A Look Back At The Many Stories About Newtowners In 2010

By Nancy K. Crevier

Spencer Gabriel Maddox nudged aside other entrants to become the winner of The Newtown Bee First Baby Contest of 2010. Spencer, the son of Nicole and Stephen Maddox, was born Monday, January 4, at St Raphael Hospital in New Haven, weighing 9 pounds, 7 ounces.

Due to the generosity and foresight of the late Mary A. Mitchell and Brookfield voice instructor Pamela J. Hoffman, handicapped access to the Newtown Meeting House on Main Street became a reality Monday, January 4. In June 2007, Mrs Mitchell made a substantial gift to the Heritage Preservation Trust, Inc, which maintains and improves the Newtown Meeting House, specifically to establish a Handicapped Access Fund. Shortly thereafter, Ms Hoffman, who uses the space for her vocal programs, heard about Mrs Mitchell’s pledge and became involved. Work began on the elevator in September 2009, keeping the historical aspect for the Meeting House in mind. The handicapped entry elevator is dedicated in honor of Mary A. Mitchell and in memory of K. Michael Hoffman, Ms Hoffman’s late husband. (Mary A. Mitchell died September 9, 2010.)

Bee readers visited the Garner Correctional Institution in 2010 via a story, to find out about a special program there, run by Newtown resident Mark Aldrich. Mr Aldrich is the Garner Correctional Institution librarian, and his work day is a juxtaposition of the normal alongside the atypical. But what he has done is to turn the prison library into a haven, as well as introduced writing programs and a lending library of movies. Prisoners presented a reading of their works and a play to a select audience later in the year.

Newtown native Bill Stern, the son of Julie and Peter Stern, presented two special showings of a full-length feature film co-authored by Adam Orman and himself at the C.H. Booth Library in February. Fifth Forum is a dark comedy about a war of pranks played at an elite boys’ school, around the time of the Gulf War in 1991, and the showings were one of the only chances Connecticut residents had to see the award winning indie film.

Postal patrons and members of the Save Hawleyville Post Office Committee eagerly awaited the opening of the new facility for the Hawleyville Post Office on March 15, at 23 Barnabas Road. The post office, which for 165 years has served area residents at sites on Route 25, was closed temporarily February 14, 2009, by the United States Postal Office (USPS), citing safety and customer service concerns. Through efforts of the grassroots Save Hawleyville Post Office organization, the office of Congressman Chris Murphy, former Newtown selectman Joe Borst, and many others, however, the USPS heeded the community’s voices and allocated emergency funding to relocate the post office and reinstate the personnel.

Area residents and supporters of the newly reopened Hawleyville Post Office joined local and state officials past and present in greeting Governor M. Jodi Rell at the new facility, for what Newtown First Selectman Pat Llodra called, “The second and final grand opening of the Hawleyville Post Office.” Supporters had unofficially celebrated the return of the post office to the Hawleyville area one week earlier, followed by a brief ribbon cutting ceremony that afternoon. The reopening followed three years of cat-and-mouse games between the local post office, local supporters, and the USPS in determining the fate of the popular Route 25 facility.

In April, Newtown resident Martin Margulies, a Quinnipiac University professor emeritus of law and longtime champion of the First Amendment to the United State Constitution and its Connecticut Constitution counterpart guaranteeing freedom of speech, exercise of religion, and assembly, was selected by House Majority Leader Denise Merrill (D-Mansfield, Chaplin) for a seat on the Connecticut Citizens’ Ethics Advisory Board. The responsibility of the Connecticut Citizens’ Ethics Advisory Board in overseeing activities of lobbyists and state officials who have any business with lobbyists is a valuable function of the board, said Mr Margulies, and one on which he was honored to sit.

Perspectives On Education

The Newtown Bee asked five residents ranging in age from middle school to post-retirement to think about education in broad terms, as well as on a local level. Several issues were common to the age groups, but whether those issues fell into the category of “good” for education or “bad” for education was viewed differently. Overall, education in our nation received decent grades, with room for improvement, from Les Burroughs, Pam Buchler, Chris Tomacek, Matthew Mossbarger, and Beth Uniacke.

Customers of Shortt’s Farm and Garden Center, 52 Riverside Road, have a local source of organic produce and eggs, and a selection of nursery stock, annuals, and herbs that are hardly touched by fertilizers, fungicides, or pesticides. “For a small piece of property, we have a lot. It’s high-density farming. But you can only grow so much, no matter how fertile the soil,” Mr Shortt told The Bee in May. But last winter’s acquisition of six acres of workable farmland on Cherry Street will change that. The purchase of the Cherry Street land means that they will be able to quadruple the size of the vegetable garden, as all vegetables will be grown there on four of the acres as of the summer of 2011.

National EMS (Emergency Medical Services) Week, May 16 to 22, was particularly special in Newtown this year, with the prestigious Christopher Blackwell Dedication to Service Award of the Danbury Hospital EMS System awarded to Newtown Volunteer Ambulance emergency medical technician Roger Connor, Jr. He was among hundreds nominated by peers in the Danbury region for the award that annually honors one emergency worker for exceptional commitment and dedication in the field of emergency services. Christopher Blackwell was a New York City firefighter from New Fairfield who perished in the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center.

Of Kindness And Kindles

One of 2010’s most heartwarming stories was the magic spun by the Kindle story. Three years ago, Hawley fourth grade teacher Lea Attanasio started an in-school book club that joined her fourth grade class and local senior citizens. “I wanted the program to be accessible to everyone who would like to participate, but I wasn’t sure how it would be possible for adults with vision difficulties,” said Ms Attanasio. When a friend showed her the Kindle electronic reader, though, Ms Attanasio was sure she had come upon the solution to the problem, and decided to write to Amazon soliciting a donation of the e-reader. She googled Kindle Corporation, and sent a letter to an Amazon executive and to Fred Kindle, asking if they would be willing to donate a Kindle. She received a phone call from a woman named Ellen Gatti. “She explained that while [Fred Kindle] shared the name with Amazon’s Kindle, he had no association with the product,” laughed Ms Attanasio. She had reached the office of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, a private equity firm in New York City. What Ms Gatti told the teacher next took her by complete surprise.

Ms Gatti was so impressed with the program described that she had passed the letter around the office and asked if anyone would be willing to contribute to a fund to purchase the book club a Kindle. “Then she told me that she had collected enough to buy two Kindles, she now had enough money to buy three and perhaps by the end of the day, four [Kindles],” Ms Attanasio recalled. Extra cash was directed to the Hawley fourth grade cross-generational book club in the form of an Amazon gift card. Elderly members took part in a training session this summer to “kindle” their knowledge of using the readers, and have been utilizing them successfully this school year, including one 80-year-old member who faithfully reads on the Kindle. The book group always welcomes new senior members, so anyone interested in being a senior book buddy, contact Ms Attanasio at Hawley School anytime.

Sonja and Larry Haskel have played tennis for nearly four decades and since 2000, have participated in the Connecticut Senior Games, winning a number of medals. This year, though, Sonja walked off the courts of the Senior Games, held in Manchester, May 22, with three gold medals to her name, and Larry with one gold medal. Sonja captured the three golds in ladies’ singles; ladies’ doubles, played with fellow Newtown resident Julie Stern; and in mixed doubles with her husband, all in the 65 to 69 age bracket. The placement entitles the couple to take part in the National Senior Games, scheduled for mid-June of 2011, in Houston, Texas, so look for coverage this coming year as the tennis player advances. The 2011 event will be the third time that the Haskels have taken part in the National Games.

Living Through Hard Times

For pockets of the community, living in one of Fairfield County’s wealthier towns is challenging. One couple shared their odyssey, anonymously, with Bee readers, of making do in Newtown in a time of economic crisis. The couple moved from Bridgeport to Newtown to take advantage of the great school system. “My husband is self-employed in construction and mechanics, and I was working as a paralegal in Bridgeport,” Mrs M said. “We were doing okay. We knew that the move to Newtown meant tightening our belts a little, though,” she said. “The first year was really wonderful, then it started going downhill,” she said. Construction and landscaping work began to peter out, and he was soon finding no regular work at all. Then Mrs M had her hours cut to part-time and the full cost of the move became apparent. Applications for full-time paralegal positions, when they came up, fell through. For many she was overqualified, or the position was not close enough to home. Tightening the belt was more than a literal term, eventually, with the adults in the household skipping meals to ensure the children could eat. Through it all, though, the family has maintained a sense of humor and hope, continuing to believe that the benefits outweigh the difficulties.

Pete Wilson, a speculation builder in Newtown, his wife Joanne, and their dog Buddy set off June 2, from Stratford, in their 39-foot trawler, The Tony M., a Mainship 350, on what is known as America’s Great Loop, a circumnavigation of Eastern North America by water. December found them still expecting to be back in Connecticut in June, and as much as they are having a fabulous experience, looking forward to being back in their house and sleeping in a real bed. “We are presently in Gulfport, Fla.,” wrote Ms Wilson on December 9, where they are pausing to recharge their batteries. “Gulfport was just what we needed.” The Wilsons hoped to meet up with Pete’s daughter Erika, her husband Charles, and their 22-month old, Lucienne, who are cruising down the East Coast in their 44-foot sailboat, for Christmas. Getting into the Christmas spirit was harder surrounded by palm trees, but lights on the trawler and some Christmas tunes helped get them through. “We have been on our journey for six months and have completed about 4,000 nautical miles,” Ms Wilson wrote to The Bee. Before they head back up the East Coast, they still plan to visit the Keys, the Bahamas, and to explore the St John’s River — weather permitting.

For the child with sensory processing issues, or who is “out-of-sync” for what may be a variety of physical and neurological reasons, C.H. Booth children’s librarian Alana Bennison observed that regular story time at the library was difficult for children with those issues. When she attended a workshop on a “sensory story time,” she realized the problem was widespread. This fall she received notification from GE Capital Real Estate that she had been awarded $5,200 to fund a story time to accommodate children with sensory processing issues, allowing the library to offer four, six-week sessions beginning in September. “The kids and families are really enjoying it,” reported Ms Bennison, as the second session came to a close. “For a variety of reasons and for a variety of children it has certainly been successful.” The sessions, which accommodate ten children and caregivers, have been fully subscribed, and she expects the upcoming two sessions, which begin after the new year, to be equally popular.

The Search For Cowboy

The happiest phone call she ever placed was the one Flo Thompson made to her husband, Jerry, in Virginia, Monday night, August 2: “The search is over! We’ve got Cowboy!” Cowboy, Ms Thompson’s 11-year-old, black and white cat, went missing Sunday, June 20, when the Thompsons stopped at the Exit 10 Mobil Station as they traveled back to Virginia from Maine. It was a waiting game until Ms Thompson received a call on July 31 from Fred Arther of Newtown. His 11-year-old son, Kevin, had spotted a cat at the roadside. Ms Thompson returned to Newtown, staked out the site, and then, “all of a sudden I could see him,” Ms Thompson said. “I meowed and whistled, and he came to me.”

Despite the fact that she is afraid of heights, when her mother, MaryJac Reed, a science teacher at Fairfield Ludlowe High School, suggested in June 2009, that she take advantage of Chapter 27 Experimental Aircraft Association’s (EAA) free chance to pilot a lightweight plane, “I said, ‘You have to ask?’” recalled Kira Reed. Following the exciting flight, she began attending meetings with the Meriden EAA group, and became a member when she turned 16. This spring, Chapter 27 sponsored Kira to attend the EAA Advanced Air Academy in Oshkosh, Wis., where she had the opportunity to take part in workshops and classes related to the art and science of aviation, and meet aviation professionals.

When weed-infested waters make a dive off of the end of the dock an unpleasant experience, what is a lakeside dweller to do? Rob Lynders found the solution to that problem this spring, when a wild wind broke free his dock from the gangway, and put into motion an idea that the Taunton Lake resident had been mulling over. He lag-bolted a 2-by-6 to the side of the 10- by 12-foot now-floating raft and mounted a 38-pound, battery-operated thrust motor onto it. The motorized dock was born, and the Lynders family became the envy of the lake community.

Longtime resident and community activist Caroline Stokes was philosophical as she pondered her impending move this October to North Carolina, after 64 years spent living mostly in Sandy Hook, and more recently in Heritage Village, Southbury. Teacher, Sunday School teacher, Girl Scout leader, founder of Newtown League of Women Voters, advocate for women and education, original member of Garden Club of Newtown and Horticulture Club, board member Sandy Hook Library, Board of Trustees for Booth Library, and Booth Library’s first curator, the lively nonagenarian was honored at a tea before embarking on her new life in the south.

Following on the heels of the Annual Tree Lighting in Ram Pasture, December 3, and the Sandy Hook Center Tree Lighting and festivities, December 4, the inaugural Hawleyville Tree Lighting took place December 5, in the Hawleyville Post Office Plaza, at 23 Barnabas Road. Hawleyville businesses, the Committee to Save Hawleyville Post Office, Hawleyville Environmental Advocacy Team (HEAT), and Hawleyville Volunteer Fire Company welcomed the public to what they hope will be the first of many tree lightings to come in the new Hawleyville business center.

A New Literary Magazine

Editor Georgia Monaghan and staff of The Newtowner officially launched the quarterly publication at a gala event, December 11, at the C.H. Booth Library, after months of collecting, editing, and creating Newtown’s first arts and literary magazine. The Newtowner is “devoted to all that is best about the place we call home. Our goal is to call attention to the rich and diverse cultural flavor of our local area, highlighting hometown writers, poets, artists, performers, and photographers,” said Ms Monaghan. Look for the second issue, due out March 1.

Something was missing since late August from the top of Hawley School. The quill and eagle weathervane decorating the cupola since the school was completed in 1922, had been removed and was in the care of Stuart Hall of Brook Farm Metal Works in Botsford since August 23, when Mr Hall climbed into the man bucket at the end of a 127-foot arm of a crane, and removed the damaged weathervane. The backbone of the weathervane, a one-inch thick, 12-foot steel rod running through the entire weathervane system, had rotted to less than a half-inch in one place, bending the weathervane nearly 30 degrees off the vertical. Between the fluted stem section and the pedestal, copper segments were missing and joints needed resoldering and releading. Repair work to the eagle itself was also needed. But on December 10, Mr Hall braved cold weather and ascended, once again, to replace the weathervane. The refurbished weathervane now moves freely and safely on its rooftop perch — and Mr Hall is safely back on terra firma.

“Fast away the old year passes,” goes the ancient Christmas carol, “Hail, the new, ye lads and lasses.” Happy New Year, 2011, to all.