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THE WAY WE WERE

JANUARY 11, 1974

State Fire Marshals with the assistance of Newtown Deputy Marshal George

Lockwood are still investigating the fire which heavily damaged Greenwich

House, a resident hall at Fairfield Hills State Hospital on Sunday, January 6.

The fire, which was allegedly set in a first floor laundry room by a

24-year-old male patient, broke out sometime during the dinner hour. One

patient, Boleslaw Taradine, 53, of Seymour, died of apparent smoke inhalation.

Another patient, Thomas O'Brien of Ansonia, was sent to Danbury Hospital and

treated for several days for smoke inhalation. Both men were discovered and

brought out of the burning building by Fairfield Hills fireman Fred Jackson.

The exact time the fire broke out and when it was discovered has not been

determined, but records show the alarm to the Fairfield Hills Fire Department

went in at 5:38 pm.

Cyril H. Mantell of Stamford will face a second go-around in getting a new

shopping center into Newtown. Mr Mantell, who was one of the backers of a

center proposed for The Boulevard, which was rejected in early 1973 by the

Borough Zoning Commission, has filed an application with the Planning and

Zoning Commission for a mall containing at least three stores and a bank for

land owned by Paul V. and Evelyn P. McNamara on Route 25. The parcel proposed

for the center is bounded on one side by Ricky's Shopping Center, extending

north to the junction of Old Route 25 with Route 25. The back of the property

is bounded by the Penn Central railroad tracks. Total area of the property is

approximately 12 acres and it is located in an industrial M-5 zone, requiring

a minimum of ten acres.

Those who have ever tried to unsnarl a badly tangled hunk of fishing line are

probably the ones who would understand the frustrations caused by the

complicated legal knots in the Boyle property issue. On December 11, following

an all-day referendum, it looked as though the Boyle case was closed forever

and through a vote of the people, the property would be returned to its former

owners and $68,000 on deposit in court in Bridgeport to the General Fund of

the town. However, shortly after the referendum, three lawyers in town: David

Chipman, William Lavery and C. Harold Schwartz, did some research and sent a

letter to the Board of Selectmen. That letter stated that in the opinion of

the three, the referendum was invalid because the issue had not gone to

Planning and Zoning for a mandatory referral prior to the December 11 vote.

And so the Boyle case had another knot; one frustrating to the members of the

Boards of Selectmen and Education, the former owners of the land, the Newtown

Taxpayers Group, Town Counsel Robert Hall, and of course the residents of this

town who either want the site for a school or see it returned to its former

owners. Town Counsel was asked to give a legal opinion and ruled the

referendum was indeed invalid. In an attempt to straighten out the

difficulties, the Selectmen called a special meeting for Friday evening,

January 4, at the beginning of which they voted to start over from the

beginning by making the mandatory referral and calling for a town meeting and

referendum on the matter.

Another winter storm barreled its way through Connecticut beginning in the wee

hours of Wednesday morning, and by the time daylight dawned Newtown had the

dubious distinction of being one of the only towns in the storm area which

didn't call off school. As a result, phones in the Superintendent of Schools'

office, police headquarters, The Bee, the Selectman's office and the home of

the chairman of the Board of Education were busy receiving calls from angry

and bewildered parents, asking why the decision to have school. It was a

question Dr Albert Brinkman answered by saying he had made an error in

judgment, and it wouldn't happen again.

Names were signed on the dotted line Monday evening making Newtown Meals on

Wheels, Inc, an official working organization. Gilbert Collins, president of

the group, was the first to sign the documents which were prepared by Robert

Hall, town attorney and a member of the Meals on Wheels Committee.

Fifty-six trustees and members of the staff of the Newtown Savings Bank, and

husbands and wives, gathered at the Stony Hill Inn last Friday evening to

honor Richard Burdett, retired president, and Mrs Burdett. For the past 23

years, Mr Burdett had been working at the Newtown Savings, starting in 1950 as

treasurer.

At its regular meeting on Tuesday January 8, the Board of Education heard two

requests regarding the elementary school situation in town. One was from

members of Sandy Hook PTA, who asked the board to take a definite stand and

make a statement on what it would do if no elementary school would be built in

the very near future. Citing overcrowded conditions in all of the schools, the

PTA members said they felt the board should give some direction as to what

would be done to relieve them. The PTA members saw two obvious steps: double

sessions or more portable classrooms, stating they preferred to see the

additional portables. The other request came from William Meyer who spoke to

the board about the Selectmen's meeting on January 4 at which the selectmen

decided to refer the Boyle property to Planning and Zoning for a mandatory

referral and then call another town meeting and referendum on the matter. Mr.

Meyer said he understood from attending the meeting there was nothing

preventing the Board of Education from building a school on the land and that

it had not done so because it was being "over-gracious." He urged the board to

proceed with its plans to build the school and keep the system moving.

Gas shortages have not, so far, stalled Newtown's ambulance on the road, nor

prevented fire engines from reaching fires in time to put them out, nor

limited the mobility of the police, nor left streets clogged with snow through

lack of plowing. Forecasts for the future, though, range from cautious

optimism to frank worry. The police patrol cars, the ambulance and the town's

maintenance vehicles all rely on the supply of fuel stored at the town garage.

Highway superintendent Ed Napier says that there is enough fuel to meet the

town's needs, though at one point the supply was down to 150 gallons. Another

aspect to the problem is the need of the firemen to get sufficient gas to go

to fires.

JANUARY 14, 1949

About the only things that went unchanged when the Post Office Department

boosted its rates on January 1st were the first and second class postage

rates. A 3› letter will still reach its destination for 3›, provided it is not

overweight, and a 1› postal or post card still goes anywhere in the U.S. or

Alaska for 1›. Domestic airmail is now 6› to any part of the U.S. and its

possessions, or to a member of the armed forces or civilian personnel

connected with the army or fleet anywhere. Airmail postal cards, formerly the

same price as an airmail letter, can now be procured for 4›.

The special town meeting, held last Thursday evening in the theater of the

Edmond Town Hall, called by the Board of Selectmen, drew an attendance of more

than three hundred and fifty townspeople. By their action, those present gave

evidence of disfavor at any attempt to curtail, railroad through or override

the power of the people in town meeting assembled. Five matters of importance

came before the meeting for action, with approval given biennial elections and

an ordinance requiring property owners making structural changes in buildings

to file a written notice with the assessor's office.

An important dinner meeting is scheduled by District 11 of the Connecticut

Milk Producers Association to be held at the Avalon Inn, Danbury Road, Route

6, on Tuesday, January 18th. All members of the Association are urged to be

present, for apart from the speakers and entertainment which should be of

interest to everyone, district officers will be elected. Movies will form part

of the entertainment, and an attractive door prize, a $39.50 Sunbeam

Mixmaster, will go to some lucky member.

At the regular Wednesday evening meeting of the Lions Club held at the Hawley

Manor on January 12, plans were discussed for the Charter Night Dinner-Dance

to be held at the Alexandria Room, Edmond Town Hall, on Saturday, January 22.

President George Trull and chairman Ray Trimpert of the Charter Night

committee told members of plans which have been formulated in preparation for

the event. The feature of the evening will be the formal presentation of the

charter to the Newtown club by a representative of Lions International. Many

guests are expected from Lions clubs in neighboring communities, particularly

from Danbury which has assumed sponsorship of the local organization. At the

present time it is expected that over 30 local businessmen will have their

names inscribed on the original charter.

Perhaps other Bee readers are picking fresh vegetables from their gardens

these days, but it was Mrs Irving Jones who brought a fresh bunch of radishes

to The Bee office last Thursday afternoon. They had just been dug from the

garden by her husband. Mr Jones always did know his radishes when it comes to

gardening, and last Thursday's specimens were up to the usual summer quality

of his garden produce. Whether it is a case of late 1948 or early 1949

gardening, The Bee does not know, but it is glad to report Mr Jones,

"around-the-calendar" radish crop. We wonder, too, whether there are other

local gardeners who can boast of accomplishments to equal or beat this record

established by our Mt Pleasant friend.

The Newtown Parent Teacher Association is making plans for a dinner to honor

Hawley High's championship football team. Arrangements are now complete and

the dinner has been announced for 7:30 on Saturday evening, January 29, the

place being the Alexandria Room of Edmond Town Hall. J.O. Christian, head

football coach of the University of Connecticut, will head the list of guest

speakers. Hawley's team, winners of the Housatonic Valley Schoolmen's League

championship, will be presented with a trophy.

L.D. Weaver of South Main Street had a narrow escape, as did all of the

passengers on the Lakeshore Limited early Saturday morning near Batavia, N.Y.,

when the axle on a coal car on an adjoining track gave way, spilling coal and

parts of the car into the path of the speeding Limited. The quickness with

which the Limited's engineer threw his brakes averted a terrific accident. As

it was, the Limited was somewhat delayed and crawled into Rochester where the

passengers were transferred into a relief train, arriving in New York City six

hours late.

The winter calendar of the Service Bureau of Women's Organizations shows 15

major events of interest to Newtown women and to women's organizations

throughout Connecticut. Prominent on the list of events scheduled for the next

three months is a meeting to be held at Edmond Town Hall on March 23. William

Agar, chief of the section for lectures and educational liaison of the

Department of Public Information, United Nations, will discuss "Visiting the

United Nations."