125 years ago — 1901
What Lakeville needs is a good ambitious dog catcher and a Frankfurter factory. Too much dog.
Mrs. Barbary Leddy of Mount Carmel died last Friday of mosquito bites. She was literally tormented to death. Her body was a mass of bites and she scratched the surface on her leg until a vein opened and she bled to death.
A stalk of field corn 14 feet high was left at this office this week. Twas grown by Ernest Wooden of Chapinville on the old Lee farm owned by the Scoville family.
FOR SALE — The “Polly Reed” place so called, situated near Lakeville, consisting of 10 acres of land and large house thereon. For terms inquire of Donald T. Warner, trustee.
LIME ROCK — An eleven-pound boy, now a week old, is at the home of Michael Dunn. If the stork continues to favor this village as it has of late, a baby show can be easily arranged next spring.
LIME ROCK — The big white stone beside the road on Town Hill has been buried and a stalk of golden rod planted upon the grave. A commendable job, as some horses were afraid of the bowlder.
LIME ROCK — Mike Hickey, a charcoal teamster, left his team standing hitched to a load of coal last Saturday, then went back in the woods to help another wagon. There was live coal in the load. It soon blazed up and singed the horses. They started down the mountain on a run and it looked as if the devil was out for a ride. The horses finally got loose from the load, but the wagon and coal were destroyed.
100 years ago — 1926
Home made stills continue to turn out raw booze. We suppose they are called stills because after drinking their output, the drinker is apt to be still for the rest of eternity.
50 years ago — 1976
CANAAN — Six young men have recently cleaned a portion of the Blackberry River of debris and logjams which were causing flooding problems. They were employed under the Federal government’s Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) project. The program employed five area boys, Mike Novicki of Canaan, John and Tom Warner of Canaan, Peter Schultz of Lakeville and Ivan Barron of Canaan. They were supervised by Mike Magistrali of Torrington. They worked for the town of Canaan at various jobs throughout the summer and received $2.31 an hour and worked 35 hours a week.
A House Subcommittee heard only favorable testimony Friday in Washington D.C. on a proposed bill to study the Housatonic River for possible inclusion in the federal Wild and Scenic Rivers System, according to the office of U.S. Rep. Toby Moffett (D-6th).
LAKEVILLE — Edward E. Kleinschmidt, who makes his summer home on Twin Lakes, will celebrate his 101st birthday next Thursday with a quiet dinner party with his family. Mr. Kleinschmidt, a pioneer in the field of electronic communications, is the inventor of the first teletype machine. He was active in the field of telecommunications until his 95th year. Still active, he likes to dine out every evening and spends his summers in Connecticut and his winters in Florida.
A clean attic and more than $6,700 in the coffers were the results of the auction last Saturday at the Holley-Williams House, a historic home owned and maintained by the Salisbury Association.
It seems there are escargots in Lake Wononscopomuc, not just snails. The gastropod mollusks, which some residents had suspected of being a factor in the annoying epidemic of “lake bites” suffered by swimmers earlier in the summer, have turned out to be “a delicacy, and very edible,” according to the town’s former health director, Dr. Henry Gallup. The sudden elevation of the snails to gourmet-food status apparently resulted from a visit by staff members of the state Department of Health last Wednesday. Dr. Gallup said the mollusks have been labeled as “Japanese mystery snails.”
FALLS VILLAGE — A well-kept secret met its demise Aug. 25th with the announcement that Meredith and Marion Bierce, twin brother and sister, have celebrated their 70th birthdays. Miss Bierce said the subject of their age has been a matter of much speculation among neighborhood children who have ventured many a guess. One youngster observed that since the Bierces are now a great-great aunt and uncle, they “must be really old.” Mr. Bierce has spent most of his life as a dairy farmer in the Northwest Corner, and “retired” from that profession 10 years ago. He immediately found employment in New Hartford, shaping the necks for guitars. He said “I’ll never retire until I have to. What’s the use of sitting around?” Miss Bierce made a home for her brother over the years, taking care of the house, and occasionally babysitting neighborhood children, a practice she gave up only a few years ago. “Mostly I just got the dishes dirty and then I cleaned them up,” she said with a wide smile.
CANAAN — Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Gandolfo Sr. of Route 44 in East Canaan, were guests of honor this weekend at a party celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. Mr. and Mrs. Gandolfo were married Aug. 26, 1926, in old St. Joseph’s Church on North Elm Street.
Bicron Electronics’ new addition added 5000 square feet to the Canaan manufacturer’s plant space. According to a spokesman for the company, the project was undertaken because it was thought to be a good idea to make physical additions for the future now, when business is slow. President Fred Kent said the company is optimistic about opportunities in the economy, although it will be “rough sledding.”
25 years ago — 2001
New Yorkers and other out-of-staters flocked to Connecticut last weekend with the hope of purchasing the winning ticket for the near-record $295 million drawing in the Powerball game. Convenience stores and package stores along the border of New York were kept busy with a steady stream of business. “This is worse than the last time. It’s a zoo,” Walt Gisselbrecht, manager of the Lakeville Patco store, said Saturday afternoon.
SALISBURY — Jacqueline Kuhn teaches high school in Washington, D.C. She came back to Amesville at the end of the school year to visit her parents, Anita and Jack Kuhn, but she didn’t take a bus or plane. She walked. On July 15, Ms. Kuhn had a friend drive her to Harper’s Ferry, W. Va., and the next morning she set off on the Appalachian Trail. Thirty-one days later, she crossed the Housatonic River at Falls Village and walked to her home on Sugar Hill Road. She had walked 470 miles.
State Sen. Andrew Roraback (R-30) has completed his seventh session in the General Assembly without missing a vote on the floor. Mr. Roraback was present and cast his vote 493 times on the Senate floor during this year’s regular and special sessions. He was required by Senate rules to abstain from three votes for which he was present. “My constituents work hard and I try my best to emulate the standard they set in my work in Hartford,” he said. “It is impossible for me to represent my constituents unless I am present to cast my vote.”
These items were taken from The Lakeville Journal archives at Salisbury’s Scoville Memorial Library, keeping the original wording intact as possible.
