Turning Back the Pages

100 years ago –
September 1924

Last Saturday night was a busy one for Lakeville Hose Co. Along about 9 o’clock in the evening a telephone message was received calling for the services of the chemical truck. The large barn on the Pratt place was burning up. The company made good time getting there but the barn was practically beyond saving when they reached the spot and all that could be done was to safeguard the other buildings as far as possible. A little after 1 a.m. the siren again called out the company. The time the Lime Rock Railroad station was the scene of the trouble. In this case the building was practically gone before help could reach the spot. The upper story of the building was occupied by John Welch and family and by prompt hustling pretty nearly all the contents of the building were carried out and saved from the blaze. The building was burned to the ground, and the wire service of the railroad company was demoralized. The railroad company will rebuild the station at once but will probably not erect so large a building. In the meantime the railroad business is being transacted from a combination passenger and baggage car.

TACONIC – Mr. Harold Stalker and family are moving today to Amenia Union, where Mr. Stalker has a good position. Their many friends here greatly regret to see them leave town.

Mr. Ames and family have moved to Lee, where he is to work on state roads.

G.W. Judd and a force of men are now busy restoring parts of the building of the A.F. Roberts Co. recently damaged by fire.

A slight frost was reported on Wednesday morning – the first thus far this season.

Lawrence G. Gunshannon was taken to Sharon Hospital on Tuesday. While holding a drill, during his work on the state road at Wassaic, the drill slipped and was driven through his right thumb, smashing all the bones of that member. Dr. W.B. Bissell had to amputate the thumb close to the hand, and he is now getting as well as can be expected.

Lost or strayed about Sept. 20th. One perfectly good equinoctial or as the old fashioned folk say, line storm. No reward.

E.L. Peabody sold through the Batson Farm Agency of N.Y.C. $20,000 camp site on one of the Spectacle Lakes near Kent, Conn. The purchaser will start operation at an early date, and expects to be ready for business for season of 1925.

50 years ago –
September 1974

Four area residents filed a multi-million dollar class action suit against the Connecticut State Police last week. They claimed their telephone conversations were recorded illegally by investigators listening for drug trafficking evidence on another person’s line. The four plaintiffs are David Beaujon of West Cornwall, Catherine Bell of Lakeville, Gary Higgins of Lime Rock and Donna Sobsui, whose present address was listed as unknown. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in New Haven by their attorney, David Rosen of New Haven. According to Mr. Rosen, it is known that there have been 60 wiretaps conducted by police in the past two months. Figuring 35 persons were overheard during each tap, he explained, there may be at least 2,000 persons who may have similar claims.

The first general killing frost of the season came to the Tri-State area Monday night and Tuesday morning, blighting unprotected vegetables and flowers. A low of 23 was recorded by Darrell Russ at the valley weather station on the Edward C. Childs property in Norfolk. The Lakeville Journal recorded 28.

Dan Rather, news correspondent for CBS television, will participate in a unique fall festival auction in Cornwall for the benefit of the Connecticut Civil Liberties Union Foundation. Rather will have a private lunch or dinner with the high bidder. In addition to Rather, a number of other personalities have agreed to lunch with high bidders at the auction. These include the two gubernatorial candidates – Ella Grasso and Robert Steele – as well as Abraham Ribicoff, Lowell Weicker, James “Buddy” Brannen, and Rev. Robert Drinan. The auction is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 13, at the Mohawk Ski Lodge in Cornwall.

Local police are on the lookout for “hot” antique weathervanes, stolen earlier this month by thieves, police suspect, using a helicopter to snatch the weathervanes from their perches. At least seven valuable antique weathervanes have been stolen in several Connecticut towns. One weathervane, a horse figurine stolen from a roof peak in Avon, is valued at $1,200 and another was a $1,000 rooster. Connecticut State Police in Canaan as well as Massachusetts and New York have been notified to be on the lookout for the stolen weathervanes, which they believe may be fenced through antique dealers.

Robert Jacquier of East Canaan is one of six New England farmers to be named a “Dairyman of the Year” for 1974. Mr. Jacquier was recently honored at the Eastern States Exposition in Springfield, Mass., when he was presented with a silver pitcher. Mr. Jacquier operates the Laurelbrook Farm in East Canaan. He owns 150 acres, of which 70 are tillable, and rents an additional 200 acres of tillable land. The farm milks some 130 cows daily, selling about 6,000 pounds of milk every other day. The milk is stored in a stainless steel 200-galllon tank.

25 years ago –
September 1999

It was not the summer Arnold Agar Jr. had planned. Then again, no one ever plans on being diagnosed with leukemia, especially at 16. It was the beginning of June and Arnie was nearing the end of his sophomore year at Mount Everett Regional High School when he suddenly became ill. After x-rays and blood tests, the shocking diagnosis was followed by chemotherapy treatments. Discussing treatments, Arnie saw, with typical teenage clarity, the real drawback. “He asked, ‘Does this mean I can’t get my driver’s license?’” his mother said with a laugh. The real relief at the moment is that he is home, except for daily five-hour visits to Fairview Hospital in Great Barrington for treatments until the end of the month. Good humor and a positive outlook are still intact, however, and will take the family far as they approach the next step in Arnie’s treatment – a stem cell transplant. Arnie’s parents are Diana and Arnold Agar Sr., who own Arnold’s Garage in Canaan, and are volunteer drivers for the North Canaan Volunteer Ambulance Corps. On Friday, fellow volunteers will sponsor a dinner dance to benefit the “Arnold’s Hope Fund,” established to help with the family’s mounting medical bills and associated costs.

A Falls Village automobile service station that had been closed since 1993 was recently purchased by Cornwall residents Mark and Nancy Davis, owners of Cornwall Auto Body on Route 7. “We’re completely redoing the whole place,” Mr. Davis said, noting that he had already removed the crumbling asphalt from the front. “This piece of property was overlooked for a long time. It was really run down.” The partners plan to add cedar siding to the exterior of the existing building as well as a cedar fence and shrubs to “help keep the cars from view.”

LAKEVILLE – Barbara Pogue was amused at last Sunday’s Mass at St. Mary’s Church. During Father Thom Kelly’s homily, the priest spoke about there being too much division in today’s world. Two youngsters sitting in front of Mrs. Pogue nodded in agreement, but she could tell it was a different type of division they were lamenting.

The Nature Conservancy has purchased 43 acres in a bargain sale on the wetland at Wangum Lake Brook, a crucial component of one of the most important conservation sites in Connecticut, according to an article in the conservancy’s newsletter, “From the Land.” The land lies just east of the 1,050-foot Cobble Hill and south of Barnes and Undermountain roads on both sides of the brook. The brook runs from Wangum Lake on Canaan Mountain to the southern end of Robbins Swamp, the largest inland wetland in the state. The $21,500 purchase brings the chapter’s Wangum Lake Brook Preserve to 430 acres.