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THE WAY WE WERE

AUGUST 31, 1973

A sudden swift thunderstorm Tuesday afternoon toppled 66 trees on Newtown

roads and left many homes without electric power, but town road crews and

emergency teams from the Connecticut Light & Power Company were on the job to

get traffic and power flowing again. The greatest damage appeared to be in the

Great Ring, Osborn Hill, Bennett's Bridge and Jeremiah Drive area between

Berkshire Road and Lake Zoar. Road Superintendent Ed Napier estimated that a

complete clean-up will take eight to 10 days and asked residents to be

patient. According to CL&P 1,690 customers in Newtown lost power and 4,810 in

Danbury, Brookfield and Monroe were in the same plight after the storm. CL&P

said the storm was no hurricane, but it was the worst the company had to cope

with since Hurricane Donna two years ago.

Negotiations on salaries for Newtown teachers will be going to mediation. The

request for mediation came from the Board of Education on Friday after seven

months of negotiations during which time the board and the Newtown Federation

of Teachers were unable to reach an agreement on salaries. The present

contract the teachers have was settled for two years but contained a re-opener

clause on salaries, coaches' salaries, extracurricular stipends and department

heads. It was reported that all of the items, with the exception of the

salaries have been tentatively agreed upon.

The Newtown schools will open next week under the guidance of a new

superintendent, Dr Albert R. Brinkman of Glen Cove, N.Y. Dr Brinkman's

appointment ends the Board of Education's search for a new superintendent to

replace Dr James Boyd, who resigned in June. The board was assisted in its

search for a new superintendent by a screening committee made up of residents

and professional educators in Newtown. Dr Brinkman was one of the finalists

recommended by that committee. Until the end of the 1972-73 school year, Dr

Brinkman had served as superintendent of the Patchogue-Medford Public Schools

in Patchogue, N.Y. He also has been superintendent of schools in Nyack, Glen

Cove and Dobbs Ferry, all in New York. He is co-author of a professional

textbook on guidance which is now in its third edition. Dr and Mrs Brinkman

have three children. He and his family plan to move to Newtown as soon as

possible.

On Friday night the Planning & Zoning commission and consulting engineers Sam

Giavara and Mike Miller sat down in Edmond Town Hall to discuss the road study

and traffic circulation plan which Mr Giavara's firm prepared for the town

earlier this year. At times, the talks grew heated as commission members

questioned some of the engineering data contained in the study. The traffic

circulation study presents a loop system of roads that travelers might take to

avoid using Route 25 and Church Hill Road to get through town. The loop

consists of Taunton Hill, Hattertown, Castle Meadow, Huntingtown, Meadowbrook,

Toddy Hill, Glen, Black Bridge, Albert's Hill, Sanford, Hanover, Pond Brook

and Obtuse roads. According to the study, these roads would be upgraded so

drivers would find them more attractive and avoid the state roads. The

commission members, however, raised a number of questions about what the

effect of improving these roads to carry large amounts of traffic would be on

the character of the town.

The Planning & Zoning Commission has approved two subdivision plans which have

been hung up for several years. Bradley Woods, a 13-lot subdivision covering

34 acres on Bradley Lane and Jordan Hill Road, in Sandy Hook, got an okay.

This subdivision, before the commission for four years, is located on the

Halfway River at the Monroe border. Monroe's P&Z Commission had expressed

concern that the septic system of the subdivision would pollute the river, but

P&Z was advised by the town's consulting engineers that this would not be so.

Hanover Woods, three lots in 21 acres on Hanover Road, which was before the

commission for three years, also was approved.

Newtown's first full-time social worker, Mary Brey, has begun to assess the

town's needs. She has been on her job in the Department of Social Services for

three weeks, a position which was recommended by the Community Development

Action Plan to the town in its November 12 report last year. Ms Brey earned

her master of social work at UConn after first working as an oceanographer in

the Hudson Lab at Columbia University, doing research on sea water.

Newtown schools are set to open for pupils on September 5 with a full day of

school scheduled. All schools, with the exception of Hawley Elementary School,

will serve hot lunches in their cafeteria. Hawley will offer milk, sandwiches

and dessert for sale. Hot lunch prices are 55 cents for grades 1 through 4 and

60 cents for grades 5 through 12. This is an increase of 10 cents over last

year. Bus routes also have been changed this year due to budget cuts.

Newtown has been having trouble with its dog pound situation for quite some

time and on Monday a really big problem cropped up when the state closed the

pound, stating it was unfit for occupancy. It appears that it will not be

reopened either. The closing came as the result of a complaint to the state

dog warden by the Connecticut Humane Society, which had received notification

of the pound conditions from a Newtown resident. Inadequate drainage has been

the main problem, caused by a pipe which keeps clogging and backing up refuse

throughout the pound area. Although the police department has asked First

Selectman Frank DeLucia to fix the drain, he has demurred on the grounds that

the expense would be too great and it would be a waste of money in light of

the fact that the new pound is to be built in the near future.

SEPTEMBER 3, 1948

In Saturday's all-day referendum in Woodbury, voters approved, by a slim

seven-vote margin, the proposal to proceed with the construction of a high

school for the new Regional High School District No 3. As in Newtown and

Bethlehem, the vote was advisory, and will have no binding effect on the

regional board. The board earlier had reaffirmed its plans to proceed with the

construction of the anticipated $1.5 million school despite the advisory vote

in Newtown and Bethlehem to pull out of the agreement. Working plans and

specifications for the school have been completed and delivered to the board

which this week submitted them to a select group of contractors for cost

estimates.

Draft registration began in Newtown this week. Fourteen men registered in the

court room of Edmond Town Hall on Monday. A total of 20 men appeared on

Tuesday and registered to comply with the new Selective Service law.

A new Mack truck fire truck equipped with the latest in firefighting equipment

had been accepted by the town and turned over to Chief Peter Fell of the

Hawleyville Volunteer Fire company but a few days when it was put into active

service. This real test came about on August 28 when firemen were called to

the property of Mary Wilcox and Betty Thornholt on Danbury-Newtown Road near

the junction of Hawleyville Road. Two small barns, an automobile, a quantity

of furniture and clothing were destroyed by the blaze which occurred shortly

after 3:30. The fire, which resulted in a $4,000 loss, is believed to have

started from spontaneous combustion. Firemen from Hawleyville and the Newtown

Fire Company are credited with saving a large barn and the house, which was

badly blistered by the intense heat. It was reported by Edward Vreeland,

president of the Hawleyville company, that the new fire apparatus worked very

well.

The Newtown Bees defeated Stepney 14-10 on Sunday afternoon to finish the

regular season in first place. Playoffs will start on Sunday with Newtown

playing Stepney at Taylor Field. John Kocet put Sunday's game on ice for the

Bees when he hit a home run with two men on base in the ninth inning.

For sale in Newtown: An attractive five-room house with bathroom, sun room,

large living room, fire place, dining room, kitchen. Two bedrooms and bath on

the second floor. Town water, oil burner, good cellar. Also a very nice guest

house of three rooms and bath, furnace heat, two-car garage. One acre of land,

fruit trees, shade, $17,500 for these two homes in the village. See M.F.

Crowe, realtor, on Main Street or Tel 152.

One day this past week the Parker House hotel on Main Street received notice

that the water would be shut off for the entire day. Edith Parker said she

began by telling all the guests to take their baths up to 7 o'clock on Friday

morning. She then started filling everything around the place that could hold

water -- punch bowls, pitchers, quart bottles, coffee pots, kettles, big

boilers, then all the bathtubs, and hung dippers alongside. Bill Jones came to

the rescue with three new milk cans that held 40 quarts each of water. Well,

the day wore on and each hour Mrs Parker's guests expected the power to be

shut off. But, as it turned out, the water was shut off below the inn.

James Nevens Hyde, a member of the United States Mission to the United

Nations, spoke on Tuesday to a large number of members of the Newtown League

of Women Voters and their friends on "The United States' Position on the

Strengthening of the United Nations." Mr Hyde said groups such as the league

must provide leadership in the area of world opinion because the United States

is probably more dependent on the successful operation of the United Nations

than any other nation.

The Bee has won five awards in the Third Annual Newspaper Contest sponsored by

the Connecticut Editorial Association among weekly newspapers in the state.

Awards were presented at the association's banquet Saturday night at the

Norwich Inn. The Bee received first prizes for best editorial, best feature,

and mechanical excellence, and second prizes for community service and general

excellence.