Reminiscing about their childhoods, approximately two dozen 1950s Newtown High School graduates traveled back in time — figuratively speaking — during a gathering on July 31.

Years ago, June Hanna began hosting reunions for her own class of 1959 at her Mountain Manor Road home in Sandy Hook. But when representatives of other classes caught wind of this, word of mouth spread, prompting Hanna to host a variety of classes throughout the years.

She has entertained NHS alums at about 20 reunions, the latest featuring several classes from the ’50s.

“June has been extremely generous to allow this to happen,” said Bob Brown (Class of ’53).

“It gets me to clean my house,” Hanna said with a laugh.

Attendees enjoyed food and looked at their yearbooks while reflecting about the way things used to be.

Evie (Weber) Watts (Class of ’55) noted that quite a few of the 1950s graduates attended one-room schoolhouses as they made their way though the Newtown school system.

“They had a wood stove and the teacher had to start it in the morning,” added Beverly (Sartain) Dachenhausen (Class of ’55).

“Things were, I’m going to say, simpler. I didn’t appreciate it, I guess. Looking back, I appreciate it,” Brown said.

Peg Forbell (Class of ’54), concurred. “It was simpler of course. In my high school class, only one person had a car and it was Kenny Carlson.”

“Personally, I had to walk a half mile to the school bus stop, which was at the Kearns farm on Bennett’s Bridge Road, starting at age 6,” Watts recalled. “My mother did not have a car to drive me. Most homes had one car, and the man of the house used it to go to work.”

Although times may have seemed less complex on the whole, it was not as easy as going down the road or across town to attend class for some of Newtown’s high school grads. Some of Newtown’s alums are not from town. They took buses from surrounding towns to join their new classmates for high school.

“Southbury, Monroe, and Brookfield did not have high schools, so we had students from those towns,” Watts explained.

“I came to Newtown High School because I had met a young lady from Newtown High previously,” said 1955 graduate Richard Harshbarger, who came from Monroe and had the option to go to either Bridgeport or Newtown for school. “It just so happens I married that lady, and she’s here tonight,” said Harshbarger, who was accompanied by his wife, Martha.

“It was a very good experience. You knew everybody in your class and you knew other classes, too,” said Robert (Kim) Mitchell (Class of ’56), who came from Southbury.

Dolores (Suarez) Allen (Class of ’50) said Newtown is a lot different than it was back then, especially considering all of the development. “It’s become a metropolis, in my view. I’m okay with the change; you have to be open-minded,” Allen said.

Robert Hall, an attorney from town and a member of the Class of 1957, said there are fewer farms and more subdivisions. Of course, Hall played a role in that trend, as he represented some of the developers of former farm property and subdivisions in town. Hall is also owner of the Main Street building that houses his own offices as well as the Newtown General Store.

A lot has changed in town as the decades have passed, and this gathering provided an opportunity for some of Newtown’s longest-tenured residents (and those who came from out of town) to reflect.

“It was the best of times — small town feeling,” said Marjorie Carmody (Class of ’54) who came in from Brookfield.

Reporter Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com.