September 22, 2000

Hometown Newspaper of Christopher Stites.

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Police said an employee of FGB Construction of Norwalk was injured about 1:30 pm September 19 when a massive dump truck he was operating tipped over at the site of Newtown Hunt, a 21-lot residential subdivision now under construction by Toll Brothers Inc., at 33 Hawleyville Road in Hawleyville. At the time of the accident, the 41-year-old male operator was dumping boulders over an embankment in a road building project on the site. Hawleyville and Newtown Hook and Ladder firefighters went to the scene. The Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps transported the operator to Danbury Hospital for treatment of neck, back and chest injuries, police said. The operator was treated at the hospital emergency room and released, a hospital spokeswoman said.

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Local youth sports supporters had hoped the town-owned Amaral property along Elm Drive might resemble a baseball diamond by now. Instead, as Legislative Council members found out this week, the 13-acre site is starting to look more and more like a money pit. On Tuesday, the council agreed to allow Parks & Recreation to spend an additional $65,000 on the construction of two baseball fields there. That money is on top of the $400,000 already spent on the purchase of the land back in 1997, $350,000 already approved in this year’s budget, and an estimated $218,000 worth of town highway crew manpower. Total expenditures to date, including this latest allocation, total $1,033,000.

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Newtown resident Jim Bayles this week became the first person in history to complete the task of swimming under all 25 major New York City bridges. The final bridge was the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, under which he swam on his way from Sandy Hook, New Jersey, to Manhattan Wednesday. The healthy 48-year-old long-distance swimmer completed the 18-mile swim as part of his annual iron-man fundraiser for the fight against Juvenile Diabetes, from which his father suffered for nearly 60 years.

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“I had always been aiming for the Newtown English department,” said Jason Hiruo, a first-year teacher at Newtown High School. Mr Hiruo teaches English, American Studies, and Writing Through Film. He is a graduate of NHS and is returning after a year of student teaching under Lorrie Arsenian, this year’s assistant principal. He previously worked at Abbot Tech as a special education counselor, and as an intern at Newtown Middle School.

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The seventh annual Newtown Health and Public Safety Fair drew a sizable crowd Saturday, as 37 exhibitors provided information to the general public designed to help people lead happier, healthier lives. … From 10 am until 2 pm, information about various medical issues including cholesterol, skin cancer, fitness, CPR, ticks, glaucoma, scoliosis, and posture, among other things, was dispensed from various booths in the Middle School gymnasium. According to Mae Schmidle, health fair director, a record crowd attended the event Saturday.

September 19, 1975

Out of the blue, literally, a vintage 1932 French biplane dropped in on George Mayer’s alfalfa field off Boggs Hill Road on Tuesday. The pilot, Samuel Cooper of Warrington, Virginia, who had just purchased the plane in Waterbury, was on his way home when he ran into difficulty; not with any of the plane’s old-fashioned accoutrements, but with its new-fangled American-built engine. Fortunately the pilot put down safely and went home, by more conventional means, to wait for a mechanic to repair the engine and Mr Mayer to mow a runway in the alfalfa field for a take-off later in the week.

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Members of the Hawley High School class of 1925, the first full class to graduate from the school, got together 50 years later, meeting at the Yankee Drover this week for a reunion luncheon. Those attending the luncheon were Florence Ferris Akin, Lena Gomberg Greenberg, Bessie Parker Kenney, and Lorene McCarthy. Classmates William Brenner, Helen Curtiss, Viola Maguire Kahle, Thomas Kennedy, Agnes Bailey LaBorde, William Maguire, Sanford Mead Jr and Julia Perry were unable to attend the luncheon.

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Contract negotiations between the Town and the Newtown Police apparently are in serious trouble following a mediation session which took place on September 16, and First Selectman Frank DeLucia has announced the town will go to fact finding. The police contract expired on June 30 of this year and talks have been bogged down, according to the First Selectman, since July.

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Site work along with construction of the new elementary school on Boggs Hill Road is moving along, and the pilings for the building itself are going in. According to architect Richard Butterfield, things are going along fairly smoothly and on schedule. This week rumors circulated that the septics for the school had been disapproved, but this is not so, according to the architect.

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The September meeting of the Horticulture Club of Newtown was held Thursday evening, September 11, at the home of Mr and Mrs Peter Cummins on Castle Hill Road. The speaker was Theodore Whippie, chairman of Newtown’s Conservation Commission, who talked on the work of the commission, particularly its authority over the Inland-Wetlands in the town. Much discussion followed his interesting talk. Hostesses serving refreshments were Mrs Cummins and Mrs John Kipp.

September 15, 1950

Eleven Republicans from Newtown attended the School of Politics held Tuesday night at the Bassick High School in Bridgeport under sponsorship of the Republican National Committee. All of the towns surrounding Bridgeport were well represented, those from Newtown including Edward Knapp, Mrs Ralph C. Cooper, Alvin B. Coger, Benjamin Ferris, Ervin C. Stickles, Jr., Joseph Wiser, Fred Reiss, Robert Fairchild, Mrs Horace Sanford, Newton Curtis and George M. Stuart.

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Friends of Mrs. Sarah B. Mitchell, librarian at the Cyrenius H. Booth Library, will be pleased to know that she is recuperating nicely at the Roosevelt Hospital in New York City, following an operation performed there by Dr. William Crawford White, of Newtown and New York City, on Wednesday of last week.

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Mr and Mrs Robert Leahy of Lower Main Street have returned from a fishing trip to North Waterford, Maine. While there, they were guests of Mr Leahy’s brother-in-law and sister, Mr and Mrs Ralph Perkins at Echo Lodge.

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Mrs William C. Jones of North Main Street, member of the operating staff at the Newtown exchange of the Southern New England Telephone Company, and her mother, Mrs Pearl Nicola of New Milford, recently returned from an air journey to Italy, where they spent several weeks visiting relatives and numerous places of interest, besides making short stops in England and Scotland.

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Mr and Mrs Albert H. Kuhne, Jr., of Curtis Hill Road have returned from a trip to Niagara Falls, Toronto, Montreal, Quebec and the White Mountains.

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Wednesday evening’s special town meeting held in the gymnasium of the Edmond Town Hall at 8 o’clock, voted by a ballot count of 82-42, to reject a resolution presented by James Brunot, chairman of the Town Development Committee, for the reorganization of the Newtown Fire Department. … Mr Brunot took the floor to read his resolution and give a full explanation of it. … The proposed changes in the resolution from that adopted in 1942 would increase the number of members of the Board of Fire Commissioners from five to seven and would define more clearly the duties and responsibilities of the Fire Commissioners.

September 18, 1925

The Callahan Block in the Glen is receiving a new dress of paint.

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On Wednesday the editor paid a visit to the dahlia gardens of Arthur E. Brinton, and feasted his eyes on the wealth of beauty in blossom of so many colors. Some of the dahlias are enormously large and yet of delicate beauty. There are some 100 varieties and Mr Brinton easily stands as Connecticut’s leading amateur dahlia grower. Our thanks are due to Mr Brinton for he loaded down our arms with a great bouquet of the majestic flower.

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The condition of Commissioner Philo T. Platt, who is ill at the Danbury hospital, is encouraging. Dr D. C. Brown, of Danbury, in speaking of his condition, Wednesday evening, said: Mr Platt is looking the best to-day of any time since he was taken ill. All his symptoms show a general improvement. It seems as though he was progressing properly.

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Mrs Wersba and party of friends from New York City are passing a week’s vacation at the Log Cabin of her son, Louis Wersba, at Terrace Lake, Lake Zoar.

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DISTRICT OF NEWTOWN, ss. Probate Court, August 18, 1925. Estate of Elliott Beardsley late of Newtown, in said District, deceased. The Court of Probate for the District of Newtown hath limited and allowed six months from date hereof, for the creditors of said Estate to exhibit their claims for settlement. Those who neglect to present their accounts, properly attested, within said time, will be debarred a recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate are requested to make immediate payment to John J. Northrop, Administrator.

September 21, 1900

EDITORIAL INK DROPS: It is an outrage for a reputable daily newspaper to send out an exaggerated and untruthful article concerning the affairs of the Newtown Savings bank (or any other like institution), as appeared in an issue of a few days ago. The Newtown Savings bank has had no run, nor is it likely to have one, and if it did, it is in ample position to pay its depositors. There has also been no meeting of the Bank directors as stated by the Bridgeport papers. … For journals of the standing of the ones in question to publish such articles as they did, in this day of telephones and quick communication, when the managing editors could have communicated with the Newtown treasurer, had they desired, shows a recklessness that is surprising.

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The rain Saturday night and Sunday morning was the first rainfall of any consequence for about two months. It lasted from about 10.30 Saturday evening until about 8.30 Sunday morning, and was a steady downpour. This was also supplemented by a heavy shower, Sunday evening, of about an hour’s duration. Although it comes too late to benefit many crops, it was nevertheless very gratefully received and will help out the fall feed in pastures.

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THE NEWTOWN FAIR — A HANDSOME LIST OF ENTRIES: No wonder Secretary Peck of the horse department has reason to be proud over the number of entries, 90 and over, the largest number at any fair. He is to be congratulated on his energetic work for the fair.

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DODGINGTOWN — PERSONAL CHAT: Mrs Charles [illegible] of Ansonia has been the recent guest of her sister, Mrs Delia Hoyt. | Mr and Mrs E. C. Bevans and Miss Jennie Ferry have returned from a three weeks’ sojourn at Fairfield Beach. | Mrs Mansfield is caring for Mrs Bennett Platt. | Mr and Mrs F. Peters and children of Brooklyn, who have been spending the summer at J. W. Behn’s, returned to the city on Monday. | Edward Miller of Bethel has been recently entertained at the home of his sister, Mrs J. W. Behn.

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 readers of The Newtown Bee. 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. If you live locally and would like to loan a photo/photos, please give us a call (203-426-3141) to let us know when you will be visiting.