Turning Back the Pages

100 years ago — September 1922

Mr. Howard Morey and family have moved to Torrington, where Mr. Morey has secured a good position.

Abram Martin thinks he has one of the largest sunflowers in town. It measures 15 feet and has a head of about 14 inches in diameter. Mr. Martin said the sunflower was grown with Swift’s-Lowell Co. fertilizer, for which he is the agent.

A handsome new soda fountain has been installed at the Hub.

Mrs. Walter Paddock and daughter of Utica called on Mr. and Mrs. Ida D. Traver last Friday, who were neighbors 20 years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Hanlon of Taconic and Mrs. Traver motored to Brookfield last Sunday.

50 years ago — September 1972

Sharon Hospital embarked this week on an effort to raise $2 million between now and the end of December. The funds are sought for major capital improvements to the hospital. Hospital spokesmen said modernization of facilities and an increased emphasis on outpatient care were basic to the campaign.

Drilling rigs were reported on two well-known farms in Salisbury and Sheffield in the valley east of the Taconic Range this week, with conflicting explanations of their purpose. An employee of JW Farms of Sheffield, Mass., said George Tomasso of New Britain is conducting the drilling for sand and gravel there and on the Sagemont Gospel Meadows Farm just south of the Connecticut line in Salisbury. Both farms are in an area of known gravel deposits. But an official of the New Britain paving contractor A. Tomasso Inc., with which Mr. Tomass was formerly connected, said after talking with him Wednesday that he is looking for an agricultural farm and is drilling merely to determine the type of soil.

Merrilee Sherwood, daughter of Roy and Phyllis Sherwood of Salisbury, and Richard W. Alexander Jr., son of Richard and Doris Alexander Sr. of Lakeville, were married Aug. 27 at the Salisbury Congregational Church. The 2 p.m. ceremony was conducted by the Rev. Lawrence Stone, former pastor of the church, with a lawn reception afterward at the home of the bride’s parents.

Dr. Elbert Gross of Sharon was re-elected president of Music Mountain at the annual meeting of the Board of Managers. Attendance was up 54 percent over last year and many young people attended the concerts, he reported.

John W. Parker, associate editor of The Lakeville Journal, has been named editor-manager of The News in Millerton effective immediately. Mr. Parker succeeds Larry Johnson, who is returning to newspaper work in Maine.

25 years ago — September 1997

SALISBURY — Negotiations to restructure a $1.1 million debt owed by The White Hart Inn are “positive and near resolution” despite the onset of a foreclosure proceeding against the historic inn in Litchfield Superior Court, inn general partner Juliet Moore said this week. She said she soon plans to announce “good news” regarding The White Hart’s financial status although specific details about the pending announcement are not yet available.

It was a melding of past, present and plans for the future. The Becton, Dickinson and Co. Canaan plant threw a dual celebration last Saturday to commemorate its 35th anniversary and the centennial of the company’s founding. Special guest will be Director Emeritus Henry Becton, a congenial 83-year-old who is obviously enjoying the chance to meet employees and their families. In them he sees the set of values upon which the company was founded.

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