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THE WAY WE WERE

MAY 4, 1973

The town moved a step closer to clearing its title to the Boyle property this

week when Judge George Saden in Superior Court denied a motion for a new trial

of the suit brought by Thomas L. Cheney, trustee. The property on Boggs Hill

Road was purchased by the town last year as the site for a new elementary

school but only after a group of property owners sued for an injunction to

prevent it. The town won the case and was allowed to take title to the

property pending appeal, however the trial judge died before the appeal could

take place, and the plaintiffs demanded a new trial. The effect of Judge

Saden's decision is to make it possible for the appeal to be heard and Town

Counsel Robert Hall hopes it will be completed this fall.

There wasn't much discussion of the town budget at the annual town budget

meeting Tuesday evening and there wasn't much discussion of the merits of

voting by referendum either. But there were a lot of angry comments and in the

end the meeting did the only thing it could do: fix dates for the referendum

(May 15) and the adjourned town meeting (May 16) that will follow it. This

action was required because Suzanne Sturges of Head Of Meadow Road,

representing the Newtown Taxpayer's Group, brought a petition of more than 200

signatures to the town clerk's office on Monday afternoon to force the

referendum. Some residents at the town meeting were angry about the petition

because they wanted individual items in the budget to be voted upon at the

town meeting and now, instead, they must cast a "yes" or "no" vote on the

entire budget.

The Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire Company brought their new fire engine to Edmond

Town Hall last weekend to show it to town dignitaries and their friends in

Hook & Ladder. It cost $45,000 and goes only four miles to the gallon, but

Police Commission Chairman George McLachlan, a H&L volunteer, commented that

it's just the right size for Newtown's narrow roads.

Monday, May 7, is election day in Newtown and 8,238 persons are eligible to

cast votes for town offices ranging from first selectman on down and to vote

on five proposed revisions to the town charter. Republican First Selectman

Frank DeLucia will face Democrat Gerald Frawley at the top of the ballot.

The Connecticut Mothers' Committee of American Mothers has announced the award

of Merit Mother for 1973 to Audrey Sherman Gaffney of Newtown. Mrs Gaffney is

the wife of Vincent P. Gaffney, who teaches mathematics at Newtown High

School, and she is the mother of four sons. The award was presented to Mrs

Gaffney by Gov Thomas Meskill in a ceremony in his office on April 25.

Volume 1 of the Encyclopedia America is missing from the Cyrenius H. Booth

Library, and the library staff would appreciate having it returned. The

encyclopedia set is a newly acquired one, and the return of the first volume

is vital.

It has been brought to the attention of The Bee by Chief of Police Louis

Marchese that some person is making calls in the name of the police department

and asking for protection money from local businessmen. One local businessman

reported the incident, saying the caller requested $175 but later reduced the

request to $27.50, to be put in the mailbox of the person receiving the call.

The caller does not represent the Police Department and any such calls should

be reported immediately.

MAY 7, 1948

Last Thursday evening's special town meeting lasted four minutes. It was

attended by eight persons, including the first selectman and the town clerk

and the six "interested" citizens, four of whom were asked to lend their

attendance so that the necessary business could be dispatched. Richard Lane

acted as chairman, with Town Clerk Miss May Sullivan as clerk. First Selectman

W.W. Holcome presided. The meeting approved a special appropriation of $800

for the Town Aid Fund and a special appropriation of $2,000 for the State Aid

Fund, and that the Board of Selectmen be authorized, instructed and empowered

to repay the loans of $800 and $2,000 from the budget for the fiscal year

which will begin on October 1, 1948.

Irate housewives who have answered their doorbells a dozen times in the past

few days to find eager ticket sellers on their doorsteps know that the Mardi

Gras is coming! The event planned by the young people of the Newtown

Congregational Church is fast becoming an annual tradition. During the weeks

ahead residents will buy votes for the girl of their choice and one will

become the queen of the Mardi Gras festival. Candidates who have already

received votes for this year's competition are Loretta Nichols, Joan Weeks,

Scotty Ferrier, Ruth Mayer, Patty Smith, Bernice Carty, Betty Platt, Gertrude

Diamond, Caroline Stokes, Lys Jackson, Carmen Rommel, Verne Knapp, Vivian

Mayer, Dorothy Baker, and Virginia MacKenzie. Voting is being done at The Kegs

restaurant (on the corner of Church Hill Road and Queen Street).

Anyone who plays a musical instrument is invited to bring both himself and the

instrument to the Newtown Congregational Church next Friday evening. At that

time amateur musicians, young and old, male and female, will assemble in the

social room of the church and Mario di Cecco, conductor of the Newtown

Orchestral Society orchestra, will be on hand to direct. This is a preliminary

rehearsal, the first of many to follow each Friday night until June 24, at

which time the orchestra will perform in its first concert of the season.

Richard F.Gretsch, who has been assistant to the president of the Danbury &

Bethel Gas & Electric Company in Danbury, has been elected president of the

company to succeed James L. Stone, who retired on May 1 after 43 years in the

public utility field. Mr Gretsch becomes one of the youngest presidents of a

major utility company in the United States. He was born in Brooklyn in 1908,

earned a degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan in

1930 and a law degree at St John's in 1936. During his career, he has been

involved in the management of various public utility properties in the East

and the Midwest. He served in the Army Corps of Engineers in World War II and

in 1945 married Barbara Jean Ininger, who was then a lieutenant in the WAC.

They have three children.

The retirement of Mrs Roger Howson of Newtown from the presidency of the

Planned Parenthood League (PPL) of Connecticut was announced at the league's

annual meeting in the Hotel Elton in Waterbury on April 29. Under Mrs Howson's

leadership, the PPL gave strong support to the Alsop Bill, which was

introduced into the 1947 General Assembly, to permit licensed physicians to

prescribe birth control measures to married patients where danger to the life

and health indicate this to be necessary. Mrs Howson was elected to the

presidency of the league to fill an unexpired term in 1946 and was re-elected

in 1947.

Henry L. McCarthy was elected warden in the annual Borough election Tuesday,

succeeding Arthur J. Smith, Jr, who declined renomination after having served

in that capacity for 14 years. Other officers elected include Miss May E.

Sullivan, clerk; William Hunter, burgess; Walter L. Glover, burgess; Judge

Walter A. Reynolds, treasurer; Charles F. Cavanaugh, tax collector; Gilbert

Aiken and Raymond T. Connor, assessors; F.H. Duncombe and Joseph Hellauer,

board of tax review; William Hunter, registrar of voters; John Carlson, pound

keeper; John Carlson, Judge Walter A. Reynolds and Judge Paul V. Cavanaugh,

fire inspectors.

Harry Greenman, injured April 20 in a fall from a ladder at Lovell's Garage

where he is manager, is progressing satisfactorily at Danbury Hospital where

he has been a patient since the accident. He is looking forward to his release

from the hospital, which should be at the end of June.

Marking his fourth year as resident officer in Newtown, Detective Sergeant

Robert H. Murphy of the State Police was given a testimonial dinner at the

Pines Inn on Wednesday evening, an affair attended by nearly 150 townspeople.

John T. McCarthy served in the capacity of toastmaster. In appreciation for

his service to the community, Judge Paul V. Cavanaugh presented Sergeant

Murphy with a $250 savings bond, a gift of those who had assembled to do him

honor.