Citing traffic problems on Church Hill Road, the Planning & Zoning Commission by a 5-0 vote disapproved plans for a 200,000 square-foot shopping mall at its Friday, October 17, meeting. The rejection of “Edmond Mall,” proposed for 30.6 acres located off Church Hill and Edmond Roads, was, however, a reluctant one on the part of some of the commissioners, who cited the fact that the railroad overpass continues to be a problem in the growth of the area.

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 The Board of Selectmen’s choice of a new highway superintendent immediately became a political issue, after Frank S. Kayfus, 26, of Woodbury, was unanimously appointed by the three selectmen to the post which has a $14,019.98 per year salary. Mr Kayfus, a native and until last year a resident of Newtown, has been the highway department’s assistant superintendent since May 19, and fills the vacancy in the superintendent’s post created when Edward Napier left the job October 1. Two issues were created by the selectmen’s action at their Tuesday meeting. Democratic candidate for first selectman Jack Rosenthal maintained that, if elected, he would hire a professional engineer for the job. Also, the selectmen apparently violated the new Connecticut Freedom of Information law by meeting in an unannounced closed session a half hour before the scheduled 8 pm meeting to discuss the appointment.

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Miss Shelley Warren, a junior in Newtown High, has been selected to represent Fairfield County in the Miss Teenage America pageant, which is to be televised nationally on November 15 from Tulsa, Okla. Shelley was selected from a field of ten semifinalists who represented area towns at a regional pageant which took place in Trumbull Saturday evening, October 18. Shelley is currently Miss Teenage Newtown, having won the local pageant sponsored by the Newtown Exchange Club last August.

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Boy Scout Troop 370 has begun its 1975-1976 Scout Year under the adult leadership of Scoutmaster Ed Rees aided by Assistant Scoutmasters Gordon Palmer, John Paloian, Jerry Lessard, Carl Miller, and Bob Bradley. Troop 370 will be sponsored this year by the Newtown Methodist Church and will meet each Tuesday evening at the Undercroft of the church in Sandy Hook. The Scout Committee boasts a membership of 16 concerned parents and will be headed up by Gene Lawton as committee chairman.

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Another official production record exceeding a half ton of butterfat has been completed by Winterthur Ivanhoe Eden Sinis 5840282 (VG), a registered Holstein cow owned by Dan W. Lufkin, Newtown. This is the third time that “Sinis” has achieved the 1,000 pound butterfat production level in a single lactation.

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Town Clerk Mae Schmidle is getting to be known around town as the “early bird campaigner” since she starts out on the trail each morning at 8 am greeting residents and presenting them with a handsome reproduction of the oldest map of Newtown, dated 1854.

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Newtown is eligible to become part of the Elderly Health Screening Service set up recently in Waterbury. Financed under a $54,000 three-year decreasing grant from the Area I Agency on Aging, the program is to offer health education and health screening to persons aged 60 and over once a week in Waterbury, and approximately ten times a year in 12 surrounding towns. Due to the action of Miss M. Asenath Johnson, chairman of the local Committee on the Aging, in putting Newtown on the waiting list for the service, Newtown may become one of the 12 priority towns.

OCTOBER 27, 1950

The gymnasium of the Edmond Town Hall was nearly filled to capacity on Tuesday evening of this week when some 800 residents of Newtown and vicinity attended the UN Day celebration held here. The successful rally, one of many held that day in free countries throughout the world, was in observance of the fifth anniversary of the United Nations Charter which came into force in San Francisco, October 24, 1945. Locally it was under the sponsorship of the Newtown Rotary Club, the United World Federalists, and the League of Women Voters. The efforts of many townspeople and local organizations went into making the event a success, and to them, Col. C. Sidney Haight, general chairman, and his committee are deeply grateful.

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A drill in airplane spotting will take place in Newtown Saturday and Sunday, November 4 and 5, from 9 am to 6 pm, at the request of Comdr Warner W. Bayley, Newtown Coordinator of Civilian Defense. The activity, which will be in the charge of Walter Los, chief airplane observer, with Fred Bauer as assistant, is part of exercises being carried out during the same hours in all New England states and possibly in other parts of the country. In Connecticut it is undertaken under a directive from Roger F. Gleason, chief coordinator of Civil Defense. Cooperating is the Eastern Air Defense Command at Newburgh, N.Y., which will dispatch planes to be spotted. Observers will operate from a high point on the Mt Pleasant property of Comdr Warner W. Bayley, which is being used for observations until such time as the town provides an observation tower. They will make records of planes passing over, sending them to Hartford for a check of their efficiency.

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A well attended Republican rally, with a smattering of Democrats in the audience, was held in the gymnasium of the Edmond Town Hall on Saturday evening, when state and local candidates spoke in their own behalf and for support of the entire Republican ticket. Highlight of the occasion was a forceful speech by Congressman John Lodge, Republican candidate for governor, who rehearsed his own record in Congress, favoring the Marshall Plan, the Atlantic Pact, and various anti-communistic measures which have had his particular support.

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Hundreds of nimrods took to the field last Saturday morning as Connecticut’s season for pheasant, grouse, squirrel, and raccoon got under way. First-day reports were so-so, varying from poor to good, and the warm weather of the preceding week continued to greet sportsmen with temperatures that read 70-plus.

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Among last Sunday’s guest experts on Information Please was Jo Mielziner, noted stage designer and resident of the Palestine District. The popular WOR radio show was heard by many Newtown friends who had learned that Mr Mielziner was to appear.

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The Newtown High School Building Committee met with two more architects in Hawley School last Thursday night to consider plans for the new high school building. On invitation of the committee, Supt Carl A. LeGrow was also present.

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A large attendance was present at the October 19 meeting of the Women’s Federation of the Newtown Congregational Church, when Jerome Jackson of Berkshire District was the guest speaker. An authority on antique clocks, Mr Jackson gave an interesting talk on the history of them, tracing clocks from their beginning to the present day. He also showed many clocks from his large and varied collection, for which he is widely known throughout the area.

 

OCTOBER 23, 1925

W.A. Upham of the Upham Food Products Company has bought the large barn on Mrs S.A. Blackman’s place, and is having it taken down and transported to the lot next to the firehouse, where he will use it in the construction of his new cafeteria and dormitory.

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The seventh annual meeting of the Visiting Nurse Association was held at Beach Memorial Library, Tuesday evening. In the absence of the president, Mrs A.B. Blakeman was appointed chairman of the meeting. The following were elected officers for another year: President, Mrs Wallace N. Mitchell; Vice presidents, Dr E.L.Kingman and Dr W.H. Kiernan; Secretary, Mrs Herbert T. Coger; Treasurer, H. Carlton Hubbell.

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There was an informal sign raising in Taunton, Wednesday afternoon, when a large sign with the words, “Town Forest, Newtown, CT,” was erected.

OCTOBER 26, 1900

Henry G. Curtis, treasurer of the Fair Association, is now paying off the premiums. He will be at the store of R.H. Beers & Company on Saturday evenings for the next few weeks.

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The residence of Robert H. Beers was entered by burglars one night recently, but the uninvited guests contented themselves with sampling a few eatables.