Turning Back the Pages - December 4, 2025

125 years ago — December 1900

Henry Brazee on Saturday trapped a woodchuck. He says he has beaten this record once when several years ago he captured a woodchuck in January.

100 years ago — December 1925

The post office was moved Monday to its new quarters in the Roberts building. The office has been completely equipped with new furnishings and up-to-date things. The boxes are all the new combination pattern, keys being done away with entirely.

About two inches of snow fell on Tuesday but it soon melted and by Wednesday afternoon it was practically gone. This was the first snow fall of any consequence this season.

Desirable Home for Sale -- Bargain at $5,500.00. Reasonable payments; William Jefferson place 1½ miles from Sharon Station.

50 years ago — December 1975

With the agreement of the first selectmen in Sharon, Salisbury and Canaan, a total of 75 miles of town roads have been marked with middle traffic lines, but the painted double solid lines come as a surpise to the three town officials. The selectmen told the Journal this week that they never saw a map delineating the type of lines the roads in their towns would receive.

FALLS VILLAGE — First Selectman David Domeier has received a letter-petition signed by 27 Falls Village residents urging him to improve the appearance of the town’s center.

Topp Hill Annie 4106 of Hedgerows Farm, West Cornwall, was named grand champion at the National Angus Show in Kansas City last month.

The Schaghticoke Indian Reservation is one of the places of special interest in the Northwest Corner of Connecticut. Set aside in 1742 for the exclusive use of Indians, the reserve originally covered 1500 acres. Reduced now to 400 acres, it extends a mile and a half along the west bank of the Housatonic River north from Bull’s Bridge and west to the New York state line. The tribe appears to have lived peaceably with the colonials. It had the right to hunt on anyone’s property and to cut the year’s growth from trees. The Indians pounded the young branches flat and used them to make baskets.

25 years ago — December 2000

Take 70 pounds of confectioners’ sugar, 60 pounds of gingerbread, 10 pounds of gumdrops and a long list of other sweets and one can picture a cascade of cavities. But for Mark Waldron it’s an artist’s palette. The head chef at Sharon Hospital has once again his gingerbread Holiday Christmas that stands on display in the facility’s lobby.

CANAAN — Local do-it-yourselfers know they can now get more than supplies at C.A. Lindell True Value Hardware and Lumber. Advice is always plentiful and free. For some, a trip to the hardware store is a much-anticipated part of a Saturday. But others will now be pleased to know they can make a “virtual visit,” shopping and seeking advice, without changing out of their pajamas. Lindell’s new web site is open for business 24 hours a day, seven days a week.


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

The views expressed here are not necessarily those of The Lakeville Journal and The Journal does not support or oppose candidates for public office.

Latest News

Cornwall board approves purchase of two new fire trucks following CVFD recommendation
CVFD reaches fundraising goal for new fire trucks
Provided

CORNWALL — At the recommendation of the Cornwall Volunteer Fire Department, on Jan. 20 the Board of Selectmen voted to move forward with the purchase of two new trucks.

Greenwood Emergency Vehicles, located in North Attleboro, Massachusetts, was chosen as the manufacturer. Of the three bids received, Greenwood was the lowest bidder on the desired mini pumper and a rescue pumper.

Keep ReadingShow less
Robin Lee Roy

FALLS VILLAGE — Robin Lee Roy, 62, of Zephyrhills, Florida, passed away Jan. 14, 2026.

She was a longtime CNA, serving others with compassion for more than 20 years before retiring from Heartland in Florida.

Keep ReadingShow less
Marjorie A. Vreeland

SALISBURY — Marjorie A. Vreeland, 98, passed away peacefully at Noble Horizons, on Jan. 10, 2026.She was surrounded by her two loving children, Richard and Nancy.She was born in Bronxville, New York,on Aug. 9, 1927, to Alice (Meyer) and Joseph Casey, both of whom were deceased by the time she was 14. She attended public schools in the area and graduated from Eastchester High School in Tuckahoe and, in 1946 she graduated from The Wood School of Business in New York City.

At 19 years old, she married Everett W. Vreeland of White Plains, New York and for a few years they lived in Ithaca, New York, where Everett was studying to become a veterinarian at Cornell. After a short stint in Coos Bay, Oregon (Mike couldn’t stand the cloudy, rainy weather!) they moved back east to Middletown, Connecticut for three years where Dr. Vreeland worked for Dr. Pieper’s veterinary practice.In Aug. of 1955, Dr. and Mrs. Vreeland moved to North Kent, Connecticut with their children and started Dr. Vreeland’s Veterinary practice. In Sept. of 1968 Marjorie, or “Mike” as she wished to be called, took a “part-time job” at the South Kent School.She retired from South Kent 23 years later on Sept. 1, 1991.Aside from office help and bookkeeping she was secretary to the Headmaster and also taught Public Speaking and Typing.In other times she worked as an assistant to the Town Clerk in Kent, an office worker and receptionist at Ewald Instruments Corp. and as a volunteer at the Kent Library.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rafael A. Porro

SALISBURY -— Rafael A. Porro, 88, of 4 Undermountain Road, passed away Jan. 6, 2026, at Sharon Hospital. Rafael was born on April 19, 1937 in Camaguey, Cuba the son of Jose Rafael Porro and Clemencia Molina de Porro. He graduated from the Englewood School for Boys in Englewood, New Jersey and attended Columbia University School of General Studies. Rafael retired as a law library clerk from the law firm of Curtis, Mallet Prevost in 2002 and came to live in Salisbury to be nearer to his sister, Chany Wells.

Rafael is survived by his sister, Chany Wells, his nephew Conrad Wells (Gillian), and by numerous cousins in North Carolina, Florida, Wyoming, Arizona, Cuba and Canada. He was the eldest of the cousins and acknowledged family historian. He will be greatly missed.

Keep ReadingShow less