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THE WAY WE WERE

OCTOBER 19, 1973

Newtown will have three voting districts instead of five in the 1974 elections

as the result of changes drawn up by the registrars of voters and submitted

October 16 to the Board of Selectmen. If approved by a town meeting, the

arrangement also will be followed at future town elections.

For the past two years, Catholics who like their liturgical music sung in the

modern folk style have been attending the 7:30 pm Saturday Mass at St Rose of

Lima, where a group of youngsters now numbering 34 do their thing under the

direction of Mrs Jan Gregory. The St Rose Folk Group has become so popular

that the group decided to record an album. The recording is being done by BRC

Productions of Danbury and is expected to be ready early next year.

Newtown's police department soon will be linked to a nationwide computerized

police information system to replace the current teletype network. First

Selectman Frank DeLucia said the decision to bring Newtown into the system was

made by the state and the time allowed to install the new equipment is fast

running out. The old system is to be shut down and Newtown has no choice but

to join the new, he said. The cost of the installation plus operating costs

for the balance of the fiscal year is $2,400.

The Hawley family staged its 50th reunion on Saturday with a dinner-dance in

Stratford and an all-day bus tour of eastern Fairfield County, and a luncheon

in Newtown. The gathering attracted some 70 family members from New England,

neighboring states, Georgia, Florida, Washington, Illinois, Maryland and

elsewhere.

Town Counsel Robert Hall told the Conservation Commission this week that a

recent reappraisal of the 37.5-acre parcel that the town has condemned for use

as a landfill has been reappraised for at least $75,000, or $43,000 more than

the town deposited with the court in 1970 when the property was condemned. The

price will be set by the referee, Judge Raymond Devlin in Bridgeport, after

hearing arguments on both sides. The court date is December 4.

Work has started for the construction of the new Ethan Allen furniture

warehouse just off the road leading to Newtown's landfill. Land also is being

cleared at the site off The Boulevard where the new distribution center of

Barclay Knitwear will be constructed.

First Selectman Frank DeLucia has asked for the aid of all commission chairmen

to determine whether Newtown would benefit from a system of bike trails and,

if so, how and where the trails could be implemented. The letter from the

first selectmen to all commission chairmen is in response to a communique from

the Department of Transportation to the town. The letter states that a 1973

public act provides for the DOT to prepare a system of bike trails and

footpaths from the state. The Federal Highway Act also authorizes up to $2

million annually for the development and use of bicycle transportation and the

improvement of pedestrian walkways on or in conjunction with highway rights of

way.

High school students had to be dismissed early on Wednesday after water pump

motors began to vibrate and pulled away from their mountings. You can't run a

school full of 1,300 students without drinking water, flushing toilets and

locker room showers so everyone was sent home at 12:30 and the pump repair

people were called in to fix the problem, the cause of which is being

investigated.

OCTOBER 22, 1948

When the upland game season opened Saturday morning there seemed to be more

hunters in the field than game. Even Preston Beers, who knows how to handle a

gun, and Zulu, star boarder dog at the Parker House, could flush nothing to

take a shot at. Arlene Beers, out with her husband the first day, had no

better luck. The day was exceptionally fine with bright sunlight pouring down

on the autumn leaving, affording a perfect cover for small game. Perhaps that

was why hunting was no better than average on opening day in this part of

Connecticut.

Dr J. Benton Egee, Dr Russell Strasburger, Joseph Samperi and Dr George A.

Buckhout will leave Saturday for Nova Scotia where they will endeavor to bag

their limit of deer and bear. The party intends to return to town on November

3.

In recognition of the Bowles for Governor Day to be held on October 23

throughout the 25th Senatorial District, a Democratic rally will be held in

the Maple Room of the Parker House on Main Street in Newtown. It will be under

the direction of the Democratic Town Committee of Newtown, of which John F.

Holian, candidate for reelection as state representative from the First

District, is chairman. Chester Bowles, candidate for governor; William Gaston,

New Canaan, candidate for congressman from the Fourth District, and William

Dudley Patterson of Westport, candidate for state senator from the 25th

District, will attend.

George and Amelia Donlon and "Dad" Donlin report that they have sold their

business, The Kegs, on the corner of Church Hill Road and Queen Street, which

they have operated for several years. The new owners, Virginia and Mack

Lathrop, who have resided in Newtown for the past 10 years, will assume

ownership on November 1.

The senior class of Newtown High School is sponsoring a dance to be presented

on Saturday evening in conjunction with the night football game between

Newtown and Bethel. The dance will be held in the Edmond Town Hall gymnasium

immediately upon the conclusion of the game and is designed to honor the

winning team.

Police and members of the Boys' Social and Athletic Club in Sandy Hook came

out in force to search for four-year-old Franky Miles who had wandered into

the woods with his little cocker spaniel at 10 in the morning last week in the

Great Quarter district of Cedarhurst. As darkness approached the boy and his

dog were found about two miles from home, unharmed but hungry and tired after

their seven-hour trek.

The leaders of Newtown's Boy Scout patrols met at the cabin last week and made

plans for the fall season. There will be two patrols this year, each meeting

this week under the direction of their advisers, at the cabin immediately

after school. All boys 12 years and over are welcome to join.

The Board of Selectmen and the town clerk, meeting in the clerk's office in

Edmond Town Hall these past two Saturdays, have passed on the qualifications

of 102 residents of Newtown, making them legal voters within their respective

districts. The final day for residents to accept the electors' oath before

election day will be Monday, November 1.