Date: Fri 18-Jul-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

way-we-were

Full Text:

THE WAY WE WERE FOR JULY 18, 1997

JULY 21, 1972

Newtown is one of five Connecticut towns split into pieces by the new

redistricting ordered by a three-judge federal panel. Not only is Newtown

split once but the split divides both Newtown and Sandy Hook, requiring two

voting places in each of the voting districts. The basic split line follows

Washington Avenue up Church Hill Road, left on Queen Street to Glover, across

Main Street to Sugar Street (Route 302), right on West Street to the flagpole,

up Main Street to Currituck, which it follows to the Brookfield line. Among

the puzzling scenarios which this will create: People who live on Main Street

across from Edmond Town Hall will no longer vote there; they will be in the

Sixth Congressional District while town hall will remain in the Fifth

District. Registrar of Voters Jeanne Hubbell said the redistricting plan as

announced is still tentative.

Raymond B. Fosdick, 89, the League of Nation's first undersecretary and the

president of the Rockefeller Foundation for 13 years, died at his home on

Boggs Hill Road on July 18. Mr Fosdick had been a weekend resident of Newtown

for 40 years, spending the major portion of his time here after his retirement

in 1948 and becoming a permanent resident in 1966. Trained as a lawyer, he

became known as a graft-buster and reformer in his years as commissioner of

investigations under New York City Mayor George B. McClellan. During this time

he met John D. Rockefeller, Jr, in whose service he spent most of his life. He

was the author of 14 books and was the recipient of many honorary degrees and

awards.

Members of the North Newtown Homeowners Association attended the meeting of

the Board of Selectmen on July 18 to present a statement in opposition to the

proposed rest area on I-84 between Old Hawleyville and Secor Roads near the

Brookfield line. Objection had been expressed by the group at a meeting July

16 in the Hawleyville Fire House with First Selectman Frank DeLucia present.

Although the proposed rest area is considerably smaller than the one

originally proposed by the state, the homeowner group is still opposed.

Present at both meetings was Capt W.G.H. Finch, USN Ret, much of whose

property was taken when I-84 went through. His house is now high, overlooking

the interstate, and the fumes and noise are almost intolerable, he said.

At a meeting of the Newtown Historical Society last Thursday evening, definite

arrangements were made to engage Robert I. Carter of Essex as architect for

the completion of the restoration work on the Belden House (later called the

Matthew Curtiss House). Mr Carter has worked on the restoration of the Amos

Bull House in Hartford as well as many other projects. He has toured the

Belden House and calls it a very fine example of early 18th century New

England architecture.

A 22-year-old New Jersey resident was killed in a traffic accident this week

on the stretch of I-84 between the Housatonic River and Exit 10 that is known

as Death Row. The death of Judith DiPaolo brings to 10 the number of people

killed on the two-lane stretch of highway since it was built. The roadway is

even more dangerous now that construction has begun to widen the road.

Complaints of speeding on the interstate highway have been forwarded to the

state police by First Selectman Frank DeLucia. The state police at Ridgefield,

the closest barracks, said there are only two police officers available to

patrol I-84 at any time.

JULY 18, 1947

A Glen Ridge, N.J., couple were injured in an accident on Monday afternoon

near the Chase residence at the top of Mt Pleasant when their car hit a

utility pole and rolled over. Dr Waldo F. Desmond accompanied the couple to

Danbury Hospital in the Newtown ambulance, where both were treated for

multiple cuts and abrasions. The man was arrested by state police for

operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of liquor; his wife was

charged with being found intoxicated. As a result of the accident, electrical

service was interrupted for more than an hour in the area.

Eight hundred undernourished children in India were given a bowl of cereal and

100 of them also received a glass of milk as the result of a $15 gift raised

through the efforts of fifth grade students at Land's End School before the

end of the school year. This information was contained in a letter from the

American Friends Service Committee in Philadelphia and sent to Sally Jones,

daughter of Mr and Mrs Northey Jones, who acted as secretary for the students.

The money was raised when the students presented a play in the Hawleyville

fire house. Sally Jones and Caroline Nash, daughter of Mr and Mrs F.A. Nash of

Queen Street, had read of the AFS work and suggested it as a worthy cause.

Added recognition was given to the work of the Sandy Hook Fife, Drum and Bugle

Corps Tuesday evening when Anthony Cararra of Danbury, veteran of 45 years in

drum corps work, presented the Sandy Hook group with an American flag during

ceremonies at Glover Hall.

The 11th annual Honegger Cup Men's Doubles Tennis Tournament will begin on

Saturday morning when the playing of four matches have been scheduled. The

tournament will be held at the home of Mr and Mrs H.C. Honegger on Walnut Tree

Hill Road on Saturday and Sunday. Sixteen players are entered. At the close of

the tournament, guests will be entertained at a buffet supper and swimming

pool party.

Jack Cochrane and Gordon Williams, who hitchhiked to California at the end of

the school year in June, and who are planning to spend the summer on the west

coast, will be joined by three other boys - Don James, Charles Swan and Harry

Lake - who left Newtown on July 9. It also was announced this week that Jack

Cochrane and Charles Swan have been accepted as members of the freshman class

of the Junior College of Connecticut in Bridgeport this September.