Turning Back the Pages

100 years ago —
November 1924

Joseph Stanton has purchased a new Hudson coach of O’Loughlin Bros.

SALISBURY — Mrs. Joseph Rix, who formerly lived on Hamlet Hill Farm, died at her home in East Canaan on Nov. 17th and the funeral took place at the home in East Canaan on Nov. 19th. Mrs. Rix was the sister of the late Samuel Miner of this place. Her husband, one son, Philip Rix, and a daughter, Mrs. Lucretia Rix Dibble, survive, who have the sympathy of many friends here.

LIME ROCK — A Christmas Sale of fancy work of all kinds, and also cakes will be held at the home of Mrs. George R. Belcher Jr. (near the barber shop) on Friday afternoon, Dec. 5, from 2 to 5.

SALISBURY — Miss Edna Conary, teacher in our public school, went to Sharon Hospital last Sunday suffering with a troublesome appendix.

The remains of Mrs. Delia Munison Paine of Buchanan, Va., were brought to Millerton for interment on Nov. 15th. Owing to the late arrival of the train the committal services at the cemetery took place after dark, the light being furnished by properly placed auto headlights. Mrs. Paine was the widow of the late Platte N. Paine, at one time one of Millerton’s prominent business men.

LIME ROCK — Work has increased in the Shop, and several men have gone back to work.

One of the infernal pests of modern life is the flat-headed guy that opens his muffler cut out while driving through the streets late at night. It means a pretty weak intellect that will enjoy indulging in that sort of thing.

Mr. Walter Angus next month expects to take a well earned and long deferred vacation, and will visit his old home in Scotland. He expects to sail about the second week in December and will be absent about six weeks.

Lost — Black and tan hound, long ears. No collar. Return to Edward Duell, Salisbury.

The heavy rain of Saturday put an end to the long dry spell and replenished the local water supplies.

The new steam heating plant now being installed at St. Mary’s Church is nearing completion. It is expected that steam will be turned on next Sunday morning.

Irving Butler of Millerton was before Justice Tuttle last Friday afternoon, charged with stealing corn from James Jones. He was found guilty and paid a fine of $10 and costs amounting to $15.61.

50 years ago —
November 1974

The general slowdown in American industry finally made itself felt in the Tri-State area this week. Taconic Products of Millerton announced it would lay off “slightly more than 10 percent” of its 120-member work force effective next Monday, Dec. 2. Two Lakeville plants, Keuffel and Esser’s Salisbury Products and Lakeville Precision Molding, said Tuesday they had no specific plans for immediate layoffs. But Richard Bell, manager at LPM, said that unless business picked up dramatically, a few people might have to be laid off “within the next month.”

A large shopping center has been proposed for a site on the New York side of the Connecticut state line on the south side of U.S. Route 44, east of Millerton. A representative of the developing firm said “it is not something conceived recently. We’ve had the land under option since July. We’re in negotiations with real tenants and have two tenants prepared to sign leases.”

Connecticut State Police radios have been installed in Canaan and Norfolk ambulances this week, creating a “vital link” in the communications between ambulances and area hospitals. The installation of the radios stems from a series of meetings last week between State Police Commissioner Cleveland B. Fuessenich and local residents and officials.

A bequest of $1 million to The Hotchkiss School, the largest single bequest in the school’s history, became known last week when the will of the late Arthur Kittredge Watson was accepted in Rockland, Maine, Superior Court. Mr. Watson, who died last July in Norwalk, was a graduate of Hotchkiss and of Yale University, and had served on the boards of trustees of both institutions.

Local dairymen heard first hand this week the dilemma the Dairylea Milk Cooperative faces. Dairylea directors have voted to assess its 8,000 members some $18 million to bring the dairy co-op back into the financial black. Each member farmer will be assessed a portion of the $18 million deficit. Many members have been stunned by the assessment, which will take 60.7 percent of their 1974 milk checks. As of early this week, however, it appeared most area members of Dairylea plan to pay their assessments, which average somewhere around $4,000 to $5,000, and to stay with the big cooperative, working and hoping for better management and better days. These individual assessments may force some to abandon farming altogether, and all farmers seem to agree dairy farming is not the work to be in today for profit.

Investigators this week have traced two recent fires to accidental causes. Salisbury Fire Marshal Henry Rossire and state trooper Ralph Hazen of the Public Safety Division of the Connecticut State Police joined last week in probing the ruins of a converted barn on Selleck Hill, destroyed by fire Nov. 8, and concluded the blaze’s origin was in the structure’s electrical wiring. In Canaan, investigators from the state fire marshal’s office said a discarded cigarette had probably caused last Tuesday night’s major fire at the North Canaan Town Highway Garage. The fire destroyed the building and heavily damaged town trucks.

A late afternoon storm Thursday left two inches of snow and made roads hazardous. Saturday morning the temperature dropped to a season’s low of 13 degrees, and the ground temperature at one point in Lakeville was reported to be a mere 7. Virtually all the snow melted as the temperature rose to 44 on Sunday. Again Monday afternoon snow accumulated about 1½ inches, with the temperature dropping to 18 by Tuesday morning.

A 13-year-old Lakeville youth, Gary Marks of Main Street, accidentally shot himself in the foot with a .22 calibre rifle last Saturday morning. Police report that Gary and his father Alan were setting traps on the John Rand farm on Route 44 when the rifle went off and the youth was struck in the foot. He was treated and released from Sharon Hospital.

The Canaan office of The Lakeville Journal is moving this week to the Canaan Union Depot. The Journal will be found in the waiting room of the station after Monday, Dec. 2. The office has been located in the Phair building on Railroad Street since 1971.

25 years ago —
November 1999

SALISBURY — A choice parcel of land will be available to an economically disadvantaged family thanks to a generous gift from Sally Ellsworth to the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity. The two-acre parcel taken from Mrs. Ellsworth’s property on Selleck Hill Road may include portions of an open meadow on slightly sloping ground surrounded by pine, white birch, poplar, hemlock, maple and butternut trees.

Those driving through Sharon may notice a slight change in the traffic patterns. The state Department of Transportation put up signs Nov. 18 notifying drivers they can no longer enter Upper Main Street from the north or south ends. Under the plan approved by both selectmen and residents of Upper Main Street, drivers will still be able to exit the street by the library and the Methodist Church, but can only enter at the middle of the Sharon Green in an effort to smooth the traffic flow.

Senior Marci Perotti, Housatonic Valley Regional High School’s girls soccer co-captain and four-year varsity midfielder, has been named to the Connecticut Class S All-State team. “She has developed from a hardworking but relatively inexperienced freshman into one of the best overall players in the Berkshire League,” said coach Bruce Adams.