Turning Back the Pages

100 years ago – July 1924

A.C. Roberts has so far recovered his health that he was able to make a business trip to New York on Tuesday.

The Interlaken Inn has been undergoing interior improvements among which has been a complete wiring system for electricity. The outside of the Inn also has been newly painted, and is now open for guests.

Roy VanDeusen has entered the employ of Canfield’s Garage at Canaan.

Last Monday night John Solan of Ore Hill filled up on something he said came from over the New York state line and got into a disturbance at Frank Sherman’s. The State Police were called and took John to Canaan and locked him up over night. Tuesday morning he was brought before Justice Tuttle and found guilty of intoxication and disturbing the peace and given a fine of five dollars and costs of fifteen dollars and eighty six cents.

The house being erected by the Judd brothers at the corner near the railway bridge is making good progress, and will be an improvement to that particular corner. Harris Rossiter’s house is also growing.

(Adv.) FOUND – Black heifer with some white. Came to my place about June 1st. Owner can secure same by paying charges for keep and advertising. John Caeser, Lakeville, Conn.

50 years ago – July 1974

Interest in preserving wildlife is increasingly popular. Most people are content to voice their concern, or to contribute money; others have taken a more personal stand. William Zovickian, a dentist who moved to Sharon last year, is waging his own personal war against the encroachments of civilization. Dr. Zovickian has been raising and breeding radiated tortoises, an endangered species, for the past five years. He believes that to date, he is the only private individual in the United States who has successfully bred the tortoises in captivity.

A proposal for establishment of a historic district in Lime Rock, the center of Salisbury’s early iron industry, will be discussed at a public hearing on July 12. At the hearing, residents will have a chance to question and comment on the proposal, and to view slides showing the various portions of the proposed district. Within 60 days after the hearing, a town meeting will be called to vote on the proposal by means of an amendment to the ordinance creating historic districts.

The Falls Village Planning and Zoning Commission approved a home occupation for Mark Caliendo at its Thursday night meeting. Mr. Caliendo asked for the special exception so that he can operate a canoe rental service from his Main Street home.

The Getty Oil Company building at the intersection of Routes 7 and 44 should be the new firehouse for the Canaan Fire Company. The firemen are now in the midst of fund-raising efforts to help purchase the building. Canaan firemen also started work this week on setting up booths for the annual Firemen’s Block Party. The block party, one of the organization’s major fund-raising events, is scheduled for Friday and Saturday evening.

Lakeville’s area, expanded a couple years ago by the State Department of Transportation, contracted last week by action of the same agency. It all came about through placement of a new-style sign on U.S. 44 denoting the approach to Lakeville from Salisbury. This is one of a series of such signs being placed outside municipalities throughout the state. It has a green background with an outline of Connecticut and the name of the municipality in white. The new sign is now located south of the Salisbury Farms Milk Bar but north of the Ironmasters Motel, at what traditionally had been the informal dividing line between Salisbury and Lakeville. Previously, the Department of Transportation had chosen to locate an earlier sign about half a mile north of Salisbury.

25 years ago – July 1999

How do you call 911 to report your home is on fire when the phone is dead? When that happened to Sharon resident Vincent Johnson, he ran across the street to the Ellsworth fire station and returned with a fire truck. Coming home early Monday evening, Mr. Johnson said he had just realized he had no power when someone knocked on his door to alert him his home was on fire. When he arrived at the substation on Route 4, he called 911 and alerted his fellow firefighters he would be taking a fire truck with him. Within minutes, firefighters from Sharon, Cornwall, Salisbury and Amenia came to his aid. Mr. Johnson has been a member of the fire department since 1967. Firefighters managed to save the main portion of the building where Mr. Johnson lives, but the attached building was gutted by the fire. The building damaged was part of the former Buckley estate and was the schoolhouse where Noah Webster once taught. Mr. Johnson had the building moved to its current location several years ago and attached it to another schoolhouse he once attended and now calls home. The house is owned by Long Fields Farm. Mr. Johnson said he still remembers school days spent in the schoolhouse before it became his home. He remembers pranks he and his fellow classmates pulled to scare the teacher, and how he earned $5 a month as a student serving as the building’s custodian by sweeping the floors and taking responsibility for heating the school. Sharon Fire Marshal Stanley MacMillan said the fire appears to be caused by a lightning strike.

As a result of their strong performances at last Sunday’s Junior Olympic Regional Track and Field Championships, Niki Geyselaers and Dan Cockerline have qualified for the United States Junior Olympic Championships to be held in Omaha, Neb., in the last week of July.

FALLS VILLAGE – It was all smiles at Town Hall Monday afternoon as the town of Canaan formally transferred ownership of the former Alston property on Sand Road to Habitat for Humanity. The deed closing comes after three years of negotiations and working out of details.

The Journal’s own Bernie Drew has made us all very proud. His “Great Barrington: Great Town - Great History,” a 650-page book that chronicles over 300 years of that town’s people and events, was recently released. The publication was commissioned by the Great Barrington Historical Society, and features a wealth of interesting information. It’s an inviting read and we salute our esteemed copy editor for this ambitious undertaking.

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