Turning Back the Pages

100 years ago – May 1924

LIME ROCK – Mr. and Mrs. Lyon entertained relatives from Bridgeport Sunday.

H.S. Kelsey of Salisbury has a new Reo Speed Wagon.

The two children of Paul Parsons have been suffering with whooping cough the past four weeks but are now better.

A brush fire at the Hotchkiss School grounds last Friday morning communicated to the roof of the school ice house and necessitated the service of Lakeville Hose Co. The blaze was quite stubborn and resisted the efforts of the firemen but was finally extinguished before serious damage resulted.

Leander Whiteman has returned from Waterbury and is now shaving, trimming and bobbing hair at Thurston’s barber shop.

Wonder what the sun looks like. Long time since we saw very much of old Sol.

Next week the Journal will install a model 14 linotype to replace our present typesetting machine which has given long and faithful service, but which is now about at the end of its working life. The new machine is the last word to date in typesetting machinery, and while we feel somewhat sentimental in bidding the old machine good-bye, we welcome the new member as a great addition to our equipment. If your Journal reaches you somewhat late please bear with us as our working arrangements must, of necessity, be more or less disturbed during the installation of the new machine for a short time.

50 years ago – May 1974

Fire completely destroyed a pickup truck owned by the Lakeville Service Station Tuesday night when George Jones, co-owner of the Shell station, discovered the bed of the truck on fire while driving north on Route 41 in Sheffield, Mass. Mr. Jones was moving furniture and personal items belonging to his daughter, Bonnie Guidi, from Lakeville to Egremont, Mass. The truck caught fire shortly after 8:30 p.m. approximately four miles north of the Connecticut state line. Mr. Jones estimated the dollar loss at close to $2,000.

The 50th wedding anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. Wilbert R. Hemmerly of Lakeville will be celebrated Tuesday, June 25, with a party from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Town Grove. Because the Hemmerlys have spent the past 47 years in service to the town, the public is invited to help celebrate the occasion.

Josephine Vaill of Warren is the last fire spotter in Connecticut. There were originally 19 fire towers until the state realized that a spotter plane could fly over the hilly countryside and cities in one hour precluding the need for spotters. Mrs. Vaill’s busiest period extends from March 15 to June 1. When she wakes in the morning, she tunes in to radio station WTIC to learn the fire danger for that day. If it is high, she drives the 17 miles from Warren to Mohawk Mountain, in the state park in Cornwall, climbs the American Telephone and Telegraph tower on top of which the state built an observation room, and begins her duties.

In the herd of Howard Wentworth and Sons of Canaan Valley Farm, East Canaan, an eight-year-old registered Ayrshire cow named Bentley Beth has completed an official milk production record of 16,580 pounds.

The new IGA Foodliner at Kent Green is scheduled to open for business today. The supermarket, managed by Charles Davis, is the most recent addition to Gordon and Jack Casey’s new commercial development on Main Street.

25 years ago – May 1999

Kindergartners will be spending a little more time away from home next year. That’s because the Salisbury Board of Education approved an extended day for all its young students at a May 24 meeting.

SHARON – If one thing is known about Gail Mirabile, it is that she will be missed. Mrs. Mirabile, the wife of Dr. Charles S. Mirabile Jr., died May 20 at Hartford Hospital. She was perhaps best known for her work at the Hotchkiss Library. She began working at the library in 1980 and was head librarian at the time of her death.

Tom Brokaw, a part-time resident, author and anchor of the NBC Nightly News, will talk about his book “The Greatest Generation” Saturday at 3 p.m. at the United Church of Christ on Bolton Hill Road. The event is sponsored by the Friends of the Cornwall Library.

Rubber duckies and furry squirrels don’t necessarily mix. Cornwall First Selectman Gordon Ridgway was late to last Thursday’s meeting of the Board of Finance because of a menagerie in his bathroom. It seems a squirrel, who came in through an open window, hid among his children’s rubber ducks. When the kids got into the tub to take a bath, the squirrel started splashing around, causing quite a commotion. Mr. Ridgway said the youngsters thought it was fun for a while. He eventually got the situation under control and the live creature was removed.

Davis IGA on Kent Green will celebrate its 25 years of business in town with an in-store celebration June 13 from 1 to 5 p.m. The event will feature special promotions, refreshments and give-aways.

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