Newtown's Ambassadors Of Music:

By CURT CLARK

Published: Mar 17, 2006 12:00 am

Newtownâs Ambassadors Of Music:

To the Editor:

A concert and music festival experience in Italy is a return to the roots of Western Civilization. Musical heritage was born in Italy as the Italians, with help from the French, invented the system of musical notation used today. Regardless of oneâs musical tastes â classical, opera, baroque, etc â the roots are all found in Italy. Italian composers like Verdi, Gabrieli, Monteverdi, Paganini, Vivaldi, Puccini, and Rossini are household names.

The Newtown High School Orchestra and Chorus will travel to Italy in April as ambassadors of music for the American Celebration of Music 2006. The invitation to perform in this country is truly an honor. During their ten-day tour, the musicians will play in Rome, Florence, Venice, and Milan. The chorus will sing in St Peterâs Cathedral on Aril 17, during a special Easter mass. These musical messengers have the distinguished privilege of placing Newtown, Conn., on the international map. (âIt is Nicer in Newtownâ â and our music program is no exception.) We can all be very proud of this exceptional group of kids, products of our school system.

Orchestra members have worked hard to fundraise for this trip as well as promote the town of Newtown by organizing the Monopoly-like game âNewtownopoly.â The group is seeking local businesses to purchase advertising spots on the board. This fundraiser is a great way to promote any Newtown business, big or small. For example, if your business purchased the âDeed cardsâ for the game, similar to the cards in Monopoly, each time a player buys a property in the game, they receive a deed card. On each card, the information about that property is listed on one side of the card and the sponsorâs business name is printed on the back. There are 28 deed cards, so the sponsorâs logo is printed 28 times. With 1,000 games in circulation, this would equal 28,000 advertising impressions.

This unique game will be in circulation for many years and since it is a limited edition, it will be a âcollectorâs item,â making it a lasting advertisement investment versus a single season or year investment. (Donât forget, it is 100 percent tax deductible and David Merrillâs incredible art work of our famous Labor Day Parade is on the front of the game making this a collectible art piece!)

Orchestra members will be hosting a âMusical Marathonâ on March 18, from 11 am to 4 pm, at Lexington Gardens to acquire more sponsorships and presell games. Please come join the fun while listening to music, playing the game, and shopping!

If you have a business in Newtown and are interested in investing in our townâs music program as well as your own business, please call me at 270-9763 by March 30.

The High School Orchestra and the town of Newtown are grateful for the commitment, excitement, and contribution Newtown business owners and residents have made to this fundraiser. Your support can help make the musical magic come true for these outstanding young people as well as help us all celebrate Newtown! Thank you! Ciao!

Linda Jones

16 Walnut Tree Hill Road, NewtownÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â March 15, 2006

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Reservoir Rd. does indeed appear to have an interesting history that I often ponder as I hike the Rochambeau Trail. Early on it was apparently part of a main route from the center of the Borough to Taunton, which went up Mt. Pleasant Rd. and then roughly followed a watershed boundary from Mount Pleasant to Taunton Hill. When the current switchback road was built from West St. to Castle Hill in the 1800s, replacing the indirect route through the campground that Rochambeau used, the part of that original route to Taunton now known as Reservoir Rd. became redundant. But on an 1868 town map and topographic maps from 1892 and 1915, it looks like both routes were still maintained as roads. By the time of the 1934 aerial survey of CT, the connection to Mount Pleasant Rd. (maybe called Reservoir Rd. by then since the reservoir is visible) even had two outlets onto Castle Hill Rd. Since it is only shown as a partial dashed line on a 1953 topographic map, it may have stopped being maintained as a passable through road by then. But on a 1963 topographic map, where the section down to Knollwood Dr. had become a normal road again, the other end is shown as a dashed-line road, still with two connections to Castle Hill Rd., and a structure on the east side where one can still find remnants of a house today. Maybe a longtime resident can add comments about what it looked like in the 1950s and 1960s?

Clarity on Reservoir Road and the Rochambeau Trail

Please stop referring to your fellow Newtowners as the Mob. I was at the Legislative Council meeting where Mr. Pisani insulted the intelligence of a room full of Newtown voters; twice, and not in a satirical way. Plenty of new projects have been given the green light - the repurposing of the Taunton Press property is a welcome addition to Town, a new retail center is under construction on Church Hill Rd there are ongoing plans for the existing Fairfield Hills campus. Newtown is a wonderful place to live. Kudos to the Town officials who have managed to grow Newtown and maintain a small town feel, which may mean saying no to development more often than you would like. There will always be two sides to any proposal - different points of view are welcome and essential - name calling adds nothing to the conversation.

Who is Calling Newtowners Stupid?

Appreciate your perspective. Rather than litiate all of your opinions expressed here, here....I would like correct your opinion about the BOS having the final authority on road discontinuance decisions. State statute (CT GS 13a-49), requires the BOS' decision to be approvate by a majority vote at a regular or special town meeting (just like the one Newtown had a few years back to decide to spend the money to build an addition onto the High School). In towns that no longer have any town meetings, that responsibility would fall on the town's representaive government, or legislative body....in Newtown's case, our Legislative Council. Failure to follow this statutory process is but one of the reasons the town/the BOS is being sued.

There are many private roads in Newtown where they property owner owns right to the center line, for example this is often true in the lake communities. Many of these roads predate and do not conform to the Town's roads standard and therefore the Town never accepted them into the Town road system. Does the Town actually own this road?

It’s important to clarify the tone and context of Derek Pisani’s remarks, particularly the satirical line about suing Newtown for "Gross Stupidity." This was clearly a tongue-in-cheek jab at the exhausting culture of legal threats that’s become a staple on the local Facebook Group forums. It was a reflection of frustration over endless regulatory hurdles and obstructionism, and the desire to avoid common sense solutions not an insult aimed at residents. Satire, is meant to provoke thought and highlight the absurdities. If we are unable to distinguish between satire and literal threats, perhaps the comment hit closer to the truth than we’d like to admit. Rather than focusing on Pisanis style, we should be discussing the substance of what he’s pointing out: that Newtown’s progress is being routinely blocked by a small but vocal contingent who seem intent on saying “no” at every turn. They are saying no to any development, no to common sense solutions to crowd control, etc. Newtown deserves leaders who are willing to call things as they see them, even if their language ruffles feathers. That doesn’t mean they lack respect for constituents—it means they care enough to challenge the Mob and push for solutions. Isn't that what we elect people to do? I applaud Pisani's dedication, he certainly has earned my vote. Regardless, let’s not reduce conversation to tone-policing and outrage. Let’s focus on the issues that matter.

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