Newtown’s JPs: The Neighborly Knot-Tyers

By Steve Bigham

Newtown resident George Blantin has been married for 56 years, so he knows a thing or two about this sacred institution. That’s why, as a justice of the peace, he often offers advice to the couples he marries.

“Marriage is work. I know everything about it. I’m an expert. You can’t be stupid and be married that long,” he joked this week after being sworn in to another four-year term as a JP.

Mr Blantin, in his 70s, says he will often take the groom aside to offer a special bit of advice.

“I tell him ‘just listen and smile, that’s all you have to do. Sometimes you don’t even have to listen, just smile,’” he explained.

Mr Blantin is one of 15 justices of the peace in Newtown sworn in to four-year terms during ceremonies earlier this month. Twelve are incumbents, three are new, including two who were selected by a lottery. They are: J. David Goldin, Cheryl Johnson, Jean Ann Mead, Kaaren Valenta, Carolyn Downing, Barbara O’Connor, Tom Paisley, Lillian Strickler, Lereine Frampton, Deborah Stiewing, Gregory J. Bunger, Joann Robling, Charles B. Browne, III, George Blantin, and Lilly Goosman.

Debbie Stiewing has been a justice of the peace for nearly 20 years and has done well over 600 weddings during that time. As a member of the Democratic Town Committee during the early 1980s, Mrs Stiewing found herself a candidate for one of the town’s justice of the peace positions, which, at the time, was an elected position. She won, then wasted little time getting her business off the ground.

“I’ve done weddings in hot air balloons, on a yacht, in fields at sunrise and sunset, and on the ice for two ice skaters,” she recalled in a past issue of The Bee’s “Brides” publication. “I’ve done second, third, and fourth marriages.”

Mrs Stiewing recalls one wedding where the bride arrived 90 minutes late for the ceremony.

“By the time she got there, the guests were loaded, and they laughed, joked, and sang throughout the wedding,” she said.

Mrs Stiewing, regarded as the town’s most active justice of the peace, once officiated at an arranged marriage between a Vietnamese man and woman from Danbury. The Vietnamese culture apparently holds the person performing the ceremony in high esteem because Mrs Stiewing was offered gifts and a traditional Vietnamese meal, complete with cold fish head soup.

Mrs Stiewing has married her share of biker sweethearts as well, including one couple who, after the ceremony, insisted she down a shot of whiskey to get the party rolling.

Most of Newtown’s justices of the peace say they get their business from word-of-mouth.

“I’ll say to people, ‘How did you get my name?’ and they’ll say, ‘Well, you married my cousin a few months ago,’” Mrs Stiewing said.

According to the state’s Justices of the Peace Manual, the office of justice of the peace originated in England and was brought to this country by the early colonists. Although the position used to have substantial authority in the court systems, it is today much more narrowed. Justices of the peace have general oath-giving powers, may take acknowledgements (notaries), take depositions, and, of course, perform wedding ceremonies.

“The most important thing that they do is the marriage ceremony that they perform because many people, for whatever reason, do not want a religious ceremony. This is a wonderful way for people to marry,” noted Lillian Strickler, a Newtown justice of the peace.

Carolyn Downing has been a JP for 28 years and figures she has done at least 65 weddings. She recalls the time a high-powered executive arrived at her doorstep with his much younger wife-to-be.

“He had his own company – a real big shot – and he wanted to get married right away,” she explained. “I had just gotten in from shopping and said, ‘Just let me unload my groceries.’”

Mrs Downing recalls her first wedding ceremony. “I looked into the couple’s eyes and they were looking back at me as if I was God. As if I had some control over their whole life. Tears came to my eyes. I got all choked up,” she recalled. “Afterward, as they were leaving, I told them it was my first wedding. The groom turned to me, and said, ‘Yeah, I could tell.’”

Mrs Downing has done weddings where the bride was pregnant and this past October performed a ceremony at the Gazebo at The Pleasance. It was bitter cold, she recalled.

“My marriages last just as long as fancy church weddings. It’s the heart of the couple that counts,” Mrs Downing said.

Jean Ann Mead was recently sworn in as a new justice of the peace. Her name was selected in the lottery.

“I saw something about it in the news months prior and decided I’d give it a try. I’m also studying to be a paralegal and figured the two would be a good combination,” she said.