October 22, 1993

Newtown Parks and Recreation Director Barbara Kasbarian was looking around at Socko’s Haunted Yard at Dickinson Park when she was caught and sentenced to the electric chair. It’s only one of the many ghastly surprises Socko has cooked up for this year’s event which he promises will be the best ever, by far. The Haunted Yard will be open to the public on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings from 6:30 to 10 pm. The Haunted Yard will benefit Newtown Youth Services, with funds raised from concessions going toward the NHS swimming pool.

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ANGRY RESIDENTS AWAIT DOC COMMISSIONER’S VISIT: As an October 29 visit to town by Commissioner of Corrections Larry Meachum approaches, a group of residents unhappy with how the state Department of Corrections (DOC) runs its prisons and jails is agitating for the commissioner’s ouster. Longtime DOC critic Wendy Beres and former legislator Mae Schmidle are spearheading a petition drive which seeks Mr Meachum’s dismissal by Gov Lowell Weicker, Jr. Mr Meachum was first appointed DOC commissioner by former governor William O’Neill. He was reappointed by Gov Weicker. Mrs Beres and Mrs Schmidle charge that Mr Meachum has shown a lack of concern for public safety. The petition stems from public dissatisfaction concerning DOC security measures, prison gang fights, and prisoner monitoring procedures, according to the two organizers. In recent months the high security Garner Correctional Institute has been the site of rioting, prisoner assaults, and escapes. The minimum-security Western Substance Abuse Treatment Unit has been the site of several escapes during the same timeframe. Newtown residents are joining the efforts of Cheshire residents to oust Mr Meachum. “Most of the problems that Newtown has had with these bungled prisons at Fairfield Hills are primarily due to the very poor and ill-conceived policies of the commissioner, a commissioner who is answerable to no one except a governor who could care less,” according to the two women.

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It was a week of both construction and destruction for The Bee Publishing Co., with one plant going up and an old building coming down. At the Commerce Road site, the block walls were completed last Sunday for the newspaper printing plant under construction there. By Tuesday the steel was up and ready to be anchored in place. Roofing, electrical, plumbing, and heating contractors were scheduled to move in next. If work continues on track, presses will be moved to Commerce Road from the Church Hill Road building by the end of November. That coincides with the time three new press units are to arrive from the Goss Printing Company. Meanwhile, at the corner of Main Street and Sugar Street — which is owned by Bee Publishing Company — the former Lovell’s Garage is coming down. The property will be graded from Main Street back. The area will be seeded and fenced. The Lovell property is for sale and there is currently an option on the site.

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If Lilly Nonah has her way, the Yankee Drover property will end up the site of a high-rise casino and convention center, to be constructed in the shape of a huge totem pole. As the last surviving member of the Indian tribe formerly located in Newtown, she claims her ancestors never deeded away the land. She is negotiating with an ad-hoc committee led by well-known politician Tory Lane, real estate agent Elizabeth Street and Attorney Sandy Hook to let Atlantic City casino developer Hi Rick build the casino. The fanciful scenario sets the stage for a repeat of the popular mystery night fundraiser at the Cyrenius Booth Library, 25 Main Street, Friday, October 29, at 7:30. Participants will listen to a presentation by history buff Hawley Manor III, and then comb the library floors from the basement to the seldom-seen attic, seeking clues to solve the 30 enigmatic rhymes and puzzles that will solve the mystery. Refreshments. $15 per person.

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The Newtown High School freshman football team has not lost a game since 1991. This year the Indians are 6-0 after beating a Joel Barlow combined freshman/sophomore squad, 20-0, and Immaculate, 31-0. Pat Reilly, Ryan Bunt, Billy Swift, and Ryan Henry all played well against Barlow. Eric Qualey, Billy Hine, Matt Huray, Kevin Lausten, Brett Barker, and Greg Darling also turned in strong games. Versus Immaculate, Henry scored two touchdowns. Mike Bowers, Bunt, and Swift also tallied. Huray and Brian Jones also gave impressive performances.

October 25, 1968

An appeal is made through this column by Borough officials for an upgrading of standards of cleanliness — not only on the part of Borough residents, but by all who frequent the town hall, stores, shopping areas, sidewalks and street within the Borough. It takes no more than a casual look to determine that within the Borough, cleanliness is no longer next to Godliness — or even close to it. For discarded wrappers, beer cans, cigarettes, the contents from emptied automobile ash trays, as well as assorted varieties of just plain junk, are accumulating in front of stores and public buildings, along the streets, and almost anywhere they are dropped and a breeze brings them to rest. A number of receptacles have been placed strategically by the Newtown Board of Realtors for the public’s convenience, but the public does not seem to care. It is much easier to just drop the unwanted stuff. The time has come for the public to be more careful and considerate. The warning goes out that the Borough’s general appearance is to be improved. Everyone is expected to help. Use the trash barrels, rather than drop trash on the ground. Help keep the Borough beautiful, and the town too, and keep them that way.

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At the annual Newtown Ambulance Association meeting, Chief driver Charles M. Clarke presented the report for the year October 1967 to October 1968. The ambulance answered 430 calls in that time, 280 of them during the day and 150 at night, traveling 9,988 miles. Of these calls, 248 were for medical reasons, 117 for accidents, and 63 for transfer of patient, with service to 367 residents and 103 non-residents. (Oxygen was administered 14 times.)

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That long-lost hour of sleep comes back this Saturday, October 26. When you go to bed Saturday night, turn the clocks back one hour and wake up Sunday morning on Eastern Standard Time.

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LET IT BE KNOWN THAT the sign along Route 34 announcing the site and construction of a new high school still has Jake Hiney listed as first selectman. Where’s your paint brush, Tim? Park Superintendent Arthur Bennett was sporting the best looking bruise on his upper lip we have seen in some time. His story is that he got it while taking up a floor when a piece of oak broke off. There was a hot time in the office of the superintendent of schools last Thursday morning after the air conditioner broke down. The heat even forced one of the secretaries home for a cooler dress. The addition to the Eddy house was a cause of a surprise party last week. Adrian Doe must think his wife is a real “deer,” as Charlotte is now traveling about town in a flashy red auto.

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Joseph Mahoney, son of Mrs Joseph Mahoney and the late Mr Mahoney of Church Hill Road, was crewman aboard the aircraft carrier USS Essex which picked up the astronauts after their epic 11-day space voyage.

October 29, 1943

A very interesting meeting of the Womens Federation of the Congregational Church was held at Hawley Manor last Thursday afternoon, when Mrs John Kingsley Birge spoke on the Women of Turkey. Mrs Birge lived in Turkey for 15 years, leaving in 1941 due to the outbreak of war. She and her husband, who is at present teaching in Princeton, both expect to return as soon as conditions permit. In her talk she contrasted the differences between Turkish women of today and women of the not-too-distant past, showing changes in dress, status, and education. At the business meeting it was decided to send Rev Cullens napkins for his Communion table.

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Three rooms of the Woodbury Community House were filled to capacity at a turkey dinner given Saturday evening by King Solomon Lodge No. 7. A.F. and A. M. and Pomperaug chapter 88, Order of the Eastern Star, on honor of the Most Worshipful Carleton W. Tyler, Master of the Grand Lodge of Connecticut Masons. During the serving of dinner, Mrs Raymond Messenger, past Worthy Matron of Naomi Chapter, Waterbury soprano soloist, entertained with several selections, her piano accompanist being Alice Loresson.

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Twenty-three girls attended the Camp Fire meeting last Thursday in St John’s Church, Sandy Hook. Mrs Dorothy M. Dinkler was on hand to explain the Camp Fire program to those present. The group is essentially interested in the Seven Crafts: Home, Health, Hand, Camp, Nature, Business, and Citizenship. Its watchword Wohelo (made from the first syllables of the words work, health and love) will ring through the town in years to come, the girls hope. All are reportedly eager to learn the Law of Camp Fire: Worship God, Seek Beauty, Pursue Knowledge, Give Service, Be Trustworthy, Hold on to Health, Glorify Work, and Be Happy. One of the group’s first projects will be to make flame red ties (symbolic of a flame of the hearth) to wear with their inexpensive and practical uniforms.

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The veteran plumber E.J. Hall has changed his residence from the Charles Lockwood apartment in Sandy Hook and is now boarding at Miss Kelly’s on Mile Hill.

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FOR SALE: A very attractive Cape Cod Colonial House. 10 rooms, 7 open fireplaces, telephone, bath, furnace heat, large barn, fruit trees, 2 wells, 2 trout brooks, bordering tar road, nice maple shade, good views. Nice locations. $10,500. John B. King. Southbury, Conn.

October 25, 1918

GOOD PROGRESS BEING MADE AT GIGANTIC DAM AT ZOAR BRIDGE: In company with the editor’s good friend, Dea Henry Mitchell, a carriage ride was enjoyed on Wednesday afternoon to Stevenson, where a visit was paid to the great dam project of the Connecticut Light and Power Co., which Dea Mitchell fittingly calls the “eighth wonder of the world.” Surely it is the greatest engineering project ever attempted in Connecticut. The progress made since our last visit on Labor Day is very marked. The excavation work is well along toward completion, but it is the guess of a layman that it will take nearly two years more to complete the great undertaking. Securing passes to cross the bridge, we hunted up Engineer Berkenbine who was at the company office on the west bank. There are about 225 men working on the job. They have been hit rather hard by the draft, and the prevailing epidemic has made some inroads among their workers. A great cable way stretches across the rover. It is capable of carrying 10 tons at a time. While we spoke with the engineer, several loads of cement were taken from a railroad car and switched across the river, high above the heads of men working in various deep pockets, and landed in a warehouse on the eastern bank. Some 2,000 feet up river a bridge is being constructed across the river to accommodate the dummy engines and cars. These will run to the east bank at a point about opposite the old Methodist Church.

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Occasionally we hear of a citizen of means who neglected or refused to buy Liberty bonds. Such individuals, and we hope they are mighty few in The Bee’s field, ought to hasten to New York and purchase a ticket for Turkey or Berlin. That’s where they belong!

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Frank Banks has taken a position in the factory of the Fabric Fire Hose Co. He will run his jitney to Bridgeport, Saturday afternoon and Sunday.

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The ladies of the church have received a letter from Rev. Sandy A. Paris, who conducts a school for negro children in the South, asking them to send him a barrel of second-hand clothing for children and grown-ups as soon as possible. The ladies are planning to send the clothes in about two weeks. Anyone wishing to donate are asked to leave donations at the home of Mrs W. H. Hubbell.

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An automobile driven by Mrs John Gilbert of Huntingtown, crashed into the cement wall at the home of Mrs Henry Madigen, Friday afternoon. Mrs Gilbert was proceeding toward the depot when she lost control of the car. Those riding with her were Mrs Herbert Coger, Mrs Frank Ives and Mrs Tracy Peck. Mrs Ives has one rib broken while the others escaped with bruises and a good shaking up.

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.