Date: Fri 05-Dec-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

way-we-were-history

Full Text:

THE WAY WE WERE FOR DECEMBER 5, 1997

DECEMBER 8, 1972

The Board of Selectmen's meeting on December 5 was one of the longest and

liveliest in recent months and the 20 members of the audience took as vigorous

a part in the discussion as any of the selectmen. The topic was whether First

Selectman Frank DeLucia had acted improperly in appointing Mae Schmidle as

administrator of the CDAP Agency at a salary of $10,600 to be paid with

federal funds under the Emergency Employment Act. Third Selectman Diana

Schwerdle said the act was intended to provide jobs for the unemployed who

needed them, and Mrs Schmidle, however well qualified, did not need the job,

particularly one which pays more than the salaries earned by many top town

officials. Mr DeLucia said the salary range of $10,000 to $12,000 came from

the federal and state governments, and he had been assured that he acted

properly in making the appointment.

The Rev Alastair Sellars, senior pastor of the Newtown Congregational Church,

has been moved out of the coronary unit at Danbury Hospital and, although he

is still a patient there, he is reported to be doing quite well. Although Bee

Publisher Paul Smith also is still a patient at Danbury Hospital, he too is on

the mend. Mr Smith celebrated his 70th birthday on December 3 and is having

daily disputes with his doctors about when he will be able to return home.

John D'Addario, acting dog warden, this week presented a report to the Board

of Selectmen outlining the recommendations of Paul Denault, Connecticut canine

control officer, for establishing an adequate dog control program in Newtown.

Mr D'Addario said the late John Sedor contributed a great deal of his own

time, property and equipment to the effort and the time has now come for the

town to take charge of the program, build a shelter and provide adequate

financing. The number of licensed dogs increased by 400 within the town during

the past year alone and a similar increase can be projected for next year, Mr

Denault said in his report.

Robert Reiner has been named president of the Newtown School Bus Drivers

Association, a group which was formed 12 years ago to own and maintain a spare

bus. This bus is available to all Newtown bus drivers in case their own bus

breaks down. Mr Reiner started working as a bus driver as a substitute for

William Honan nine years ago. For more than seven years, he has owned his own

bus. Mr Reiner is a 25-year member of the Knights of Columbus and the Sandy

Hook Volunteer Fire Department, where he served as assistant chief, and is a

former member of the Newtown Ambulance Association. Mr Reiner has been an

independent insurance agent for 18 years with an office on South Main Street.

Edwin H. Baumer of Newtown has been named director of urban affairs at

Uniroyal Inc. He succeeds Thomas J. Kiernan who will retire after more than 43

years with the company. Mr Baumer has been with Uniroyal since 1940, and was

industrial relations manager at the company's Joliet, Ill., facility prior to

his new post.

DECEMBER 5, 1947

All members of the Boys Social and Athletic Club and their leaders, 50 strong,

were the guests of Mrs Edith C. Parker at a Thanksgiving Eve dinner served in

the Maple Room of the Parker House on Main Street last Wednesday evening. A.

Fenn Dickinson, who furnished transportation, and the Parker House home guard,

including George Crump at the piano, James Miner and John Keane, assisted Mrs

Parker in providing an evening long to be remembered.

Growing interest in local sports, fair weather and a well-chosen hour for the

game conspired to bring a record crowd to witness the trial of skills between

the Hawley High School and the SAC six-man football teams on Taylor Field on

Thanksgiving morning. When the lively game ended, the Newtown High School team

closed its season with another win over the Social and Athletic Club team of

Sandy Hook, 44-8.

Arthur Dehon Hill, widely-known Boston lawyer and once chief defense counsel

in the Sacco-Vanzetti case, died on Monday in Port Chester, N.Y., where he and

his wife were visiting their daughter for the Thanksgiving holiday. Mr and Mrs

Hill were residents of the Hawley Manor and the news of his sudden death came

as a shock in Newtown.

One of Newtown's oldest residents, John J. Northrop, died Wednesday at the age

of 84. Mr Northrop was a former member of the Board of Selectmen and also

served in the state legislature. He was a lifelong Newtown resident and one of

the oldest members of the Pohatuck Grange and the Congregational Church, where

he served for many years as secretary of the First Ecclesiastical Society. He

was also a charter member of the Men's Literary and Social Club.

Medical examiner Waldo Desmond, MD, of Newtown was called to the South Britain

section of Southbury on Thanksgiving morning when Mrs Carrie Manville, 77,

died in a fire at her home. Mrs Manville drove a stage from the South Britain

Post Office to the Southbury railroad station for 35 years on the Star Route,

carrying both mail and passengers. For most of that time she used a pair of

horses but in the last few years she drove a Ford car. She made three trips a

day and was known as "Aunt Sam."

Last Saturday afternoon, Miss Eleanor Mae Holcomb, daughter of Mr and Mrs

Ralph Holcomb, became the bride of Francis Burton Hubbell, son of John Baldwin

Hubbell and the late Mrs Hubbell. The ceremony was performed by the Rev Paul

A. Cullens at Newtown Congregational Church and a reception followed at

Newtown Country Club. After a wedding trip to the South, the couple will

reside in Newtown where Mr Hubbell owns and operates the Newtown Package

Store. There will be another wedding next Saturday for one of the ushers,

Donald F. Stickles of Newtown, who will be married to Miss Katherine Devery,

daughter of Mr and Mrs Thomas J. Devery of Elmhurst, L.I.