The large copper bee weathervane which was stolen from the top of The Bee offices sometime late Friday night or early Saturday morning, February 21 and 22, is still missing with no clue as to its whereabouts.

***

There is a petition submitted asking that the Town-owned Stefanko property in Sandy Hook be exempted from the zoning regulations to enable a town garage to be built there, but whether or not it is valid still remains to be answered. The petition, circulated by employees of the Newtown Highway Department, was presented to the first selectman Tuesday afternoon by Jack Butler, union president, and road crew member Paul Tani. Prior to verification of signatures by the town clerk it contained 160 signatures, and Mr Butler said additional forms were to be presented. Seventy-five signatures are necessary to call a town meeting, according to Town Charter.

***

For every action there is a reaction, and 83 residents, primarily of Sandy Hook, reacted strongly this week to the petition calling for suspension of zoning for the Town-owned Stefanko property in that part of Newtown. That number of persons signed their names to petitions which were presented this week to the first selectman, stating they “strongly oppose the use of the Stefanko property on Philo Curtis Road, for a town garage and maintenance facility.”

***

Student behavior in the Middle School, bus transportation problems for a pupil, the design for the new elementary school and budgetary problems were all topics of discussion during the public participation part of the Board of Education meeting Tuesday night. Behavioral problems in the Middle School came under fire at the beginning of the discussion, and they were brought forth by a parent of a student in the school who said she found the atmosphere and attitudes there to be “appalling.” On frequent visits which she had to make to the school, she said she witnessed youngsters carrying knives, petting and necking in the halls, foul language being directed at fellow students and also teachers, and water spitting. She told board members that she was also knocked down once in the halls by a group of students.

***

“A complete absence of backup data and, in some cases, outright misrepresentation” characterize a State Department of Transportation Route 25 feasibility study, according to spokesmen for Environmental Study and Protection Inc, a tri-town citizen’s action group opposing construction of the new superhighway. “Read the thing. It seems to be based entirely on statistics gathered in 1957,” ESP chairman Seth O.L. Brody charges. “When they talk about ‘rapidly increasing traffic,’ they’re talking about an increase rate twenty years out of date. Either they don’t want to reveal the results of more recent studies, or they simply haven’t made them.”

***

“What’s going to happen to Newtown in the next few years?” was the concern of the League of Women Voters’ panel discussion held on February 24, as summed up by Mrs Barbara Phillips, chairman of the LWV planning and zoning study committee and hostess of the event. For an answer, the League invited four men involved in planning the future of Newtown to speak. Philip Kopp, chairman of Newtown’s Planning and Zoning Commission, led off with a talk on “Newtown—1985.” Following him was Merrill Lincoln, a principal in Technical Planning Associates of New Haven which drew up a plan for Newtown’s development in 1969. Richard Carnaghi, an engineer with the Heritage Development group of Southbury, gave the developer’s view of town planning. The final speaker was Richard Symonds, planning coordinator for the State’s Department of Finance and Control, who discussed the state’s role in land use planning.

***

On the afternoon of February 14 Newtown detectives received a tip from an unknown person indicating a quantity of marijuana was being stored in an unoccupied room of the Sandy Hook Hotel. Det Sgt Michael DeJoseph, Sgt Robert Taylor and Det Raymond Paccadolmi went to the hotel and in the room uncovered three suitcases which contained approximately 41 pounds of marijuana, all bagged in plastic. The marijuana was taken to headquarters, and although no arrests have been made concerning the discovery, the detectives report having some suspects.

MARCH 3, 1950

The Pine Tree Patrol, made up of the older Boy Scouts, left for the Scoutmaster’s camp at Francestown, New Hampshire on Tuesday afternoon. They plan to return home Friday night. With good luck, there will be skiing on the nearby slopes, and if conditions are just right, it may be possible to spend a day on one of the slopes in the White Mountains. There are ten members of the party. Rev Paul A. Cullens, Scoutmaster, is driving one car, and Hoyt Johnson is acting as assistant and driving the other car. Bob Richmond, an Eagle Scout, is senior or patrol leader; Fred Benton, junior leader and cook. Ralph Berkemann is scribe in charge of all monies and records. Oliver Hull is baker and assistant cook. Thomas Digilio is lighter in charge of illumination and heat. David Hull is the waterboy. Skipper McCain is handyman, and Thomas Knox is woodman.

***

Newtown has received another flag to adorn the new flagpole through a gift from Mrs John F. Ross of Main Street and reported by First Selectman A. Fenn Dickinson. The new flag is a Number 4, the regulation US Navy size for a 100-foot pole, and is approximately 12½ by 23½  feet in size. The flag flown at the dedication was one presented to the town by Mrs Antoinette Lawson, being the flag which she received from the War Department following the death of her husband, Captain Peter Lawson, in World War II.

***

Plans for a unified shopping center to be completed in Newtown before early autumn were publicly announced this week by Alexander W. Allport, general manager of The Newtown Company, Inc. The project is to be known as The Market Place, Mr Allport stated, and “will fill the needs of our local merchants for newer and more efficient quarters, giving the people of Newtown the long awaited shopping facilities they deserve.” The plans, as outlined by Mr Allport and other directors of the company, will provide facilities for nine retail stores and numerous professional offices. The key tenant will be a nationally known chain grocery store, although all other sites have been kept open to application.

***

The annual sale of Easter Seals for the benefit of the Connecticut Society for Crippled Children and Adults will officially open on March 9 when letters containing seals will be mailed to a large body of Connecticut citizens, according to Mrs George M. Stuart, local chairman.

***

A large audience braved the storm of last Thursday night to attend a showing of The Secret Garden at Edmond Town Hall Theatre under sponsorship of the Newtown Camp Fire Girls. The proceeds, for which the final figures are not yet available, will be used to further the work of Camp Fire in Newtown. Mrs John R. McMahon was chairman in charge of the project.

***

A public hearing on an operating budget for Regional High School District No. 3 will be held in the Edmond Town Hall gymnasium Monday evening, March 13, at 8 o’clock. The budget was adopted by the Regional Board of Education at a meeting held in the Southbury Consolidated School on February 22. This budget covers the period July 1, 1950 to June 30, 1951 and amounts to $133,965.

***

More than 100 townspeople observed the World Day of Prayer at a service held in the Newtown Congregational Church last Friday afternoon at 3:30 o’clock. Similar to services held the world over, the ministers of Newtown and Sandy Hook conducted the devotional program and the Rev Paul A. Cullens, pastor of the Congregational Church, spoke on the theme for the day, “Faith for Our Time.”

 

FEBRUARY 27, 1925

The family of Edward Taylor of Sandy Hook is now under quarantine, as a daughter of Mr Taylor is believed to have diphtheria.

***

Mrs F.A. Yard of Taunton has had a radio installed in her residence.

MARCH 2, 1900

The Rubber Shop was slack of hands last week, over 40 being out on account of grip. The Rubber is rushed with orders and is working nights, which makes the shortage of hands unusually trying.

***

Gilbert H. Purdy, who was a seaman on the warship Olymphia at the battle of Manila, May 1, 1898, has been a guest of Frank B. Drew at the Hawleyville Hotel this week.