Turning Back The Pages

100 years ago — May 1921

One of the best from every viewpoint as well as the largest attended gathering in the Club’s history was the eighth annual banquet of the Baldhead Club of America held at the new Conley Inn, Torrington, Monday night. The attendance was about 250 indicating at least that many men enjoy being bald-headed at least for one night in the year. Some members traveled hundreds of miles to regale themselves in the exclusive company of the baldheads, and there was not a dull moment during the feast and post-prandial exercises.

SALISBURY — Roy Van Deusen is suffering from an infected right hand.

LAKEVILLE — The silent policemen have been placed in position near the bank and the railway bridge for the summer.

ORE HILL — Mrs. Michael Moore in company with Mrs. John Morgan Sr. and John Morgan Jr. of Lakeville and Mr. and Mrs. J.A. Bianchi of Canaan motored to Pittsfield, Mass., on Monday.

50 years ago — May 1971

Items on sale at A&P this week include Bacon, sliced, 1 pound package for 69 cents; Scott Big Roll Towels, 3 for $1; Ann Page Ketchup, 14 oz., 2 bottles for 49 cents; and 80 size Florida oranges, 10 for 79 cents.

CANAAN — Young people of the New ERA group planted a seven-foot fir balsam Monday afternoon in the front lawn of the Canaan State Police Barracks. The new tree at the barracks replaces the old blue spruce, planted in the 1940s by Olle Zetterstrom, and traditionally lighted each December as a Christmas tree. The new tree was donated by the Zetterstrom family from their Canaan tree farm.

CANAAN — Mrs. Clifford Wohlfert has returned from San Francisco to the home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Rokos of Ashley Falls. Mrs. Wohlfert will be joined by her husband in a few days. Mr. Wohlfert, who is serving in the Navy, will be on a 20-day leave before returning to the carrier USS Coral Sea. The Coral Sea is making preparations for an overseas cruise.

The selectmen of Falls Village are looking for public reaction to the possibility of having Route 126 traffic again brought through the center of town rather than following Brewster Road. Route 126 used to run through the village center, but through traffic was shifted to Brewster Road a number of years ago. Brewster Road, because of a right angle turn into a hill, has not been a completely satisfactory choice. The visibility at this intersection is frequently poor, opening the possibility for accidents. The change to the former routing through town would eliminate this problem.

25 years ago — May 1996

SHARON — Sarah Anne Perotti, a senior at Providence College in Rhode Island, was recently inducted into the Tau Pi Honor Society. The society honors accounting, business and economics students.

CORNWALL — State Police are still investigating the cause of a major accident on Route 4 last Friday in which a tanker bearing 7,994 gallons of No. 2 heating fuel hit a pickup truck and careened into Baldwin Brook. The accident summoned firefighters from Cornwall, Sharon, Bantam, Goshen, Kent and Falls Village who spent the day clearing the litter, pumping out the tanker and sopping up the 1,100 to 1,300 gallons of cherry-colored oil out of the stream. But the driver of the 18-wheeler said Wednesday there is no mystery about what happened. Bryan Doehr, the 36-year-old driver for Island Transportation of New Haven, said his brakes failed.

CORNWALL — They stood in line to get into Dan Gracey’s lasagna dinner Sunday, a dinner that raised $4,713.10 for the injured man and his family. In January, Gracey, 32, was seriously injured in a logging accident at White Memorial Foundation in Morris. He was struck on the head by a hickory tree and was airlifted to Hartford Hospital. He is in a wheelchair now.

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