The Town’s Anniversary 50 Years Ago — A Parade To Remember

By Jan Howard

Early in 1955, the approach of the 250th anniversary of the purchase of Newtown from the Native Americans in 1705 was creating interest for a special celebration to mark the occasion.

In March, First Selectman A. Fenn Dickinson appointed a committee to plan such a celebration.

The committee first consisted of Nelson G. Curtis, Herman R. Geiger, Dr William F. Green, Miles Harris, Mrs Jerome P. Jackson, Ralph L. Knibloe, Mrs William M. McKenzie, and Bertram A. Stroock to plan such a celebration. On March 30, these enthusiastic members met for the first time in Edmond Town Hall and gave their wholehearted approval of the celebration.

Early in May, Colonel James A. Tobey and Frank L. Johnson were added to the committee. Later, Mrs A. Fenn Dickinson and Harry King Tootle replaced Mrs Jerome Jackson and Ralph Knibloe, who resigned because of other responsibilities.

The planning began in earnest in May, and the festivities that took place on August 6, 1955, included a parade, the likes of which no one had seen since the bicentennial parade in 1905 and the George Washington bicentennial in 1932. Festivities would also include the dedication of a new park with Governor Abraham Ribicoff as principle speaker and a block dance to climax the anniversary celebration.

Planning The Celebration

In May, the date of August 6 was set for the daylong celebration. On May 16 Col Tobey was elected chairman, Frank L. Johnson, treasurer, and Mrs Bertram A. Stroock, secretary. Mr Dickinson was appointed as parade marshal.

According to a pamphlet about the celebration, The 250th Anniversary of Newtown, Connecticut, edited by Col Tobey, Paul Smith, and Mr Tootle, at this meeting Mr Dickinson outlined his plans for the biggest parade in Newtown’s history. The next morning Mr Dickinson lost his life in an unfortunate accident, which led to the new park being dedicated in his honor.

Col Tobey, it was noted, had had wide experience as an administrator, both in military and civil life, and in two months, eight subcommittees were formed and duties assigned.

An honorary Committee of One Hundred was appointed, including town and borough officials, presidents of active civic organizations, representative members of original Newtown families, professional persons, and other prominent citizens, such as state officials and former selectmen.

In June, during a meeting of the committee, Col Tobey remarked, “This is beginning to take on the proportions of a full-time job.” He explained how he had checked the site for the dedication exercises and Gov Ribicoff’s address and the route and distance of the parade.

He had also spoken at Hawley School and Newtown High School on the significance of the 250th anniversary, and announced an essay contest on the subject “Newtown, Past and Future.” Essays were to be no more than 1,500 words in length, and the deadline for submission was July 15. A savings bond would be awarded to the winner.

Col Tobey’s speech to the students was a vivid summary of Newtown’s history that brought out little known facts, such as the comparatively small number of Native Americans in the Pootatuck tribe, probably not more than 100; that the 1705 purchase was actually illegal and that the Court of Connecticut voted to prosecute the three original purchasers; and that restitution was made and all was legal by 1708 when the name Newtown was chosen in preference to the name Preston.

Finance Chairman Nelson Curtis announced he would send personal letters to Newtown residents asking for donations for the celebration’s modest budget and explaining how the money was to be used.

Lincoln Mitchell, chairman of the Historical Exhibits, raised the possibility of opening up certain colonial homes for a tour, and Paul Webb of the Publicity Committee discussed plans for a poster to publicize the anniversary. Robert Reiner of the Sandy Hook Fife and Drum Corps was in charge of musical aspects of the parade. The block dance was to be chaired by Mr and Mrs Robert M. Carruth.

Events In 1955

In July, Newtown’s most famous rooster was seen pictured on window cards all over Fairfield County to advertise the upcoming 250th anniversary celebration. Robert Hallock, a well-known Newtown artist, made the drawing of the rooster as his contribution to the town’s birthday.

This symbol of the 250th anniversary celebration was removed and refurbished for the event. To remove the rooster, workmen from Edgerton & Sons of Bridgeport used a large crane that extended to the rooster’s 88-foot perch on the Newtown Congregational Church steeple.

Once it was down, the rooster received a new coat of gold leaf by Rudolf Boedfeld, a painter, of Sandy Hook, and then was put back in place in time for the August 6 celebration.

Also in July, a contest was announced with cash prizes to be awarded for the Newtown residents who decorated their homes most attractively for the 250th. Mrs William Green headed up the committee to coordinate the decorations and where they should be used in addition to along the parade line of march.

A photograph in The Newtown Bee on July 15 showed Chief Lee Glover and Secretary-Treasurer Joe Wupperfelt of Newtown Hook & Ladder refurbishing the company’s old hand-drawn ladder cart in preparation for the parade.

On July 22, The Bee reported that the upcoming parade, which would begin at 11 am on August 6, was arousing great enthusiasm, and that the parade route had been lengthened to accommodate the large number of entries. In addition, the ceremony to mark the dedication of the new park was set for 2 pm.

In the July 29 issue of The Bee it was recommended that businesses close at 11 am on August 6 to allow their employees to participate in or witness the parade and to attend the park dedication. The paper also included Colonel Sidney Haight’s list of people whose ancestry went back to the founding of Newtown or earlier in Connecticut and Massachusetts.

On July 30, a perfect, warm July day, for the first time in the history of Newtown, some of its fine old homes from the 18th Century were featured as part of the 250th celebration. Six homes, on or adjacent to Main Street, and the Congregational Church were open for the tour. Tea and punch were offered at one of the houses. Admission was $1.50.

Another precelebratory event was an exhibit of antiques that began the middle of July at the Cyrenius H. Booth Library and remained on display until September.

On August 4 two performances of the movie The Stars and Stripes Forever, in Edmond Town Hall Theatre, attracted near capacity attendance. Sponsored by the Board of Managers, the performances marked not only the 250th anniversary of the town but also the 25th anniversary of the town hall.

The weather was sunny, clear, and hot on August 6. Despite bumper-to-bumper traffic just prior to the parade, it took less than five minutes to clear the parade route, which passed along Main Street to the Fairfield State Hospital entrance, returning north on Queen Street to Glover Avenue where Gov Ribicoff and town dignitaries reviewed the units. The 250th anniversary parade stepped off from upper Main Street, led by the color guards of the Connecticut State Police Department and Veterans of Foreign Wars. The first musical unit was the Sandy Hook Fife, Drum and Bugle Corps, led by Eilene Wright, the drum majorette, and Kathy Kanouse, the twirler.

The parade included about 20 floats entered by state, civic, youth, and commercial groups, such as Fairfield State Hospital, Southbury Training School, Pohtatuck Grange, Rotary and Lions clubs, Hiram Lodge, Town Players, 4-H, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, S. Curtis & Son, Coger Lumber, Newtown Bee, Newtown Lumber Company, Platt Lumber Company, and others.

Automobiles carrying Gov Ribicoff and other state and local dignitaries followed marching units along the colorfully decorated streets of Newtown.

The parade also featured 13 drum and bugle corps, six fire company trucks, a contingent of National Guardsmen, horsemen from the Flying W ranch, antique automobiles, ox carts, a miniature motorcycle, and marchers from local schools and organizations, such as the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, fire companies and auxiliaries, and others.

Little League baseball games followed the parade at Taylor Field. In honor of the anniversary event, Mrs R.V. Anderson, president of Anderson Foods, prepared a 250th birthday cake.

During the afternoon dedication of Dickinson Park, Gov Ribicoff paid a moving tribute to the late First Selectman A. Fenn Dickinson, who had died May 17 as a result of an accident. (A truck backed over him at the construction site of Sandy Hook School.) Col Tobey was the master of ceremonies. Howard Beardsley created the memorial bronze plaque set in a granite boulder.

The ceremonies began with the playing of the national anthem and the raising of the American flag. The invocation by the Rev Father Walter R. Conroy of St Rose Church was followed by the awarding of the $25 savings bond to Faith Brown for her essay entitled “Newtown, Its Nostalgic Past and Visionary Future,” announcement of winners of prizes for marching units and floats in the parade, and speeches by Gov Ribicoff and Bertram A. Stroock, who had donated $50,000 for the park.

Newtown Hook & Ladder was awarded the prize of the best marching unit.

The Platt Lumber Company won first prize in the float category with its replica of Mount Vernon; and the Newtown Lions won second place for its tableau of the purchase of the land of Newtown.

Mrs Albert W. Peck of Main Street captured the early days in Newtown with a display of a model of the Middle District School complete with schoolyard with children. She won first prize in the category of home decoration for the model that was created by cartoonist Frank Mack. Her house once served as the school.

That night, a block dance attended by hundreds of people climaxed the anniversary celebration. Gaily colored lights and festoons of red, white, and blue bunting decorated the buildings at the Newtown Shopping Center on Queen Street. Participants ranging in age from children in arms to senior citizens entered into the spirit of the occasion.

Refreshments were provided by fire company auxiliaries, and the Eddie Willstein ten-piece dance band of New Haven and George Barba’s six-piece band of Branford offered, in turn, round and square dancing.

Estimates of the number of people participating in the anniversary activities varied, The Bee noted, but it was thought by many that over 5,000 people watched the parade, 500 attended the park dedication, and 3,500 attended the block dance.

On August 12 The Newtown Bee noted, “Fifty years from now, Newtown’s present day youngsters will harken back to a hot, humid day in August, 1955, recalling the spectacle they saw then, the 250th anniversary parade, which ushered in the day-long series of activities that marked two and one-half centuries of the town’s existence. All together, it was a great show.”

The parade, The Bee wrote, “had all the elements of success in its makeup, it had color, dash, good music, humor, dressiness, the right touch of seriousness, and pace.”

It was, the paper concluded, “a parade to remember.”