A Divided Town

To the Editor:

As a visitor to your most beautiful town, I became confused and baffled. Why would you good people divide your town with two names — Newtown and Sandy Hook — and make it a town like a beautiful vase with an ugly crack down the middle?

Both sides of your town are equally lovely. I was driven around the town on a recent glorious sunny summer day and was awed by its natural beauty — the rolling hills with old colonial stone walls, the mixture of well-maintained historic homes and modern mansions, the lakes made in the river echoing with the laughter of young and old swimmers, water skiers and boaters. And your town center with the flagpole in the middle of the street is quite a sight to see.

I don’t know the history of why your town is divided by two names but my observation is that it does indeed divide you and leaves the newcomer with a negative impression. While waiting in one of your restaurants to be seated after my breathtaking tour, I enthusiastically asked a couple near me if they were from Newtown.

“We’ve never lived in Newtown. Always lived in Sandy Hook,” they answered.

“Where’s Sandy Hook?’ I asked.

“Oh, it’s part of Newtown,” they replied.

Confused I later questioned another couple about where the line was between Newtown and Sandy Hook.

“Is Newtown High School in Sandy Hook?” I asked.

“No it’s in Newtown otherwise it would probably be called Sandy Hook High,” was the reply, but I think they were wrong.

So I ask the people of Newtown and Sandy Hook, why don’t you glue your beautiful vase together by having one name — one name on maps, one name for mailing addresses, one name to call out together with unity.

Giles Proudy

RFD 2, #67, Grand Isle, Vt.                                         August 16, 2006