Index     Pages in this issue:  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8

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 Months     13 issues     1.20
Vol. I, No. 16     Thursday, March 15, 1951

Editorial Comment
The Communication printed below raises questions which are so vital, and gives articulate expression to uncertainties which are so real (not only for Bethany but for all the towns in this area) that we are devoting to it the space which we had intended to fill with comment on several other subjects. It may be that the local Directors of Civil Defense (or the Area Director) have the answers at their fingertips. If so, we shall be happy to print them for all to read.

Communications
To the Editor:
Some weeks ago I read in your columns the information that the response to the Civil Defense Cards had been disappointingly slow and inadequate. On reading this I studied my own card in order to send it in at once. To my surprise I found I was unable to answer its questions, or to be a responsible member of the community. It seemed likely that, should I have notice of bombing, I would have only one thought -- to try to collect my children and seek, as fast as possible, the deepest valley. And if I should not have such notice, and were left alive, I would still be unable, I felt sure, to convince my legs that they should desert those children to enter radio-active areas, to do First Aid, or transportation, or any of those things my Civil Defense card wished me to volunteer for. Moreover, I found I was not ashamed of this idea of my duty.
I realize, however, that cooperation and balance in times of disaster are essential. Therefore, I tried to analyze what was the matter. I am writing you now in this open letter, thinking perhaps my difficulties may be those of other people, and that if they are expressed, we may get help, and the Defense Committee more satisfactory results.
The first thing I believe we need is more information. The booklet just sent us telling about Atom Bombing is very helpful indeed, and I highly praise the Defense Committee for sending it to us. But this is a booklet for the world at large. We need also to know about Bethany in particular.
For insance -- if New Haven is bombed, what happens in Bethany to wooden structures, to houses on hilltops, to stone houses, to old houses, to windows in any kind of house, to chimneys?
If New York and New Haven are bombed -- or either one of them -- what happens to our food supply? Since it is impossible for many people to store food, as the recent pamphlet recommends, how will Bethany and its refugees tide over the emergency, or -- if grown-ups and older children can somehow make out -- how will the babies get milk?
Do we lose our power? Under what circumstances?
Have we a central First Aid Station? A supply depot for First Aid material?
There are pictures in Life this week about the raid shelters that are being built on the [...] we need these in Bethany?
Are we setting up affiliations with other towns in case our own or theirs becomes uninhabitable?
These are things we vitally need to know.
After information, we need advice. We should be told what to do under a variety of circumstances, and why. We should be told clearly where to go for help.
Above all, we should be able to have a fair certainty that our town will have arranged to give us this help should we arrive.
It is the lack of knowledge about such thiings and about such certainty which would assuredly cause the panic so deplored by all our advisers. It is no use imagining that we can wipe up the effects of present day bombing with a few emergency chauffeurs and a few private house shelters. Towns like Bethany, which are on what might be called, we trust, the edge of danger areas, should have large public food stores, and blankets -- assuming of course, that we are to take our Defense Program seriously. They should have at least two big buildings with their own independent power. Towns like Bethany should have a plan that takes acount of reality.
To any such plan I would not only gladly contribute, and for any such plan volunteer my services, but under any such plan I would feel that there was a good chance of making my legs behave and of having a good heart.
Believe me, Mr. Editor,
yours very sincerely and earnestly,
Elizabeth C. Spykman

BETHANY NOTES
Mr. Iverson Graham, pastor of the First Church of Christ (Congregational) officiated at funeral services for Miss Elma Frances Jennings on Thursday, March 8, at the parlors of Beecher and Bennett in New Haven. Interment took place in Beaverdale Memorial Park. Miss Jennings died at the home of her sister, Mrs. Marie C. Spencer, of Amity Road, on March 5. Other survivors include a niece, Mrs. Douglas Shepard of Wellesley, Mass, and two nephews, Robert J. Spencer of Bethany and Edward G. Spencer of New Haven. The late George R. Jennings, Yale Art School 1915, was her brother. Miss Jennings was a clerk in the office of the freight receipts auditor of the New Haven Railroad.
At the March 1 meeting of the Grange six new members took the First and Second Degrees. The Third and Fourth degrees will be given to these members at the regular meeting this evening, at which time the Harvest Supper will also be held. The Home Economics Committee, of which Clara MacDonald is Chairman, will have charge of the affair. Assisting with the arrangements will be Dorothy Terrell and Marie Johan.
Dr. and Mrs. Ned Shutkin of Sperry Road entertained a group of friends at their home last Saturday evening in honor of Dr. Shutkin's birthday.
Two sisters, formerly of Bethany, announce the arrival of new babies. Mrs. Vincent Austin, the former Virginia Price, of Stamford gave birth to a daughter, Deborah Ruth, on February 20. Mrs. Curtis Hewitt, the former Ruth Price, announces the birth of a son, Craig Russell, on March 8.
Bethany Post 9990, V. F. W., is looking for a piece of land on which to build a permanent Club House. Anyone wishing to donate or sell reasonably, please contact Edward Withington, 3-3853; Lenny Burows, 3-0338; or Earl Bachelor, 3-4079.
The Family Service of New Haven held its 73d Annual Meeting last week and reelected all of its officers, including the President, J. Stephen Knight, of Carrington Road.

THE STAR REPORTER
Resisting the strong temptation to let this day pass without mentioning The Subject, we call your attention, briefly, to the wisdom of an anonymous writer who said: "Another great difference between death and taxes is that death doesn't get worse every time Congress meets." And also to mark Twain, who exhibited some familiarity with the matter when he said that the difference between a taxidermist and a tax collector is that the taxidermist takes only your skin. Any conclusions you wish to draw may be your own -- but don't forget to figure the surtax on them.
"WHEELMAN'S REST"
Two weeks ago we printed a picture of the cyclists' oasis called "Wheelman's Rest," which used to stand at the corner of Litchfield Turnpike and Bethway Road, and we asked for clues about the picture and the place. The deluge began almost as soon as the paper was in the mail. Eleven persons called about it within the first two days, and information is still coming in. Although most of our informants gave the correct identification of those in the scene, the most authentic came from Charles Beecher of Woodbridge. He is the boy with the accordion standing at the extreme left in the picture. In front of the tree is his brother, Burton, who also resides in Woodbridge. The small boy sitting on the pillow is Jesse Beecher, now living is East Haven. The picture also shows the boys' parents, Mrs. Edson Beecher (in white apron) and Mr. Beecher, holding the violin. Also seated is Mrs. Mary McClure, and her husband, Thomas, stands at the right. In front of the doorway is Samuel Downs, who worked as a hired man for the McClures at their home a short distance away) now occupied by the Jesudowich family). The late Levi Wooding, brother of William L., took the picture -- probably about 1900.
Edson Beecher was much in demand as a square dance fiddler, and the building was later enlarged to accommodate a sizeable dance hall on the second floor.
We are grateful to all those who have called or written us about the picture.

38 Fountain St.     Tel. 3-1690
Heritage Shop
Beautiful Easter candles, cards, jewelry and gifts

Monarch Laundry
"You must be pleased or you will not be asked to pay"
155 Derby Ave     Tel. 5-2161

Vincent
Clocks     Watches     Jewelry
11 Bank St., Tel. 2579
Seymour, Conn.

Coronet Hat Shop
Tel. 8-3225
1104 Chapel Street, near York

Actors Colony Inn
CONNECTICUT'S FINEST THEATRE RESTAURANT
Route 34 On The Housatonic River, Seymour, Conn.
* Dancing and N.Y. Stage Show Every Saturday 9 P.M. to 1 A.M.
No Cover Charge
Telephone: Derby 4-9690

The Clothesline
Marjorie Shutkin     Bethany, Conn.
Telephone 3-1171
Toppers $25.00 to $39.95
Tie print silk and silkshantung dresses $18.95 and $19.95
Cashmere sweaters --- imported wool
Short Sleeve Slipover $10.39
Cardigan $13.50

For Surprising Children ...
THE BLOCK SHOP
Easter Surprise BASKET
There are five eggs -- each a different size,
and each egg has its own surprise!*
And another surprise. When you're through,
the eggs nest into a present, too!
*One (just between us) a wonderful, nutty
Miracle Egg of Silly Putty!
Only $2.50 at THE BLOCK SHOP
58 Wall Street - New Haven
Phone 5-9919
Come park in our ride-around driveway -- one block north of the Green.