August 2, 1996

Anyone who has not made it through their summer reading list may want to stockpile a few books because the Booth Library will be closed August 12 through September 9. That four-week period is when construction workers will perform intensive demolition and renovation work. The entire back of the building will be taken off to accommodate the addition, workers will remove asbestos from radiators, add duct work for heating and air-conditioning, and repair and update plumbing, said Library Director Janet Woycik.

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Proposals to spend $840,000 to renovate Town Hall South and $650,000 and $650 for road reconstruction won quick approval by the 30 voters who attended Wednesday night’s town meeting in Town Hall South. The meeting, attended mostly by town officials, town employees and members of the news media, approved the proposal; to take $840,000 from the town’s Reserve Fund for Capital and Non-Recurring Expenditures for the Town Hall South project on a vote of 27-2. The proposal to issue bonds to pay for the roadwork passed 29-1.

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With the start of school just four weeks away, students and staff at Newtown High School may want to begin preparing themselves for a year of inconvenience, if not chaos, as NHS begins a two-year period of transition. Earlier this summer, the high school’s $25 million renovation and addition project got underway and, by the start of school, construction is expected to be in high gear.

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A prisoner at Garner Correctional Institution attacked a prison food service employee Monday morning, seriously injuring the employee, who required emergency eye surgery at Waterbury Hospital. Following the incident, the correction officers’ union complained that the incident illustrates the negative effect of the state Department of Corrections’ continuing cutbacks on correction officer staffing levels at the high-security prison. The union says the cutbacks endanger correction officers’ health and safety and also compromise the prison’s safety.

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With a remote control in hand, Larry Leavitt stands on the shore of Taunton Lake, trying to steer a memory from his childhood back from the past. The Taunton Lake Road resident has been refurbishing a replica of a Canadian fishing schooner as a memorial to his father, Herbert Walter Leavitt, who first constructed the boat in Norwalk in 1936.

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Most of the gold from the 1996 Nutmeg Games came back to Newtown in one trunk. Though many local athletes enjoyed success and earned medals at the Games, eight gold medals were earned by Newtown with the West Region baseball team in the Intermediate (14-15) Division. The team, coached by Newtown’s Larry Isler and Tom Wyatt, coasted through the six-team tournament unchallenged in the winner’s bracket, defeating four opponents without a loss and earning the gold.

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Less than 24 hours after the Borough of Newtown Historic District Commission held its first official meeting, an application for a certificate of appropriateness was filed by the developers who are renovating The Hawley Manor Inn. Philip Manger of Newtown and Richard Mullen of Sandy Hook filed an application Tuesday, asking the commission to approve their plans for the restaurant, which will be called The Mary Hawley Inn.

August 6, 1971

At 1:15 pm Friday, July 30, Zoning Enforcement Officer Robert Waltz issued a cease and desist order to Francis D’Addario and Campanella Corporation, and Newtown Police Sgt Kenneth Shaw, and Officers Raymond Paccadolmi and Raymond Thompson arrested five drivers of the Campanella Corporation for allegedly removing earth materials from a hill just off Mile Hill Road. The hill in question is owned by the Pootatuck Land Company, with an adjacent strip said to be owned by Mr D’Addario.

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A forlorn and dying maple tree which has stood sentinel in front of the Edmond Town Hall for many years, was felled and removed by workmen of the State Highway Department this Thursday morning. Its removal gives a better view of the handsome pin oak which stands on the lawn between the sidewalk and the building.

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Registration for new students in town who will be entering Newtown High School, Route 34, Sandy Hook, in September, 1971 will be Monday, August 16 through Friday, August 20. The hours will be 8:30 am until noon and 1 pm until 3 pm.

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The committee in charge of the Progress Festival Tennis Tournament is still taking entries for this annual summertime competition. Leon Barkman and Frank Miles, co-chairmen, have announced that the sign-up sheets will remain posted at the Town Park Tennis Courts through Sunday, August 8. The categories are men’s and women’s singles and doubles, and mixed doubles. The fee is $1 per person per event.

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Recent visitors from Newtown to the office of Congressman John S. Monagan (D-Conn.) in Washington, D.C. included Kerry O’Connor, D’arcy McEneaney, Peter Knaur, Mead Treadwell and Kathe Wechter.

August 2, 1946

Miss Shirley Nichols is enjoying a vacation this week from her duties on the staff of The Bee.

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A children’s bus trip to the Bronx Zoo, New York City, is scheduled for Monday, August 12. All children and their parents are welcome. Chartered buses leave Hawley school at 8 a.m. The bus fare is $1.50 round trip and there is no admission charge at the Zoo. A deposit of $1 toward the bus fare should be made with Miss Barbara Baxter not later than Friday, August 9, for each person going.

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Dwight Carlson, son of Mr and Mrs Henry Carlson, returned to the United States last Tuesday and saw his parents here last Wednesday and Thursday. He enlisted on September 26, 1944, and was assigned as an infantryman in the Third Army’s famous 94th Division and later was transferred to the Second Cavalry Division, where he attained the rank of Master Sergeant. This unit was changed, after war’s end, to a constabulary unit, and he has been serving with it in Germany. He is now located at Camp Dix. Dwight was in his senior year at Hawley school when he enlisted and expects, at the earliest opportunity, to work for the necessary credits to complete his high school course.

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A special Newtown borough meeting was held at the Edmond Town Hall at 8 o’clock, Wednesday night, at which a tax rate of 3 mills was laid on the grand list of the borough to cover expenditures for the 1946-1947 fiscal year. Warden Arthur J. Smith presided at the meeting and seven legal voters were present.

August 5, 1921

The whist at the Newtown Country club, held Monday night, was well attended. Mrs Wallace Mitchell and Mrs Philo T. Platt were tied for the score of the evening, and O. Howard Hall was first gentleman for the evening. The prizes for the month were given out. Mrs C.A Peale secured the first prize for the ladies and Mrs Wallace Mitchell second. For the gentlemen, Philo T. Platt was first and C.A. Peale second. There will be another whist, next Monday evening, August 8, at which a large attendance is desired. The corn roast will come on Monday, August 15, and everybody wants to come in on this event.

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A touring car, with four men in it, went though the railing and down into Lake Housatonic, Sunday, about 3 p.m. The owner of the car was from Georgetown. The place where the accident occurred was between the two bridges on the Southbury state road. None of the occupants of the car were injured.

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The summer festival for the benefit of St Rose’s church will be held at the Town hall, Newtown, August 11, 12 and 13, at 8 p.m., standard time. The entertainment is to be by professional vaudeville talent, people who have played the Keith, Orpheum and Poll circuits, with a different program each evening. The artists will include: Silver and Duvall, Victoria dancers; Ed and Helen La Nole; Mr Frank Dobson; Clarice and Aileen Hart; Little Baby Minnie; Mr Jack Ford, violinist and musical director. The will be dancing each night following the entertainment. The admission will be 50₵.

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ARRIVALS AT THE PARKER HOUSE: C.D. Downs, New York; Mrs J. W. Roberts, Westport; Mr and Mrs C.G. Tallefsen, Mr and Mrs C.H. Lammers, Brooklyn, N.Y.; P.H. Raymond, Mystic; Joseph E. Murray, M.P. Seery, Newark, N.J.; Mr and Mrs A.J. Stone, New London; Miss Mary Kelly, Stepney; Mr and Mrs Lloyd Espenhard and daughter, New York City; Mr and Mrs A. Alonzo Sargent, Philadelphia, Pa.; Francis Niedringhouse, Marion Niedringhouse, St Louis, Mo.; Cushman C. Morse, Albina G. Morse, Mrs A.M. Morse, Newtown; P. Deyorio, Danbury; Franklin R. Leege, Francis J. Keane, New York; Katherine Dudley, Portland, Me.

August 6, 1896

Arthur T. Nettleton returned to Newtown on Saturday, after a visit of some weeks in Stamford and Danbury. This week he has made a brief visit with his brother at New Milford.

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Robert A. Clark, who has been chosen to collect the tax laid by the Gray’s Plain school district, will be at the schoolhouse on Saturday in Gray’s Plain from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. to collect the same.

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The death of William Hamilton Gibson has come as a shock to his many friends in New York. Some of them had met him in his accustomed haunts in the city within a few weeks, apparently in the enjoyment of his usual abounding health and spirits. Others who had seen him at his home in Washington, Connecticut, where he died, were less surprised, for they were aware that his condition had such as to excite apprehension. William Hamilton Gibson was born in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, October 5, 1850, and received his first school at the famous “Gunnery” at Washington. It is hard to realize that this busy man’s pen is laid down forever. —from Harper’s Weekly, by permission of Harper & Brothers

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The death of Charles B. Hawley, which occurred on last week Tuesday, seems to have been a case of suicide, as he had appraised his friends of his intention for some days past. An overdose of laudanum did its deadly work. The funeral was on Thursday afternoon at 2 o’clock from his late home, Rev Mr Boylston officiating. The bearers were Peter Gabler, George Phelps, Daniel Mahoney and Benjamin Turney. The interment was in the Long Hill cemetery.

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An emphatic protest reaches us from the mothers in the Street, at the practice of ball playing in the Street and bicycle riding on the sidewalks. Several of the youngsters have had narrow escapes from being ridden down by careless riders. There have also been hair-breath escapes from accidents as the result of ball practice. Attorney Beecher, we understand, has given the young men the free use of an ample lot on the Boulevard. If these nuisances are not abated, it is likely legal means will be resorted to.

Your memories are the ones we want to share! Do you have photographs of people or places in town from a bygone era? The Way We Were is the perfect landing spot so that your photographs can be enjoyed by Newtown Bee readers. Images can be e-mailed as attachments to shannon@thebee.com, subject line: Way We Were photo. When submitting photographs, please identify as many people as possible, the location, and the approximate date.