Alex Ross, who died 50 years ago, often used his daughter, Wendy, as the model. This Good Housekeeping cover was from 1953.
“Will noise police, armed with meters, soon run around Ridgefield, fining people whose properties are too loud?” wondered a front-page story 25 years ago in the July 26, 1983 Press.
The selectmen were considering whether to adopt a noise ordinance, an action reporter J.B. Cozens said was prompted by people who lived near Copps Hill Plaza objecting to the shopping center’s loud machinery and pre-dawn deliveries by trucks.
“The reason we have to have an ordinance like this is that neighbors aren’t always neighborly,” said First Selectman Sue Manning.
It was a bad week for Liberty. First thing Monday morning, Liberty Auto and Electric, a contractor, send a crew with heavy equipment to an unused gas station at Routes 35 and 7, and began demolishing it, only to realize seven hours later that they had gone to the wrong station. Building owner Roger Kovacs had nearly finished renovations to the station and was set to open soon. As he surveyed the rubble, he told reporter Molly Ginty, “My heart was going thump, thump, thump. I thought I was going to die.”
On Tuesday morning, the Liberty crew showed up at the right station near Copps Hill Plaza and began digging up a tank, only to rupture a natural gas line, closing Danbury Road and shutting down service to many village gas customers. “If I can make it through the next three hours, I can make it through the day,” said an unhappy Liberty owner.
The Ridgefield Press and its parent company, Acorn Press Inc., was not for sale, announced publisher Thomas B. Nash. Earlier that year, the five Acorn newspapers were under contract of sale to the Stamford Advocate, which was owned by Times Mirror of Los Angeles, Calif. That deal fell through. Nash said he was happy about the decision not to sell and was looking forward to managing the firm’s papers for many years to come.
Alexander “Alex” Ross of Hawthorne Hill Road, a leading American illustrator and artist, died July 25 at the age of 81. The native of Scotland had done more than 130 covers for Good Housekeeping, as well as work for Saturday Evening Post, McCall’s, Cosmopolitan, and Colliers.
Two stories next to each other on the sports page were written by reporters who went on to become novelists. A feature about Ridgefield triathlete Herb Zapf was written by Brad Parks, whose latest mystery in his Carter Ross series came out this month. A report about the tournament-bound Ridgefield Americans Little League All-stars and their coach, Jim Franzen, was written by Dean Lombardo, who became science fiction novelist; his first young adults novel, Donkey Sense, came out in last November.
Cassidy Vaughn, son of actor Robert and Linda Vaughn, was named goalie for the West hockey team at the upcoming Nutmeg Games.
Gary Frulla was elected president of the Ridgefield Fire Fighters Association.
50 years ago
The State Highway Department announced that the path of the proposed “New Route 7” expressway would pass though northwestern Redding, the July 29, 1965 Press reported.
The previously proposed route would have had the four-lane highway more to the west through Ridgefield. The road would still slice through a bit of Branchville in the southeast corner of town, the story said.
Lt. Cmdr. Joseph M. Dunworth was commanding officer of the Naval Reserve company for Western Fairfield County, which beat 34 other reserve units in the Third Naval District in a competition for performance excellence. Lt. (j.g.) Vincent Maneri was also an officer of the unit.
A cover story on Marc Chagall in Time magazine told how Varian Fry of Farmingville Road was instrumental in helping the artist to escape from Vichy, France, when the Nazis took over that city during World War II.
I. Grossfeld Ltd. on Main Street was having a sale that included H. Freeman and Freedberg suits for as low as $71.50, and Daks slacks for $28. Sunstate wash-and-wear slacks, however, were only $7.20.
Zenith color TVs were selling for as low as $369 ($2,700 today) at Victor J. Scalzo in Danbury. “Handcrafted 100% handwired TV chassis, no production shortcuts, no printed circuits,” said the advertisement.
A poem by Mrs. Mary L. Olcott bemoaned development in town:
What is happening to Ridgefield dear?
Developments building both far and near;
No longer our straining ears can hear
Whispering of summer breeze
Or happy droning of browsing bees,
Only saws demolishing trees.
The Press reported The New York Herald Tribune did a feature on Mr. and Mrs. N. Clarkson Earl’s Iradell Kennels on Old Oscaleta Road, characterizing the 50-acre estate as a “miniature United Nations with animals as delegates.” The place housed up to 100 dogs including Silky terriers from Australia, Skye terriers and toy poodles, miniature horses from England, Toggenberg goats and miniature donkeys from Switzerland, and some 40 species of birds from around the world. Mrs. Earl, the former Consuelo Vanderbilt, was pioneer breeder of Silky terriers.
Dr. Peter and Beth Yanity of Main Street and their six daughters, Nancy, Karen, Donajean, Janet, Kathleen, and Mary Lou, ages 11 to 5, did a cross-country tour in the family’s new station wagon. Son Peter, one, was too young for the journey and stayed home with the housekeeper.
Among the Boy Scouts visiting Camp Philmont in Colorado that summer were Garry Kessler, Jeffrey Dann, Thomas and Bruce Mead, and Greg Storey. They traveled by Greyhound bus. —J.S.
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