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Mandatory referral was made this week to the town’s Planning Commission by the Board of Selectmen regarding the possible use of 9.1 acres located on the northerly corner of Route 25 and Peck’s Lane as a site for a new town garage and police headquarters.

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 Although the newly-elected Legislative Council does not become a legal town government body until January 5, the members-elect to the Council have had or are planning meetings, some partisan and some not.

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First Selectman-elect Jack Rosenthal gave Newtown’s Democratic Town Committee meeting November 24 a brief glimpse into the family which he said was a major source of strength during his fifth campaign for the office he will assume on January 5, 1976. After thanking all the Democrats who helped him win election to the town’s top office, he added, “and I have to thank my son – he was great! You folks have no idea of the battles we had” as they debated decisions about Jack’s campaign tactics and issues. “It was really a circus at times,” the winner of the November 4 election confided. “My family was always there to encourage me or deflate me, and keep me on the straight and narrow.”

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On the second try the New Jersey firm of Myertin Associates has gained approval of the Newtown Planning & Zoning Commission for a change of zone of 10.6 acres of residential property located on Route 34. Last month the commission disapproved an application to change the zone to Retail Business B-1. Myertin Associates came back with an application to make the property Professional P-1, a more restricted use than B-1. The commission heard the proposal on November 21. Attorney Thomas Cheney reiterated his clients’ contention that the noise levels generated by traffic on I-84 and Route 34 make the land unsuited for residential use.

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True to his campaign promise, First Selectman-elect Jack Rosenthal has set up an ad-hoc advisory board to explore whether or not Newtown should take advantage of a State act providing tax relief for the elderly. The six member, bi-partisan committee met Monday, November 24, for the first time, and according to Chairman Zita McMahon, will have a report with recommendations ready by the end of February. At the initial meeting, the members discussed approaches and objectives, elected officers, and distributed materials, largely dealing with how the proposal works in the town of Wilton. Members of the committee are Democrats Zita McMahon, former Selectman candidate Diane Schwerdtle, and Charles DeSantis, with Republicans Francis Hiney, Herbert Mayoh, and Joan Fuest.

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First Selectman Frank DeLucia received last Friday, November 21, the approval of the Housatonic Valley Council of Elected Officials to reimburse the Town of Newtown $14,000 for a study of the much-discussed Pootatuck River Valley aquifer. The Board of Selectmen accepted the funding at a special meeting that night, three days after tabling the Conservation Commission’s bid for town financing for the study. The $14,000 will be matched by a federal grant, and the study will take from March to September, 1976.

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Mrs Thomas Northcott, chairman of the UNICEF Trick or Treat Program, wishes to thank all the children and their parents who participated in this year’s collection. This year’s proceeds of $875 are slightly less than last year’s collection of $911.

DECEMBER 1, 1950

In last weekend’s storm, which began on Friday evening and gathered momentum throughout Saturday until it blew itself out later that evening, hardly a town in Connecticut escaped damage. Coastal towns were especially hard hit, for in addition to hurricane-like winds, tides encroached upon the shore, pushing the beaches back and undermining everything in their path. Inland, trees went down, steeples toppled, slate and shingles were ripped from their moorings, windows were blown in, antennae knocked down. What was worse, falling trees and other debris brought with them a tangle of electric and telephone wire, shutting off power and paralyzing the use of almost all utilities.

***

Following eight regional conferences on Civil Defense, State Civil Defense Director Roger F. Gleason held two statewide conferences this week, one at New Haven Monday night, and one in Hartford Tuesday night, to outline the programs for local Civil Defense directors and to answer questions about organization. Attending from Newtown at the Monday night conference held in the Southern New England Telephone Company’s building, Church and Wall Streets, New Haven, were Col C. Sidney Haight, local deputy director, and William H. Knox.

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Mrs Matthew Winkle of South Main Street arrived at The Bee office last Friday morning with a pretty yellow pansy which she had just picked in her yard. The pansy thus escaped the fury of Saturday’s storm, the incident proving once again that the vagaries of New England weather are most unpredictable.

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Pohtatuck Grange has cordially invited the public to a bingo and card party to be held on Thursday evening, December 7, at 8 o’clock, in the Grange Hall, Sandy Hook. Prizes will be awarded to the winners at each table and refreshments will be served. Mrs Pearl Tilson is chairman of the event, assisted by Mrs Walter Jacobson, Mrs James Yates, David Scott, and Howe Smith. Willis Arndt will be the caller for bingo.

***

At a recent meeting of the Newtown High School Building Committee, the firm of Westcott and Mapes, architects, of New Haven was selected to prepare preliminary plans and cost estimates to be presented to the Town of Newtown at a future town meeting. The building committee has been interviewing leading architects in the State of Connecticut since its first meeting held September 14, according to the chairman, Herbert H. Cutler.

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Mr and Mrs Edmund F. Dinkler of Sandy Hook, who have been spending a fortnight in St Petersburg, Fla., are expected to return home early next week. They report that the state has been experiencing the coldest weather since 1910, the thermometer dipping on several days at St Petersburg to 37 degrees.

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The Sportnighters Club will hold its fourth weekly meeting next Tuesday night at 8 o’clock for its usual games of volleyball, gym cricket, and other diversions. Coach DeGroat’s proposal that prospective draftees appear at 7:30 to receive special coaching and preparation for the conditioning course they will experience upon entering any of the services has not as yet received the ready response that was expected.

 

NOVEMBER 27, 1925

Miss Mary Elizabeth Hawley of this town has recently presented the Trustees of Newtown Village Cemetery Association with the keys to the Hawley Memorial Receiving Tomb and Gateways, which have just been completed. The structures, together with extensive landscape improvements, roadways, and engineering work, involved an expenditure exceeding $100,000. At the request of Miss Hawley, the presentation was made without ceremony, and there will be no dedicatory exercises.

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The drama Plain People, by members of the Grange Dramatic Club at the Town Hall, Friday night, was given a snappy and excellent presentation, and deserved a much larger house. The proceeds were for the benefit of the library.

NOVEMBER 30, 1900

Newtown’s contingent at the great Yale-Harvard football game on Saturday included Cornelius B. Taylor, Arthur T. Nettleton, John R. Peck, and Harry Curtis.

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At the district school in Huntingtown the record of attendance for the past three months has been as follows: September, 94 percent; October, 89 percent; November, 91 percent. Average for the three months, 91 percent. Number of students enrolled, 32.

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The buildings on the Carlos Booth farm, now owned and occupied by a Mr Russell, have been treated to a fresh coat of paint put on by Peso Brothers of Huntingtown.

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H.C. McCollam began working last week on George Sherwood’s new barn.