Turning Back the Pages

100 years ago – September 1924

George R. Belcher has entered the employ of Osborn & Barnes, state road contractors.

SALISBURY – Miss Ethel Ball is home from Cornwall for a vacation.

The most severe thunderstorm of this season visited this section on Tuesday afternoon and the lightning was almost continuous for an hour. In this telephone division 26 lines and 85 telephones were put out of business by falling trees. The telephone co. however hopes to have the damaged lines restored by the end of the week. A nearly new silo at A.B. Landon’s farm was blown down and the corn and other crops were twisted and flattened. At Canaan and East Canaan the storm was even more cyclonic in its nature. Two barns at East Canaan on the Isadore Minacci and Bion Stevens farms were struck by lightning and burned to the ground. It was by far the worst electric storm of the season and the damage caused by it will run into large figures.

Mrs. Jerry Parmalee of Lime Rock has gone to Springfield for treatment. She has three goiters on her neck.

Leander Whiteman has received news of the birth of a grandchild – a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. George Pardis at Waterbury last Friday. Mr. Whiteman says this is his 31st grandchild.

Mr. John Wesley Mainwaring of Brooklyn, N.Y., presented the home at “The Pines,” a Radio, of his own construction. The same was installed by Elester Patchen Jr. and John Wesley Mainwaring Jr.

50 years ago – September 1974

For the first time in 82 years, since The Hotchkiss School first opened its doors in 1892, women have been accepted to attend the private secondary school in Lakeville. This Tuesday, 88 women will be arriving on campus along with the men to begin orientation sessions and will begin their first day of classes Thursday. The total student population this year is approximately 460.

A Labor Day crowd estimated at 8000 turned out at Lime Rock Park this Monday for the Camel GT Challenge race and other racing events. The crowd saw Mike Keyser take the Camel GT and actor-driver Paul Newman capture an event for sports sedans. It also saw two accidents, in one of which a deer and a car collided. The deer was killed when hit by a Datsun 240Z as the animal darted across the track. The car lost its right front wheel and was out of the race.

Tom Tweed, who takes care of the Town Hall, was back at work Tuesday with a bandaged right hand, the result of a rather serious accident with a saw at his home last Friday.

Nicholas Gordon, the son of Music Mountain’s founder, is the new president of the Falls Village Chamber Music Festival’s Board of Managers. Mr. Gordon, who lives in New York City, is a vice president of the National Broadcasting Co. Music Mountain was founded in 1929 by the late Jacques Gordon as the summer home for the Gordon String Quartet and as a center for young professionals to receive advanced training and experience in chamber music.

25 years ago –
September 1999

When most college students decide to spend a semester abroad, they pick a country and absorb as much of its culture before returning home. When Sharon resident Kara Clemente decided to spend a semester abroad, she did it a little differently. Her trip began Feb. 17 in Nassau, Bahamas, where she boarded the ship the S.S. Universe Explorer. From there, she visited Cuba and Brazil before heading off for South Africa. The ship then made stops in Kenya, India, Malaysia, Vietnam, China and Japan before returning to the United States May 28. “It was kind of a floating university,” Ms. Clemente said. “I think I saw a lot and did a lot. I never learned so much in my whole life.”

After increasing its capabilities at its Amenia office, Fountain Press has opened a satellite office in Kent, in the plaza by the Fife and Drum, formerly the location of Sarah’s Flowers.

Beligni Realty of Canaan has changed ownership, but there is little to give that away at the moment. Cherie Kennedy purchased the business Aug. 2 from Jean Beligni, who will remain on as a broker associate. Ms. Kennedy worked at the Railroad Street office for the past five years and the pair did not even switch desks. “All that has really changed is that I have redecorated the office and now I get to pay the bills,” Ms. Kennedy said. She will leave such things as renaming the 20-year-old agency for future consideration.

SHARON – Alison M. Trotta graduated in May from Iowa State University, College of Veterinary Medicine, with a doctor of veterinary medicine degree. Ms. Trotta, whose specialty is small animals, did her internship at the Kansas City Zoo. She is now in a small animal practice in Weare, N.H.

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