Town officials and community figures have volunteered to perch on a precarious plank over the dunk tank at the Summer Festival Block Party this Saturday night from 6 – 11 p.m.  Anyone willing to pay for chances to toss balls at a target can dunk them and at the same time help the Newtown Ambulance Association.

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Bumper-to-bumper traffic on Route 6-25 in Newtown for about three hours on Tuesday resulted from a jackknifed flatbed which spilled steel girders across the interstate. The accident caused another truck, carrying beer, to topple over as the driver tried to brake to avoid the obstruction.

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The six residents of Smoke Rise Ridge, a private road, have petitioned the Board of Selectmen to bring the street into the Newtown road system under the provisions on the town’s road ordinance. If the road is taken over by the town all repairs and plowing would be done by Newtown.

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Nearly one year after the Newtown Health Department nearly shut down the Sandy Hook Post Office for polluting the Pootatuck River, a permanent solution to raw sewerage entering the water has been accomplished.

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With August 22 marking the 50th anniversary of the opening of Edmond Town Hall, the town hall’s managers this week announced that formal ceremonies are set for Thursday, August 21. As part of the celebration the managers announced that anyone having old newspaper clippings or photographs relating to the opening of the town hall in 1930, or its construction, may submit them. The managers stressed they are looking for nonprofessional photos.

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Unofficial 1980 census counts released in the last week by the Bureau of the Census show Newtown’s population growth may not be as high as some have thought, while the rate of housing unit growth has out-stripped population.

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Congregation Adath Israel’s Annual Corn Party will be held at the Huntington Road Synagogue on Saturday, August 16. Newtowners can enjoy Sam Nezvesky’s freshly picked corn and tomatoes and homemade sour pickles.

August 5, 1955

Latest word on Newtown’s 250th anniversary parade from parade chairman, James Brunot and his committee, is that there will be no less than 13 Drum and Bugle Corps, 20 floats, six modern fire companies with some ancient equipment, four old cars, a motorized contingent from the Connecticut National Guard, a group of horsemen from the Flying W ranch, many marchers…fire companies…automobiles carrying officials…headed up by an open car carrying Gov Ribicoff and his party.

***

Following a meeting of the Elementary School Building Committee on Monday, August 1, it was decided to throw out all bids on the general contract for the construction of the Sandy Hook elementary school and call for new bids. The lowest acceptable bid did not fall within the budget of the committee.

***

 The weather, remarkable for the end of July, was perfect, the directions were simple, each house with its red and white poster was easy to spot; the punch delicious; the hostesses clearly took pleasure in their duties, and the 235 people, including a fair number of children who went to Newtown’s first Old House Tour seemed to enjoy the whole thing thoroughly.

***

 Of the 400 lower grade children eligible for the Salk polio vaccine shots in the Newtown schools, 210 received their injections on Wednesday morning in Hawley School under the supervision of Dr J. Benton Egee, town health official. Two future dates have been set for those youngsters who did not receive their shots.

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Joan Rumble, 16, an active member of the Cloverettes 4-H Club of Newtown, has been named state winner in the Yeast Bread Demonstration Contest which was held last Friday at the University of Connecticut, Storrs. Joan is in her fourth year of club work and has carried Food Preparation, Food Preservation, Clothing, Ironing, Home Improvement, Baby Sitting and Demonstrations as part of her 4-H program.

***

Harry King Tootle, chairman of the Newtown Chapter of the American Red Cross, awarded 117 certificates to swimmers who had completed their various tests during the six-weeks program at Curtis Pond. With five junior lifesavers starting off the new year, the season has now added 18 more.

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This Summer, As Always… You’ll find the best food at The Village Coffee Shop, prepared to your taste and served in our cool new dining room at prices that will please you.

Choice Filet Mignon Dinner….2.95; Fried Deep Sea Scallops…1.35; Cold Boiled Ham and Potato Salad Plate…1.00; “Angel’s Delight” Sandwich (steak)….60; Tuna Salad Sandwich….45

Jim and Esther Howard, Proprietors

Church Hill Road, Route 6

August 1, 1930

  There is a pet monkey wandering about in the woods adjoining Taunton Lake, and if he is seen by any of the local residents, Allan Thompson of Liberty Street, Bridgeport, would like to know about it. Frightened by thunder and lightning, Thursday afternoon, while in the trees at Taunton Lake, Chicko, the pet monkey, disappeared and since then has been the object of a fruitless search.

***

 The Newtown Cemetery Association has just purchased from Power Equipment & Service Co., Inc, a Coldwell twin-thirty power lawn mower with gauge and sulky attachment which enables Mr Conners to cut a swath five and one-half feet wide, which more than cuts the time in half in cutting the large new lawns.

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While driving by the Cavanaugh pond at Hanover, on Thursday, Benedict Fitzgerald, Sr, and family discovered a large turtle swimming in the pond. Benedict Jr called Michael Cavanaugh, who shot the turtle with a ten gauge shot gun. The weight of the turtle was about 40 pounds.

At a meeting of the building committee of the Board of Trustees of the new Fairfield State hospital in Hartford, Wednesday, the bids were opened for the building of the first unit of the new hospital to be erected in Newtown. There has been no decision as to whom the contract will be awarded.

***

An informal opening of the new Edmond Town hall will take place on August 22, which is the birthday of the donor of the beautiful building, Miss Mary Elizabeth Hawley. The general  public will be invited to look the structure over, and a committee will be appointed to receive them and show them through.

***

Sandy Hook increased their winning streak to three straight games, Sunday, by taking the measure of the Miller All Stars, winners of the first section of play by the score of 12 to 5.

August 4, 1905

In order to remove any doubt that may have arisen in the minds of some that the first purchase of land from the Pootatuck Indians in what is now the township of Newtown bears date of July 25, 1705, we give below from the Town Records a copy of a deed to that effect. The names of the 17 Indians who signed the instrument, together with their marks, are so indistinct that no attempt was made to copy them for this occasion, and as they have no acquaintances living in Newtown at the present time, that seems a good excuse for the omission.

***

Gov Roberts will arrive in Newtown, Friday night at 6:02 from New Haven. He will be met by a committee of two from the executive committee, Ezra Levan Johnson and Rev J.H. George. The governor’s salute of 17 guns will be fired by members of the fireworks committee. The Governor will be conveyed to the Grand Central hotel parlors, where he will meet informally the members of the Bi-Centennial Executive committee.

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The editor of The Bee had occasion, recently, to call at the Castle to see our genial townsman, Hon P.L. Ronalds, on a matter of business connected with the celebration. He was pleased to show the scribe the garden, which is in a flourishing condition. It appears in the early spring, that the frost several times nipped the fast growing vegetables. The gardener conceived the idea of using the droppings which are scraped from under the hen roost every day and mixing that with a little earth. He found that everything grew much faster. Poultry ought to be an important feature on every farm.

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On exhibition at the Central house stables is a mammoth snapping turtle weighing about 30 pounds. It was caught by Bert Wildman. His turtleship has attracted not a little attention.

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THE TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE PARISH. A SKETCH BY THE RECTOR, THE REVEREND OTIS OLNEY WRIGHT. St John’s church, Sandy Hook, is the offspring of Trinity, Newtown. In the springtime of 1864 Mrs Susan Nichols Glover, the wife of William B. Glover, seeing the need of more personal, local Sunday school work in the village, gathered the children together in her home and taught them. …after a while the school was removed to the upper-room of the old store building… later the Masonic hall.. until the present church edifice was erected.

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SPECIAL TRAIN FOR SATURDAY. The New York & New Haven road has promptly met the wishes of the Bi-Centennial Executive committee by putting on a special train. It will leave Bridgeport Saturday, August 5, at 9:30 am, stopping at all intermediate stations. On the return trip it will leave Newtown for Bridgeport at 5:30 pm.