August 11, 1995

A motorist moving through the intersection of Queen Street and Glover Avenue at about 12:30 am Thursday suddenly stopped moving when her pickup truck drove into a quagmire in the road caused by a water main break, which apparently resulted from sewering work in the area. Police said Angela E. Lewis, 23, of Shelton was driving a Dodge Dakota northbound on Queen Street when the truck went into the soupy hole where a refilled sewer trench had collapsed after having been undermined by the broken 6-inch water main. The truck went into the ground about 18 inches... She wasn’t injured in the incident.

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A controversial proposal to build an exhibition hall on Route 25 in Hawleyville, known as the Connecticut Exposition & Performance Events Center (CEPEC) is scheduled as the subject of three public hearings on August 17. The hearings are preliminary to an actual construction application to build the facility.

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The police department plans to buy some specialized videotaping equipment to collect evidence on the behavior of motorists who are stopped when presumed to be drunken drivers. The videotaping equipment is compact and designed for use in such surveillance applications... Chief DeJoseph said a videotape recording of a motorist stopped for drunken driving makes for compelling evidence in a courtroom.

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The Board of Selectmen Monday night approved 2-1 a request by the Newtown Historical Society for $5,000 in matching funds toward a federal grant which will underwrite a survey of the town’s approximately 265 pre-1825 houses... a state certified researcher... will identify, verify, and inventory pre-1825 houses, places, and public buildings so that they can be placed on both the State and National Registers of Historic Places... Selectman Gary Fetzer voted against the $5,000 appropriation after proposing the town grant $2,350 and ask the owners of the 265 properties to donate at least $10 each to make up the rest. “The project is a benefit to the town, but it is also a benefit to these individual homeowners,” he explained.

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GOP Oktoberfest Will Feature A Dog Contest: If you have a dog that has German parentage or if you have a dog that wants to be German, be sure to enter the dog in the Oktoberfest Dog Contest. Some of the obvious contestants are expected to be Schnauzers, Dobermans, German Shepherds, Dachshunds, etc. However, all breeds will have an equal chance to participate because the only requirement is “wanting” to be German. To be considered for the crown owners are required to: register the dog; submit a photo of the dog; and appear with the Oktoberfest contingent in the Labor Day Parade.

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A pickup truck which caught fire and was destroyed by flames after hauling an antique auto uphill northbound on Berkshire Road caused a major traffic jam during the evening rush on August 3. The double-cab 1989 truck had been hauling a valuable 1939 antique Bantam automobile in its truckbed uphill on Berkshire Road toward Newtown when it caught fire... There were no injuries in the blaze... Besides destroying the pickup truck and antique car, the blaze damaged nearby telephone lines.

August 7, 1970

One of Newtown’s best known citizens, M. Frederic Rees, died at his home on Hanover Road on Saturday, August 1. Mr Rees was a longtime member of the Newtown Republican Town Committee, a two-term Selectman, president of the Hawley PTA, the Newtown Rotary Club, secretary and then chairman of the Newtown Board of Education, and chairman of the Newtown Educational Planning Committee. He was named by Governor John Lodge in 1955 as judge of the Newtown Town Court, and was honored as Newtown’s Republican of the year in 1967.

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All six members of the Board of Finance attended three consecutive meetings on Monday evening... [Jack] Rosenthal protested action taken at the April 27 meeting, which he had not attended. At that meeting Chairman [W.W. Holcombe] asked for authorization to prevent any information being given to any newspaper or representative thereof unless authorized by the chairman of the Board of Finance, or in his absence, the vice-chairman. Mr Rosenthal believes this violates the “Right To Know” law. Mr Holcombe said he now thought the word “any” was the wrong word to use here; that it rather should be said that information should not be given out until the minutes were adopted by the board. Mr Rosenthal pointed out that the information would then be withheld for months from the public. He asked that the matter be put on the agenda of a meeting in the near future for rediscussion.

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Postmaster General Winton M. Blount has announced that the main post office in Sandy Hook will be located in the building adjoining the present post office... The building will be increased in size from 972 interior square feet to 1,705 square feet and the area for parking and maneuvering vehicles will also be increased.

***

At the close of the Board of Selectmen’s meeting Tuesday evening, August 4, seven applicants for two additional positions on the Newtown Police Force were interviewed. Two men were accepted, the decision made public Wednesday afternoon, was a difficult one. The two accepted are Robert E. Taylor of Newtown and Daniel J. Elliot of Stratford.

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For the second time, Paul and Jean McCollum, owners of Lorenzo’s Restaurant on Riverside Road in the Sandy Hook District, presented their application to the Zoning Board of Appeals for a variance of the zoning regulations to change the nature of the liquor license from restaurant beer to restaurant liquor. Such variance was denied in June... Mr and Mrs McCollum asserted that no changes are contemplated in either the building or the menu with the exception of the liquor... Opposition was expressed in two letters... from Miss Jean A. Mann... and Miss Jessica Davidson... It is their contention that such a variance would bring more traffic, would create dangers, and would attract a motorcycle crowd

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[An 11-year-old] drowned in the pond at Dickinson Memorial Park on Thursday, July 30, and it has been theorized that he may have drowned as a result of a shock from an electrically operated aerator which was submerged under the water surface near the center of the pond. Police reported that several people had complained of receiving shocks while in the pond... according to Mark Hayes, chairman of the Commission, the unit, to the best of his knowledge, was used only when the park was closed and that it was not in use at the time of the boy’s death.

August 3, 1945

Newtown’s summer quota of surgical dressings has now been folded and packed and the Tuesday and Wednesday, as well as the Friday evening sessions will be discontinued until a new supply of gauze arrives. The officers of the Newtown Chapter of the Red Cross wish to thank all who have contributed so generously of their time and patience to bring this essential war work to a successful conclusion.

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Donations of $3,171.50 in the drive being conducted to provide permanent homes for the Boy and Girl Scouts of Newtown. The goal set by the two Troop committees is $5,000. As previously stated, a tract of land is being obtained within the Borough, well wooded and suitable for Scout work, and as soon as the funds are in hand and it is possible to build, construction will be started on a suitable cabin for each group of Scouts.

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There will be an organ and song recital at St John’s Church, Sandy Hook, Sunday evening, August 12, beginning at 7:30 o’clock. Miss Margaret Beardsley, soprano; Prof Frank L. Johnson of St Paul’s School, Concord, N.H., and Donald Griscom, organists, will render an interesting and varied program of classic and modern music to benefit the organ fund.

***

Staff Sgt Jack E. Hyatt, son of Julia K. and the late Leroy Hyatt of Sandy Hook, arrived in Boston last Friday aboard the SS Wakefield after serving overseas for nearly a year and is spending a 30-day furlough with his mother. He served in France, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, and Austria, and was attached to General Patton’s Third Army.

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Word was received on Saturday by Mrs Josephine L. McCarthy of Main Street from the War Department that her son, Capt Joseph L. McCarthy of the Coast Artillery Corps,was killed in action in the Pacific area on December 15, 1944, while being transported as a prisoner of war aboard a Japanese ship... It is understood that the vessel on which he was prisoner was under fire by an American battleship.

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The special Borough meeting called for 7:30 pm, Wednesday, August 1, for the purpose of laying a tax rate on the grand list for the fiscal year of 1945 was postponed, due to lack of a quorum. A new date was set for Saturday, August 4. Hopes are expressed for a large and interested attendance at the meeting Saturday night.

July 23, 1920

The microfilm containing 1920 Newtown Bee editions is kept at the C.H. Booth Library, which is temporarily closed due to coronavirus health precautions.

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