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The Amity Star
A Weekly Newspaper Published at The Bethany Press
Litchfield Turnpike, Bethany, Connecticut
Telephone - New Haven 3-1682
George D. Vaill
Editor & Publisher
Alice M. Vaill
Business Manager
Subscription Rates
One Year     52 issues     $4.75
Six Months     26 issues     2.40
Three Monhts     13 issues      1.20
Vol. I, No. 13     Thursday, Februrary 22, 1951

Editorial Comment
Last Sunday morning another Bethany child had a narrow escape from a speeding motorist in front of the Congregational Church, and again the question has been asked by several people, "When are we going to have proper police protection at the churches on Sunday mornings?" This problem was thrashed out at great length at a Town Meeting some months ago, and assurances were given at the time that appropriate action would be taken. On a few Sundays since then a State Policeman has been stationed at the danger spot for a short time -- or has been assigned the task of cruising up and down the road in the vicinity. There has, however, been no regularly-assigned officer, Town or State, on the job every week.
The problem is one which cannot much longer be dismissed with evasive answers and excuses about manpower shortage. If existing constabulary forces cannot be employed, there are plenty of local citizens who would undertake to do job voluntarily, provided they could be deputized and empowered to make arrests if necessary.
This is a matter involving human life and safety. Must we wait until a child or an elderly person is killed before intelligent action is taken to provide protection at this congested spot?
Weekly Calendar
With this issue we begin another regular feature -- a weekly calendar of events covering the period from Thursday (the day of publication) through the following Wednesday, and a listing of events scheduled for future weeks. It is our plan to include in this as many items as possible. Those who have meetings, entertainments, parties, or other things to report should let us know by Monday of the week of publication, if possible. The "Coming Events" section is a long-range calendar which may be helpful to those who are trying to find open dates in planning future activities.

Communications
To the Editor:
Here is a snapshot of Daniel Bonnett in his new uniform ...
Mrs. Raymond G. Linke
Hamden
(Pvt. Daniel Bonnett, son of Mrs. Stanley H. Downs of Carrington Road, Bethany, is stationed at Camp Pickett, Virginia, where this picture was taken. Ed.)
To the Editor:
I graduate here from the Infantry School Saturday and am returning to Camp Pickett. How's the weather up there? It's 78 here this afternoon. Fine place; 30 this morning. You seem to be doing great with the "Star." I wish you a lot more success. I'll be sure to let you know when I'm coming home. Run an ad to warn the girls.
Pfc George Jackson
Fort Benning, Ga.
To the Editor:
I want to extend my sincere thanks and real appreciation to you and your staff for the swell copy of "The Amity Star." It pleases me immensely to read about the many activities and the general welfare of our proud communities. News from home is rather scarce here, so you can imagine how delighted I am to read the "Star."
Cpl. Carmine N. Iannuzzi
Camp Otsu, Japan
To the Editor:
When I first came to Bethany to live, twelve years ago, there stood at the northwest corner of Litchfield Turnpike and Bethway Road a two-story frame building that was unoccupied at the time and remained so until it was demolished a few years ago.
Being interested in the history of Bethany, I oftimes wondered what the building was originally used for. After making several inquiries, I was told that it was used as a soft drink emporium and was in its hey-day back in the gay nineties when bicycling was very much in vogue, and it was patronized by cyclists out of New Haven.
I wonder if any of your readers might have the full story as to who originated the place and how long it was in operation.
Local Resident

Bethany Notes
Mrs. Victor Raymond has returned to her home on Beacon Road after visiting her husband, who is in service in Virginia. Their son, Victor, Jr., who is stationed in Oklahoma, is spending a 15-day furlough at home.
Billy Dodge, of Bear Hill Road, is being treated for an eye infection in the Valley Forge Army Hospital, Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. Friends are urged to write him, in care of Ward AAB.

The Star Reporter
Here We Go Gathering Nuts in February
Found: within six feet of our printing establishment, 1 fully-developed chestnut burr in good condition, about the size of a tangerine. We have two chestnut trees which are valiantly trying to resist the blight. They sprang up several years ago from the roots of a tree now long-departed and forgotten. They thrive for a year or two and then succumb to the disease. But each time they reappear, they seem to be stronger. The present specimen is the best they have produced so far -- and it is apparently the only one which escaped the squirrels last fall. The nuts are well-formed and edible. Has anyone else found any recently?
Cunningham, Murray & Co.
Rouge (Frederic) Cunningham and Frank (Frank) Murray, the most active elements of the Bethany Fire Department's Bingo Committee, are making preparations for their next big event, the Bingo Party at the Town Hall on Saturday, March 3. Admission tickets (adults, 50¢ -- children, 25¢) entitle purchasers to a drawing for the door prize, the nature of which has not yet been disclosed -- but it will be worthwhile. Last time it was a load of fertilizer donated by Laurence Peck and won by Irving Clark. The party starts at 8:00 P.M., and an early arrival is recommended. Messrs. C'ham and Murray will preside, in their inimitable style, and the prize list is as long as an average arm. Here is your chance to have some fun and help the Firemen, who may have to help you someday.
Nelson Peck Reminisces
We had an interesting talk with Nelson Peck one evening last week. Although nearly seventy-seven years old, he has a crystal-clear memory of events which occurred as far back as 1880. Maybe we can recall some of his reminiscences and pass them on. ....
Nelson's father shod his first pair of oxen at the age of 16 -- a yoke of young steers belonging to Street Todd. He opened a blacksmith shop on Peck Road in 1880, and there he made his own ox shoes out of spring-leaf steel -- and his own buggy tires, too. The charge for shoeing a pair of oxen was $2.00 -- and that was for 16 shoes, since the divided hoof of an ox requires two separate shoes. In his busiest year, Mr. Peck shod 220 pair of oxen. (They had to be raised off the ground in a sling. An ox, being stupid, will fall on his face if you lift one of his feet.) Two forces and two helpers were kept busy much of the time. Prices were low -- buggy tires were set for 75¢, nails cost 25¢ for 10 pounds.
In 1898 the elder Peck began turning out his own ox yokes, using plank sawed in Oxford and making his own rings and bows -- the latter, of hickory, being wrapped in cloth and heated with hot water until pliable enough to bend. The shop also made wagons, spokes, and rims.
Nelson Peck recalls that three days after the Blizzard of '88, he and his father made the first milk delivery to Woodbridge, going cross-lots a good part of the way, tearing down stone walls and cutting wire fences wherever it was necessary. And the price they got for their milk was 2 1/2¢ per quart, delivered! He also remembers hauling wagon-loads of oyster shells from Fair Haven to Bethany, where they were plowed into the ground to provide lime. He loaded them, drove them here, and shoveled them off for $1.00 a ton. His father not only conducted the milk business and the blacksmith shop, but he also raised 300 barrels of apples a year and, in his spare time, "worked the roads," using road-scrapes which he made himself.
One day at the blacksmith shop a local resident paid Mr. Peck for a job which came to 37¢. Upon receiving 62¢ change from his dollar, he exclaimed: "Peck, I always thought you were an honest man. You owe me a half-cent."
Mr. Peck immediately turned to his son and said: "Nelson, hand me that chisel." Thereupon he put a penny on the anvil, cut it squarely in two, and handed one half to the astonished and irate customer -- who had expected to receive the whole penny.
There were several blacksmith shops in town in those days, one of which was run by Clifton D. Rosha, our former Tax Collector. His father had a shop down near the present Perrotti farm on "the flats," but in 1888 he moved it to Bethany and continued to shoe horses and build wagons on Bethmour Road. Today the town's dwindling horse population gets its shoes and pedicuring from a traveling blacksmith who carries his complete shop in a horseless wagon -- and a set of shoes, formerly $1.00, now costs $8.00.
When the Town Hall was built in 1914, Nelson drew all the stone for it, seven loads a day, a cubic yard to a load, from Peck Road to the Center. When Amity Road was first given a hard surface, about 1920, there were two stone crushers on Peck Road, and the Pecks furnished 2,000 gallons of water per day for one of them. The workmen, more than 60 of them, lived in a big shanty near the present School area. The contractors used to go to Bridgeport and comb the saloons for men who could be persuaded to do a day's work for a can of beans, a loaf of bread, and enough money to buy Saturday night's beer. Sometimes the beer was brought down to the shanty by the wagon-load, and the resulting brawl, with fistfights, all-night poker games, and general noise was something to see and hear.

Marianne
Interior Decorator
Slip Covers -- Draperies -- Bedspreads
910 Whalley
Phone 3-0691 or 3-0135

Always the freshest flowers
S. H. Moore Co.
Florists
95 Whitney Ave.
New Haven
Tel. 6-4188

4-H Awards --
(Continued from page 1)
Arnold and Justin were the only blue ribbon winners in their class at the 1950 County Fair. Both boys are going on with dairy club work under the direction of their leader, Mr. Harland Tuttle, Arnold's uncle. They are also interested in chickens and pigs. Lee Riley, won first prize showing Arnold's Yorkshire gilt at the Orange Fair this past year.

Fashion Show --
(Continued from page 1)
Scherb, Mrs. Henry Stoddard, Mrs. Franklin Swift and Miss Joan Emanuelson.
Mr. and Mrs. Walton Smith, who are in charge of tables and chairs, are being assisted by Mr. and Mrs. George Eaton, Mr. and Mrs. Irving Mansfield and Mr. and Mrs. James B. Peck.
Refreshments will be served by Mrs. Thomas Wimble, chairman, and the Mrs. Arthur Roetting, Russell G. Whitfield, Merle DeWees, Grant Nickerson, Alden P. Lunt, George Michel, Frederick Knodel, John Ford and David Hungerford.
Reservations may be made with Mrs. George Watrous or Mrs. Donald Brooks.

Ladies' Grey Flannel Slacks
Tailored and designed by experienced men especially for us. Made of fine quality flannel. Dark and medium shades of grey.
16.50
White
278 York Street

Phone 6-4141
Guild of Prescription Opticians of America
Kodaks
Movie Cameras
Projectors
Fritz & Hawley
Guild Opticians
Developing and Printing
816 Chapel Street
New Haven, Conn.