August 7, 1992

Hello: This is the press speaking. Oh, don't misunderstand. It is not the press as you probably think of it, that mass of reporters armed with pencils and pads, or some sort of electronic equipment and a pushy group of cameramen. This is the real press, a configuration of iron and steel, rubber and wire, and a good number of dials and buttons. When fed the proper amount of ink and water, and of course paper, presto, you have a newspaper. This issue of The Newtown Bee is a special one for me as it marks my twenty-fifth year in operation at 5 Church Hill Road. I have not taken the time to calculate the number of impressions produced in that length of time, or even the number of pages, but I do know that I have seen of the good and bad that has happened in town during the last quarter century. I am an offset Goss Community press and my pages reflect town history. I guess I really have seen a lot of history in 25 years, but I am still wondering about that old questions. Is it true that the more things change the more they stay the same?

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The Lions Club has sold about 1,500 tickets for its planned raffle of a restored 1966 Mustang GT convertible, said club President Kris Nanavaty. He said the maximum number of tickets that will be sold is 3,500. The club said the sale of 1,500 is basically their break-even point. Mr Nanavaty said proceeds will benefit Lions projects and community programs.

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Stuart and Jean Smith have been in their share of Labor Day Parades. When their daughters were growing up, Jean marched as a Girl Scout leader. Stuart often drove an ambulance or marched with his fellow members of the Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps. For this year though, the Smiths will have a different vantage point. They are the Grand Marshals.

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Washboard Slim and the Blue Lights will bring a concert of traditional jugband music, blues, and early jazz on August 14 at 7:30 pm on the back lawn of the Cyrenius H. Booth Library. The jugband group mixes the early folk elements of jazz, blues, and rockabilly. They present their music on an odd variety of housewares including the rattle of the washboard, the melody of a mandolin and the low, strumming, bass counterpoint on a string stretched between a pole and overturned washtub. All of this keeps alive a tradition of freewheeling tunes played on homegrown instruments.

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Newtown Youth Services will sponsor its third annual "bike day" on Sunday, September 27, from noon to 3 pm. In this family activity, for riders of all ages and abilities, there will be a choice of one of four scenic routes, on country roads with limited activity. Check-in tables will be at Dickinson Park There will be food stops and prizes, and additional prizes for riders raising the most money through sponsors.

August 11, 1967

Plans for plantings at the Land's End Schoolhouse and the Middle Gate Schoolhouse, which is scheduled to be moved this fall, took shape this week under the direction of The Garden Club of Newtown and through the assistance of Rudy Favretti. Visiting the schools with Mr Favretti, a landscape design architect, were Mrs Malcolm McClintock, planting committee chair for the Newtown Historical Society, and Mrs Raymond Hoyt, Garden Club president. A new planting layout will be received from Mr Favretti in two weeks.

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It seem sometimes that these are days of creeping frustration. People continually complain that they can never find time for doing many things which they would really enjoy doing. Most of us are rushing hither and yon, bent on finding ways to do things faster. And even if we find shortcuts, we are still lacking sufficient time to lead soul-satisfying lives. Probably a great deal of our difficulty is due to the economic pressure under which we all find ourselves. Inflation constantly shrinks the dollar, our tastes become more expansive, many men moonlight to earn a dollar, boys and girls find remunerative tasks, and housewives take extra jobs to bolster family income. It is a small wonder that we often look in vain for leisure hours to spend as fancy dictates in pursuit of activities which provide personal pleasure and enjoyment.

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Last Thursday's special town meeting voted unanimously to accept a gift of $2,000 from the Newtown Rotary Club and to appropriate an additional $8,000 for the purchase of two acres of land adjoining the town park on Lake Lillinonah for park and recreational purposes. The meeting also voted to appropriate $1,800 for the purpose of conducting a personnel classification and send compensation survey of town employees, and an appropriation of another $2,500 for the rental of a car for the purchase or rental of a car for the first selectman.

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St Rose Church will be a thing of the past as demolition of the 85-year old structure on Church Hill Road is now under way. A large crane, operated by the Capozziello brothers of Bridgeport took large bits from the West side of the church on Wednesday afternoon. While one building is coming down, plans for a new church are being prepared. Plans for a new edifice, to be constructed on the same site, should be accomplished within the next few weeks.

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An attendant is now on duty six days a week at Newtown's brush dump on Philo Curtis Road, rather than on Saturdays only. This, as well as the sanitary landfill on Route 34 is closed on Sundays. It will no longer be necessary to get a key from the town garage for the brush dump and no dumping will be allowed outside official hours. The need for supervision at the brush dump became clear when First Selectman Francis Hiney found a considerable amount of non-burnable material there on a recent tour.

August 7, 1942

On Thursday morning just before The Bee went to press, the Editor received a call made by David L. Watson of Newtown, Pennsylvania, who was on a business trip through New England and stopped for a chat and a copy of The Bee to compare with the newspaper in Newtown, Pa. Our Pennsylvania namesake was founded in 1683 by William Penn and is located in Buck's County. Mr Watson has been buying hardware in New Britain and other Connecticut cities, as well as lumber in New Hampshire. He reports that it is easier to obtain hinges and other hardware items than it is lumber, which is becoming quite scarce.

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The Newtown Pine Tree Patrol of Boy Scouts' eleventh annual trip came to a successful end on Saturday evening, when the group of nine boys and Rev Paul Cullens, Scoutmaster, peddled their bicycles into Newtown, after covering some 600 miles which took them into New Hampshire and the White Mountains. The two weeks were thoroughly enjoyed, with many experiences quite different from past trips into the Canadian woods, this year's trip having been planned to meet gas and tire restrictions of the present day.

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An important meeting for all observers serving at the local observation post is called for this Friday evening, August 7, at 8 o'clock in Stratford House at the Fairfield Hills Hospital. In announcing this meeting and urging all observers to attend, Michael Haggerty, chief observer, states that representatives from the United States Army, First Fighter Command, will be present to discuss their wishes to move the observation post from its present site on Fairfield Hills Hospital grounds. There will be a general discussion, so that all arguments pro and con can be given, before action is taken.

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"Good Neighbor Night" will be held at Camp Pomperaug, Lake Zoar, Saturday evening, August 8, featuring a minstrel show. The camp will be open for inspection at 7 o'clock and the Boy Scouts and their leaders invite everyone to attend. This is an annual event and since the camp is near at hand, it is hoped that there will be a large attendance, as preparations have been made for an evening of real fun and entertainment.

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Mr and Mrs Paul S. Smith and three children, Mary Starr, Scuddy, and Teddy, are enjoying a cottage at Candlewood Knolls on Lake Candlewood for the month of August.

August 10, 1917

E.N. Sipperley Sr, the artesian well driller, has just finished a well for Edward Camp of Taunton, which pumps eight gallons a minute. He is now drilling a well for H.G. Coger of Botsford. Anyone thinking of having a well dug would do well to see Mr Sipperley while his machine is in town.

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Fore those who find the right size, there are special bargains in the sale of selected pairs of women's shoes at Mollan's. Last pairs of different lines, patent leather low shoes in smart styles, and women's foot ware in small sizes and in narrow widths, comprise the sale ay 1026 Main Street, Bridgeport.

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Thomas Trainor, a man about 35 years old, who appeared to be in a demented condition, was picked up by Sheriff Beers in Zoar, one day last week. After examination by Dr W.H. Kiernan, it was decided to send him to Connecticut Hospital as a state charge. Trainor appeared to be troubled by "Spirits inside of him." Local officials believed that he had escaped from some institution.

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Clark Blackman and his helpers at Newtown Garage towed in six cars, Sunday, that had been disabled on the road. The Newtown Garage is headquarters of auto repair work of all kinds.

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D. Parker of Bridgeport assumed the reins of management at Newtown Inn on Wednesday, succeeding W.H. Newman of Danbury. Mr Parker for six years has been in charge of the café at the Stratfield in Bridgeport and previously had been employed at Bullen. Mr Parker has a host of friends who will follow him with their patronage and good wishes. That the Inn will grow in patronage under Mr Parker's able management is confidently expected.

Please consider sharing your old photographs of people and places from Newtown or Sandy Hook with 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.