Ridgefield was rife with rumors about the future of the Casagmo mansion on Main Street, the April 23, 1964, Press reported. Casagmo was built by George Olcott in the late 19th Century on the site of the 1777 Battle of Ridgefield. To build his Italianate home, George M. Olcott tore down the Colonial Stebbins house in which soldiers wounded in the battle were cared for. Sixteen British and eight Colonial soldiers were buried on the site. Olcott named his mansion Casagmo, using the Italian word casa, for house, and his initials, gmo. In 1964 the mansion was vacant. Mary Olcott had died and the property was in probate. The property had been proposed as a potential site for a junior high school. Rumors floated in town that the mansion might be converted into a medical-dental clinic, a small hospital or a museum. It was also rumored that the Olcott back land, fronting Grove Street, might be used for industrial purposes. Obviously, none of the speculation came to fruition, and today we have the Casagmo condominiums.
In the center of Main Street, movement was on the way to install lights to control pedestrian traffic at the two village intersections. It had not been decided whether the “Walk” and “Don’t Walk” signals would be connected to the hanging lights over Main Street or placed on poles at the corners.
There was also overwhelming approval to make Main Street, from St. Stephens’s Church to the blinker light on South Main, an historic district at a meeting of property owners of the area. Lawrence Aldrich of Nod Road, who had just purchased the Old Hundred property for his museum, said he had been a Main Street property owner for only one day and was glad to cast a favorable vote in favor of the historic district proposal.
The Ridgefield Little League began selling lightbulbs on Main Street in front of the Gaeta Shopping Center. The fund-raiser was one of the three sources of income for the Little League. The other two were the Lewis Fund and the sponsorship fees from six Major League teams.
A new industry that was part of a long-established electronics firm said it was to start operating in Ridgefield. CTS Microelectronics Inc., a subsidiary of Chicago Telephone Supply Inc., announced it had completed arrangements to purchase from Schlumberger Well Surveying Corp. the former EMR building. CTS said it would establish a research laboratory and light manufacturing operation in the 12-year-old building on the corner of Grove Street and Quarry Road.
Former war correspondent and author of The Longest Day Cornelius Ryan of Branchville Road and Ben Wright of Station Road in West Redding were hosts in the banquet room of Luigi’s Restaurant in Branchville for a meeting of several D-Day correspondents to plan a reunion in Europe on June 6, the 20th anniversary of D-Day. Correspondents from the Associated Press, King Features and others were in attendance.
Eric Meffley, son of Charles and Edith Meffley, received scouting’s highest honor, the Eagle Scout award, at a Troop 80 presentation at Veterans Park School.
Among the new voters in town were Edmund T. Finaldi, George R. Mulvaney, Judith Thomas, Joseph Gambino, Mr. and Mrs. Carmine Conti, Richard Brown, and Joseph R. Testa.
Mr. and Mrs. Vincent Pancotti announced the birth of their daughter, Lori. Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Hoyt announced the birth of their first child, Kristen, and Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Crucitti announced the birth of their eighth child, Michael.
Bif Phillipson Nash was accepted at Boston and New York universities. He said he planned to attend Boston. He was the editor of the RHS senior year book of 1964.
Rebecca Miller, the 19-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Miller of New Street, was selected as Miss Danbury. She won the top honor after singing Til You Were There from The Music Man. Miss Miller’s next hurdle was to compete in Hartford in the Miss Connecticut pageant.