Turning Back the Pages - October 2, 2025

125 years ago — 1900

Over 50 tickets were sold at this station for Great Barrington fair on Thursday.

The Torrington “Register” proudly says: — Torrington has made a greater proportionate gain, and so far as we know shows a greater proportionate gain than any other town or city in the state, more than doubling the 50 per cent increase credited to Hartford.

James Ellis has entered eight of his choice Indian Game fowls at the Danbury fair.

Miss Charity Fretts is taking a vacation of some five weeks from her duties at Dr. Knight’s institution.

Col. M.M. Blunt and Mrs. Blunt have been spending a few days in Lakeville with Mrs. S.S. Robbins. The Colonel is a graduate of West Point, served at the front in the war of 61-65, and also on the frontier. He is now on the retired list.

A dozen members of the senior class of the Storrs Agricultural college fear they will be expelled. They turned a vicious Durham bull loose in the upper story of the main school recitation room one night recently. The racket aroused the faculty who promptly detected the guilty members of the class and ordered them to remove the bull. It took the seniors all the next forenoon to get the animal back into the yard. The faculty has the sinning agriculturalists on probation and will not remove the sentence of suspense till it is certain that the young farmers are cured of bull raising to such a height as the third story.

100 years ago — 1925

Lakeville and Salisbury have been handed the worst railroad schedule they have ever had since the C.N.E. Railway was built. We now have only one train each way per day. If you desire to go east you must be at the station at 7 a.m. and the only opportunity you have to go west is at 10:30 a.m. No afternoon trains whatever, and to rub salt in our wounds the two lonesome trains are usually from one to two hours late. Canaan has as good service as formerly, but there it stops. It would seem that the railway could at least run its evening train through to Millerton without any serious financial strain. The manner in which the C.N.E. has operated its trains for some time would make it appear that they did not care for and didn’t want any business from this end of the state. To be sure the autos and trucks have cut into their business, but the inconvenient schedules have fostered and invited all kinds of competition, and it is no wonder the road has lost business — and is bound to lose still more. An effort is being made to have the railway company extend the evening train through from Canaan, but as yet no results have been attained.

The plant of the Salisbury Iron Corporation is a thing of the past. It has been sold to a wrecking concern from New Haven, who are now breaking it up and disposing of it as junk. The passing of this industry is a hard blow to the village of Lime Rock and to the town as well. The recent fire which destroyed the machine shop put the finishing touch on the business which had been steadily losing ground for the last few years. Many families are affected and the workmen engaged in the plant must seek new employment, and many of them must of necessity move away from Lime Rock. Just what future the village may have is uncertain, but it is not a cheerful picture at the present time.

Adv.: FOR SALE — New Perfection 5-burner oil stove with cabinet top. Price $35.00. Mrs. C.F. Grant, Phone 164.

Mrs. John Barrymore, wife of the noted actor, was a guest at Farnam Tavern one day last week.

Paul Argall has entered the employ of W.H. Judd with the object of learning the barber’s trade.

You know how delicious to eat are those snow apples. Well William Rowe at Ore Hill has some fine ones for sale by the barrel, bushel or in any quantity.

Hartford is about 60 miles away yet it is a two-day trip by our present railway schedule. If you wish to send a letter to Salisbury, a distance of one mile, it must first go to New Milford and be brought back, probably the day following. The C.N.E. is “some” railway and it has “some” schedule.

50 years ago — 1975

Union workers struck the plant of Pfizer Inc. at midnight Tuesday. Pickets were out in front of the plant Wednesday morning. Wages and union demands for a dental plan are key issues.

Heavy rains last week flooded farm fields in the Tri-State area and caused a dicey time for canoeists on the Housatonic River, but left far less damage than elsewhere in Connecticut and New York. The Lakeville Journal recorded 4 ½ inches of rain.

More than 80 persons turned out to watch a shovelful of dirt be turned on Sunday, an action of significance in Kent. The event was the groundbreaking ceremony for the Templeton Farm Apartments, a housing complex for the elderly.

Seven fire companies spent most of Sunday at the burning of a big hen poultry barn in Sharon. The fire was a training exercise for more than 150 volunteers. Sharon chief Ken Bartram directed the drill, which involved firemen from Sharon, Amenia, Cornwall, Lakeville, Millerton, Wassaic and Falls Village. The poultry barn, part of Odge’s Egg Farm, had been demolished previously, and it was the 100-foot-long mass of wood, tarpaper, shingles and rubble which the firemen burned.

Saturday morning seven canoes carrying a total of 15 boy scouts and Scout leaders capsized on the swift-moving, swollen waters of the Housatonic River. Trouble began when the first canoe flooded in the particularly rough water near the covered bridge in West Cornwall. It did not end until the last 10-year-old was fished out of the river below Housatonic Meadows in Cornwall Bridge by fireman Howard Stone. In the interim, frightened boys struggled for shore along the five-mile stretch, while some 25 state policemen, firemen and emergency squad members participated in the rescue. Confusion was compounded by uncertainty about the number of boys who had set out on the expedition. The group came from Groton.

25 years ago — 2000

A group of North Canaan Elementary School teachers was overpaid for part of last year. When the mistake was discovered, steps were taken to correct it and prevent it from returning. However, a written agreement was drafted that said the teachers would not have to return the $9,400 total for all paid in error. Meanwhile, local officials, including members of the school board, had no idea these events were taking place. The question of who must take the responsibility for the mistake has become a minor issue when compared to reaction to Region 1 Superintendent John O’Brien’s failure to notify or seek input from Canaan’s finance and school board members. It would be some six months before word would come to the town through other channels.

NORFOLK — Six months ago, Wendy Moran pledged to walk 60 miles in support of the fight against breast cancer. On Oct. 13, she will set out on a three-day hike from Bear Mountain to Manhattan and become one of more than 20,000 women across the country hoping to raise $30 million this year for cancer research. Breast cancer has been in the forefront of Mrs. Moran’s life, in her mother’s diagnosis and fight against it, as well as awareness of the genetic risk to herself and her young daughter.

SHARON — As Litchfield Acquisition Corp. moves closer to constructing its 110-foot tower on Herb Road, another company, SBA Commmunications Corp., has submitted an application for a special exception to locate a tower in the mountains of this town. The new application has been filed by SBA, with Sprint PCS a co-applicant. The 150-foot monopole with associated antennae and equipment would be located on the 20-acre property of Theresa Meisel at 477 Route 7, near the border with Salisbury. Buildings at the base of the tower would be unmanned and serviced by technicians several times a month.

KENT — Lake Waramaug has been designated a Heritage Lake in a pilot program to preserve the cultural, recreational, scenic, public health and environmental value of the state’s lakes. The designation was given by Departmental of Environmental Protection Commissioner Arthur Rocque, making the lake, situated in the towns of Kent, Warren and Washington, the first in the state to be recognized by the program.

KENT — For those who are wondering, Heather Beckel has no plans to sell The Villager. When asked about the rumor Monday, Ms. Beckel said not only is she not selling now, but she has no plans to sell the popular restaurant in the near future. “We’re doing great. I’m enjoying the business,”she said of the restaurant she purchased from Bill Leo in January.