Turning Back the Pages

100 years ago — October 1922

SALISBURY — George Senior has purchased a Chalmers touring car.

— Ward Finkle has installed a radio phone at his home.

— While standing in front of the Drug Store last Friday the brakes on Mr. E.O. Wagner’s coupe loosened up permitting the car to run down the hill as far as Roberts Store where it came to rest against the stone curb. One rear wheel was smashed but fortunately no further damage resulted.

50 years ago — October 1972

With the help of a home-built derrick and a helicopter that became their hod carrier, six men spent five days last week in restoring the top portion of Bear Mountain’s 23-foot stone monument thought to be in danger of ruin. The monument, built in 1885 by Robbins Battell of Norfolk, was to mark what was then thought to be the highest point in Connecticut. The structure was intact until last year when it was vandalized, It became apparent this year that the marker was in danger of being reduced to rubble.

— The Falls Village Recreation Center was quiet Friday morning after a devastating attack by vandals earlier in the week that left the building and the grounds a shambles. Damage was estimated at about $3,500. Windows, toilets, electrical fixtures and a lawn mower were among the items damaged or destroyed. The policeman investigating the incident told Rita Wright, chairman of the recreation commission, that it was the worst case of vandalism he had ever seen in the area.

— Dr. and Mrs. Vincent Peppe of Canaan were guests of honor at a surprise 25th wedding anniversary party Sunday at their West Main Street home. Many of the out-of-state guests were among the guests at the Peppes’ wedding in 1947. They have lived in Canaan throughout their married life and Dr. Peppe maintains a veterinary practice in the community.

— Lena Blodgett, Falls Village’s oldest citizen, celebrated her 101st birthday on Sunday, Oct. 14 in the Brightview Convalescent Home in Avon. Mrs. Blodgett was born on Beebe Hill in 1871, the only daughter of William and Frances Gillette. She can trace her ancestry on both sides of her family back to the earliest days of the settlement of Canaan.

— State Police are investigating the second Falls Village bank robbery in a month. But this Sunday’s break-in netted its perpetrators only $15. Police reports indicate that this time the culprits smashed a rear window in the same bank to gain entrance, swiped about $15 in petty cash, and committed some petty vandalism, mainly by tossing papers on the floor.

25 years ago — October 1997

Reality still has not set in completely for 20 co-workers from Specialty Minerals Inc. who won a $25 million New York Lottery jackpot last weekend. “I am really happy for them even though I wasn’t one of the winners,” plant manager Perry Gardner said. As of Tuesday Mr. Gardner reported that no one had come into his office to quit and said he would have been surprised if anyone had given up their job without giving it some thought.

— The Lakeville Journal Company announced today that its associate publisher James L. Timpano will leave at the end of the month to take up a new position with Hamilton Standard, a division of United Technologies Corporation located in Windsor Locks.

These items were taken from The Lakeville Journal archives at Salisbury’s Scoville Memorial Library, keeping the original wording intact as possible.