Turning Back the Pages

100 years ago – August 1924

The remains of Mr. J. William Greenwood of Brooklyn were brought to Salisbury cemetery for interment on Wednesday. Mr. Greenwood was struck by a trolley car in Brooklyn about a week ago. Both his legs were broken and he was so badly injured otherwise that his death resulted on Monday. He is survived by his wife, one son and one daughter, and his sister, Mrs. W.C. Witter. For many years the Greenwood family have spent their summers at their place on the road from Taconic to Sheffield, and the deceased had many friends and acquaintances in this section.

Friday, August 15, was a beautiful day for the gathering of friends and relatives of Mrs. Annie Ashman, better known as Grandma Ashman, to help her celebrate her 96th birthday at the home of her son, D.M. Ashman.

TACONIC – Oscar Allen was thrown from a motor cycle Tuesday afternoon, breaking his right ankle. He was taken to Sharon Hospital where the bones were replaced.

The town hall in Sharon has been greatly improved by the installation of a new ornamental front wall.

Ho ye base ball fans! A base ball autographed by Babe Ruth will be auctioned off at the Congregational Church fair to be held tomorrow afternoon.

Owing to a gasoline war, gas is selling at various prices throughout the eastern section of the country. Prices range all the way from 12 cents per gallon at Albany to 23 cents in Lakeville. It is on sale at Millerton at 19 and 20 cents. This is one war that automobilists would like to see continue.

Reed Johnson has been off duty at the Spurr Co.’s lumber yards for a few days, owing to stomach trouble.

Miss Mabel Rebillard expects to finish her duties at the local office of the Connecticut Power Co. the last of the present month, and will enter the New Britain Normal School for a course of study.

50 years ago – August 1974

“It’s official now. You can’t smoke at a town hall meeting. That’s the word from the state’s Attorney General. “ So reads a press release issued Monday by the Connecticut State Department of Health. But a check with town officials in the northwest corner suggests smoke-filled town hall rooms may not be a thing of the past – at least not yet. First selectmen termed the smoking ban, adopted by the 1974 General Assembly, everything from “good” and “fair” to “extreme.” None showed eagerness to impose the $5 fine the law prescribes for violators.

North Canaan First Selectman Leo Segalla is rallying colleagues from surrounding towns for a public airing of their opposition to Connecticut’s ban on open burning. Mr. Segalla disclosed Tuesday that he and several other first selectmen will hold a television interview - news conference next Wednesday morning. A Hartford television news team will be on hand. Selectmen and many citizens of sparsely settled towns in both northwest and northeast Connecticut are eyeing a number of strategies, as they seek relief from the ban on burning of brush, logs and stumps now piling up at town landfills.

A child of a family living on the first floor of the Hillside Apartments in Lakeville was bitten by a rat early Friday afternoon. According to Town Health Director Henry E. Gallup, M.D., the incident was minor and the rat involved was not rabid. Gallup believed that the rat had been forced out of its nesting area by exterminators working to bring the Hillside Apartment building up to required health standards.

Several weeks ago, Herbert O. Bergdahl Jr. of Lime Rock was ordered by the Salisbury Planning and Zoning Commission to remove a sign on his property that the commission says violates the town zoning regulations. The sign, highly visible to drivers along Route 112, reads “By allowing noise in Lime Rock, Salisbury, In My Opinion, Pollutes.” Despite the commission order, the sign remained posted as of Tuesday night.

A broken electric wire on Belgo Road a short distance above the intersection with U.S. 44 disrupted power to homes in that section of Lakeville for more than an hour Saturday afternoon. The wire sent a 4000-volt charge sputtering to the ground and charred the grass. Local residents waved down cars and directed them for 45 minutes until State Police arrived. A crew from the Hartford Electric Light Company repaired the line.

Canaan residents expressed their concern over the appearance of their town Tuesday night by passing a town ordinance that will forbid drinking on town streets and highways. The town meeting vote to accept the ordinance was unanimous.

The Falls Village Recreation Center fell victim to vandalism yet again last week. In the second major incident of vandalism in a year, windows were smashed, recreation equipment was stolen, and marionettes made by the children over the summer were smashed.

The town of Sharon has purchased approximately 13 acres of land around Beardsley Pond from Land-Vest for the purpose of raising the height of the existing dam, according to information released at the Aug. 13 Sewer and Water meeting. Total cost to the town was $8,232.50.

25 years ago – August 1999

For the second time in less than a month, Canaan Fire Company volunteers responded to a calcium fire at the MinTech plant on Daisy Hill Road. The fire occurred in the calcium grinding division and was reported at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday. The plant, a division of Mineral Technologies, as is the Specialty Minerals mining division, produces calcium wire used in steel manufacturing. An expansion projected was completed there last year, and it is in the new equipment that the fires – three in the past year – have occurred.

SHARON – While ecologist Priscilla Baillie’s main goal is to study changes in the quality of Mudge Pond, she is also preparing to co-write a children’s primer about that body of water. Ms. Baillie’s involvement with Mudge Pond began a decade ago when some private landowners and the Housatonic Valley Association brought her to the area for a study of the pond. She returned here in 1997 at the request of the town and the Sharon Lake Association, which received a Department of Environmental Protection grant for a study of the pond. When her work is complete, she will write a primer focusing on the ecology of Mudge Pond, and the signs of a healthy and a dying lake. The book will point out features that children can see such as dragonflies, fish, turtles and plants, and also discuss rare and invasive species of plants and animals. According to Ms. Baillie, because of the pond’s hard water, it tends to have rare species. The pond’s undeveloped nature also lends to the diversity of species. “The purpose of the primer is to educate the children,” she said. “It’s a wonderful resource.”

Employees at C.A. Lindell & Sons in Canaan have been hard at work, ripping up the old Connecticut Western Railroad tracks next to their lumberyard in order to make way for a new hardware store. Plans are to demolish the steel building attached to the back of the hardware store within the next 30 days. Owner LeRoy Riva said they hope to begin construction on the new store in the fall.

Cynthia Hochswender has been named a reporter for The Lakeville Journal. She began her duties this past Monday, replacing Dan Levine, who has taken a position with The Hartford Advocate.

CANAAN – Residents and staff at Geer Nursing and Rehabilitation Center have welcomed a new member to the family. Rudy, a beige two-year-old Labrador mix was recently interviewed and approved as the new dog-in-residence at the South Canaan Road facility.

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