May 7, 1993

Following a water main break off South Main Street most Newtown Water Company customers lost all water service Tuesday, inconveniencing people in residences, businesses, schools, and public buildings. Workmen labored at the pipe break in a flooded field near Amaral Motors, finally fixing it around 2:30 pm. To get water back into the water company's pipelines, firemen from Newtown Hook and Ladder connected it with the Fairfield Hills Hospital's water supply system. The section of Queen Street between Mile Hill Road and Lovell's Lane was closed to traffic as pumping was underway. The pipe rupture was one of the worst water system failure for the company in quite a while.

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Several thousand people from all over the United States and abroad will participate in the fourth annual walkathon to benefit the internationally choir Gloria Dei Cantores (Singers to the glory of God). Shirley Jessup is coordinating efforts for the march in Newtown. Dedicated to dissolving barriers of language, culture and political ideology by being an instrument of hope, the Massachusetts-based choir directed by Elizabeth Patterson has performed in 16 countries. The walk, called Walk for the Glory of God, will take place all over the country on May 15. A coordinator like Mrs Jessup will call friends and ask them to walk two miles. Each walker is to get sponsors, asking each to donate tax-deductible gifts of $25. The proceeds support the choir.

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The problem of vandalism at the Congregational Church Nursery School playground next to Edmond Town Hall has surfaced again now that warmer spring weather has arrived. Kathy Murdy, director and teacher at the cooperative nursery school, said most of the play equipment in the fenced area behind the church house on Main Street has been damaged, with most damage occurring on Friday nights, the traditional movie night for middle school students. The building managers at the Edmond Town Hall sympathized with the problem but said it is unfair to blame the middle school students who attend Friday movies for the actions of a small group. "It's heartbreaking to have to tell little children that they can't use the equipment because it is broken," said Mrs Murdy. "And they can't understand who the 'big kids' would do this to them."

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The Town Players will open their 1993 season this weekend with the hilarious Ken Ludwig comedy, Lend Me A Tenor. Directed by Evelyne Thomas, the play tells of the mayhem and mishaps that ensue when a famous opera star is invited to perform at the Cleveland Grand Opera Company for a benefit performance and then cannot perform. Lend Me A Tenor opens Friday, May 7, and plays every Friday and Saturday through May 29.

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HOW SWEET IT IS! The Newtown High School girls' lacrosse team gained its first victory of the season last Friday by thumping Ridgefield by an 11-1 score. It also was the first taste of victory for new coach Kathy Dennehy, whose squad bounced back from a 13-2 defeat by Hand High of Madison the day before. The Indians, who led by only 4-1 at halftime, put on a second half surge that closed out the visiting Ridgefield team in a game played on the upper soccer field at Newtown High School.

May 10, 1968

The first ball of the Little League season was tossed out by the organization's past president John Gurtlinger, last Saturday morning. Waiting on the pitcher's mound for the ball were Dodgers and Yankees members, the two teams picked for the opener, with Tim Kayfus coming up with the prize.

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On Saturday, April 27, there was a fracas following the closing of The Cellar in the Edmond Town Hall parking lot, following the usual Saturday night dance. One policeman was later admitted to Danbury Hospital following injuries from the incident. The disturbance was caused, investigations showed, by some Bridgeport young people attending the dance. On the following Saturday the dance was canceled because no constables would appear for duty. Because of the inability to obtain supervision, The Cellar has been closed indefinitely. The incident prompted several questions about the teens' rights to use public facilities, the reasonableness of constables being able to arbitrarily reject assignments, and other questions regarding the behavior of teens and whether they can exert pressure among themselves to see that activities are conducted reasonably.

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Two "descendants" of trees which can be said to have arrived on the Mayflower were planted Tuesday afternoon, May 7, at Dickinson Memorial Park. Trees were presented to Newtown by the national Mariano Mayflower Transit Company, through local agents, Mariano Brothers of Danbury. Officials including First Selectman Timothy B. Treadwell, and Mrs Charles O'Connor of the Parks and Recreation Commission enjoyed a ceremonial planting of the English Hawthorns, commonly called Mayflower trees, since the likeness of their blossoms is said to have been painted on the stern of the ship that brought Pilgrims to America in 1620. Similar contributions are being made by local Mayflower agents across the country as a contribution to national beautification.

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By demand, the Newtown Couples Club is going to have a Potluck Dinner on Saturday, May 11, at 7 pm. Everyone coming may bring a favorite casserole! Following will be the popular swapping game of your favorite or unwanted item, that you would like to give away. Make sure it is gift-wrapped, one per person.

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In matters of sharing their blood, citizens of Newtown have not done very well in recent blood banks. Surely, we all appreciate the blood bank program, but appreciation has not been matched by performance. We have fallen short of meeting the town's quota. The next blood bank comes on Tuesday, May 14, in Stratford Hall of the Fairfield Hills Hospital. The Newtown Jaycees are sponsoring the project and have made a wide appeal for donors. As an added incentive, Tony Di Preta, who draws the Joe Palooka comic strip, has agreed to draw a sketch of each donor.

May 14, 1943

Spring of 1943 has been an obstinate kind of affair. Rain, chill breezes and a lack of warm sunshine have been all around us. The gardens have been vexed, for in this year when gardening is so necessary, the weather has been against those who would put in early plantings. But the balmy days of springtime always do arrive, as season follows season, so why worry? There is always that well-known bit of advice - if you don't like the weather in New England, just wait a minute. How we love New England!

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This begins the week of the PTA campaign to raise funds for the Sandy Hook Hot Lunch Project, scheduled to open next fall. Mrs Bert Carey and Mrs Reginald Watkins, co chairs of the drive, have distributed books of chances to the many townspeople who have long been in favor of the school lunch program, and early reports show an enthusiastic response. The attractive war bond prices of $50 and $25, respectively, add considerably to the interest.

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Friends in town will be interested to know that Miss Rose Feld of the Taunton District is the author of a new book, Sophie Helenczik, American, published by Little Brown and recently very favorably reviewed in the New York press. The book has for its locale a Connecticut town 20 miles north of Bridgeport and pictures with vividness the unusual personality of Sophie Helenczik as she lives and conducts her the affairs of her family brought to Connecticut from Czechoslovakia. The book will be read with particular pleasure here in Newtown, where its author is so well-known as a resident.

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The annual Junior-Senior Reception of Hawley High School will be held on Friday evening, May 21, in the Edmond Town Hall Alexandria Room. Tickets are available to alumni and townspeople wishing to attend. The high school students are looking forward to an enjoyable evening.

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Platoon Sergeant Charles Dean Perry, who has recently been stationed at Camp LeJune, N.C., has been transferred to Camp Pendleton, Oceanside, Calif. He writes that everything is fine with him and sends best regards to friends in Newtown.

May 10, 1918

August Winters, the four-year-old son of Mr and Mrs Albert Winters of Hawleyville, was the victim of an unfortunate accident, the other day. While playing in the yard of a relative, a companion pulled a rope, releasing a plank which was up in an apple tree. It fell, striking Master Augustus. It made a fracture about three inches long. Dr W.H. Kiernan was summoned and sent the young man to Danbury Hospital.

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It is a simple process helping to fight the enemy with Thrift stamps. When purchasing, for instance, at Mellan's, buy a thrift stamp or several. You are loaning the money to your country, not giving it. You will receive interest money later.

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Selectman Allison P. Smith and Mrs William B. Glover motored to Green's Farms Tuesday night, Mr Smith giving a story recital in Green's Farm Congregational Church. Refreshments were served. A rising voice of thanks was given the speaker of the evening.

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The Schielke homestead in the Purchase has been sold to T.C. Maine of Brooklyn, N.Y. This is one of the attractive places of the valley, overlooking the Housatonic River. The sale was made through the agency of Howard and Briscoe of Bethel.

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Mr and Mrs Howard Behn of Bridgeport and Mr and Mrs John Behn of Dodgingtown motored to Cornwall Bridge, last Sunday to visit W.L. Behn, who expects to be called in June, to service.kendra@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 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.

[naviga:img class="aligncenter wp-image-319097" src="https://newtownbee.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/way-we-were-May-4-2018-WATERMARKED.jpg" alt="way we were - May 4, 2018 WATERMARKED" width="800" height="542" /]

With no clues about why the group gathered with First Selectman Jack Rosenthal (front, center) on what appears to be the entry steps at Edmond Town Hall, writing on the back of this photo gives only a date of November 23, 1984.

-Bee file photo