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The Planning and Zoning Commission has approved plans for a 15,000-square-foot retail store/office complex on South Main Street. The plans for the two-story, U-shaped building, to be constructed on property next to Cedar Hill Farm Nursery, were accepted at the November 21 meeting, after much discussion concerning the traffic build up that the complex might cause on Route 25.

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Like the old Blackman Professional  Building, which was demolished last summer, an 85-foot spruce tree on the same site probably will have to be taken down soon. The Blackman building, at 19 Church Hill Road, was razed to make room for an office building now under construction. John  Mead, tree surgeon and owner of Sanford Mead Tree Surgeons, estimated the age of the tree at between 150 and 200 years.

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Formal dedication ceremonies for the new playground equipment at Sandy Hook School were held on November 20. In addition to administration, faculty, staff, students, and PTA members the Jolly Green Giant was in attendance.

 

December 2, 1960

The Christmas Festival Committee, headed by Danny Wann, is busy mapping plans for the biggest display of holiday decorations and spirit ever. The Chamber of Commerce and the garden clubs are combining efforts to induce more and more people to enter the annual decorations contest.

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J. Earl Girard of Great Ring Road, Sandy Hook, recently gave to the town 100 blight-proof chestnut trees, which were planted on the grounds of the Sandy Hook Elementary School, under the supervision of Vincent P. Gaffney of the Newtown High School Faculty. Mr Girard made this gift in the hope that the children of present day Newtown will in time be able to enjoy chestnuts as he enjoyed them for many years as a young man in Newtown.

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The Yankee Drover Inn in Newtown will receive national recognition in the 1961 edition of the Duncan Hines Travel Book, “Adventures in Good Eating,” coming out this month. The Yankee Drover Inn is one of 4,500 eating places in North America “recommended” by Duncan Hines.

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Newtown’s Recreation Department is making an attempt to organize a basketball league of adults, which will play games on the high school court on Wednesday evenings. Interested players should get in touch with Marvin Shreders or Coach Harold S. DeGroat.

November 29, 1935

This year marks the 29th annual appearance for the Christmas Seals. Christmas Seals are symbols under which the VNA will “carry on” our health program in this town. Each seal carries the message that tuberculosis is still the greatest cause of death between the ages of 15 and 45, and that no home will be safe from it until all homes are safe.

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A large attendance was present at the Fairfield County Farm Bureau meeting, held last Friday night, at St John’s parlors, County Agent LeRoy Chapman presided at the meeting. Mr Chapman explained in detail the method used by large poultry men in tattooing chickens. Lieutenant Leo Carroll of the State Police gave an interesting talk on the work done by the police and the advantages of tattooing chickens by the state.

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Postmaster P.H. McCarthy was somewhat surprised on Tuesday evening to have a Thanksgiving Postal Card in the mails from New York addressed to “Grandpa,” Newtown, Conn. Inquiries brought out the information that the card was really from George Fischer, a Fresh Air child, who had passed two months in Newtown, and that “Grandpa” was none other than William McNamara of Hanover district. It was a kindly act on the postmaster’s part to make inquiries trying to find out who “Grandpa” really was.

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Newtown was visited by its first real snowstorm of the season over the weekend. On Saturday evening, the greatest difficulty was experienced by motorists in trying to go over Mt Pleasant and Lake’s Hill. At the latter place over 50 cars were stalled at one time. The state road crew worked all Saturday night and Sunday sanding the hills.

 

December 2, 1910

J. Botsford Fairchild of Taunton has a fine crop of about 900 bushels of white cap Dent and Michigan field corn as one often has the pleasure of looking at and it is worth a trip to his place to look at it.

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The Men’s Club had a very interesting session, Tuesday night. Representative Elect William C. Johnson being the host. The subject of “Good Roads” was the theme of the evening’s discussion. A number expressed the sentiment that the only way to get good roads in town was to divorce politics from the question of their care and that the acceptance and payment of the work done be on the recommendation of an inspector from out of the town or county.

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E.J. Hall has competed installing a steam heating equipment in the Mershon Printing plant at Sandy Hook.

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John R. Peck completed threshing his fine crop of 520 bushels of oats last week. He also raised, this year, a nice crop of 720 bushels of potatoes and has a fine corn crop of over 1,000 bushels.