appreciation for the work of the Visiting

Nurse Association by contributing a total of $2,273 during the annual drive

which ran from August 23 to September 13. The VNA provides for a full-time

nurse who maintains regular daily hours at Edmond Town Hall, and also has

sponsored some new health services this year, notably the free chest x-ray

program which was made available to both school children and adults. The VNA

also purchased, with thrift shop funds, telebinocular and audiometer machines

for sight and hearing tests of school children. Well-child and pre-school

conferences have been conducted; the hot lunch and milk program in Newtown

schools has been continued, and the dental clinic has been continued and

extended.

The first night football game will be held in Newtown on October 23 at Taylor

Field when Hawley High School stages the first six-man tackle football game

that has ever been staged in this part of Connecticut. The opponent is Bethel

High School. There are many fans in this area who have not seen this fast

moving and thrilling game of six-man football. The evening game will give them

a chance to see a thriller. PTA President Lou Pelletier and PTA Athletic

Committee members John McMahon, Rudolph Berkemann, Charles Goodsell, Sanford

Mead, Jr, and Wilton Lackaye are working with a special night game committee

newly elected from the High School Athletic Association to stage the game.

A Redding landmark, the Spinning Wheel Inn on Route 58, was totally destroyed

in a fire Monday evening. Firemen from five towns fought the blaze which

destroyed one of the county's best-known eating places. Hundreds of persons

were attracted to the scene after Mrs Marcus Burr, who lives across the

street, sounded the alarm at 11 pm. The building was unoccupied when the fire

was discovered because the inn is closed on Tuesdays and the employees who

live there were away for the night. The house of the owners, Mrs Tottle and

her son William Tottle, and some outbuildings were saved but the entire inn

and gift shop were a total loss. For two hours all traffic on Route 58 was

stopped because of the fire.

The Great Danbury Fair opens Saturday, October 2, with a Diamond Jubilee

celebration to mark its 75th annual return. The fair will be open at 8 am

everyday, for eight days, but it will not be open evenings this year. All the

attractions, amusements, and exhibits will be packed into the daylight hours.

Television will make its first appearance at the fair this year. NBC will have

a staff of trained technicians taking informal shots of the doings on the

grounds daily.