September 30, 1994

A wrecking company demolished two structures on Church Hill Road this week to make way for the construction of a new building that will house Newtown Hardware and the Drug Center. Using a backhoe, Roger Bohan and John Marquis, of Bohan Wrecking Company of New Milford, pulled down the former Fruit & Flounder store and the two-story brown Colonial house, known as the Mahoney homestead, next door in just a few hours on Monday and Tuesday. Newtown Hardware owner Mike Sorrentino said he plans to build a 10,560 square-foot building on the site. The building, which would feature a 6,500 square foot hardware store and a 3,500 square-foot drug store, should be ready to open next August, when the lease on his store in Newtown Shopping Center on Queen Street, runs out, he said.

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Felix Luzefski of Morris literally played a dream — his wife’s — and won $5.5 million in the September 20 Lotto drawing. The quick pick ticket was drawn at Dunkin’ Donuts in the Queen Street shopping center. “My wife called me at work Monday and told me to buy tickets, which she doesn’t normally do,” said Mr Luzefski, who is plant engineer at Trumbull Printing. On his way home from work he stopped at Dunkin’ Donuts. Mr Luzefski said he was waiting in line when he heard one of the owners, Rich Barillari, “pitch the lottery” in a nice way to the woman in front of him. “The woman declined. There was an opening for me, and I felt I had to fill it,” he said. “It felt kind of good and right,” that he bought five tickets. “I don’t know if it was divine providence or what,” said Mrs Luzefski, who had a dream indicating that they should buy some tickets. “It was just a feeling about the lottery, just a hunch something might happen.” It wasn’t until Thursday though, that the couple realized they were one of two winners in the $11 million lottery. “I stopped at Stop and Shop and got the winning numbers,” Mr Luzefski said. “My wife started jabbing me and screaming. I’ve never heard such a bunch of screaming in my life.” The family of five will receive, after taxes, $185,102 per year for the next 20 years. As for the Dunkin’ Donut owner, they will receive the usual five percent of ticket sales on the winning ticket — five cents.

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Church Women United of Newtown will join their sisters of the greater Danbury community to sponsor the World Community Day on Friday, November 4, at Bethel’s St. Thomas Episcopal Church. The Newtown Church Women United will retreat Friday, October 7, at the Newtown Congregational Church between 9:30 am and 2:30 pm with associate minister Rev Janice Touloukian to reenergize themselves in their ministry to others, particularly children.

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NHS Girls’ Soccer To Play At Home, Under The Lights. The NHS girls’ soccer team will play the first-ever game under the lights at Treadwell Park on Friday night, September 30, when it will host Brookfield. The game will begin at 7 pm. No admission will be charged.

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On Thursday, October 6, from 7–9 pm, the Newtown High School Guidance Office and the Parent-Teacher Association, (PTA), will host the 7th annual College Fair. Over 100 representatives from colleges and other post-graduate programs will be at the high school to answer questions and hand out information. Sophomore, junior, and senior students and parents are encouraged to come. The fair is open to students from other towns as well.

September 19, 1969

A new barn at Open Gate Farm in Newtown was totally destroyed by fire on Tuesday evening, September 16. All horses were gotten out of the rapidly burning building. Classes for the 150 to 175 young riders will resume at the farm on Monday morning, September 22, and work on rebuilding the barn has already started.

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The Bee’s ears as well as its phones have been buzzing since last week’s paper appeared with its story of school costs in Connecticut. The material was from the State Board of Education, but Bee readers did not have a chance to read the whole story. Incredible as it seems, at least to us, the entire second page of the material was overlooked by both the typesetter and the proofreaders. Our apologies and also our thanks to the many people who called realizing that something was wrong. The most costly of the schools cited in the omitted section is New London High School whose overall cost is about $6,500,000. It will serve some 1,000 students in grades 10–12. Newtown is tied with Bridgeport’s East Side Middle School with the cost of each quoted at “about $5,000,000.” Among the other things that Bee readers did not see in last week’s paper is that the $4,950,000 overall cost of Newtown High School includes, among a number of other factors, the cost of its 43-acre site second only to Bethel’s 55 acres. Newtown’s state-rated capacity is for 1,603 pupils Actually, this is a “seat count” and that many could not attend classes because of the varying number taking the different courses.

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The Couples Club of Newtown will start the season’s activities with a theatre party Friday, October 10. The theatre party will take place at the Little Theatre on Orchard Hill Road, when the Town Players will present “Mary, Mary” by Jean Kerr. Curtain time is 8:30 pm. Advance reservations must be made by October 1. Reservations are limited. All couples of Newtown are welcome to enjoy the evening. Dessert and coffee will be served at the home of various committee members following the play.

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A storm, which came fast and left in short order, did some damage in Newtown early Wednesday evening. One of the homes where the wind was felt was at 1 Wills Road, the residence of Mr and Mrs Victor Ostuni. A 30-foot Maple was toppled there, and the base of the wide tree dwarfed the young members of the Ostuni family.

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Dinosaur’s Ode. To the Editor: The slabs of dinosaur prints now being shown at the library made me remember and prompted me to paraphrase the verse from Longfellow’s “Psalm of Life.” So I add, to what was printed in last week’s Bee, the following footnote (no pun intended). Lives of Dinosaurs remind us, though their lives were not sublime, yet they departing life behind them, footprints in the mud of time, about 180 million years of it.

September 22, 1944

The widely heralded tropical hurricane, which swept into Newtown last Thursday evening, caused plenty of damage, but not as much as had been feared or as was suffered by other towns, notably, Danbury. Many fine old trees and some young ones were badly damaged by the heavy wind and in the orchards the ground was covered in apples and peaches. The electric current went off about 8:15 Thursday evening and did not come on again until Saturday afternoon, and then only for the center of town. Outlying districts did not get current until sometime later. People depending entirely on electricity for light and heat, refrigeration and radio and power machines were hardest hit, who those who had retained some of the old-fashioned devices were the lucky ones. In some cases, the traditional Saturday night bath was either omitted entirely or else taken in cold water.

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Mr and Mrs James Forbes of Wendover Road, had as their weekend guest, Miss Helen Dizney of Kentucky, for twenty years a missionary nurse in China, who came home on the “Gripsholm.” Until she can return to China, Miss Dizney is doing Public Health Nursing in Farmington, Maine.

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Miss Constance Douglas, daughter of Mr and Mrs Douglas of Botsford Hill Road, leaves this Sunday for Gettysburg, Pa., where she will resume her studies at Gettysburg College.

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Newtown women are asked to note that the Red Cross Sewing Group, which meets each Tuesday at the Congregational Church from 10 am to 4 pm, will not meet on Tuesday, September 26.

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FOUND— Green rowboat at Riverside on Lake Zoar. Owner may call at Lorenzo’s Grill for same.

September 19, 1919

A clam bake will be held at the Newtown Inn, Saturday, at 3 pm. Good food and entertainment, Senator O’Connell of Bridgeport will put up the bake for Landlord Corbett. Tickets will be $5. Entertainment will be provided in connection with the event.

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It is to be regretted that Newtown folk have such short memories. Richard Carmody, after having returned from France after making the world safe for Democracy, ran for the office of Registrar of Voters at the democratic caucus, Monday night, and was defeated, despite all the speeches made on July 4, last.

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One of the finest flower gardens in town is that of Thomas Keane on the hill, just north of St Rose’s cemetery. It is a charming spot, once you climb the steep pitch with a nice outlook. His collection of gladiolas, zinnias, dahlias and other garden flowers cannot be excelled. A few Sundays ago, 28 people came from Bridgeport to see Mr Keane and his sister and the flowers. When the editor went, he carried away one of the handsomest bouquets ever made. The editor was taken to Mr Keane’s spot by a valued friend, Frank Corbett, an expert autoist and fine young man.

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The family of George Tessier of Bridgeport have moved into a part of the house owned by the estate of John Keane in Sandy Hook.

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Members of the local fire department are requested to meet at the Town Hall, next Monday evening at 8 o’clock. Every effort will be made to bring the local fire company up to standard and those interested, who are not members, are invited to attend.

Please consider sharing your old photographs of people and places from Newtown or Sandy Hook with The Newtown Bee readers. Images can be e-mailed to kendra@thebee.com, or brought to the office at 5 Church Hill Road to be scanned. When submitting photographs, please identify as many people as possible, the location, and the approximate date.