Turning Back the Pages

100 years ago — July 1923

SALISBURY —  E.R. Smith has sold his garage to R.G. Marston. It is understood that Mr. Smith and family expect to go to California later to make their home.

Fire completely destroyed the barn at J. Wisoski’s place at Lincoln City on Friday afternoon. It is thought the blaze was started by spontaneous combustion caused by hay not thoroughly cured before being stored in the building. The barn and its contents proved a total loss as there was no insurance on them.

For some reason the fire siren went wrong last week and at times emitted all kinds of sounds from a growl to a moan. It is thought there was some trouble with the wires or switches and efforts have been made to locate the trouble.

Over a hundred fight fans got the news of the Willard-Firpo battle on Thursday night over Merrill Fenn’s radio. Mr. Fenn’s yard was full of autos and his lawn full of fans, and while there was some static the radio worked well and was greatly enjoyed by all.

50 years ago — July 1973

The Lakeville Journal has won the 1973 Golden Quill Award for the best editorial among 1500 submitted to the International Conference of Weekly Newspaper Editors. The editorial, “A Boy’s Toes,” appeared in the issue of March 15, 1973, and was written by Editor-Publisher Robert H. Estabrook. It accompanied a news story by Barbara Buccino and concerned the plight of a northwest Connecticut youth who nearly lost three toes to frostbite because of a lapse in state supervision. Released from a state training institution, he was living in an unheated shed after arrangements for him to attend school elsewhere had fallen through.

A crowd of almost 1500 campers, parents and staff members attending a Visitor’s Day program at Camp Sloane on July 15 were excited over the announcement by Theron C. Hoyt of Pleasantville, president of the Camp Sloane YMCA board of directors, that a capital funds drive is planned for $127,250 to construct a swimming pool. The T-shaped pool will measure 83 by 45 feet in one direction and 75 by 35 feet in the other and will vary in depth to permit instruction and safe recreational swimming for all ages.

Exposed chestnut post and beam construction of a corner of the Abel Lee house on the Millerton Road shows the careful and sturdy building practices of the late 1700s. The house, now being readied for aluminum siding, was for a period the home of Daniel Cook and thought to also be the home of a Mr. Eldridge, a layman sympathetic toward Methodism. Freeborn Garrettson, an early Methodist circuit rider from New York, conducted services here in June, 1789. That date, if correct, would possibly make Lakeville the oldest continuous congregation in New England.

25 years ago — July 1998

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said Tuesday his office is currently reviewing the issue of former Sharon Hospital President James Sok’s severance agreement to determine whether an investigation would be justified. Blumenthal conceded he has received “various calls, complaints and correspondences about this matter. We are reviewing them to determine what our authority is and whether further action is warranted.”

Pat Pallone said he has been approached by Brooks Drug every year for the past eight years. But he had no reason to sell the Canaan Pharmacy that he has put so much of himself into for the past 18 years. This year, however, he and his wife Martha decided to give it serious consideration. For the past year, Mr. Pallone has been fighting an aggressive form of myeloma. A stem cell transplant earlier this year was successful and his doctors believe he has gone into remission. He said he didn’t want to wait until someone else had to make the decision for him. The sale of the store will be finalized July 28.

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