Date: Fri 18-Aug-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

Mountain-hurricane-Felix

Full Text:

MOUNTAIN FOR 8/18

I was looking forward to a little excitement from a hurricane named after a

cat, but when I sat down to write this column this week, Felix was still

playing cat and mouse with the North Carolina coastline. The people down there

are hoping he'll turn into more of a pussy cat than a lion, and for their

sake, I hope so too. Still, it's nice to see a cat getting some respect.

Few people get the respect they deserve, and fewer still get any public

recognition. Wouldn't it be nice, just once, to have someone approach you

timidly and say, "Aren't you So-and-so?" Well, I can't say anyone has ever

stopped me on the street (or in the alley, for that matter) and made me feel

like the star of a New Nine Lives commercial. But my friend Emily Warner had

just that type of thing happen when she went to the two week Summer Music

Festival at Hartwick College recently.

The 16-year-old was eating lunch in the cafeteria when two women approached

her hesitantly. It turns out one was Judy Dobbrow, Emily's first grade teacher

who now lives in Rhode Island, and Head O' Meadow School Librarian Marilyn

Moore of Trumbull who recently retired from her position. The two friends were

attending a teachers' workshop at Hartwick and thought they recognized a

now-grown Emily. Although the experience of participating in the symphony and

concert orchestras was rewarding for the Newtown High School junior, there was

something extra-special about being recognized for just who she is and so far

from home.

In case you've been considering weeding out books from overcrowded bookshelves

and donating them to the Booth Library, you best not tarry. The cut-off date

is August 19. And the library won't be able to start accepting books for next

year until sometime in October.

Sandy Motyka had to drive her husband, Walt, to Brookfield to get some

emergency medical care last weekend when he cut his hand changing the blade on

a power tool. She also had to fill out all the paperwork while the staff was

stitching up Walt's hand. That turned out to be surprisingly difficult, what

with questions about everything from Walt's Social Security number to his

childhood diseases. "We've been married 31 years and I just realized that I

don't know anything about you," Sandy says she told him.

Edie Tshorn's kids are seeing their mom in an entirely new light these days.

She surprised them when they visited and found her driving not just a new car

but a convertible! Well, the old buggy had more than 200,000 miles on it and

she had to get a new car, so why not? The way she looks at it, now that the

kids are grown up and have moved away, she and Bob even get to drive it.

Janet Woycik and her staff at the Booth Library were wondering whether the

building should remain open on Tuesday when a water main broke under Main

Street and left the library and nearby homes without water. She called Mark

Cooper at the health district office to find out if there is any law that says

the building can't be open if the public toilets don't work. Mark said that's

not a simple question to answer because it depends upon how long the situation

would last - hours? days? weeks? But the library probably could stay open, he

said, if they hung up an out-of-order sign because people could use the

facilities at Town Hall and Town Hall South, neither of which were affected by

the water main break.

The staff at Newtown Hardware is getting ready for the big move to the store's

new location on Church Hill Road, an event that is expected to occur "on or

about" Sunday, August 27. The Drug Center will follow in a couple of weeks.

Dan Sorrentino explained that construction crews are finishing the new

hardware store first because its lease in the Queen Street shopping center is

up at the end of this month, while the drug center's lease isn't up for a few

more months.

Newtown appears to be changing all over - not just on Queen Street and Church

Hill Road. New residential subdivisions continue to be built in Newtown,

paving the way for new home construction and a bigger population. While

they've got the roads ripped up for sewers, the town might as well put in a

subway. Take a look around town and you'll see new developments popping up off

Tunnel Road, Currituck Road, Parmalee Hill Road, Palestine Road and Alberts

Hill Road, to name a few. New roads have been built and new homes wait to be

built. Some construction is still underway in established subdivisions in the

Hattertown, Poverty Hollow and Sandy Hook areas.

Speaking of new developments, Walnut Tree Village is finally taking shape atop

Walnut Tree Hill in scenic Sandy Hook. The first cluster of condominiums has

been going up near a pond on the 18-acre property. The builders say people

will be moving in by Thanksgiving.

INSERT PHOTO HERE

Fall is closer than you think. This squirrel in the yard of Oskar and

Christine Berendsohn of Appleblossom Lane is already working on his birdfeeder

moves, even before the birdfeeders make their appearance. Every day he comes

to the birdbath and strikes this pose.

I don't' know what poses you strike in your daily routine, but next week at

this time be sure to sit down, put your feet up, and...

Read me again.