June 21, 1996

In a record turnout for a nonpresidential vote, Newtown voters Wednesday approved the $29 million high school and Hawley School expansion projects by a substantial margin... Work on the projects is expected to begin this summer and be completed by the end of next year.

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The town and state are developing a plan to roughly double the size of Commerce Park to increase the level of business and industry there. First Selectman Robert Cascella and State Representative Julia Wasserman... are members of the Fairfield Hills Implementation Oversight Committee... formed to oversee the recommendations made by the former Fairfield Hills Task Force... With the closing of the psychiatric institution at Fairfield Hills in December 1995, the task force’s recommendations took on a new immediacy... voters at a town meeting approved spending $130,000 to buy about five acres at #6 and #8 Commerce Road to provide an access way to the site now eyed for industrial development.

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Volunteers are needed on Sunday, June 23, to help move thousands of books from the Booth Library to the Queen Street Shopping Center for storage until the Labor Day Book Sale. Joanne Zang, member of the Friends of the Booth Library, the group which holds the annual sale, said boxes containing at least 60,000 books need to be moved from the library basement because of the construction project.

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As the state proceeds with plans to market the Fairfield Hills grounds to private interests, it is working on some residential aspects of the project. To make the campus a more attractive property to potential tenants, the state is seeking to have people currently living there relocate elsewhere. About two dozen people who formerly worked at Fairfield Hills are still living in two dormitory buildings there... The state is also seeking to have Addiction Prevention Treatment (APT), a substance abuse treatment center, relocate from the campus.

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The Newtown Historical Society will sponsor its second annual Historic House and Garden Tour on Saturday, June 29, from noon to 5 pm. Five sites are on the tour: the house and gardens of Patricia Philipp on Queen Street; the gardens of Dr and Mrs Peter Jameson on Tory Lane; the home and container garden of Jane and Robert Cottingham on Blackman Road; the gardens of Jerry and Ann DeLuccion on Taunton Hill Road; and the gardens of Dr Humberto and Gretchen Bauta on Taunton Ridge Road.

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The Indian — finally — is dead. In his final capacity as Newtown High School’s mascot, the Indian presided over the Blue-Gold football scrimmage last Friday night... And the Nighthawk was in the house. The cheerleaders unveiled their first Go Nighthawks! cheer, which received only a lackluster round of boos from the packed stands. The changing of the guard happened without any pomp and little circumstance. It didn’t happen at all if you weren’t paying attention.

June 18, 1971

To smoke or not to smoke, seemed not to be the question. Whether smoking should be changed to the patio or endured in the lavatories was often the burden of most speakers’ concerns at the hearing Wednesday, June 16, at the Newtown High School. The hearing was called by the Board of Education to consider a proposal by the Parent-Teacher-Student Association that smoking should be allowed on the patio of the high school for a one-month trial period... Dr Thomas Draper... pointed out the health dangers... Dr Draper maintained the school system is responsible for setting standards and that to allow smoking in whatever area is an approbation. He feels the difficulty of enforcement does not justify “giving in.”

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On Friday, June 18, the largest class in Newtown High School’s history will be graduated when 220 students receive diplomas at commencement exercises beginning at 7 pm. If the weather is clear, the exercises will be in the football stadium.

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When she came here in August, she didn’t speak a word of English and didn’t know a soul, but after almost a year’s visit, she speaks English very well and has made many friends. Irma Zurita has been the AFS exchange student for the 1970-71 year, and everyone in Newtown has enjoyed having her as a guest. She has been living with the Vincent Duffany family in Sandy Hook, and when she leaves, she says she will miss them most of all.

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The regular routine of the 11 am service at the Newtown Congregational Church was pleasantly interrupted on Sunday when 35 young men passing through town on bikes paused to worship and sing songs for the members of the congregation. The young men are known as “Men in Motion,” and are on a two-week bicycle trip from Augusta, Maine to Lexington, Ohio. Newtown was the town they were passing through on Sunday, and five minutes before church services began, they called the parish house and asked if they might be able to join in the service... The Men of Action [sic] give three purposes for their trip: to battle the elements of nature and conquer the challenge of riding 1,000 miles in two weeks; to grow through God; and to share their faith in Christ with people along the way through word and song.

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The item on the agenda of the Board of Selectmen read very simply, “Discussion of Worms.” However, the worm situation is complex, frustrating — and just plain messy. His property in Sandy Hook is a disaster area, said First Selectman Timothy Treadwell, a description which fits many sections of town. Mr Treadwell learned from state entomologists that spraying now would not be very effective. He suggested two things — that plans be made now for spraying in the spring when egg masses hatch; also some spraying now of heavily infested areas... the state’s estimate was only for moderate infestation... the state was counting gypsy moth eggs, but what Newtown has are millions, if not billions, of elm spanworms.

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Annie Hsu of Taiwan, who has been in Newtown as a Rotary exchange student, will be leaving soon, and on June 12 her four host families gathered at the home of Mr and Mrs Alfred Parrella to bid her farewell. Mrs Parrella prepared and served a delicious Chinese dinner on the patio, and Annie gave everyone a final lesson on how to use chopsticks gracefully.

June 14, 1946

The terrific head-on crash of a Flying Eagle bus with a truck owned by R.J. Gallagher of Danbury on the Newtown-Danbury highway last Saturday morning at 10:30, accounted for the injury of 18 persons, including the drivers of both vehicles and four Newtown residents... No negligence has been ascribed to the operator of either vehicle. Anthony Macuso, driver of the Gallagher truck, reported that he heard a loud noise like a bursting tire, and that the bus at once careened across the road, striking his truck at the driver’s compartment.

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Fifteen students comprising the Senior class of Hawley High School will be graduated with commencement exercises to be held at the Edmond Town Hall on Thursday evening, June 20, at 8 o’clock, the first class to be graduated since the cessation of fighting in World War II.

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Well over one hundred tax payers attended the adjourned session of the May 16th town meeting, held last Thursday evening in the Alexandria room of the Edmond Town Hall. The remaining item of business was the formation of a Town Planning group for the town, to devote itself to the study of the town’s growth and future needs, making whatever recommendations it might see fit at future town meetings, as an aid toward orderly development.

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One of the mishaps which sometimes occurs on the ball diamond took place Tuesday afternoon at Hawley School, when the teams of “Bobby” McMahon and Scudder Smith were warming up for another tussle. In chasing a fly ball, “Bobby” McMahon and Myron Sekeyouma bumped heads together so hard they received bad cuts requiring several stitches to close the wounds. However, they are up and around and looking forward to the next game!

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The “Sportsnighter” enjoyed a party Tuesday evening at the home of Bee Leaver, in Sandy Hook. The storm and failure of electric service somewhat hampered the culinary department, otherwise a good time was had by all.

June 3, 1921

At 9:30 am, standard time, on Friday, June 17, the Fairfield County Farm Bureau, cooperating with Roy E. Jones, State extension specialist in poultry, and with Martin Moller, of Newtown, will hold a caponizing demonstration of poultry at the farm of Mr Moller of Newtown. There has been a local call for such a demonstration. It is planned to give every one interested an opportunity to learn the practice of caponizing under Mr Jones’ personal supervision.

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MOVING PICTURES At The Town Hall, Newtown: This week is to be presented the amazing play of life and love and a woman’s way, “The Devil’s Passkey.” It is a thrilling, pulsating story of debts and tears, a production wondrous in its gorgeous settings. The story concerns an American author, living in Paris with an extravagant wife, who becomes hopelessly in debt at the shop of an unscrupulous modiste... An International News reel goes with the feature this week.

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The commencement exercises of Community school, Wednesday night, brought out an audience which crowded Town Hal to the doors. The bare interior of the Town Hall was transformed into a place of beauty. The colors used in the decorations were old rose and gray, and the hall has never looked prettier... The exercises opened with a brief word by the chairman of the Board of Governors, Mr H.N. Tiemann, Sr. In the name of the Community school he extended a welcome to this the school’s last public exercises. Owing to the munificent gift of the new Hawley school, the Community school will no longer be needed.

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Mr and Mrs Adolph Carlson entertained a party of friends very pleasantly, Friday night, at the Parker House. Dancing was enjoyed to Victrola music in the large dining room, and games occupied the attention of others at the party. Refreshments of cake and punch were served.

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The editors of the Community School paper scored a notable success in their School magazine, just out. It is very handsomely printed with a green cover, and the illustrations are unusually good. Our hearty congratulations are extended to Miss Helen H. Howard, editor-in-chief. The contents of the magazine are of an unusual high order from the school paper view point. They have reflected high credit upon Community school and upon themselves.

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The Sunrise hotel at Botsford had a propitious opening over Decoration day, over 200 people being present from New Haven, New York, Bridgeport and other places. Monday evening, Mrs Paul Tversky delighted those present by giving a piano recital.

Your memories are the ones we want to share! Do you have photographs of people or places in town from a bygone era? The Way We Were is the perfect landing spot so that your photographs can be enjoyed by Newtown Bee readers. Images can be e-mailed as attachments to editor@thebee.com, subject line: Way We Were photo. When submitting photographs, please identify as many people as possible, the location, and the approximate date.