***

The plans of Newtown Housing for the Elderly Inc to double the number of units in Nunnawauk Meadows will be reaching the proposal stages soon, NHE president Arthur Scherer said this week. The State of Connecticut has given the nonprofit corporation a quit claim deed in which an earlier stipulation that there be only 40 units on the property was changed. The state quit claimed to NHE Inc the same property, 20 acres on Nunnawauk Road, as the housing corporation owned before, with a stipulation that no more than 80 units be constructed, said Attorney Sutherland W.G. Denlinger.

***

Tuesday night the library building committee and the Public Building Committee had a special meeting to go over and approve the plans for the expansion of the Cyrenius H. Booth Library on Main Street. Basically the plans for the new wing, on the south side of the building, are the same as those which were originally drawn up by the Avon architectural firm of Moore, Salisbury, which pulled off the job. The new architect is the firm of Galliher, Schoenhardt, and Baier of Simsbury, and Tuesday Norm Baier of the firm was on hand to answer any questions the two groups might have over the drawings from his firm.

***

For the past few years the Charles Batchelder Company in Botsford has been plagued with a waste disposal problem. One of the by-products of this aluminum recycling operation is bag-house waste, or dusty particulate matter comprised of heavy metals, such as lead, cadmium, chromium, and copper. The bag-house waste is generated as a result of the smelting process and bags trap particulates that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere. According to First Selectman Jack Rosenthal, who was advised two or three months ago to stop letting Batchelder dump at the town landfill, the waste is dangerous.

***

The Town of Newtown will be giving serious consideration in the next few weeks to just what in the world can be done about the lousy water that customers are getting from the Newtown Water Company and Taunton Pond. Polly Brody of Main Street, a member of the town’s Legislative Council, and a water company customer, told her fellow councilmen Wednesday that she thinks it’s time the consumers be let in on the circumstances surrounding the poor quality of the water. She also suggested exploring a moratorium on recreational uses in the pond.

***

Capitalizing on his lifelong residence in town, his acquaintance with many local voters, and a great deal of phone calling and personal contact, Edward M. Milot of Taunton Lake Drive became the Democratic candidate for judge of probate at the Democratic caucus Wednesday, August 2.

***

Last week The Bee ran a story about an unidentified creature which has been keeping some of the folks on Philo Curtis Road in Sandy Hook awake in the hours after midnight. According to Jim Shortt of Philo Curtis Road, who came into The Bee last week with the story, the racket sounded like a woman screaming, and in trying to find out what was causing it Mr Shortt and his son had taken some plaster of Paris prints of a large footed animal. The Bee sent him on up to a state biologist at Middlebury who identified the prints as those belonging to probably that of a big dog. The sounds, except for the biologist’s conjecture that they may be coming from a bobcat, remained mysterious until this week. Now, maybe the solution has been found, and the screamer is a fox, who is not really screaming at all, merely barking the way foxes do.

***

A compromise was reached on Attorney Mark V. Oppenheimer’s conversion of the 19th Century former Budd house on Main Street July 27 at a Newtown Building Appeals board hearing.

AUGUST 7, 1953

A full turnout by participants in the summer recreation program for Newtown children made a gala affair of the final swimming session last Friday, July 31, at Curtis Pond, Zoar District. At least 90 youngsters, some of their parents, the swimming instructors, Miss Mary Starr Smith, playground director, and bus drivers Mrs Allen Beardsley and Alfred Karcheski were on hand for a surprise party planned for Coach Harold S. DeGroat, town recreation director.

***

A two-mill tax rate was laid on the 1953 Grand List of the Borough of Newtown by a handful of voters who attended a special borough meeting in Edmond Town Hall last Thursday evening, July 30. The two-mill rate, recommended by the warden and burgesses, is the same rate which prevailed last year. Dr Russell F. Strasburger, warden of the borough, presided at the meeting.

***

 Work of completing and bring up to date the current year’s caucus lists for the town of Newtown ended last Friday, July 31, when the Registrars of Voters held a session in Edmond Town Hall, enrolling voters in the party of their choice. Figures reveal that there are more Republican women than men, more Democratic men than women, but the proportion of Republicans and Democrats remains approximately the same year after year.

***

 A concert for their parents and friends, to be held at the annual picnic of the Community Association at Taylor Field on Tuesday, August 18, will wind up an active six weeks for members of the musical units of the Newtown schools, who have participated in the Summer Band School sponsored by the Community Music Association.

***

The Town Development Committee has invited residents of three town districts to attend special meetings during the next week to acquaint them with the proposed zoning of the town by districts and to start district activity.

***

A benefit bingo party to contribute to the building fund for Veterans’ Memorial Building, South Main Street, will be held Wednesday evening, August 12 at 8 o’clock at the Sandy Hook Fire House, by Charles Howard Peck, Sr and Jr Post 308, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Auxiliary. Mrs George Powell is chairman of the event.

***

The directors of the Newtown Lions Club will plan activities for the coming year at a meeting which is open to all members Monday evening, August 10, at 8 o’clock at the Sandy Hook Hotel. Lynn Mathewson, president, invites all members to attend and says that buffet lunch will be served.

AUGUST 3, 1928

St Rose’s annual Mid-Summer Frolic opened last Friday with a large attendance. The feature was a minstrel show by the young men and women of the parish under the direction of Rev T.A. Murphy.

***

Contractor James McCormick finished the cement work on the state road contract Thursday night to Lovell’s Garage at the foot of the street. The road is also graded to the north end of the Borough street.

***

Messrs M. Kelley and Charles Miller, two enterprising young men, have leased Mrs John Hubbell’s service station on the state road and are open for business under the name of “Pals’ Service Station.” They will serve lunches and temperance drinks and dispense gas and oils to motorists.

***

Mrs Hobart Warner, Mrs Julia Hawley, Mrs M.D. Beers, and Mrs L.D. Briscoe drove to Canaan, Wednesday of this week, to attend a large reception given at the Vacation House by the Girls’ Friendly Society.

***

William A. Upham has bought the two cottages opposite W.A. Honan’s store at Hawleyville and six acres of land of Mrs S.A. Blackman.

***

William F. Arndt, Frank H. Platt, Miss Ella Fairchild, and Miss Mildred Luf, members of Pootatuck Grange, attended the reception given by Mr and Mrs R.D. Dunham at Camp Greenfield, Lake Zoar, on Saturday afternoon.

AUGUST 7, 1903

Work on the new building of the Bee Publishing Company is being steadily pushed forward. The masons have put on the first coat in the main room, and the carpenters are now hustling things to completion. Business Manager A.J. Smith expects to begin the task of moving on August 21.

**

The Ladies Morning Whist Club was very delightfully entertained Thursday morning by Mrs J.W. Gordon.

***

The leader of the Christian Endeavor meeting on August 9 will be George R. Wilson.

***

Carlton Smith left last Friday, for Hartford and on Saturday he took a sail with C.O. Purington and son Frank on their yacht down the Connecticut River and out as far as Madison on the Sound, and is spending the week with C.O. Purington and family in their cottage at Madison.

***

The Newtowns defeated the Bethel nine at baseball on Saturday, by a score of 7 to 6. It was a fast game. The Newtown and Watertown nines cross bats on Saturday at 3 pm at Ronald Park.

***

Mrs L. C. Wallace of Warren, Penn., is ill with smallpox at the home of her mother, Mrs Ferris, two miles from the street. The house has been quarantined but no alarm is felt locally as to the spread of the disease.

***

The Fabric Fire Hose Company has put all its buildings and tenements about the upper and lower rubber shops in good repair and that end of the town has improved in appearance. Sandy Hook people are anxious that Mrs Patrick Carroll should have the unsightly ruins of her burned block torn down. It would be a small expense and remove an eye-sore for the public.

***

The handsome premium list for the 35th annual fair of the Danbury Agricultural Society is just out from the press of the Danbury News. Typographically the book is a work of art, and a great credit to the News Printery. The fair occurs on October 5 to 10, and as usual will be a hummer.