March 11, 1994

Last week, the Behluli family faced very bleak prospects of being able to remain in Newtown when they found they could no longer stay in their Hawley Manor Inn apartment due to lack of hot water and adequate heating. But an overwhelming response from the community has resulted in a home, along with offers of money, legal counsel, furniture and assistance in moving, said Director of Human Services Sheila Knox. “We hope the family will be in their new place by this weekend,” she said. The Behlulis, who have spent the past week in a motel, will be renting a small house in Newtown. Although the family will live in a different school district, the children may be able to finish out the year at Hawley Elementary School. Ms Knox said her phone has been ringing non-stop with offers of temporary housing and other generous support. Mrs Behluli is still seeking permanent employment, perhaps working with children in a daycare center or as a companion to an older person.

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Some Sandy Hook residents lost electrical power several times early this week in incidents caused by falling tree limbs. “It’s been a really hard winter,” said Northeast Utilities spokeswoman Margo Jackson Douglas. “We’ve actually been fortunate that there haven’t been more widespread problems.” Ms Douglas said 1,131 customers off Route 34 near the Monroe line lost power at 7:42 am Tuesday when a tree limb fell on a wire. Power was restored at 8:51 am. Thirty-six customers on Nutmeg, Honey Lane, and neighboring streets lost power for about two hours shortly after 7 am on Sunday. At 10:10 pm on Monday the same circuit failed again at the substation, but workmen were unable to locate the cause. Power was restored at 11:56 pm.

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The Newtown Business and Professional Women’s Club is offering two $500 scholarships to women who either live or work in Newtown to help defray costs for education. The deadline for applying is March 30. Applicants may use the money to go back to school, to upgrade skills, for an advanced degree, or to help them change careers. The applicant must meet the following criteria: be at least 25 years old, a Newtown resident of employed in Newtown, be accepted into an accredited program or course of study, have a plan to use the desired training to improve chances of advancement, train for a new job or career change, and prepare an essay of no more than 250 words explaining the need for a scholarship.

On Monday, March 14, the Newtown Historical Society will present a talk on colonial herbs and their use in the home. Cheryl M. Compton, founder of Remnants of History, a group devoted to educating people about 18th Century ways of life, will give the talk. Ms Compton, active with the historical society for several years, will discuss the colonial kitchen garden’s importance, the garden’s common-sense planning, and the three important categories of the time period’s herbs. She will discuss the medical beliefs of out forebears and give the audience opportunity to sample medicinal recipes which were made in the home for the health and well-being of the family. All are welcome.

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Sophomore Marnie Larabee was the only Newtown High School athlete to win a medal at the CIAC Class M indoor track meet last week. Larabee, an All-State cross-country runner for Newtown last fall, placed sixth in Class M in the 1600 meters with a time of 5:33. Larabee’s teammate Sarah Zimmerman, also a sophomore All-State runner last fall, placed eighth in the event at 5:48. Other NHS track athletes who made the trip to the state meet included Kevin Walker, Julie Greene, Sarah Luchansky, Stephanie Hayes, and Courtney Elf. Larabee qualified for the state open held Saturday, March 5 at Yale University.

March 7, 1969

BEE-NAPPER: A Long Island subscriber writes as follows: “Someone is taking my Bee. Three issues have disappeared so far, including last week’s copy. Will you please send me another copy? Of course, it’s wonderful that someone on Long Island likes Connecticut enough to steal newspapers, but it is inconvenient for me.” Replacement Bee is on the way, what next?

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The establishment of updated highway construction priorities this past week includes several sections of vital concern to Newtown. Interstate 84, open on a two-lane basis from Church Hill Road to the Rochambeau Bridge at the Southbury town line, is to have lanes added. Rest areas at an estimated construction cost $1,450,000 are also to be built in Newtown, according to the State Highway Department. Announced time schedule for the addition of lanes from Church Hill Road to a point one-half mile west of the Housatonic River calls for preliminary engineering, right of way and construction prior to 1971. Rest areas are also to be constructed within this time period. The schedule for addition of lanes to the vicinity of Ichabod Road in Southbury calls for preliminary engineering prior to 1971, with acquisition of right of way and construction prior to 1975. A major portion of funds have already been appropriated for this work, according to the highway department.

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LET IT BEE KNOWN THAT... It seemed that during Monday’s snow the school buses were rumored to be both coming and going, with the question of a day in school up in the air. We reported Fred Parr in bed in Boston last week to find out that he is now home. Both George Thompson and Emagene Blamchard will celebrate birthdays on March 12. Oh, our congratulations to Ms Blanchard for taking down her Christmas wreath. We heard that she was trying to hold out, but the wreath didn’t. Hank Mahler is now in the process of growing a mustache since Chris Spiro has given up the fuzz. The date for Mack Lathrop’s spring dance is coming on fast, March 22. And the time is here for the Town Players who will dine and dance this Saturday night in the Alexandria Room. Over 250 people enrolled for the spring semester of Adult Education. We went down there to take a few pictures Monday night but did not get a real warm welcome in the Slimnastics class. One gal in the front row asked us to come back in five weeks.

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USE & ABUSE OF DRUGS PTA MEETING TOPIC: The Middle School PTA will meet Thursday, March 13, at 8 pm in the high school cafeteria to continue its study of drug problems. There will be two speakers. Tommasso Rendino, commissioner of the First District Juvenile Court, will speak on drug use and abuse as these apply to young people. Then Seymour Snide of the special behavior services office, New Canaan Board fo Education, will discuss drugs in the school system. He will cover the reasons for the problem and its extent. All interested people will be welcome, whether or not they are PTA members.

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The Jamie Kidney Fund will benefit from a square dance planned by the Rocking Roosters and the See-Saw Squares. It will take place Monday, March 16, at Newtown High School with Bob Paris and Shirley Ashe calling. It starts at 2 pm and keeps right on swinging until 5 o’clock. Donations asked of dancers are very small, and even less for those who want to watch. Mrs Anton Bittel is coordinating the dance and on her committee is Mrs James Pelletier, Mrs Walter Dutton, and William Kimball.

March 10, 1944

A number of Newtown friends attended the Shubert Theater in New Haven the latter part of last week to see Frank Parker in “Follow The Girls,” the season’s newest musical comedy, which opened at the Shubert last Thursday evening. The show received very favorable reviews and seems destined for a well merited run on Broadway. Mr Parker has the romantic lead, playing opposite Gertrude Niesen.

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Lady luck has yet to wave her magic wand in Newtown’s direction, so far as the boys’ basketball team at Hawley School is concerned. Friday evening when this team journeyed to Bethel, it received a severe defeat. The final score was Bethel 51, Newtown 7. Newtown lost one of its best players early in the game when Charles Swan suffered a dislocated finger. On March 17 the boys plan to play Danbury High in Danbury. Last Friday evening the Hawley girls also traveled to Bethel. The top scorer for Newtown was Virginia Wiser, who accumulated 10 points, while Miss Falls made 14 points for the Bethel team. The final score was 19-27 in Bethel’s favor.

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Mrs William M. McKenzie reports that her Sacred Lily of India had reached its prime on Tuesday afternoon, the flower measuring 25 inches and the shoot standing 48 inches high. She expects that the lily will continue at its best through Sunday, and anyone wishing to see it is welcome to call at the McKenzie home. The flower is more perfect than last year and presents a sight well worth seeing. The smaller lily has now grown to more than 20 inches, the bud measuring 9 inches. It will not be in full bloom for another week.

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The Bee is happy to announce that the Newtown Board of Education has secured for the school year 1944-45, the services of a physical education director who will not only have charge of the physical education work in the schools but also conduct an athletic program in town. Through state supervisor Frank W. Knight, an interview was held in Newtown last Thursday, when members of the school board, Chamber of Commerce committee, and Parent-Teacher Association, met Harold S. DeGroat of the Springfield , Mass. Y.M.C.A. College. The education board offered him a contract that evening, which he has since accepted. Mr DeGroat favorably impressed those who met him. He will come back to Newtown with a background that admirably qualifies him for the work here. Since 1925 he has been faculty manager of athletics at Springfield College, where he also taught the theory of basketball coaching, as well as classes in theory of football, public school physical education administration and athletic organization. He coached the varsity basketball team for 17 seasons, the freshmen team for 15 seasons, and the freshmen swimming team for three seasons. Mr DeGroat is a graduate of Springfield College, 1914.

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On March 15 the Red Cross canvassers will start their work in Newtown, and there is every reason to expect their calls will solicit a generous response. Newtown’s quota is $7,200, which means that individual donations this year should be sixty percent larger than last year. But, percentages aside everyone will want to give just as generously as circumstances permit. The Red Cross is one agency this old world cannot do without. Our boys in service tell us so, and that is reason enough to give all we can afford.

February 28, 1919

Microfilm for the January 17 through April 18, 1919 issues of The Newtown Bee are not available. It is unclear why New England Micrographics, Inc in 2000 was not able to produce film for these dates. Based on the poor quality of the early January issues, the film for which reveals torn and damaged originals, the newspapers for these dates may have been destroyed.

Please consider sharing your old photographs of people and places from Newtown or Sandy Hook with The Newtown Bee readers. Images can be e-mailed to kendra@thebee.com, or brought to the office at 5 Church Hill Road to be scanned. When submitting photographs, please identify as many people as possible, the location, and the approximate date.