August 4, 1995

The see-sawing issue of whether sanitary sewers should be installed in front of the houses on the east side of Main Street or behind those houses has tilted again. The residents on the east side of the street who don’t want sewers in their back yards visited the WPCA on July 28 to make their case... The residents asked that the WPCA reconsider installing sewers in front of the houses provided that the residents are able to collect endorsements for such placement from the owners of 90 percent of the properties that would have sewers place in their back yards. WPCA chairman Peter Alagna added the requirement that residents obtain an endorsement for installing sewers in front of the houses from people who initially endorsed having sewers installed in back yards to preserve the trees in front of the houses.

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Newtown’s middle schoolers will start the school year in high-tech style. Instead of the decade-old Apple 2e computers, the students will be working on Power Macs and pentium-chip personal computers. Quite an improvement.

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Slightly cooler weather predicted for the weekend is expected to break what may be a record 12 days of temperatures that reached 90 or above in Newtown. With the heat wave came several severe thunderstorms that caused trees to fall and knocked out power in scattered areas around town and in surrounding communities.

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A proposal to change the town’s ordinance on false alarms has been put on hold indefinitely while officials try new procedures aimed at solving the problem. Pierre Rochman, chairman of the Legislative Council’s ordinance committee, said a new procedure was initiated by First Selectman Bob Cascella several months ago so that when a permit is issued by the town’s building department for an alarm system, a copy of the information is automatically sent to the police department... Mr Rochman said no action will be taken to change the ordinance until it can be determined how well the new procedures are working.

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Jim York does not talk to plants, he listens to them. Before he prunes, he waits to be inspired by a particular slant or turn of a branch. But once the design is apparent, Mr York turns into the plastic surgeon of the plant world, concerned more with bone structure than bloom or berry. While there are obvious hints that Mr York’s property is unconventional — whimsical sculpture and the use of stacked newspaper as borders, for instance — the real difference stems from the way he sculpts plants.

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Chrystie Quintiliano, 11, of Sandy Hook, will be heading off to Fresno, Calif., later this month and it’s all because of some birthday cake and a pair of $2 tag sale roller skates. Chrystie, who will be entering the sixth grade at Newtown Middle School in the fall, will be off to Fresno for the United States Roller Skating Championships and she is heading there as the Northeast Regional Champion after placing first in figures and first in freestyle at competition in Schenectedy, New York.

July 31, 1970

There is an Ugly Duckling living on Butterfield Road who may not know his identity, but he is surrounded by many loving friends and is happily accepted as a member of the family. He will never become a swan, though, for he is a seagull. His name is Salty, and he was found as an egg on the beach in Freeport, L.I., by Kit Pantages who kept him in an incubator until he hatched. After he was allowed to become used to the outside world a bit, Salty was brought to Newtown to live at the home of the John Craven family.

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The water in the pond at Dickinson Memorial Park has been given a clean bill of health by the Ferris Water Laboratories of Danbury. The pond water is excellent according to state standards.

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The Special Site Committee has presented its report to the Board of Education on the recommended site for a new elementary school. The property recommended is some 30 acres on Boggs Hill Road, owned by the family of Judge John Boyle. Although the site is not in the center of the Taunton District, the Committee believes it will be more advantageous in its relative location to existing elementary schools.

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Newtown’s Progress Festival Committee reminds all that the annual Labor Day Parade will step off Monday morning, September 7. Postmaster Al Nichols has consented to be this year’s parade marshal, and the theme of the celebration is “The Community: Our Town, Newtown.” Invitations are going out this week to units in town to join the parade.

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Lake Zoar was seeded with approximately 9,000 pounds of copper sulfate on Friday to alleviate the algae conditions that prevail on the lake. The algae is what gives the lake its murky, greenish appearance. It takes approximately 48 hours for the lake to become clear after seeding.

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First Selectman Timothy Treadwell met with four of the five members of the newly formed Police Study Commission on Monday night to discuss their work involved in making recommendations for an organized police force in Newtown. The Commission will determine what additional manpower and equipment is necessary to convert to an organized police force... They will also establish criteria for the selection of a police chief.

July 27, 1945

Playgrounds Change Evening Hours: The playground supervisors are trying out a new evening schedule, due to the poor attendance under the former one. Henceforth, on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, the grounds will be open to both adults and children, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. This time will be devoted to golf, paddle tennis, badminton, and baseball.

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Notice is given of an outing being planned for all the firemen of the town, to be held on Sunday, August 12, at the grounds of the Hawleyville Fire Company, from 10 o’clock on. There will be lunch at noon, and a chance for the members of all four of Newtown’s fire companies to get together and enjoy a good time.

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The young people of the town are looking forward to the dance being sponsored on Saturday evening at the Edmond gym by the Teen-Age Canteen. There will be a five-piece orchestra made up of local talent, with Peggy Beardsley as soloist. A Barber Shop Quartet is scheduled to appear. There will be the usual games, as well as square and round dancing. Admission is 25 cents, with no age limit and parents cordially invited.

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The Pestalozzi Foundation of which H.C. Honegger of Walnut Tree Hill is president, has received and, through the Red Cross of Switzerland, sent to children suffering the ravages of war the equivalent of $200,000 in cash, gifts, in kind and services, according to Foundation directors’ report just published. Seven shipments of sturdy shoes, children’s garments, condensed milk, honey and medicines have already reached the Swiss organization.

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Cpl George S. Duda, son of Mr and Mrs William J. Duda, formerly of Grays Plains district, Sandy Hook and now of Bridgeport, has recently arrived home after three years of active duty overseas.

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Second Lieutenant Eleanor Jones of the Army Nurse Corps, who returned to the United States in May after more than two years overseas and has been spending part of her leave with her parents, Dr and Mrs William Northey Jones of Main Street, left on Tuesday to report at Asheville, N.C. for reassignment.

July 16, 1920

The microfilm containing 1920 Newtown Bee editions is kept at the C.H. Booth Library, which is temporarily closed due to coronavirus health precautions.

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