I received my notice for Jury Duty- again. I receive a State of Connecticut Summons for Jury Service every two or three years without fail. I mentioned the summons to a friend who considered it to be an invitation to be a part of the system and a part of the solution. She had always wanted to be asked but did not even know how to get on the eligibility list.
I looked up and this is what I learned. The jury administrator creates a jury pool list from voter, licensed driver, unemployment compensation recipient, and state personal income taxpayer lists. People called for jury service must be excused, at their request, if they were called and not excused from service during the preceding three years but a person is not credited with service if he was excused or if his service was canceled before he actually came into court. But he is given credit if he was in court and available for service for as little as one day and did not ask to be excused.
If you are interested in serving on a jury please contact the Jury Administration toll-free at 1.800.842.8175, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. or visit www.jud.ct.gov/jury
Unassembled snowmen have been delivered to our homes. Hundreds of millions of pieces that can be fit together in multiple millions of ways to create freeform sculptures and works of art that can be anything an individuals mind can imagine.
On our lawns, parks, and street corners is everything to build an airplane, a dinosaur, a family of ducks, a traditional snowman and a race car. It is ok for it not to be perfect.
Let’s have some fun in our city and help make one another smile as we make use of the free supplies of creative materials that have fallen from the skies.
By the end of June this will all be a distant memory unless we choose to take advantage of his opportunity to return to one of the joys of childhood. The use of our imaginations and creativity.
I want to see Norwich be a home to lots and lots of new tax paying businesses. Businesses that are small to medium sized so that there is plenty of room for them to grow and expand in the future.
The term being thrown around now is for “cities to develop their brand.” The individual city needs to put their essence, their character, their spirit – into a single word or phrase that explains their city when a representative is not around to do it.
A city’s brand is developed over years by its policies and its amenities. ”small-town charm with big-city amenities,” or “One Norwich” may be extremely relevant about a place, but it is not the least bit distinct or self-explanatory.
The tag-line or brand is a statement about the product. It should tell what the product does or is. A tag line should also arouse curiosity as well as pride. An example of brand marketing is what makes you curious about a place to visit, or what advertising do you find reassuring when you decide to purchase a product.
What does Norwich do or have that makes it unique from other cities across Connecticut that would be of interest to businesses? Norwich has both a technical high school and a technical community college. Schools that might be convinced to create programs specific to a specific industry. Norwich is also located to several other technical schools and universities. Norwich has its own power company. The city that managed to keep its lights on when almost a third of the United States was in the dark.
If you were a business owner what tag-line or brand would bring you to Norwich to look around?
Creating parks and playgrounds is important to the heart of any community. I thought I would toss a few thoughts about what I would like to see at one or more areas of the city. Killingly and New London have convenient Boundless Playgrounds open to visit for the curious to explore.
Boundless Playgrounds® is a Connecticut based company founded in 1997 as the first national nonprofit dedicated to helping communities create extraordinary playgrounds where children, with and without disabilities, can develop essential skills for life as they learn together through play. There are more than 100 Boundless™ playgrounds in over 20 states and Canada, and dozens more are currently in development. Connecticut is currently home to twenty Boundless Playgrounds.
High back and seatbelt-equipped swings allow children with physical disabilities to swing next to children on typical swings. Bright colors, wheelchair accessible bridges and ramps, and tube slides make the playground a fun place for any everyone. Perhaps a garden with mazes, games, and themed spaces.
These same parks may also have an adult component for those that would like the freedom to be outdoors but need additional support. The Boundless Playground at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, provides a place for Wounded Warriors to engage in physical therapy while reconnecting with their families and finding their way to recovery.
Maybe it is time for Norwich to reach out and stretch beyond the usual to the new and innovative.
It was on the pages of the New York Times of February 3, 2012 that I learned this bit of juicy historical gossip from Ronald S. Coddington, author of “Faces of the Civil War” and “Faces of the Confederacy.” His forthcoming book profiles the lives of men of color who participated in the Civil War. He writes “Faces of War,” a column for the Civil War News.
In April 1861, 22-year-old J. Lewis Spalding joined the First Connecticut Infantry. Moving from his family and clerical job in the bustling manufacturing hub of Norwich, Conn., to a whirlwind of promotions marking his first week in uniform.
On Friday, April 19, 1861 he entered military service as a private; received his corporal’s stripes on Saturday and his sergeant’s chevrons on Sunday and on the next Thursday, April 25, he was made a sergeant major.
He was a Sergeant Major at the First Battle of Bull Run. When the regiment disbanded Spalding returned to Norwich and immediately accepted a captaincy in the 18th Massachusetts Infantry.
In September 1861, he floated above the defenses of Washington in Prof. Thaddeus S.C. Lowe’s military balloon. In 1862 about a month after the second battle loss of Bull Run, Spalding was supposed to escort some soldiers from area hospitals to the regiment for active duty. When he did not return an arrest order was issued by Major General Ambrose Burnside, Commander of the Army of the Potomac.
Spalding resigned his commission rather than face charges and officially left the regiment with a disability discharge. Within ten days he returned to Connecticut and married Lucy “Lu” Billings in Norwich.
“Lu” Billings was a Cooper Institute educated poet , who “possessed rare literary ability and artistic talent,” noted a writer of a biographical sketch.
In 1864 Spalding returned to the Army as adjutant of the 29th Connecticut Infantry, a new regiment composed of black troops and led by white officers. On Oct. 13, 1864 Spalding was shot in his foot near the frontline defenses of Richmond. He recovered from his injury and returned to duty before the end of the year and mustered out of the army with the rest of the 29th in 1865.
The 1866 he joined the regular Army as a staff officer to Col. Joseph Mower. Spalding was so good at his staff duties, Mower endorsed a recommendation for him to receive an honorary promotion to major in mid-1867.
That is when bounty hunter, Patrick Flannery, appeared with paperwork to be paid for two deserters he had apprehended. Spalding explained the army required several weeks to process the payment but if Flannery needed cash immediately, Spalding had a police officer friend who would buy Flannery’s papers at a reduced cost. Flannery agreed to the deal.
In the next weeks Flannery rounded up more deserters and sold the papers to Spalding’s friend. Spalding was soon arrested and charged with conduct unbecoming an officer. A four-day trial in August 1867 resulted in a guilty verdict and Spalding’s dismissal from the Army but he successfully appealed the verdict and was reinstated.
In March 1870, Spalding was an Indian agent in Northern California when an officer reported him “for running after” Indian women “to the neglect of his duty.” Spalding soon resigned and he and his wife divorced soon after. She had just published a volume of poetry, dedicated with affection to her husband.
Spalding returned to Norwich. In 1884, at age 46, he entered a Soldier’s Home in Virginia. He died there four years later, alone.
Norwich’s residential property owners are learning by mail what their homes are worth, the result of a reassessment and in most cases, it’s a lot less than it was last year and that is o.k.
Assessors determine the market value of a property and do not determine property taxes.
Technically homes are considered an asset – not an investment so they do not necessarily go up in value. For those of us selling our homes in the next few years we need to remember that it’s the market and not the assessment that determines the listing price.
A high assessment can contribute to high property taxes, but the tax rate is what really determines the amount of tax on your property tax bill. You can have a low assessment, but if that low assessment is subject to a high tax rate, you’re going to have a high property tax bill.
The lower assessed values will lead to higher tax rates – though not necessarily higher tax bills. When voters pass bonds for schools or police or roads, those bonds are for set dollar amounts. As assessed values fall, each property, on average, will have to chip in a higher percent of the home’s value to ensure the levy brings in what it’s supposed to.
The Norwich City Council will be responsible for adjusting the property tax rates, because the current rates will bring in less money. So the council will have to agree on how much they need to raise the tax rate to maintain the current levels of spending and then what how much they need to raise the tax rate for future spending and inflation.
The first six months of this new City Council will not be easy. This Council more than ever needs to hear the voices and concerns of the residents. What gives the residents pride and what are our growing fears. The actions of the Norwich City Council will be the burden of its residents. Blessings on us all!
In 1965 WICH Radio was the AM station of the Norwich area responding directly to the interests of the listeners. This was especially true for a program called “Party Line.”
The discussions were frequently about the running of the household, recipes, bargains, how-to questions of sewing and cooking and what should I make, do or bring to the next social event as the person was certain the listeners would all be there.
They published the WICH recipe collection in a large white folder containing recipes and directions on loose white pages printed in black.
Opening the folder is a bit like opening a gift. There is a page “Dedicated To All Our Wonderful Party Line Listeners And To The Sponsors Who Make Party Line Possible! 1965 A.D.
Eleanor Dickinson, Editor & Art Work, Virginia MacAdie, Thomas Phalen, Program Director and Janet Shalkowski, Typist.” Then a page showing the connection from the home by phone 889-8361 and 889-8362 to the broadcasting tower of WICH.
The Contents are simply Entrees, Seafood, Sauces and vegetables, breads, sandwiches, sweets, Festive Festivities, An Informative PotPourri and Green Thumb Tips.
The first recipe is how to cook a turkey while you sleep and how to stuff a turkey while awake. With a variety of stuffing recipes from the usual classics to the more exotic oyster, Brazil Nut and Chestnut stuffing.
Seafood explains freezing clams is perfectly safe if you do it correctly. Sauces and Vegetables is but a page of sauces mornay and piquant. Breads, rolls, muffins and dumplings oh my! Then there are Super Sandwich Suggestions, Tuna-Crabmeat deluxe and Diamond Jims. Yum! Miss Catharine Hasler of Norwich won first prize in the 1964 Three Diamond Brand Contest, Mrs. Leroy C. Parkhurst of Preston was 2nd and Mr. Edwin S Carson of New London was 3rd.
The Sweets is easily the largest collection with names may confuse me but from the ingredients I am sure would delight me. There is the usual Apple-Dapple and carrot cake and then there is carrot pie, Colonel Goodbody’s Prune Cakes, Kroetz, Celia’s Fancy Dessert, Schlosser Buben, Krusciki, Golden Puffs and Raisin Drop Cookies.
Festive Festivities was written directly for me. How to plan and what to plan, which wine to serve when and how much whiskey should you buy. Directions for fresh salted walnuts and clothespin twists and even the French specialty Turinois. Josephine’s Christmas Rice Pudding was contributed by Mrs. George Jello. Teens can work together with a Tandem Party making Baked Bean Pies.
The Informative PotPourri is just that with answers to questions you never thought to ask including which booklets to write for and where to obtain them, sewing with stretch fabric and invisible writing.
Green Thumb Tips made me smile. How to store green tomatoes, make an impromptu greenhouse and the proper way to raise a Depression Plant, a deep dish coal plant and a shallow dish coal plant.
Do you think we could talk WICH into republishing the collection? Please give them a call to voice your opinion!
I attended the hearing on electricity rates held in Norwich to support a friend who is a customer of CL&P. This caused me to look at my own bill from the Norwich Department of Public Utilities. I learned that I pay four individual charges to be one of their customers.
In my case, I am paying them annually $572.76 to be their customer. Then they, in turn, magnanimously turn a portion of that over to the City of Norwich. At least for the taxes I pay to the City, State and federal governments I get a deduction. For what I pay to the NPU, I don’t even get a membership card or a discount. I am lucky enough though to be able to be charged for two trackers. One is a Gas Capital Tracker and the other an Electric Capital Tracker. I pay for water coming into my house as well as for water going out and a mandatory sewer upgrade charge as well. I also contribute to the Energy Efficiency fund above paying for the purchased power adjustment and for what I actually used.
Now I just heard that the City Council will be considering a city wide fire tax that would be a fair thing to spread over the city as a whole but maybe it is time that we as a city looked at all of the individual fees, charges, and taxes and examined how they are being collected and distributed.
Running short of funds is not a new problem but adding to the burdens of the taxpayers without looking at other solutions is not a demonstration of good planning and leadership. Let’s look at the finances of the city and yes, even those funds we depend on other departments and companies to collect for the city. Let’s take this opportunity to look at how city funds are collected and distributed. Maybe its time for a change.
There was a time when the residents of Norwich would actually put up a fight for what they thought was right even if it took years in the courts. When the 9 square miles of land was purchased from Uncas, the wording was very loose and so John Mason’s children and grandchildren tried for seventy years to lay claim to thousands of acres.
It took more than twelve months to read all the testimony in all the cases tried in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and England. It proved impossible to follow and no judgment was rendered.
It’s easy to turn to your family, friends, and neighbors to say aloud what you think is wrong but it is a challenge to say in public, aloud and on the record those same thoughts and words. On Tuesday, there will be a hearing in Norwich to help The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) establish new industry guidelines for how it markets power to customers, how customers can switch between suppliers, how suppliers give notice and what types of products are allowed. Norwich Public Utilities customers won’t be impacted until the new rules are in place because Norwich residents are protected by our local NPU but those outside Norwich are not so lucky. Please attend the meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 25th at 6:30 p.m., Norwich City Hall, 100 Broadway, Norwich, CT. This is your chance to speak up and speak out about the costs of energy.
Thanks to the new book about the millionaires of Norwich I have a new question. It has long been rumored that many of the houses on Bliss Place and Julian Street contain the windows, stained glass, staircases, doors, plate rails, and other wood works of some of the mansions that were torn down or replaced. Are there photos, sketches or drawings of the old homes that were torn down that might show what was re-built or replaced so that comparisons can be seen by the current residents to what is in their homes today? What are the stories of the architects, builders, contractors? What tales do the houses tell?
The City and Town areas of Norwich grew in fits and starts as people wanted to be closer to the businesses and industries where they worked. Wouldn’t it be great to have a display in City Hall of the City Maps from different periods demonstrating the growth of the city? Where were the developments? What were the parts of the houses that could be reused and how? Where were they re-used? Who sold them and how? Do we do the same thing today? Why or why not? What were the names of the streets back then? Have the street names changed? Have the streets been altered? What a great learning experience for students to have the opportunity to compare what was and what is and perhaps to create a concept of what will be. Norwich residents love to learn about the past but maybe it is time to create new concepts of the future.
I just read the news release about the two choices now available for the Reid and Hughes building in downtown Norwich. One proposal renovates the building into more one and two bedroom apartments with 1,600 square feet of retail space on the street level that there is the consideration of being used as an office for yet another non-profit local preservation agency. NO! NO! NO! NO! As a taxpayer I do not want to see more wonderful taxable space used by a non-profit. We as a city desperately need some tax-paying entities in our city. We cannot continue to burden our residents and few businesses with more taxes to make up the differences It is time to bring new, tax-paying businesses to our city. This is a rehash of the same proposal we have heard time and time again.
Proposal two submitted by POKO Partners LLC of Port Chester, NY, in association with Antinozzi Associates Architects of Bridgeport is an ambitious plan that their chief executive officer Ken Olson said would “change the landscape quite literally in downtown Norwich,”
POKO proposes to repurpose the Reid & Hughes building along with the adjoining Strand building into 31 housing units and 5,500 square feet of retail space. The remaining three phases would stretch the project along the block toward Otis Library, ultimately providing 113 dwelling units and retail space at street level.
That’s more like it. What we currently have in downtown is not working. Our elected, appointed, voluntary and hired folks have not been able to come up with an idea of what to do with the downtown in the future. They just keep repeating that in the 1950’s and 1960’s there was lots to do in downtown but there has not been one plan or proposal of a Norwich downtown in 2050. I do not know who Ken Olson is or his track record but he has a vision where and when no one else does so I say let’s roll out the red carpet and make him welcome.
I admit to being a bit disappointed that Norwich will not be home to one of the new medical marijuana growing facilities. But that leads me to my next question, what businesses and industries are the representatives and marketers of our fair city going after next?
Who are they visiting? What promises are being made? How are they representing our city and its residents to the decision makers? How are other cities successfully enticing new businesses to their locations?
Norwich has a few new businesses but we have a tremendous need for many more and we have some great locations. Locations that would be suitable for education, training, light manufacturing and some that would be perfect for business incubators where many start-up businesses share office resources.
Our part of Connecticut has many resources of trained facilitators and personnel but we need help to attract the correct industries to make use of them. I would just like to have the assurance that people, places, and industries are being investigated. I see where other parts of the state are getting assistance getting their residents to work but I am not seeing it here. Every night on the news I see other states receiving federal grants and programs to put people to work To create jobs and to create tax payers, corporate and individual taxpayers. But in Connecticut and especially in southeastern Connecticut I see nothing. It is time for our elected officials to take charge and stop making polite noises about education, training, and jobs and to start forcing the state and federal government to take notice of southeastern CT and the resources we have here, ready, willing and able to go forward into the future.
I was at yet another public ribbon cutting event in Norwich. It is always nice to see new businesses open but I see a lot of the same faces at these events so I know who they are and what they represent. I would like to see a small change though at these events. Instead of my having to identify the individuals by the name brands displayed on their shoes, purses, jackets and other accessories, I would like to see the leaders of our community wear tasteful identity badges.
Not large identity badges visible from miles away but a distinguishing badge (or pin or tie clasp or something) that may not carry the name of the person but perhaps a symbol of their office or that they belong to Norwich. The Chamber of Commerce gives out hundreds of Rose Tie Tacks each year but few people wear or display them but there is a great discussion about how many have been collected over the years. Embroidered rose stickers for many years were handed out until finally the supply was gone.
Perhaps the Norwich Arts Council or the Chamber of Commerce or another group could take on the responsibility to have a contest for the best design for a unique piece that could be worn by the Mayor and City Councilors and other leaders of the community? Maybe it is time for the leaders of Norwich to be more concerned with displaying their pride in their city and their leadership than their pride in being able to afford a name brand accessory that is neither designed, made or sold in Norwich.
According to the calendar spring has arrived. Well in a recent article I read I was reminded of the words of Henry Van Dyke in Fisherman’s Luck, “The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month.”
Sadly the first spring day is generally followed by a few cold snaps as winter tries to prolong its life, a kind of reversed Indian Summer. So what gives us assurance that spring will be here and followed by the warmth of summer?
Skunk cabbage: Found in mucky swamps, skunk cabbage appears around mid-March, producing its own heat (through a chemical reaction) that melts the snow and ice around its large, strange, purple-pointed hoods. Later, the plant’s color and scent lures carrion flies to pollinate other flowers and plants.
Groundhog: Male groundhogs, or woodchucks, first emerge from hibernation to leave their male scent around and to search for the dens of females. They tramp about the lawns as if they are the taxpayer.
Skunks may take over convenient groundhog, rabbit, or fox dens if near a stream. In the winter and early spring skunks may be seen out of their dens at almost any time of day, especially before and after long periods of snow cover or prolonged cold weather.
Pussy willows are versatile willow shrubs that love poor soil and soggy ground, ok swamps. The fuzzy white catkins or buds are one of the first signs of spring and we bring the branches inside our homes to brighten the darkness of winter. Grape Hyacinths appear in the well-drained fields as spikes of dense, usually blue flowers resembling bunches of grapes in the spring. Then there are the daffodils and tulips and of course the crocus that raise their heads above and in spite of any snow that may be on the ground as soon as the earth around them begins to warm. I welcome them all.
I think the walls of City Hall could use a bit of sprucing up. I would like to think of the walls of the City Hall as a canvas to display and communicate what a great place Norwich is and how we, as a community have grown over the years.
I enjoy making to-do lists so here is a partial list of some of the displays I would like to see. Maps of the City of Norwich from 1659 then every 50 years or so to show how the shape of the City changed and how areas changed and grew and populated with businesses and homes. If there were some particularly eventful years those maps could be included as well.
Norwich has a variety of recreational areas, ball fields, tennis courts, golf, ice skating, trails, parks, boat ramps and designated fishing areas. As you walk into City Hall there is a huge display of Sports Man of the Year but is there any interest in surrounding it with pictures of activities from throughout the city showing them off and being used.
What about a wall of “Made Here in Norwich” with photos of items that are manufactured here in Norwich.
I would like to see a photographic commitment in each municipal office of the people in that office working with members of the community they are serving. That’s right I want people to see faces they recognize in the pictures. Happy, friendly, welcoming and smiling faces.
It is time for City Hall to lead the way in being “Loud and Proud” about Norwich and all it has to offer.
I never know when and where you are going to learn something new. As a friend I had not seen in a very long time and I were sitting at her kitchen table, I watched as she stirred a teaspoon of lemon marmalade into her cup of tea.
You know that I have no control over my mouth and immediately began questioning what I had seen her do. “Have you always done that?” “Where did you learn to put marmalade in your tea?” “My family has always done it. Doesn’t everyone?” was the quick reply. “Sometimes I use lemon marmalade and sometimes orange when I am making sweet tea especially in the summer.”
This kept us in conversation about her family and their food traditions for a very long time. Until recent history sugar and citrus were hard to come by all year round so every bit was used and preserved. Citrus juice was a seldom enjoyed treat that went quickly so the peels with their oils were pressed and some of the precious peel was dipped in sugar and dried to be enjoyed like candy. Some of the peel was thinly sliced and boiled in sugar and water to create marmalade to be enjoyed on toast. Or so I thought. Next time you want to dress up a cup of coffee, tea or cocoa or even just want to add a hint of flavor to a cup of hot water add a small teaspoon of marmalade. What are the food traditions of your family?
I never know when and where you are going to learn something new. As a friend I had not seen in a very long time and I were sitting at her kitchen table, I watched as she stirred a teaspoon of lemon marmalade into her cup of tea.
You know that I have no control over my mouth and immediately began questioning what I had seen her do. “Have you always done that?” “Where did you learn to put marmalade in your tea?” “My family has always done it. Doesn’t everyone?” was the quick reply. “Sometimes I use lemon marmalade and sometimes orange when I am making sweet tea especially in the summer.”
This kept us in conversation about her family and their food traditions for a very long time. Until recent history sugar and citrus were hard to come by all year round so every bit was used and preserved. Citrus juice was a seldom enjoyed treat that went quickly so the peels with their oils were pressed and some of the precious peel was dipped in sugar and dried to be enjoyed like candy. Some of the peel was thinly sliced and boiled in sugar and water to create marmalade to be enjoyed on toast. Or so I thought. Next time you want to dress up a cup of coffee, tea or cocoa or even just want to add a hint of flavor to a cup of hot water add a small teaspoon of marmalade. What are the food traditions of your family?
The saying is that a picture is worth a thousand words. For some that may be true but for me I appreciate the words. The descriptions. The feelings and emotions that go with the words. Pictures to me are flat. They capture only a moment of the time while words capture and then communicate so much more.
Last Sunday was the first St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Norwich and people have posted many, many wonderful pictures on the web and in the newspapers. But I miss reading the descriptions of the crowds. “as the crowd began to applaud, hoot, yell and create an uproar”. Did those who rode on a parade float wave to the crowd? Were things tossed to children? Did their eyes glow with excitement? Were their smiles wide? Did the air ring with their calls to toss candy and toys to them?
Who were the groups that marched and why were they representative of the Irish population? Was the Irish population a large part of Norwich past or present? Where do I find a description of the sound of the step dancers on the pavement? What lessons will I learn.
While I am certain all was perfect I hope for the future there is a written description that singles out the sounds and scenes of this very first parade.
Is anyone else feeling tired of being threatened and bullied by the leaders of the City of Norwich? If you don’t put more money toward (please fill in the project of the moment) we are going to have to a) close it b) reduce hours c) find a different source for the money d) it’s a mandate and while we ask you, you really have no option but to say yes.
The latest thing is the Ice Skating Rink. If we (the taxpayers) don’t hand over another million dollars it will have to close and we will have no chance of ever seeing the money we have already invested ever again. It’s the “another million dollars” that I am having problems with and why, oh why, do I have a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach there is going to be an $800,000 solution in the offing? A solution that will not need to be explained to the taxpayers.
The School Board just puts in an increased budget saying everything has gone up so we must increase our budget to keep pace. Everybody deserves a raise who works for the city because the price of groceries and gas has gone up and is there really a person working for the city who does not do an outstanding job in whatever their circumstances are?
My property was just appraised for less so that the tax rate can be raised so I can pay more on less to keep the coffers of the city solvent. I pay $600’s in annual customer fees to the private corporation of the Norwich Public Utilities so they can turn a portion of it over to the City towards another private corporation while I just get to pay the higher costs and fees with no tax credits for my contribution.
Enough with the hidden fees and the magnanimous donations that the payers receive no thank you for. It is time for the bullying and the fee charging so someone else can get the credit for the donation to stop. It is time for the taxpayers to get the credit for all that they contribute. Now. Is a really good time to start. Now, is yesterday’s later.
I am happy to announce that Legendary Locals of Norwich CT published by Arcadia Press and collated by yours truly will be available in stores the week of June 23rd. I hope you will find it a different look at Norwich concentrating on past, present and even the future residents in a positive light.
There are names you will recognize immediately and some will be new to the reader because I did not choose people from headlines alone. There are friends and neighbors and people you wish you could have met or at least seen in action. So many that I would like to have dinner with to hear their forgotten or undocumented stories.
Do you know the man responsible for the rose garden? Do you know his name and his background?
What is the bizarre tale of how the Thermos Company came to Norwich?
Norwich was a leader in industry thanks to the dogged determination of one man. Boy do I wish we had more people with his grit.
Are you aware of the number of famous women who hailed from Norwich? Women of the 1800’s who revolutionized negotiation tactics, education, writing for publication and how men thought of women. Time and again, it was a neighbor who recognized the brain power of a young man or woman and paid for their tutoring and education.
Legendary Locals of Norwich is a light read. It does not have the deep details that rose to the surface in its research but I hope it makes you curious. I hope it fills you with hope. I hope it makes you wonder and appreciate all that Norwich was and all that with your help it can be.
Open Mic Night has finally arrived in Norwich on the second Thursday of each month at the Norwich Arts Center at 62 Broadway. Each night is a variety of people with different skills and talents and presentation styles.
In April screenwriter Kevin Brodie brought his latest script for an audience participation reading. Brodie is a teacher in Salem and some of his students came to see the process and cheer their teacher on in an activity outside of the classroom. It was pretty exciting to see students see a teacher as an individual with outside interests rather than as only a classroom teacher with no other interests or hobbies.
After a short intermission for refreshments other people read poems, essays and played and sang music. I was so caught up in the positive and enthusiastic atmosphere I read a short piece from a bit of research I was certain everyone would love and yes that became the last presentation for the evening.
If you are a writer, or a singer or a reader or a performer looking for a place to start without fear of ridicule or judgment this small but faithful group that meets on the Second Thursday of each month is the place. Everyone is welcome. Donations are encouraged but not required.
I had a dream the other night. I dreamed the Norwich Arts Council, The Norwich Historic Society, Bully Busters and the Otis Library worked for a 1st Friday celebration of River Transportation in Norwich.
A variety of boats have ridden atop the three rivers of Norwich, the Shetucket, Thames and Yantic at various times in Norwich history. In my dream there was a display of the various paintings and photographs of the steamships that were built or sailed to and from Norwich in store fronts.
At the boat launch near Brown Park there were volunteers willing to give people an opportunity to learn about the canoes, catamarans and sculls seen on the waters today. Maybe a short tour by water or perhaps a moonlight sail?
Under the shade of the gazebo were tables with adults and children side by side learning to fold origami sail boats, steam ships, catamarans and row boats.
The library had set out a display of ships in bottles, books about sailing adventures and how to build your own boat in the basement. There was even a speaker or two.
The restaurants in downtown were serving chowders and fish ‘n chips while a giant screen was being raised to show an episode of “Sponge Bob and Square Pants” before the “Little Mermaid” or “Pirates of the Caribbean” played to a happy and tired crowd.
Are groups working together toward a single goal really only a dream in Norwich or are you willing to pitch in and make it happen?
In many cities strollers wander among the easels of painters, look over the shoulders of sketchers, and pose for cartoonists on the streets and in the parks.
Does anyone else wonder why these people are such a rare sight in Norwich? Norwich has many photo books recording abandoned buildings, buildings in various stages of decay and disaster but rarely with smiling people.
Is anyone interested in making this the Summer of Art in Norwich? On Sunday afternoons let’s fill our parks and streets with artists. Let’s applaud their work. Let’s demand to see local artwork in our storefronts, on the walls of our city offices, libraries, schools and newspapers. Let’s publicly invite artists to come to Norwich for a day in a park. Is there a restaurant, pub or bar that will take on the challenge of creating a colorful Sunday afternoon special served on an artist’s palette? Even if it is just an assortment of colorful catsup for French fries. Think of the smiles that would generate. Don’t you like to see people smile? Let’s make this happen!
Creating a Facebook page and asking your friends to “like” the page does not mean that the page will have a lot of repeat visitors. Norwich leaders must stop creating individual Facebook pages for every little thing and start using Facebook effectively as a collective resource for information and events.
If your organization is going to create an individual Facebook page than that organization should add a directory of links to those sites it has created. Norwich leaders are Facebook happy. Every time there is an event or someone says there is a national organization that could be of service to Norwich by deed or idea there are those that are quick to create a site so they can say they had the idea first but then the link or page is allowed to die from loneliness.
Stop. Please stop creating Facebook pages and instead promote events through your own site, spread links that can be helpful to individuals, groups, and organizations or the city in general through your site. It is ok not to know everything. It is ok not to be in control of everything.
Share, Help and Promote Norwich and its events through the paths that exist and work together to make Norwich a better place.
It is spring and I am thinking about making a better compost pile to have better soil for my garden. Everything I am about to tell you has been made available to us by writers and scientists and gardeners a lot smarter than me. I just enjoyed reading it and like to share. The ancient Akkadian Empire in the Mesopotamian Valley referred to the use of manure in agriculture on clay tablets 1,000 years before Moses was born. On the North American continent, the benefits of compost were enjoyed by both native Americans and early European settlers. Many New England farmers made compost as a recipe of 10 parts muck to 1 part fish, periodically turning their compost heaps until the fish disintegrated (except the bones). One New Canaan Connecticut farm, Stephen Hoyt and Sons, used 220,000 fish in one season of compost production. Other colonial farmers adopted a system using two loads of muck (rich soil) and one of barnyard manure. In the southern states cotton-seed was composted with the muck.
If you are wondering what type of soil you have and bringing a baggie of dirt to the extension office is not in your schedule than take a handful of moist (not wet) soil from your garden and squeeze it firmly in your hand. Open your hand and look at it.
If it holds its shape but crumbles when you give it a light poke, you have loam and will be the envy of other gardeners. If it holds it shape and doesn’t respond to being gently poked, you’ve got clay soil, which is nutrient rich but dense. If it falls apart as soon as you open your hand, you’ve got sandy soil. Once you know what you’re working with you can both improve it if necessary and choose appropriate plants. Who knew it would be that easy?
Stuff to add to your compost pile – lint from your clothes dryer helps soil retain moisture.
Hair or fur from a pet that sheds or from the floor of a haircutter is higher in nitrogen than manure.
No room to make compost or need some in a hurry? Put a variety of food scraps (vegetable peels, apple cores, etc. No meat or dairy products.) in a food processor or blender and process until a consistent liquid. Add an equal amount of water and pour on plants. Cover with a layer of peat moss. Now why didn’t I think of that?
There is an international program found now on multiple continents called “walk your city.” The program is dedicated to helping visitors and residents navigate through cities on foot through better signage.
Norwich is not the only city in the world that is difficult to navigate through because of one way streets, narrow streets, or poor traffic patterns that have developed over the years. So let’s join forces and use what others have created and used with success for our own purposes. It’s not too hard… to Walk your city.
Walk your city began as a guerrilla grass roots effort to increase the walkability of cities that are used to create signs that help people to know where places are that can benefit from extra attendance, visits and traffic. The signs placed by the citizens can also help the professional placers of signs to know where signs are helpful as well as where they are not. YOU as a visitor or a resident can help. Please walk around your Norwich, not just the downtown area and decide where signs may be useful and send for them by simply making the sign at www.walkyourcity.org and when it arrives placing it where you think it will be helpful to other.
Then it is up to the municipality to learn where the need is and to place more durable signs.
There is even a new video highlighting a city walking experience, and how simple it can be to take action in your community and make a sign at walkyourcity.org. It is spring and I hope you will participate and will find your participation in this program fun and a benefit to Norwich!
What happened to Norwich Adult Education programs? The ones where adults learned new skills or improved on old skills, learned about history, or dance, or exercised in classes or had discussion groups to discover like-minded people and dare I forget the cooking, baking, decorating and candy-making classes.
New London has found a way to offer so many varied and assorted classes in a thick paper pamphlet that it is made into chapters to make it easier to narrow down your choices. Many of which are offered to non-residents cheaper than a similar class may be offered to Norwich residents by the offering in the 20 page Norwich Recreation Department brochure. Thank heavens the surrounding towns of Montville, Colchester, Bozrah and New London and willing to accept out-of-town residents into their classes.
Sometime just for the fun of it and let me assure you it is an enjoyable experience to peruse the classes being offered by our neighbors on all sides of us. Their catalogs are filled with classes and a lot fewer advertisements than can be found on the pages supplied by the Norwich rec department. Do not hesitate to participate in the classes of your choice outside of Norwich. You will never regret the learning and participating experience.
People tell me the most amazing things and then ask me if I think it is true. Beats me. I have no idea what is true and what is not. I look it up but I have no idea if it is true or not. My advice is if it sounds safe, try it and see if it works for you. Do mustard plasters work?
First I had to find out what a mustard plaster is, when it should be used and how. I had visions of yellow stained skin and a robe puffed up around me like a giant hot dog bun and being chased down the street by a dog in a chef hat. O.k. I can focus now.
Medicinal use of mustard can be dated back to 400 B.C. It grows wild almost everywhere, and is not unpleasant to the taste of most people. I am certain the thought followed that if it warms people on the inside it can be used in a greater concentration on the outside. This is the boiled down version of what I found out.
Mustard plasters are tried and true remedies to relieve muscle pain and chest congestion. They work by dilating the blood vessels to promote the increase of blood flow to the surface of the skin warming the affected area and are said to remove any toxins from that area.
A mustard plaster is made by using 4 tablespoons of flour, 2 tablespoons dry mustard, and lukewarm water. A paste is made that is easily spread but not too watery.
The most effective way to apply any poultice is to use a piece of flannel and spread the mixture over on half of the flannel and fold the other half to make a package. Apply the package to the chest, and cover with a heavy blanket to encourage sweating. Do not apply the mustard plaster directly to the skin as it will burn.
Leave the mustard plaster on for up to 20 minutes. If the skin turns red remove the plaster immediately.
Once it has been removed from the chest, wipe the area thoroughly. Then use the same method to apply it to the back. A warm shower is suggested after the poultice is removed.
I read about soaking in a warm bath after pouring in a 6 ounce bottle of yellow mustard but that brought back the visions of yellow stained skin so I discarded that idea. Only do what you are comfortable with.
Flatiron buildings were built between 1880 and 1926, generally in the popular Beaux-Arts or Renaissance Revival styles. The buildings are identified because of their shape like a clothes iron.
The United States first flatiron building was in Eureka Springs, Arkansas (in 1880). In 1887 Lucius Wyman Carroll had one built in Norwich CT. because he had observed these structures to be constructed taller than other office buildings of the day due to the use of steel frames over reinforced concrete, that took the weight of the building off the exterior walls; and allowed for more efficient use of otherwise unused space for commercial purposes and gave business districts a specific architectural identity.
Lucius Wyman Carroll (born January 22, 1815) was the 11th of 12 children and the last male child of the family. He remained on the farm until he was 15 years old when on March 2, 1830 he moved to Webster MA as an employee of Wiswall & Sanford. He saved the written contract his guardian Stephen Crosby made with the firm stipulating if he stayed one year he would receive $15.00 for his services but if he stayed two years he would receive $20.00 for the first year and $35.00 for the second. He stayed 7 years. 11 days before his 21st birthday he became a partner in Wiswall, Stockwell & Carroll having a 1/4 interest in three stores. Mr. Wiswall furnished Carroll with the funds to establish himself in the firm without security and Carroll took charge of the store in Millbury MA. In 1837 Wiswall died and Carroll returned to Webster, MA and with J.P. Stockwell put up the first building of the Webster Depot. He remained in the partnership for three years and on his own for another 2 years.
In February 1843 Carroll moved to Norwich and began selling manufacturers supplies, paints and dye stuffs from a store on Water Street. He also became interested in the manufacturing of cotton and became a large partner in the Griswold Cotton Co. In May of 1843 he married Charlotte Lathe Pope in Middlebury, MA. Carroll‘s next partnership as L.W. Carroll Co. was with E.P. Jacobs and Captain Gallup in 1865. Death took Jacobs in 1874 and Capt. Gallup retired in 1876 and in partnership with his eldest son the firm became L.W. Carroll and Son. Lucius W. Carroll died September 25, 1900.
I need to have a few things explained to me. In September Norwich will have the staff and students of two schools in the State of CT Board of Education Commissioner’s Network program, that helps provide targeted financial assistance to badly performing schools in an attempt to improve student achievement.
The goal is to ultimately and systematically develop a professional learning environment where one has not existed before and with people and staff who could not do it before. Has anyone asked these adults if they are really buying into this new program and if they are seriously going to change the way they have been teaching and not succeeding successfully for years but getting away with it?
It is not a matter of the teachers being nice, quite pleasant people (they are) but a matter of the skills of communication that the teachers and staff have not been able to bring to the classroom. Being smart yourself in school does not automatically make you a good teacher. Just as being an avid movie attendee does not make you a movie star.
To be a good teacher means when someone is not understanding what you are saying or teaching you find another way to present the information. Throwing money is not always the answer. Saying the same words louder is not always the answer. Sometimes the best answer is simply to say the same words in a different way.
My question is why the local educators needed to develop a plan to outline multiple strategies to instruct the teachers and staff to “cultivate a professional learning environment?” What on earth has been going on in the classrooms? It’s really all about responsibility. I hope this works but what about the other schools in Norwich, don’t those students deserve to have better opportunities to learn too?
The crack of the bat hitting a small ball can once again be heard in parks and stadiums around the world and not just in the United States or just in Connecticut.
Baseball teams have a lot of members. Maybe that’s why they call themselves a team. There are almost enough major league baseball players born in Norwich to play a game.
Dominic Leone has begun his first professional season with the Seattle Mariners this month. Dominic is a graduate of Norwich Free Academy and Clemson University.
Scott Chiasson played with the Chicago Cubs in 2001 and 2002 before playing in the Japanese Central League and the Tigres de Quintara Roo of the Mexican League before returning to America and the Baltimore Orioles Norfolk Tides Triple A International League.
Rajai Davis was born in Norwich but honed his skills in the Willimantic Little League and New London High School before studying at Avery Point before joining the Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants, Oakland Athletics, the Toronto Blue Jays and currently the Detroit Tigers outfield.
Also born in Norwich was Bill Dawley, who was drafted directly out of Griswold High School into the Cincinnati Reds and Roger LaFrancois, played for the Boston Red Sox in 1982 and now coaches for the Johnson City Cardinals.
Someone was there to offer these young men encouragement when they were far away from home so return the favor and take in a game or two or more at Dodd Stadium this summer.
When the wind is not blowing I have begun wandering around my yard and thinking about what events I need to check the dates on for my calendar for the can’t miss happenings of Norwich.
At least one date but probably more will be the summer concerts on the Norwichtown Green of the Norwich Arts Center Band. It is easy to bring your chairs or your blankets and to sit and relax while listening to an intergenerational band play music you can recognize.
It is a hoot to watch and listen to an ensemble of musicians ranging from middle school students to retired adults from all over eastern Connecticut. They dedicate their time to rehearse every week to build a large repertoire of old, new and original compositions for performances. The fun they have playing becomes a great listening experience for the audience.
The conductor of the band is Robert Clowes an active member of state and national music organizations that encourage band players of all ages and levels to perform in their communities.
Norwich does not support a total community calendar so you have to watch Facebook and for the lawn signs that advertise the concerts that are sometimes on the waterfront at Brown Park, Dodd Stadium, Fireworks, Norwichtown Green and of course inside at the Norwich Arts Center Donald Oat Theater. Please check for dates on www.Norwich Arts.org.
Norwich has a lot of free, community sponsored concerts throughout the city. Please take advantage of them and help spread the word about them at work, the internet and your neighborhood.
Who, When and why did Norwich begin touting its architecture and history? This was a long and substantial article from the Emporia Kansas Weekly News 11 July 1889 page 2. This is column two in the series of columns needed to present this one article entitled – Substantial Dwellings That Were Old Before the Herniation House In Which Benedict Arnold Learned to Be a Druggist and John Trott’s Cider “Flips.”
A few rods south of Bliss mansion stands another ancient building, an odd, angular, unpainted, gambrel roofed structure, which is now used as a dwelling by a very old lady. This little building was erected long before the revolution for the purpose of weaving stockings in. The sign which for years hung over the door represented an unsymmetrical leg clothed in a gaudy stocking. But this industry was evidently unprofitable, and it was succeeded by a newspaper, the first in Connecticut. Separated from this building by a narrow lane is the Reynolds homestead, and above the front door are scrolled, the figures 1609, representing the year in which it was built. This house has remained in the Reynolds family since the land was set aside for them, and is now occupied by the family of the late Henry L. Reynolds.
Diagonally across the street from the Bliss place, partially hidden by shrubs and trees, is a brown two story dwelling known as the Thomas Leffingwell house. It is fully 200 years old. The old stone
chimney, which is twelve feet square at its base, and the stones of which were laid in clay instead of mortar, the material that is used in the construction of walls today, still performs its service.
The old drug store above this place is another but more unpretentious house, also once the property of the Leffingwells. It is, if anything, a trifle older than the former and much smaller. The Leffingwells were a big family and very prominent in early history. Col. Christopher Leffingwell’s massive mansion is next in order. – The colonel was methodically correct, and the house stands due north and south, one angle of it’s frame protruding partially out into the road. Col. Leffingwell was the first postmaster of the old town, operated the first paper mill in eastern Connecticut, and carried on various other industries.
Saturday, June 21st, 2014 was a momentous day for me. I saw a book with my name on the cover on the shelves of a store. I can’t describe the odd feeling I had when I saw the books artfully displayed at the Uncas Pharmacy. I was barely able to take in seeing multiple copies of my book before Shirley Hodkinson said that people had already been in asking for a copy and would I mind signing some to be set aside now.
What a very strange feeling that people want your signature. I felt very famous. Very accomplished. But it is not my signature that people should be collecting but the signatures of the people profiled in the book that people should be collecting. These are our legends and our heroes.
History is not always about times long ago, history can sometimes be about what occurred this morning. If you only know history as a dull date or place then it’s not being taught well. History is about people and some very special people shared with me some wonderful treasures and tales that I hope I re-told in a way everyone can enjoy. I hope you learn secrets and that you choose to re-tell some of the legends that made you smile and laugh as you read them and that some remind you of a tale of your own and maybe your viewpoint of history may change.
When you next walk on the Norwichtown Green think of Samuel Bailey and how he found his wife. Look at the moon and wonder if you can see the crater named after William Olcott. Hear the music of talented songwriters, musicians and troubadours or attend a musical performed here first. Patronize the businesses and the people of Norwich. Listen to their stories and continue to make Norwich a better place for us all.
“Legendary Locals of Norwich” may be purchased at Uncas Pharmacy, 120 Town Street, Norwich and wherever fine reading is sold. (Hint: Norwich could really use a bookstore)
Thank you all for your support!
Everyone is invited! Saturday, June 21st from noon – 2 PM at Uncas Pharmacy, 20Town Street in Norwich will be the book launch for “Legendary Locals of Norwich” which I had the privilege of compiling for Arcadia Publishing.
In addition to having copies of the book for sale, there are magnets and mugs and tons of other unique Norwich gift items that are available nowhere else thanks to the creative mind of Shirley Hodkinson and her very talented friends.
It took 18 months of pushing and pulling and prodding and begging people for a photograph and a story to create a scrapbook of Norwich relating stories of some of the settlers of Norwich in 1659 to stories of our neighbors today. People you recognize and that you know. Some businesses have come and gone during the writing of this book. One group broke up and are not friends any more but that is a part of the story.
My thanks love and eternal gratitude to everyone in the book who shared their story and to everyone who listened to me whine and carry on throughout the process and had faith that this day would really come about – Akil, Barbara, Betsy, Bonnie, Brett, Brian, Cam, Carmen, Carol, Chris, Cindy, Dianne1 and Dianne2, Frank, George, Jackie, JD, Jeff, Jerry, Joe, John, John-Manuel, Jolene, Lisa, Mort, Nancy, Peter, Richard, Richie, Sandee, Sheila, Tom, and Vivian and everyone I forgot to mention.
Shirley and Jeffrey Hodkinson and everyone at Uncas Pharmacy I do not have a strong enough vocabulary to say more than “thank you from the bottom of my heart” for your support and for allowing this celebration in your store.
I hope to see everyone there!
Who, When and why did Norwich begin touting its architecture and history? This was a long and substantial article from the Emporia Kansas Weekly News 11 July 1889 page 2. This is column one in the series of columns needed to present this one article entitled – Substantial Dwellings That Were Old Before the Herniation House In Which Benedict Arnold Learned to Be a Druggist and John Trott’s Cider “Flips.”
While there are several neglected and Isolated houses scattered throughout various parts of Connecticut of greater age than any in Norwich, probably nowhere else in this country is to be found such a group of ancient dwellings as that in this old town. The famous stone house of Guilford, which was a fortress in Indian times and the history of which runs back to 1639, is only twenty years older than some of this group. They all stand in historic Norwich Town, which a century or more ago was the town proper, and when the present site of the city was known as “The Landing.” Indians held possession of the river in those days, and kept the white settlers away. Here generation after generation of families have been reared, and the houses remain now almost as they did then. The people here have cared more to keep their possessions intact than to have modern Improvements, until Norwich is preeminently the banner historical city of New England.
The Bliss Mansion
Passing up the two aristocratic thoroughfares of the city, Broadway and Washington street, to the “plains” and out upon the old road, the change is most remarkable. Fashionable domiciles
give way to ancient looking rookeries, whose weather beaten sides are marked with time. The first, and most famous of these old dwellings is the Bliss house, a substantial two story mansion, which stands squarely on the main road to the old town. It is the oldest house in New London County, having been built in 1659 by Thomas Bliss, one of the original settlers of Norwich. It was, without doubt, the first dwelling built in eastern Connecticut. The first town clerk had his office in this house for years. From the time of its erection, 230 years ago, the old house remained in the uninterrupted ownership of the Bliss family until a few years ago, when it was sold to Mr. Angel Stead, the present owner.
Keep your eyes peeled for displays from the Thames River Quilters, Inc. They are the quilters that meet at the Ledyard Congregational Church and they make and sell the most innovative, unexpected and fun items you can imagine from a bunch of quilters!
I don’t know what the proper name of them is for them but I know that I need to track the quilters down for a supply them. They are going to be my go to gift for the people I know who already have everything and more than they need. They are the perfect gift for the office dwellers and for all of us that enjoy using our microwaves.
Naturally everything is quilted and sewn. They have put together squares of cloth at odd angles and sewn a circle in the middle of various sizes that can fit a cup, or a bowl or a coffee or tea pot. The cloth forms an old fashioned cozy for the container except from the bottom. No more burned fingers! The cloth can even catch the drips and prevent heat rings on the counter or table. Something spills – no problem. The spill can be absorbed by the cloth and thrown into the washer later. The cozy for my mug is great but the one for my soup bowl is a life saver. I just put the bowl cozy, and the bowl with soup into the microwave and when the bell rings I can pull it out and carry it to the table and it looks so pretty.
Check them out when they come to a craft fair or farmers market near you!
The roses in the gardens of Norwich were in full bloom on Sunday, July 11th 1948 when the Rose Garden at the Rockwell Street entrance to Mohegan Park was accepted pin a short ceremony by the City of Norwich.
The idea in 1940 was to bring back to Norwich once more its name as “the Rose of New England” but there was war and other priorities but Roy D. Judd and Edward W. Jewett never forgot it. During 1946 and 1947 the rocky and overgrown lot was cleared once more and leveled. More than 100 tons of rock were removed but only 275 truckloads of rich loam were needed for more than 1,300 rose bushes and annuals and tulips for the total of 3,200 bushes of 175 varieties. The first rose bush, a Lady Stanhope was planted with great ceremony on April 16, 1947 at 10: AM by Henry D. Johnson, Chairman of the Mohegan Park Board.
The pergola was built and donated by the Rotarians Ernest and Paul Zachae. The pool given by the American Legion, the bubbler by Higgins, 1500 school children gave time and labor as well to the memorial Rose Garden. The story was told of one boy who rode his bicycle three miles during his lunch break to pitch in.
Eaton-Chase Co donated hardware; Charles Osgood, paint; Jacob Slosberg, lumber; the Norwich Trade School donated their students labor.
Miss Helen A. Suchoski of Robert O. Fletcher Post #4 American Legion removed the drape from the field stone with the plaque engraved “A Memorial to Those Who Gave Their Lives and In Honor of Those Who Served in World War Two Norwich Memorial Rose garden 1948.
In remarks by Mr. Sweerser, President of the American Rose Society he referred to a commencement address he had heard at Tufts College in 1943 and quoted, “As long as the earth lasts, roses and the stars and the surging sea will still delight the senses and the soul.”
Rev. Dr. Charles F. Banning of the Central Baptist Church concluded the ceremonies with a prayer.
The final cost for the garden was around $25,000. In the years since there have been many more donations of plants, beds, decorations, fences, arches and money for the upkeep of the rose garden. The largest perhaps, at least known by me, was by Roy D. Judd, who bequeathed the income from a sum of $25,000 to be used for the maintenance of the garden.
In less than 30 minutes the Rose Garden in Norwich was dedicated on Sunday, July 11th, 1948 at 2:30 P.M , opened to the public by the Norwich Rotary and then transferred to and received formally by Mayor Richard F. Marks to the City of Norwich.
Almost 200 people gathered at various points around the garden which was blossoming in bright full colors. The shelter house served as the stage for a variety of dignitaries led by Paul W. Franklin chairman of the committee of arrangements. Henry La Fontaine led the singing of the Star Spangled Banner before the introduction of George Sweeter of Wellesley Hill, MA, President of the American Rose Society; Thomas Desmond of Simsbury who designed the garden; Everett A. Piester, Director of the Rose Garden at Elizabeth Park in Hartford; Board of Park Commissioners Henry D. Johnson, Alexander Jordan, Constanceee Cellucci, Richard Foley, Michael K. Aldi, John Donahue and Roy D. Judd, Chairman of the Rotary working committee for the project.
Rotary Club President L. Goffe Briggs made the formal presentation of the garden to the city and gave great and expected credit to Roy D. Judd as the prime mover and to a long list of committeemen that included but was not limited to the following: co-chairman Edward W. Jewett, secretary Charles D. Greenman, treasurer Thure W. and Harold C. Dahl, Henry D. Johnson, Dr. Hugh B. Campbell, Judge Edward G. Moran, Charles A. Saxton, Thomas W. Mahan, Herbert M. Lerou, Ernest Zachae, and Rex Brown who handled the publicity.
More than 70 cities were contacted for help in the planning of the Norwich Rose Garden and gratitude was given to Mrs. E.A. Piester of Hartford and Thomas Desmond for consultation about location and layout. Of four suggested sites the location was the vision of Mrs. Edwin W. Jewett.
Please be patient for part two of the Forgotten Tale of the Norwich Rose Garden
Norwich celebrates the First Friday of Each month with new shows at each of three art galleries in the downtown, (the Norwich Arts Center Gallery, Reliance House Gallery and the Gallery at the Wauregan) an evening program at the library and sometimes a few of the stores in the downtown are still open. In May there was even a book signing at the new antique shop up the street from the Harp & Dragon and there is an evening of music until 11 P.M. in the space above the Norwich Arts Center Gallery.
There is another feature that is not well publicized and that is the availability of Stamp Cards. There are blank stamp cards in each of the galleries and if you have it stamped or signed by all three galleries and present your card at Chacers Bar & Grill, the Harp & Dragon or Billy Wilson’s Aging Still you can receive 20% off your entire bill.
Parking is not the adventure everyone claims. I use the city hall parking deck and when that’s in use I park in the garage up the street from the Harp & Dragon. It does not always smell nice but it is well lit, easy to access and I feel very safe and both places are an easy walk to galleries and the library. Parking for the library is always an adventure so if the evening presentation is your destination there is the lot across the street (with a Mexican restaurant not too far away with some good food) or the lot behind the railroad station with a quick trot through the tunnel and up the hill or the thrill of securing on-street parking (no parking tickets are issued after 5 PM.)
Come on down! It’s warm and still light between 6 and 9 P.M. stop your complaining and your whining see what Norwich has to offer. Think of it as practice for Rock the Docks returning to Brown park this summer. Bet you’ll be back for more!
I am hot. Way too hot and I do not like it. So I am going to think about wind. The winds and breezes we felt in April and May. The sun was bright and the temperatures were just right and the breezes were perfect for flying kites and planes and throwing Frisbees.
If there is an organization, group or club looking to do a unique fundraiser please feel free to borrow as many of these ideas as you would like.
Have a spring fling! With games and clinics for Frisbee trick tosses. Pet catches and exhibits.
Don’t people fly kites anymore? Kites that fly high, that are decorated as pretty or scary or with long tales?
Remember blowing bubbles and how they floated away on a breeze? Did you ever make a giant bubble the size of one you could step in? Have you watched a feather float on the wind? Wouldn’t it be fun to sponsor a bubble or a feather blow for little kids?
Do they still have the balsa wood plane kits? How far and how fast can you fly yours?
There could be races on land and water for wind powered rafts.
Does anyone besides me recall the hot air balloons that would float across the Norwich skies on Saturday and Sunday mornings? How about a tethered ride in a balloon? Just up and down would be a treat for many.
Then there are all the vendors who could sell wind products. The things that we think of easily and the ones that require more thought. Glass blowers, wind chimes, whistles, flute and other instrument makers, wind socks, kites, weather vanes and whirling birds and pin wheels.
What about a movie or two about wind and breezes – Gone with the wind, Inherit the Wind, or Wind in the willows and I bet there are a whole host I can’t list.
Maybe there could even be a display of March-ing bands? I never claimed I would tell good jokes or that I was not full of hot air!
And this blog is proof I may only be amusing to myself.
I love a good tale and I was reminded recently of the many Tales of the Blue Porch Ceilings.
Tale #1 – It was a symbol of high fashion – back in the day. No one has come forward to say when the day was.
Tale #2 – Bugs are fooled into thinking it’s the sky and won’t land or build nests on it.
Tale #3 – The original paint had properties when exposed to the elements turned turquoise blue as it aged.
Tale #4 – Blue gave the feeling of sitting under a blue sky to people sitting in the shade of the porch.
Tale #5 – In the southern United States the Gullah culture of the low country believe that spirits known as “haints” cannot cross water. Using light blue paint to symbolize water the Gullah people applied the shade to porch ceilings and doors to prevent evil spirits from entering.
Tale #6 – Traveling Gypsies said that the blue ceiling would bring “fair skies” to those who sought food and shelter beneath it and greater fortune to those who shared their own good fortune. (I wonder now if these were migrant workers passing through.)
I seldom hear tales anymore. It is so much easier and faster to click a few keys than to spin a yarn for an eager listener. But I do miss them. I miss the imagination. I miss hearing words that form pictures in my mind. I hope you do too and will start telling stories that paint pictures in the minds of others.
Stories and tales are not just for children. Adults like a good tale too!
In May 1941, the United States was neutral until a sturdy merchant ship the SS Robin Moor was torpedoed by the German Unterseeboot 69 1,200 miles off the coast of Freetown, Sierra Leone.
The SS Robin Moor was built in 1919 in the Hog Island Shipyard near Philadelphia. Her beam was laid as the SS Shetucket, named for the Shetucket River in Connecticut, completed as the SS Nobles, renamed the SS Exmoor and renamed again as SS Robin Moor.
The SS Shetucket aka SS Robin Moor carried a general cargo of trucks, tractors, tin plate, rails, refrigerators and other commercial items. No airplane motors, ammunition or armament supplies of any kind. Captain Jost Metzler told Captain W.E. Myers he had 20 minutes to remove his crew before the ship would be sunk and warned the Captain not to use his wireless to call for help before leaving the ship.
After the sinking, the U69 came up to Captain W.E. Myers’ lifeboat, left him with four tins of bread and two tins of butter, and explained that the ship had been sunk because she was carrying supplies to Germany’s enemy. U-69’s Captain Jost Metzler reportedly promised the ship’s crew would radio their position. Yet nearly two weeks passed before any of her four lifeboats of survivors were discovered drifting 600 miles off the coast. The most hardy of the passengers was a two year old boy, traveling with his parents. He remained the most cheerful and enjoyed the hardtack as the adults grew to hate it over the 13 days adrift.
President Roosevelt reacted angrily to this event. He ordered all German and Italian Consulates in the USA to close. And demanded reparation. Part of his address to Congress said:
“In brief, we must take the sinking of the Robin Moor as a warning to the United States not to resist the Nazi movement of world conquest. It is a warning that the United States may use the high seas of the world only with Nazi consent. Were we to yield on this we would inevitably submit to world domination at the hands of the present leaders of the German Reich. We are not yielding and we do not propose to yield.”
Yes. There is much more to this story than I have room to write here. Please do read all about it!
In two years this German submarine was able to sink 69,000 tons of shipping, 137 souls on the New Foundland Ferry SS Caribou and 2 other American ships before being rammed and sunk with a crew of 46 in February 1943 by the destroyer HMS Fame.
The mills were hot. The hours were long. Maybe on a special weekend visitors and residents to Norwich could be invited into one of the mills to learn about the lives of workers or practice a new skill or trade. In Taftville visitors could learn to spin, weave, knit, crochet or sew. At the mill in Yantic, maybe in the community room, people could learn how to make paper in addition to knitting and sewing and crocheting. Maybe there could be lessons in how to make your own buttons.
Shopping was not just in downtown. There were shops across town and stopping for a rest and a refreshing cup of tea or coffee was a planned activity. An entire day would be set aside to shop for fabric and notions at the mills in Taftville. How about recreating that day with a twist of fun and invention? What if those with an eye and a talent for fashion design prepared examples of their work from sketches to samples for display and sale in one of the mills. Maybe a quick class in how to tailor old clothes to be more fashionable or how to hem or how to sew on buttons. There was once a room set aside just for lace making and tatting but chatting was not encouraged.
Today, many children have never seen or petted a live sheep or llama so perhaps a small petting zoo could be set up in a parking lot for the day as well. The possibilities are endless but all of the ideas are fun.
It is time to begin planning and getting in on the fun. It is time to stop doing only the same old things but to change them up and continue the adventure with new twists, turns and laughter.
There is currently no sponsor for this program so please feel free to adopt this idea and adapt it to make it your own.
“I love to drive through Norwich. It has such wonderful architecture!”
But I would like to get some visitors to stop. So here is a promotion idea with a twist. This could be on one day, one weekend or it could be done over time and through a number of time periods.
Visitors are invited to park their cars in ticket free zones in areas throughout the city.
At a central location visitors are “processed” into Norwich as if they were arriving through Ellis Island in the early 20th century. The visitors are provided with travel documents as immigrants who have moved to Norwich and a map to our different neighborhoods. Yes there is more to Norwich than Norwichtown and downtown.
“Welcoming Neighbors” in the different areas can show the “settlers” around and tell them how it used to be in its best days. It would be nice if these areas had been cleaned and made ready to be shown off. The “neighbors” can tell them stories of how it was. Where the residents worked (ex. stores, mills) where they relaxed (playgrounds, street games, bars, movies, stoops) where they got into trouble (bars, speakeasies, playgrounds). These “neighbors” are trained volunteers from or seeking careers in real estate, business, marketing, and public relations. Dressing in costume is optional. People who are accustomed to presenting people with dreams. In some places though the best guide might be a fifth grader showing off a particular area through the eyes of a child or maybe a newsboy.
The visitors can also become acquainted with the economies of the day, fashions, foods, and drinks. Maybe coordinate with some of the churches for the food of the time. Not necessarily full meals but a light sampling that encourages people to try new things from new places and served in new ways.
I have not been able to find a sponsoring organization for this idea. So please feel free to adopt it, alter it and make it your own.
Who, When and why did Norwich begin touting its architecture and history? This was a long and substantial article from the Emporia Kansas Weekly News 11 July 1889 page 2. This is column three and last in the series of columns needed to present this one article entitled – Substantial Dwellings That Were Old Before the Herniation House In Which Benedict Arnold Learned to Be a Druggist and John Trott’s Cider “Flips.”
The two story structure which was the residence of Gen. Jabez Huntington prior to and during the revolution is on land that was deeded to ancestors of Gen. Huntington by the Indians, and the mansion has been in the hands of the Huntington family for two centuries. The general and all his sons were prominent in the revolutionary war. Nearly opposite the Huntington place is another old house, built for Governor Samuel Huntington.
Surrounding Norwich town green is an endless chain of these venerable mansions, all 200 or more years old. One of the most notable is the old Trott place, which was occupied by John Trott as a tavern prior to and during the revolutionary war, and where Gens. Washington and Lafayette and others often enjoyed
his famous cider “flips.” The Tracy house, too, is quite conspicuous and quite well preserved , as are also the Sylvan Jones and the Lathrop places. – Con. New York Times
I looked to Good Food Stories.com for the following flip recipe –
Ale Flip
Special Equipment:
Boston shaker or 2 pint glasses
Ingredients:
1 1/2 fl. oz. (3 tablespoons) rum
1 tablespoon molasses
1 large egg
8 fl. oz. (1 cup) dark beer such as brown ale, porter, or stout freshly grated nutmeg for garnish
Method:
Pour the rum and molasses into one of the pint/shaker glasses. Crack the egg into the other glass and beat well with a fork.
Warm the beer in a small saucepan over low heat just until it begins to froth and steam; don’t let it come to a boil.
Pour the beer into the glass filled with rum, then pour the egg into the beer. Continue to pour the drink back and forth between the pint glasses until smooth and well-blended, then transfer to a mug or other clean and heat-safe drinking glass.
Grate fresh nutmeg over the flip and serve immediately.
On a recent visit to Liberty State Park I picked up a brochure from the State of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Division of Parks and Forestry titled “The Birds of Liberty State Park.”
It is a single, folded, photocopied page. The key indicates when the birds are most likely to be found in the area.
R – Resident; present all year, abundance may vary.
S – Summer visitor (including spring and fall)
W – Winter visitor (including spring and fall)
V – Visitor Status was simply
E – Endangered species in CT,
T – Threatened species in CT,
D – Declining species in CT
There was a total of 195 species found in the Park, 410 species sighted in the state of NJ and a quick brag that New Jersey is one of only four states with a total of over 200 species of birds counted in one 24 hour period. Then it was just lists of birds.
Does anyone else think it would be worth-while to apply for a grant to print a brochure like this for Norwich? Much of the information is available through the annual bird counts of the Cornell Lab and the Audubon Society. But a sponsoring organization is also needed.
If you are a part of or know of an organization that would be willing to sponsor the writing of a grant to cover the cost of the printing and distribution of a Birds of Norwich or Birds of Mohegan Park brochure please contact me at berylfishbone@yahoo.com and I will happily supply as much further information as I have.
No. 4 Cove Street, Norwich was the home of the Sidney Risley Pottery, a manufacturer simple utilitarian stoneware and slightly more elaborate forms incorporating molded decorations and colored glazes. Some works were signed, “S RISLEY/ NORWICH.” There were sheds, workrooms and an old style kiln on the bank of a cove that does not exist today. The clay was imported from New Jersey and Long Island by schooner and wood for the kiln could be brought by boat or by wagon and when burned the three foot logs would create a dense black smoke that filled the sky for 30 to 50 continuous hours according to the particular kind of work being done.
Then the finished wares of the pottery were loaded onto wagons and peddled throughout New England. Advertised items included money safes for children and a cider bottle in the shape of a hollow ring made to be carried on the arm of a mower in the field. Alvin T. Davis was one of the drivers for Risley and leading his pottery wagon were two huge Newfoundland dogs hitched ahead of the horses.
Sidney Risley died April 26, 1875 and his son, George L. Risley continued the business until his death on December 24, 1881. In the morning, as George lit a fire beneath the upright boiler something went horribly wrong and the force of the explosion caused the 1,500 pound boiler to pass completely over a fifty-foot elm tree at the rear of the pottery and roof of the building to land in the cove over 120 feet away. Mr. Risley was so badly injured that he died that evening and an account of the accident was printed in the January, 1882 issue of “Scientific American.”
Thereafter known as the Norwich Pottery Works, the business was run by Benjamin Cartwright Chance (1883-86) , then by George B. Chamberland and finally by Otto N. Sudarberg (1887 to its close in 1895.) After an entire baking of pottery was lost when the waters rose so high the fires of the kiln were put out in 1889, Sudarberg added a second kiln and enlarged the facilities for working and storage further back from the cove.
“Story” is frequently our children’s first sentence. One word that is instantly understood and can completely demand and command our attention so, I looked up its meaning in the dictionary.
The word “story” as early as the 13th Century meant an account of some happening. It was considered to be a “narrative of important events or celebrated persons of the past.”From the Old French estoire, and from the Low Latin storia and the Latin historia its accepted meaning was a history, account, tale, or story. Then through the 14th Century, “story” was a “recital of true events.”
Then something happened and from around 1500 there was a change in the definition and interpretation and “story” began to be a “narrative of fictitious events meant to entertain.”
From records described as “meticulously kept” the word “story” as a euphemism for “a lie” dates from the 1690’s. The word “Story-teller” is from 1709. “That’s another story;” requiring different treatment was first used in 1818. Story as a “newspaper article” is from 1892. Story-line is from 1941.
What is your story?
I am always learning something completely new to me while watching others learn the same news nod their heads sagely as if they knew it all along and are not surprised by the news.
I just learned that the Town of Decatur, New York on the eastern border of Otsego County New York with its population in the 2000 U.S. census of 410 was named for the naval hero Stephen Decatur.
He served a distinguished career in the US Navy from the Barbary Wars of North Africa through the War of 1812 until losing his life in a duel with a rival officer. Stories of his exploits rival those of John Paul Jones and he became a hero during his own lifetime.
Anyway, the settling of the Town of Decatur began in 1790 its land well known for its hills, narrow valleys and two tributary rivers. Sound familiar? Every settler had a purpose and that purpose was of course recorded. Nahum Thompson was the first merchant of the village and the first town clerk was Lemuel Fletcher. Samuel Turber taught in the first school in 1798. The first grist mill was built by John Champion and James Stewart built the first carding mill. Then after the American Revolution came the brothers Elisha, John and Samuel Waterman from Norwich, CT.
You may also recognize the Waterman name as descendant of Elisha was Lewis Edson Waterman (1837-1900), the inventor of the “Waterman Ideal Fountain Pen.”
This is just another example of the inventiveness that is so inherent in the people of Norwich, CT and their ability to transport those skills to other places and situations. Now is a good time to create your own future and to create it here in Norwich. Don’t listen to the nay sayers. Listen to your heart and take the chance. Take the leap of faith and let your friends and neighbors help support you.
A recent closing in our area reminded me of this 1913 poem available to all on Connecticut History Online. org originally written in two columns to memorialize the burning of one of the paper mills along the Yantic River. Thank you for your indulgence.
In Memoriam
Yantic River Paper Mills
Cremated at the “Mill Pond” Crematory Feb, 3, 1913
Ode (Owed) to the Creditors
On a bank of the Yantic where once stood a Mill,
Now all is quiet and placid and still,
No more can be heard the wheels busy hum
For the Y. R. P. M. is now on the “bum.”
Returning from Norwich at around midnight,
Like a man in the Bible, I “saw a great fight.”
And the thought that was first to enter my brain,
It looks like my ticket is for the “Hog Train.”
There was a “bright side” to this sad affair,
For it lit up the sky with a lurid glare.
I felt, as I gazed on the Heavens so glowing,
As a “shining success” the mill was making its most “brilliant showing.”
In the cold, gray dawn of the morning after
“Yours truly” was in no mood for laughter.
For while from some cares I knew I was free,
I was as blue, as blue could be.
Just take it from me, it is no joke
To realize you are worse than “Broke.”
For on the wings of success to fly I had yearned,
But walking looks good since the old mill burned.
I happened to be a Spinster Man, this was “my only child.”
And together, for many an hour, the time we had beguiled.
When she would make a decent run,
Out of my “Job” I got some fun.
(But never any real money)
But when she did not do so well,
I wished, by Jove, she was – well, what I wished I need not tell.
But now she is a departed saint,
For where she once was, now she ain’t.
This surely for all was a bad mishap,
For what was machinery is now only scrap.
I wrote a friend the bad news to tell her,
But added: “All is not lost for we saved the cellar.”
All of these ills could be promptly cured
If I had had her well insured.
But no company wanted their money risked –
At the asking you’d think they were being “frisked.”
The main assets consist of two water powers
That are very good when the Lord sends showers.
So, creditors, do not worry and fret,
For we’ll find a way to pay your debt.
These verses, kind friends, do not “scan” too hard,
For I know I’m rotten as a Bard.
My excuse for inflicting this humble rhyme
Is to beg your indulgence and ask for time.
Particularly, in a case like this,
These parting words do not seem amiss:
“Dust to dust and ashes to ashes,“
As I wipe the tears from my quivering lashes.
Yours Insecurely,
The Yantic River Paper Mill-less,
E. Mortified Harrison, Mis-Manager.
Can we please have an honest talk about Bean Hill? Every time the word “tourism” is mentioned someone will call out and “Bean Hill.” Since the 17th century, West Town Street has been a major highway leading north out of Norwich.
The Bean Hill Historic District is a tiny group of 18th- and 19th-century buildings still in their early configuration around the Bean Hill Green and up West Town Street. Bean Hill’s earliest house was demolished in 1868, the surviving Bean Hill houses are from the first quarter of the 18th century.
The Yantic River, provided water power at several falls, at Bean Hill and at Yantic, just north of Bean Hill. By the 1790s, grist, saw, fulling and linseed-oil mills had appeared along the Yantic River at Bean Hill. There were also small machine shops for carders and looms as well as a pottery, established in 1766. No evidence remains above ground of these early manufactories, although the architecture of Bean Hill reflects the lifestyle of the mechanics and artisans who lived there. Because of West Town Street’s importance as a thoroughfare from the hinterlands down to Norwich, even throughout the 19th century, taverns, dry-goods shops, groceries, a hat shop, a shoemaker’s, and several other small shops appeared there. Just beyond Bean Hill, the land was farmed.
Bean Hill’s citizens were humble people, respected but not renowned. The limited prominent exceptions were the Clevelands. Aaron Cleveland, ran a Bean Hill hat shop (now standing at 122 West Town Street but originally located next to the Bean Hill Methodist church.) He was an early abolitionist who wrote poems, essays, and sermons on the political, social, and religious questions of the day; he was president Grover Cleveland’s great-grandfather.
My personal hero, from Bean Hill was Colonel John Durkee, a tavern-keeper spearheaded the drive against the Stamp Act (taxes) with other Connecticut patriots and forced the resignation of Stamp/Tax Collector Jared Ingersoll.
But now, when was the last time you heard a poem or an essay read on the Bean Hill Green? Have you heard a band play there? Was there a fair there that I missed? Is there a farmers market there?
Tourism is not just words, its actions. Without actions there is no tourism. Don’t just list places as history. Show people that the area is still alive.
I thought blackboard paint was something new. Well, relatively new. I was wrong. again.
In 1867, Henry W. Holly of Norwich patented an improvement to the substance that would turn ordinary objects and wood into artificial slates. Those artificial slates gave rise to blackboards and menu boards and signs.
The slates carried by students to practice their writing and math on gave way to mass produced and much less expensive paper and pencil but soon every classroom could have a cheaper than real slate blackboard and chalk and if it became damaged, by accident of course, it could be repaired.
Henry Wells Holly was a prolific woodworker, writer and inventor. He wrote the Carpenters and Joiners Handbook that is still used by woodcraftsmen today. While living in Stamford he designed a Music Leaf Turner on a music stand in 1849, an improved roller for wringing-machines in 1863, an improved perpetual calendar in 1865, the improved artificial slate in 1867, an improvement for drawing nails in 1868 another improvement to marking slates while living in Brooklyn NY as well as a protector for chimneys in 1884.
He was always looking to make things better and easier. To learn more about the inventions that were patented by people from Norwich, CT do a simple search in Google Patents.
In the late 1600’s shawl was not yet a common word even though it was beginning to turn up in traveler’s descriptions of clothing seen in southern Asia. In the 1700’s fine cashmere shawls from Kashmir and India began to arrive in Western Europe. At first they were not treated as clothing, but used to decorate the home.
By the end of the 18th century dresses were becoming softer with higher waists and a narrower silhouette that became the perfect background for the pretty shawls.
The most fashionable shape was an 8 foot by 4 foot rectangle but squares were also manufactured.
In 1810 Napoleon gave seventeen Kashmiri shawls as a wedding gift to his second wife, his first wife Josephine owned sixty.
As fashions changed so did the shawl. By the 1830’s they were an essential item in an elegant ladies wardrobe but woven shawls were popular to “middling” women. They worked well with the new wider skirts and improvements in looms made it easier to produce the large Victorian shawl that covered the upper body and draped down over the skirt.
The bustle of the 1870’s made it hard to drape the fine fabric with elegance and cheap mass-produced wraps were widely available, making the better ones less exclusive.
Some beautiful shawls were cut up for dressmaking purposes, curtains or allowed to fade during the late Victorian period according to Mary Dusenberry in Flowers, Dragons and Pine Trees: Asian Textiles in the Collection of the Spencer Museum of Art.
By the 1870s fashionable ladies were no longer fond of shawls. One reason was the popularity of bustles. It was difficult to drape fine fabric elegantly over a skirt that stuck out at the back. Also, cheap, mass-produced wraps were widely available by then, making the better ones seem less exclusive and desirable.
The late Victorian period was a sad time in the history of shawls. Some beautiful hand-woven antique shawls were cut up for dressmaking purposes, or used as curtains and allowed to fade.
*According to Mary Dusenberry in Flowers, Dragons and Pine Trees: Asian Textiles in the Collection of the Spencer Museum of Art
Our mannequin is not wearing a shawl appropriate for the colonial period.
Deep in the archives of the Leffingwell House Museum are treasures such as this proposal of marriage. Peter (3), son of Peter (2) Lanman, was born October 4, 1807. He married (first) Catharine Cook, October 25, 1831 age 24. He married (second) Lydia S. Bishop, May 6, 1857, at age 50. He married (third) Mary E. Golding, September 5, 1866, at age 59.
Miss Lydia Bishop, sister of Dr. Bishop now of Worcester was engaged to Daniel Tyler of Sutton, MA. He went to college at Amherst, studied medicine, then went to California and returned as far as New York, where he died unmarried. She taught school in Sutton, MA and was a very fine lady. She afterward married a Peter Lanman and died at Norwich, Connecticut.
Proposal in Poem
My dearest Miss Bishop, I’ve heard all my life
That you were cut out for a widower’s wife,
And lately I’ve had the misfortune to lose
A worthy, excellent, exemplary spouse;
And pain would replace her for life is but brief,
And should not be wasted in mourning and grief.
I’ll “describe my position” as well as I can;
I’m a pleasing, affable and good natured man –
Thick-set, middle aged good looking some think
And can strike up a match as quick as a wink;
I have nine precious children-dear nice little creatures
Like the dear departed in form and in features;
But the boys have my temper, are rather unruly-
Self-willed- a little bit rude (to speak truly);
The oldest’s past twenty- the youngest, dear child,
Is a sweet little cherub of but three summer’s mild,
And, of course, as he cannot recollect any other,
He never will know that youre not his own mother
You must manage and save I’m happy to learn
You are expert at the needle-can do any trim
In the house- but the knowledge that comes most important
Is the knowledge you have of the Greek and the Latin.
You must teach all the boys, for I give you my word
That to send them to school I can never afford
I look upon money as you do of course –
The pride of the worldly – contemptible dross, –
At the bottom of crime and the root of all evil,
The invention of all wicked men and the devil.
You’ll be pleased then to learn that my income is small,
And servants so dear that I keep none at all.
Come thus, and share all- all my cares and my joys-
My own little girl and eight- promising boys –
Reject not my suit, nor my fond hopes much,
But come, dear Miss Lydia – preside o’er my flock.
(Who could possibly say no?)
Once more I have found a connection between birds and Norwich. Joseph M. Wade was an Ornithologist (person who studies birds) and Oologist (person who deals with the study of eggs, especially birds’ eggs.) For many years Mr. Wade chronicled the birds and their eggs in the Norwich area. In 1891 Frank Park Webster Company published Volume 16 of Ornithologist and Oologist Birds: Their Nests and Eggs written by Mr. Wade and with many of his personal observations. There are at a minimum 17 references to Norwich, CT that give a hint to what Norwich was like prior to its modern day development. But where are these places he references? I will try not to reference the same place repeatedly.
April 21, 1877 Plain Hill, Nest in Lillibridge’s West Wood, in old chestnut.
April 24, 1877 Nest in Rockwell’s Woods, back of Free Academy. Principal trying to shoot hawks – often seen.
May 2, 1877 Swamp. Sunnyside Woods, Norwich, CT New nest in small leaning oak. Female made bold dashes toward me.
April 19, 1880 Cranberry Bog, Wawecus Hill, Norwich, CT Old nest, old site, old birds. Nest retouched-scanty hemlock lining.
April 21, 1880 City, or Fairview Reservoir “Nest in chestnut. Feathers in nest and on limbs. Homely female.”
April 21, 1882 Ox Hill Nest in thrifty chestnut, in square chestnut grove above westerly slope of Gallows Hill.
April 17, 1886 Gallows Hill Norwich, CT Both hawks at nest. Very handsome.
April 20, 1887 Fair View Farm, Norwich, CT “Nest in a beech, near the edge of chestnut grove, in home lot within full view of road. Beech covered with initials. Driving by saw Ilntfn soaring 1000 feet over nest – negro tramp walking through grove.”
April 14, 1888, Sunnyside Woods, Norwich, Ct
You can read Mr. Wade’s detailed observations of the birds and their eggs in the Norwich area and across America for free through the generosity of the Google Books and the Harvard Library.
Someone asked me “How do I eliminate or reduce a musty odor in a book?” So I asked the Northeast Document Conservation Center. There is no guaranteed way to remove the musty smell from old books, but sometimes this works. First create an enclosed chamber. Use two garbage cans, one large (with a lid) and one small. Put some type of odor-absorbing material in the bottom of the larger can. Odor-absorbing materials may include baking soda, charcoal briquettes (without lighter fluid), or kitty litter. Place the object to be “deodorized” in the smaller can, which is then placed inside the larger can. The lid should then be placed on the larger can, and the chamber should be left for some time. You will need to monitor periodically to see how long the materials need to be left inside the chamber.
Mildew thrives on organic substances like paper so here are a few more tips for removing mildew and hopefully preventing it in the future. Look to see if the mold is on the surface (cover, binding, and edges) or if it has eaten all the way through to the pages. If it’s only on the outside brush off the mold and mildew gently with a rag that has just a bit of Lysol on it. The Lysol will kill the mold and prevent it from returning.
If the mold is on the pages of your book I have heard of two methods to cure it. One, put your book into a plastic bag and into the freezer overnight. The temperature kills the spores and the plastic bag keeps the spores from spreading to your food. Then dust off the book using a rag lightly dampened with Lysol. Don’t use the harsh chemical bleach because it will eat through the pages of your book.
The second cure is to place your book in the microwave for ten seconds or less to kill the mold and follow the same procedure for cleaning your books as above. People who are sensitive to mold spores should use a HEPA vac to remove the spores.
Fall is the season for long walks through neighborhoods and Norwich is the perfect place to do that. Small streets tucked away with houses and yards that whisper long forgotten stories if you listen closely.
There is a house on Lincoln Avenue that once belonged to Charles P. Cogswell, the President of the 2nd National Bank in Norwich and standing on his lawn on November 4th 1895 was a doe. A deer stood there happily nibbling on the bushes. A sight so rare that it was reported at length in the November 6th Norwich Bulletin and the November 10, 1895 New York Times.
The doe was seen at 5:30 AM by a Norwich Bulletin carrier before it disappeared in the direction of Chelsea Parade and was next spotted on Chestnut Street. Chestnut Street was filled with homes and businesses such as Thomas O’Neill, harness maker¸ M B Ring, Carriage builder and repairer, R F Goodwin, Cork Cutter, A T Gardiner Livery Boarding and Feed Stables, and Horace L Tower, Veterinary Surgeon.
Then the doe moved on to Franklin Square where he was seen by Andrew Marshall, the janitor of the bank in the Slater Building just before the arrival of the electric car from Greenville and as witnessed by Michael McInerney of Taftville and Timothy Cary of Central Avenue the deer leapt directly over the head of a small boy and sped down East Main Street heading for the Preston Bridge.
C. Avery Champlin was the last Norwich person to see the deer. He says he was on his way from Main Street to take the early train north and he saw the deer cross the Shetucket River into Preston.
It was later reported that William Martin and Frank Martin and their wives on their way to church saw a deer cross the road near the Chaplin Paper Mill in Chaplin, CT 20 or 25 miles from Norwich. They thought the deer was headed for Willimantic.
According to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection fact sheet deer were uncommon in Connecticut from 1700 to 1900 due to over-harvesting for venison, deerskins, market hunting, and a general loss of deer habitat caused by extensive clearing of the land for farming. In 1893 the Connecticut State Legislature passed a law giving complete protection to deer for 10 years so the numbers of deer could build back up.
Try this walk on your own and imagine for yourself the lives of the residents of the past.
Sometimes you read something in another paper or on-line that just makes you smile whether you want to or not and so I present to you this article by Sabrina Rojas Weiss and posted by Ancestry.com on August 13, 2014 in Military Records. I knew about George Washington’s teeth but I did not know about…
1. The Boston Tea Party Had a Sequel We all know about the initial incident on December 16, 1773, when Boston’s Sons of Liberty dressed as Mohawk Indians and tossed 342 chests of tea from three ships into the Boston Harbor to protest the taxes imposed in the Tea Act. But we forget that they felt the need to hammer the point home with a second party, on March 7, 1774 — probably because they grabbed only 16 chests of tea. So why are you drinking tea to honor colonial history?
2. Sweet Revenge While it was common practice for Patriots to tar and feather Loyalists, the Daughters of Liberty had a less painful alternative: They used molasses and flowers instead.
3. Where’s the Independence? The word “independence” never appears in the Declaration of Independence — rather, it’s titled “The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America.”
4. Drag King on the Front Line In 1782, 21-year-old Deborah Sampson dressed as a man, called herself Robert Shurtlieff Sampson (after a deceased brother), and enlisted in the Fourth Massachusetts Regiment of the Continental Army. She served for over a year, until a doctor discovered her secret while treating her for an unhealed injury. She was discharged with honor.
5. Forget That Paul Revere Guy, Meet Sybil The Boston silversmith was actually accompanied by as many as 40 other men on his midnight ride to sound the alarm that the British were coming. But two years later, 16-year-old Sybil Ludington, the daughter of a colonel, rode 40 miles on her own from 9 p.m. to dawn to alert New York militia members that the Brits were burning down Danbury, Connecticut.
6. British Invasion on Broadway In cities such as New York that were controlled by the British Army, some soldiers took time to act in professionally produced plays during the war.
7. Jack Sparrow, Patriot? Since they didn’t have money for a big navy, the Continental Congress hired privateers, aka pirates, to attack British ships. They were then supposed to split the booty with the U.S.
8. The First CIA Spying played a huge role in the war, and agents on both sides sent messages using invisible ink.
9. Thank That French Kid The Marquis de Lafayette, who was instrumental in General Washington’s defeat of the British at Yorktown in 1781, was only 19 when he joined the Continental Army as a major general in 1777.
10. George Washington’s Teeth Were a Lie The general’s dentures weren’t made of wood, as legend has it, but rather of hippopotamus ivory and cows’ teeth, held in place by metal springs.
Yahoo it has arrived! The Norwich Harbor Management Commission publication and distribution of its first ever NORWICH HARBOR WATER TRAIL ON THE THAMES, YANTIC AND SHETUCKET RIVERS brochure.
It’s got a wonderful aerial photo of the Yantic River, downstream of the Falls on its cover fold. The brochure does not contain navigation information because the water paths are very subject to change in the area. I asked a friend who is an experienced outside person and he said that was a very safe thing to do so the brochure could have a long life span and then he asked to see the maps and charts. Maybe those will be coming out next? Anyway, the brochure does have a colorful map for reference only.
A reference that canoe and kayak journeys can begin and end at Brown Park and a sentence about the three rivers that feed into the Thames River and website references to learn more about those waterways. I thought Norwich had more places to launch but I guess I was wrong. There is a lengthy dissertation on the Watershed of the Thames and the usual homage to settling of Norwich history.
One fold is entirely dedicated to the Fish of the Harbor. Sadly I learned that manufacturing in the 1800’s blocked the spawning runs of shad, alewife and other native species and so eliminated them entirely from their native habitat. A fish lift was built in 1996 and continued stocking is restoring anadromous (ascending rivers from the sea for breeding) fish to their natural habitat providing recreational, economic and environmental benefits. American Shad and Striped Bass are shown with a note saying how any caught were likely spawned in the Hudson River. The 315 mile Hudson River is mostly in eastern New York State. There was no mention of the visiting otter from last year that entertained some of us on the Public Utilities website page.
The back fold gives directions to Brown Park, and multiple warnings about tidal conditions, and paddling safe and smart and then a paragraph on the writers, contributors and funding sources for the brochure.
Congratulations to the Norwich Harbor Management Commission, Geoffrey Steadman, Keith Placko, Long Island Sound Study, Long Island Sound Futures Fund, Pamela Ballard, Paul Singer Design, Michael Longfellow, and the Last Green Valley.
If the Norwich Adult Education offerings are reduced any further the catalog will be reduced to a single page flier to be posted on bulletin boards in supermarkets. So where did all the classes go? Norwich has the largest population in Eastern Connecticut and we have so little to offer. Or so I thought. Then by chance I picked up the Three Rivers Community College 2014 Workforce & Community Education Noncredit Schedule.
Flip past the first 20 pages of high-priced on-line classes (You can find these classes offered for less in other places) and you’ll find wine and cooking classes, auto cad, how to write your memoir, babysitter training, growing plants for fun and profit, grant writing, grammar refresher, digital photography, music made easy, drawing for the beginner and so many more classes that I thought were not offered in Norwich at all for reasonable rates.
Yes, some are slightly higher in cost than the same course offered in surrounding towns and there is an unusually high number of classes with “educator tipping.” Educator tipping is when in addition to the fee paid to the school, there is an additional fee to be paid directly to the teacher for “supplies and photocopying.”
Anyway, check out this catalog for what is being offered in Norwich before you check out the adult education programs being offered in New London, Montville and Colchester.
Dear Norwich Mayor, NCDC and Commercial Realtors,
I read an article how 21C museum hotels are turning unexpected cities into art-driven destinations in the November 2014 Travel & Leisure magazine on page 138.
21C breathes new life into an historic building by seeding it with stylish, contemporary guest rooms and a cutting edge art museum that is free and open to the public and has sample local programming.
Is it at all possible that one or more of you can contact them and ask them what they are looking for? Perhaps describe what we have available in Norwich? Maybe ask them for their advice on another company that might, perhaps be doing something similar in New England? How about checking out their website at 21cmuseumhotels.com See what they have done and are doing in places like Louisville KY, Cincinnati, Oklahoma City and Kansas City Missouri.
For development opportunities, drop them a line at: futureprojects@21cHotels.com
21C may not be a fit for Norwich. But it is a company that is thinking of using old buildings creatively. Differently. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness. Asking for help or advice is in fact a sign of strength. It takes strength to ask for help when you need it. Have no fear though, if you don’t like their thoughts or advice or ideas, it’s ok. You don’t have to accept them. We tell our children to listen and learn something new every day, so shouldn’t the same be held true for us. To make Norwich a better place, take a chance and listen to a new idea.
Everyone should know by now that I love reading cookbooks and the stranger they are the better. I am working my way through the History Lover’s Cookbook by Roxe Anne Peacock. The book tells some of the lesser known tales from a Southern point of view of the war between the states.
But food is a great equalizer. What was good for one side, worked just as well on the other. As there will soon be a chill in the air I am preparing to try my version of what Peacock assures her readers was a favorite of George A. Custer – A Hot
Apple Toddy
Preheat oven to 375 degrees (I am a microwave girl)
Ingredients
1 medium nice baking apple
¼ cup hot water for baking dish
2 ounces hot water for heat-safe, microwave proof mug
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 ounces Apple-Jack
Freshly grated nutmeg for garnish
Directions for baking apple
Wash apple and place in a small baking dish with the ¼ cup of water. Bake in a preheated oven for approximately 50 minutes or until tender. (Or same for 5 minutes in the microwave) Remove the dish from the oven and then peel and core the baked apple.
Place the baked peeled and cored apple in the bottom of a heat-safe mug or glass. Sprinkle the sugar over the apple. Pour the Apple-Jack over the apple sugar mix and then add the hot water and garnish with freshly grated nutmeg.
I had to test this recipe for the sake of science of course, and added a sprinkle of cinnamon and a healthy bit of whipped cream but try it and see how you like it.
Ever wondered about license plates? The $95. Decoration for the front and back of your vehicle.
I have never even seen one of the leather plates with house numbers riveted on them that were created for the owner of the car by a carriage maker in New Haven from 1903–1905.
In Connecticut the plates were porcelain from 1905-1916; then they were painted from 1917-1919 and have been stamped since 1920. Until 1913 license plates were made of iron and then from steel and had Connecticut on them.
In 1937 Connecticut was a national pioneer with the making and issuing of an aluminum plate with a colorful renewable tag for individual years. In 1948 CT pioneered again with a “reflectorized” plate.
Plates manufactured after 1978 bear the “Constitution State” legend.
The colors of the Connecticut plate has also changed regularly since the leather ones. The background has been black, white, green, red, maroon, blue, cream, yellow, and even aluminum.
Today’s fully reflectorized plate of tri-blue background with dark blue letters and numbers appeared in 2000.
To learn more about the history of Connecticut’s License Plates please visit www.ct.gov/dmv.
I listened to a friend lament that her group wanted to create a cookbook for sale as a fundraiser and was having a problem getting people to send in recipes. People in her area mostly just opened boxes and bags and followed the directions to heat or freeze and serve.
Doesn’t anyone have a family tradition that involves food anymore? Here are a few – –
Magic Walnuts
(from Life Is a Celebration by Michael Sparks)
Warm walnuts in the shell on a baking pan in a 350 oven for 5 minutes. Allow to cool and then carefully ply the walnut open at the edges with a knife. Empty out the nut meat for another project. Write a message on a small piece of paper. Good wishes or prophesy of good fortune work well. Place the message in the shell and lightly glue the shell back together. Serve at the end of the Thanksgiving meal.
Bread Sauce
(from Receipts of the Founders compiled by the Society of the Founders of Norwich)
1 cup fine, stale bread crumbs, 2 cups cream, 3 shallots (or a small onion), salt & pepper to taste, pinch of cloves, tablespoon of butter. Simmer all but the butter for 15 minutes. Add butter before serving.
Liver Patties
(from Mrs. Edward C. Champion, Sr., Favorite Recipes, compiled by the Women’s Fellowship First Congregational Church, Norwichtown, CT)
1 lb cooked ground liver, 1 ½ cups corn flakes, 1 egg, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 2 ground (minced) onions. 1. Mix ground liver, egg, salt and cornflakes. 2. Add ground (minced) onions 3. Add enough water to hold mixture together 4. Mold into patties and fry in a hot greased pan.
What recipes came to your mind?
Have you ever read about an event somewhere else and thought “Why isn’t that happening in Norwich?” I read about the Fall 2014 Programs being offered by the Connecticut College Arboretum and thought what great fundraisers they would make for the Norwich Garden Club or as wonderful promotion of Mohegan Park for the City of Norwich.
On September 27 there was a Tree Identification Workshop from 10-12 to learn to identify many of the common trees of Southern New England. Don’t we have the same common trees in Norwich?
October 18 from 10-11:30 is All About Autumn Color. It’s an informative walk to enjoy the annual colors of fall. I know we have enough trees to have a colorful walk in Norwich.
On October 25 from 10 – 11:30 the Arboretum is having a workshop on how to tell Native and non-native Oak trees apart using leaves, bark, buds and acorns. Who knew? Norwich has Oak trees. I have no clue if they are native or non-native and would be interested to learn. How about you?
November 9 from 2 -4 PM a DEEP Wildlife Biologist is going to speak how we can make a difference for wildlife by the kinds and the arrangement of plants in yards. Aren’t there people in Norwich that would like to know how to Enhance a Wildlife Habitat and Landscape for Seasonal Food and Cover with Native Plants?
December 6th from 10-Noon there will be a Holiday Wreath Making Workshop where each participant will go home with an extraordinary wreath for holiday decorating of their own creation.
I know that these workshops and walks are pretty simple. Nothing exotic or truly expensive but what wonderful family activities these could be for Norwich locals and visitors. Yes, events like this can be used as a tourism draw. Not just the classes but perhaps a certificate for a cider donut or cocoa at a donut house, a cup of soup at a restaurant, a leaf print at an art house, yes I can go on forever with ideas. But alas I am not a member of the Norwich Garden Group, Norwich Tourism Committee or the Mohegan Park Commission. I am tax paying resident with shallow pockets who wants a better life here in Norwich. How about you?
When you go on the walk around led by the Norwich Historical Society volunteers on the burial grounds memorial on the corner of Sachem and Washington Streets make certain you ask them to tell you the stories and there are multiple stories of the dedication of the Uncas Monument. But there are also the stories that led up to the commissioning of the monument and some of the “discussions” that took place about the monument and how it got placed there. The cornerstone of the Uncas monument had been laid on June 24, 1833, with President Andrew Jackson and Vice President Martin Van Buren attending the ceremony.
With hardly any work you can find photographs, articles and news reports from around the globe mentioning the occasion and explaining why the monument and the event were so important but its nice to hear the stories from a local person.
With all the fuss, bother and celebration about the 4th of July, once it was placed, Norwich has always chosen to ignore reminding residents and visitors of the famous visit on July 2, 1907 when, American adventurer and showman “Buffalo Bill” Cody visited the Mohegan Royal Burial Grounds in Norwich.
Colonel William F. Cody, had begun his popular “Wild West” shows in the 1880s and was touring the Northeast when he came to lay a wreath on the site of the Uncas monument, a memorial to the Mohegan sachem. Cody was accompanied by two chiefs, Rocky Bear and Iron Tail of the Sioux tribe, as well as over 100 members of his traveling show. – See more at: http://connecticuthistory.org/buffalo-bill-cody-visits-the-monument-of-uncas/#sthash.w9JGKplQ.dpuf
October is a great month to take a walk, breathe in the crisp air and to enjoy the deep greens of the trees and those that have changed to their colorful coats early.
October 1705 was unusually frigid in Colchester, CT. In mid-October a terrible cold snap lasted for three days, followed by mild weather, and then a blast of even colder weather. The river froze, a frigid wind blew and a storm blanketed Colchester under three feet of snow. It was uncommon for the river to be frozen so early, and the winter provisions usually shipped from Norwich and New London hadn’t been laid in.
Colchester, northernmost town in the colony of New London was home to only a handful of families. There was almost no molasses in town. It was clear nothing would be delivered on the frozen river, and it was just a few days until Nov. 4, the day set aside for Thanksgiving.
In the New England colonies, molasses was imported from the West Indies as a cheap substitute for sugar used in baked beans, brown bread and pumpkin pie
Without molasses, there could be no pumpkin pie, the symbol of the New World bounty. Culinary historians consider it the ‘first culinary Thanksgiving tradition.’ Native Americans had for centuries baked, boiled, roasted and dried pumpkins. The English colonists quickly adapted the squash to their puddings, stews, breads, johnnycakes, porridge, butter, syrup and most of all to pies.
Pumpkins were so central to the Thanksgiving feast that some 17th-century Puritan ministers denounced them from the pulpit. Preaching Thanksgiving had been transformed into such a day of gluttony it should be called ‘St. Pompion’s Day.’
Molasses was indispensable for the perfection of the flavor of the pumpkin. Without it, the townsfolk of Colchester couldn’t make pumpkin pie. Nor could they have baked beans, molasses cake or sweetener for rum. The bottom line: No molasses, no Thanksgiving.
And so Colchester’s town fathers postponed Thanksgiving because it couldn’t be held ‘with convenience’ on Nov. 4. The solution to the problem is recorded in the Colchester town records:
At a legal town-meeting held in Colchester, October 29, 1705, It was voted that WHEREAS there was a Thanksgiving appointed to be held on the first Thursday n November, and our present circumstances being such that it cannot with convenience be attended on that day, it is therefore voted and agreed by the inhabitants as aforesaid (concluding the thing will not be otherwise than well resented) that the second Thursday of November aforesaid shall be set aside for that service.
With thanks to the New England Historical Society. Happy Thanksgiving!
Deep in the vault of the Leffingwell House Museum is this needlework project plan.
The same quote is used above and below “Thanksgiving” perhaps as a place saver until a better quote could be found? “A true friend is the greatest contentment in the world”
The date on the back is 1797 but I wonder if that was not added at a later date.
The script on the back reads – – This day there was a terrible storm of rain and the highest wind ever was known which carried away the market house at the landing and blue down a great number of barns some stone and of great proportion of the fruit trees, fences etc, the meeting house at Plainfield was blown down the meeting house at Poquetuc and the meeting house at Mont ville received material injury. Mr Christopher Stone great barn blew down in which were fourteen horses Three of them were killed about twenty cattle were under the barn but none of them were killed but much bruised. But there is no date!
MODESTY – “Modesty is not only an ornament, but also a guard, to virtue. It is a kind of quick and delicate feeling in the soul, which makes her shrink and withdraw herself from everything that has danger in it. It is such an exquisite sensibility, as warns her to shun the first appearance of everything which is hurtful.” Joseph Addison, Spectator No. 231
VIRTUE – “As virtue in general is of an amiable and lovely nature, there are some particular kinds of it which are more so than others, and these are such as dispose us to do good to mankind. Temperance and abstinence, faith and devotion, are in themselves perhaps as laudable as any other virtues; but those which make a man popular and beloved are justice, charity, munificence, and, in short, all the good qualities that render us beneficial to each other. The two great ornaments of virtue, which show her in the most beneficial vein, and make her altogether lovely, are cheerfulness and good nature. Love learning. Joseph Addison, Spectator No. 243
TRUTH – Truth is the bond of union; and the basis of human happiness without this virtue there is no reliance upon language, no confidence in friendship and no security in promises or oaths. Love your company.
WISDOM 1– There is nothing which gives one so pleasing a prospect of human nature, as the contemplation of wisdom and beauty the latter is peculiar to that sex which is called fair and when both meet in the person the character is lovely and desirable Remember thy creator in thy youth Remember thy creator in thy youth
SENSE – Good sense and good nature are never separated, though the ignorant world has thought otherwise, good nature, by rebirth I mean beneficence and candor, is the product of right reason, which, of necessity, will give allowance
WISDOM 2 – Wisdom is glorious and never fadeth away ; yet she is easily seen of them that love her and found of such as seek her. For she goeth about seeking such as are worthy of her (illegible) herself favorable unto them in the way, and meeteth them in every thought.
SECRECY – Secrecy is the soul of designs, upon it commonly defends their success, and the more important an undertaking is, the more care ought to be taken not to discover it. Take care, my son, when you form any resolution, however inconsiderable it be, that nobody perceive it. Without the precaution, you have reason to fear, it may happen to you as it frequently does to mine, the whole effect of which terminates in smoke, if they take but the test air. The miser abstains from things necessary, to furnish superfluities to others, and will not think themselves obliged to him for the favor.
I found a treasure that is without a date. It’s been sitting on a shelf just waiting for me to pay attention to it. The treasure is a copy of the Norwich Bulletin Social Corner Cook Book. According to page 4 and who am I to argue “The Social Corner was started by A. Walton Pearson, Editor of the Norwich Bulletin, in March 1910. The first Social Corner page was put out on March 10, 1910 with six letters. The editor asked for short gossipy letters upon the affairs of home, household, something of interest, and helpful information.
On October 12, 1912 “Married and Happy” invited the writers to her cottage at the Camp Ground in Willimantic to find out who was who and to get acquainted. There were 12 members there and one of the members brought a bunch of yellow chrysanthemums so they chose the color yellow for the corner color.” Several clubs were formed and the corner grew larger according to the book compiler “Black Eyed Susan, the cookbook was made up from the thousands of recipes sent in by the members. As I read through the book I thought about having a dinner party with Black Eyed Susan, Lucretia, Polleve, Snookie and the ever patient Corner Editor and Staff that made the book possible.
My apologies to Marka but I don’t think I will ever try your recipe for fried prunes although I am certain they are delicious. Jellied Prunes and Cranberries by Red Head won’t be on the holiday tables either. Sister Sue if I can figure out how to substitute baking soda for the saleratus your Fruit of Coffee Cake sounds heavenly. Harleth, I will be enjoying your Mock Chicken Pie made with canned tuna this evening with some of Jackanapes Fat Rascal potato puffs.
She can bake
She can broil
She can fry
Ne’er a cake does she spoil
Nor a pie
She’s perfectly neat
Her temper sweet
And this is the reason why
She uses the “Social Corner Cook Book.”
Sent in by Green Pastures
Mary Mac Connell left me one of her most treasure possessions – a 1938 copy of It’s Fun To Cook by Lucy Mary Maltby. It reads like a story book of the life of two teenagers and their cousins and family and friends throughout an active year of life and with discovery in the kitchen.
Everything is covered from how to properly answer a phone, to planning the event and an appropriate menu, setting the table, what to chill, what to heat, how to serve it. The few pictures are in black and white but they look delicious!
When was the last time you made your own
Hot Butterscotch Sauce? Not just opened a squeeze bottle? I may never make it but a girl can dream can’t she? 3 tablespoons butter, 1 ½ cups brown sugar, 2/3 cup light corn syrup, a few grains salt, ¾ cup evaporated milk.
Hot Butterscotch Sauce
Cook together the butter, sugar, syrup, and salt until a teaspoonful will form a soft ball when put in a cup of cold water. This is 236 F on the candy thermometer.
Remove from the heat and briskly stir the evaporated milk into it. Keep hot in a covered double boiler.
Pour over the ice cream and serve at once.
Amount: 2 cups This sauce may be reheated almost to the boiling point when desired, but do not allow it to boil.
There are even games to play with suggestions that make you giggle as you read them and silly songs as well to tunes, I admit I do not know well.
I wish I had this recipe for Lemonade a month ago just so I could say that I tried it once so maybe you want to keep this in mind for next summer. 4 cups sugar, 3 cups lemon juice (12 to 18 lemons) 4 bananas, 4 quarts cold water, partly ice cubes if possible.
Dissolve sugar in the lemon juice. Be sure to remove any seeds from the juice
Beat the bananas with a fork until they are fairly well broken up. Add at once to lemon juice.
Add cold water and ice cubes. Half of one lemon may be washed, sliced thin – include the rind-and put into the lemonade
Amount: About 6 quarts or 25 servings, tall glasses
Please tell me I am not the only person who has never put bananas in their lemonade. But don’t you want to try it?
In the 1800’s the term “pudding” was not a dessert but a meat or vegetable side dish. As to measurements, Miss Leslie says in her Introduction that “four table-spoonfuls or half a jill, will fill a common wine glass; four wine glasses will fill a half-pint, or common tumbler, or large coffee-cup.” Since a jill (or gill) was half a cup, half a jill is a small quantity indeed. Rose-water, is tedious to make but not hard to buy in a Middle Eastern market or place four tablespoons of plain water with just a drop of vanilla or almond extract for a creative substitute. One nutmeg, grated, is anywhere from a teaspoon to a tablespoon or to your taste. The “powdered sugar” is not the modern stuff so go ahead and use regular granulated sugar. I mix the spices into the sugar for even distribution.
Sweet Potato Pudding:
Wash half a pound of sweet potatoes, and put them into a pot with barely enough water to keep them from burning. Let them simmer slowly for about half an hour; until only parboiled, otherwise they will be soft, and may make the pudding heavy. When they are half done, take them out, peel them, and when cold, grate them. Stir together to a cream, half a pound of butter and a quarter of a pound and two ounces of powdered sugar, add a grated nutmeg, a large tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon, and half a tea-spoonful of beaten mace. Also the juice and grated peel of a lemon, a wine glass of rose water, a glass of wine, and a glass of brandy. Stir these ingredients well together. Beat eight eggs very light, and stir them into the mixture in turn with the sweet potato, a little at a time of each. Having stirred the whole very hard at the last, put it into a buttered dish and bake it three quarters of an hour. Eat it cold. (From Miss Leslie’s Complete Cookery: Directions for Cookery by Eliza Leslie, 1851 edition, reprinted 1863, originally published 1837, all in Philadelphia.)
Pumpkin Chips. Cut slices from a high-colored pumpkin, and cut the slices into chips about the thickness of a dollar; wash them, dry them thoroughly, and weigh them against an equal weight of sugar; add to each pound of sugar half a pint of lime or lemon-juice, boil and skim it, then add the pumpkin; when half boiled, take the slices out of the syrup and let them cool; then return them, and boil until the pumpkin becomes clear. The peel of the lemons or limes, pared very thin, boiled until tender, and added to the chips when nearly done, is an improvement. (From The Carolina Housewife, Sarah Rutledge, Charleston, South Carolina, 1847).
Was 1995 really so very long ago? (sigh) I recall a wonderful tour by the Norwich Public Schools Saturday Academy of a Norwich on November 11, 1995.
There may have been more stops but these are the ones I can recall.
The bus stopped at the Uncas Monument where U.S. President Andrew Jackson had ridden 28 days on horseback to dedicate the marker in 1833 to honor Uncas, the Mohegan who was a wonderful friend to the settlers.
Then it was onto Indian Leap where students were encouraged to read both sides of the markers on the site that relate the Mohegan legend of Uncas leaping across the fall while being chased by another tribe and were told the story of how Yale Professor C. U. Shepard found the first examples of Monazite in Connecticut and how he named it “Edwardsite” after CT Governor Henry W. Edwards. Examples of the Norwich quartz-annite-sillimanite gneiss are in collections at Yale and at the Royal collection at Berlin.
The 45 minute or so stroll along the hilly banks of the Yantic River felt good.
We had a great tour of the new Norwich Fire House and saw the first fire wagon built just for Norwich.
How the Great Plains Battle site has changed from being the site of the largest recorded Indian Battle in the East to schools, houses and shopping centers.
We saw the greatly pruned Grand Champion Maple Tree that was near the commuter parking lot in front of the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles. It had been listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest Maple Tree in the world. (State Agricultural Colleges manage those lists). It was a tree when New England had no fields and was only forests. The State of CT has since removed the tree.
We even crossed the city to visit the Miantonomo monument who died from a single blow to the back of his head but the rest of his story is for another time.
More information on each of these places and more is available at the Otis Library in downtown Norwich.
It bothers me. It is not supposed to bother me. But it bothers me any way. In the November 2014 issue of Connecticut Magazine there is a list of 17 companies in Connecticut that “offer more to employees than just a paycheck.” Only two are in Eastern Connecticut. The first listed is Connecticut College, in New London with 900 employees and the second is Safety Net Manufacturers of Colchester with 75 employees.
That is all she wrote folks. Two companies in all of Eastern Connecticut that are good places to work. Why is that and how can we change that? I know of some great buildings for sale or rent. Some slight modifications may be necessary for different businesses. Eastern Connecticut has a wealth of trained and willing to be trained people with excellent work histories anxious to be a part of growing industries.
The resources of Massachusetts and Rhode Island are within easy highway access and most days are clog free. That’s right; the highways are not clogged to a stop during rush hours with commuter traffic.
Norwich for example, has its own utility company with natural gas, electricity and water. Energy blackouts are seldom and usually of short duration.
The time has come for Eastern Connecticut to be loud and proud of the companies we have here. It is time to stop looking in the past at the companies that were once here but to start standing up and placing the spot light on the companies that are here and applying extra focus where new companies can start, build and flourish in our community.
I do not want to read of the biggest, the best and the brightest of Connecticut to always be in Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport and of course, the Connecticut Gold Coast. Eastern Connecticut is a part of Connecticut too and, we are the best of Connecticut, we just have to let more people know it. Who are you going to tell?
Thank you Norwich Department of Public Utilities! For two years I have been reporting the finding of dead birds at the base of telephone in front of my house. We knew that somewhere on the electric line there was a short. The resulting charge was just strong enough to kill the birds sitting on the wire. My neighbors and I moved the bird feeders and the bird baths. We trimmed trees and bushes. But still the birds were found at the base and I would bury them in my garden.
A few weeks ago I found the body of a squirrel and a bird at the same time. That was more than I could stand. I sent a very pointed and mean e-mail to the Department of Public Utilities demanding they do something. I even attached photos of the bodies and the pole number. I received a very calm e-mail the next morning saying they would be out in the morning to take care of the bodies and see how the problem could be corrected.
Within the month a new taller pole was installed next to the old pole and the transformer is now further away from the wires and so far, so good. No bodies at the base of the pole.
Thank you Norwich Department of Public Utilities for taking action. The temperature is dropping and I will once more be able to enjoy watching the birds feed and flutter on my front lawn.
“The News-Boys Address, To the Patrons of the Norwich Courier, On the Commencement of the Year 1810” was originally printed on the New Years Day front page, above the fold. I hope you enjoy it.
On the commencement of the year 1810.
Each week your News-boy fondly tries
To please his friends with fresh supplies
Of news, derive’d from ev’ry quarter,
Both here at home and ‘cross the water;
Fondly hoping by this measure,
To gain your cash and win your favor,
Sometimes he tells of dismal wars
That fill the world with horrid jars,
That raise your pity and your fears,
And from the timid exort tears;
With prospects of a lasting peace.
Sometimes your fortunes seem all made,
With news of unembargo’d trade,
And while your fancy fills your treasures,
By news receiv’d of peaceful measures,
And while your minds are all perplex’d
In counting chickens ’fore they’re hatch’d,
Then all at once your hopes prove frail
By news received by the mail,
That tho’ embargoes have no force,
They’re supplied by non-Intercourse.
Sometimes he tells of actions done,
By those who govern here at home,
Relates you speeches often made,
In Congress ‘bout restricted trade.
Sometimes to spend a leisure hour,
Of duels fought by men in power;
Sometimes of deaths to make you sad,
And then with weddings to make you glad.
Sometimes old women he doth fright,
With fiery meteors seen at night,
And earthquakes too tho’ still not near,
Yet they affect their minds with fear.
Of the relieves the farmer’s care
When he can hear of his stray mare,
And if the yearling chance to stray,
Or boys indented run away,
Or if a thief a horse should take,
Or men in bus’ness chance to break;
Or should you wish new goods to buy,
Or old, or cheap, or wet or dry –
Or should a stranger wish to find
A Barber suited to his mind,
One who could cut, and brush and shave
The honest, witty and knave,
All, all you learn from me your friend,
Who on your favor still depend.
I might a long time yet go on,
And greatly lengthen out my song,
By telling things you hear from me,
And thus perhaps increase my fee.
But as I’ve not a miser’s heart,
Permit me from you to depart,
By wishing all my friends much cheer,
Throughout this new, and ev’ry year.
Enjoy a happy, healthy and prosperous 2015!
For such a sad city Norwich, CT has a great many charms. I have zero or less art skill so I cannot show you sketches of what I see in my head but will you please indulge me while I tell you about them.
In my head I see a series of charms suitable for a necklace or a charm bracelet representing Norwich. The charms could be purchased individually or in sets. To be presented to visitors, and potential investors, as souvenirs to family members, welcomes to Norwich or think of us while you are away. There are hundreds of Cities and Towns that give out roses or symbols of roses. Norwich has to do something different. Something that will make it stand out.
For example a charm of a pot of beans might represent Bean Hill. What about a charm of the bridge in Yantic? One of the Taftville mills? One of the buildings of NFA? Maybe even a building that is not Slater? Perhaps the home of a vice-president of the United States? City Hall? The Gazebo at Brown Park? A trolley for Greenville? A Spirit of Broadway theater ticket? A fish representing the three rivers of Norwich? Maybe one of the fish ladder? A sneaker for its invention in Norwich or to honor the runners that Norwich is home to? Baseball diamond? Skateboarder? The list is endless. The potential is tremendous but I need your help.
I need you to talk about this crazy idea. To create a buzz that will reach the right people with the skills, talents, imagination and most importantly the wherewithal to make it happen. Mention this silly promotional idea to your Mayor, Council Representative, chamber of commerce members and local jewelers. Find out who is in charge of local promotions and give this idea a yea or a nay or a few ideas of your own.
Sometimes it is best to start at the end of the story. It was on Friday, December 25, 1953 that a sign appeared as high as it could be attached to the fence of the deer enclosure at the Mohegan Park Zoo but still everyone could read. “Cindy, the little outcast deer, has been appointed by me as the official greeter to children and representative of all reindeer in this park, this 25th day of December, 1953. Signed, Santa Claus and ‘his helpers.”
Cindy was only four months old when she was brought to Norwich from Stafford Springs, CT. She was placed in the deer enclosure in Mohegan Park because she was so young. The staff thought the older deer would take care of her. The staff had not counted on the attitude of “Lichy” the King of the deer in the enclosure. He had an attitude and did not like the competition of the young deer for the affection of the herd. Lichy prevented her from eating until the other deer were through and even tried to prevent Billy the Goat from playing with her but from all accounts that did not work.
In 1953 adults and children were allowed to pet the deer and the goat and to bring them treats. Favorites were ginger bread and peanut butter and jelly. Sometimes only crumbs or a crust would be left for Cindy after the rest of the herd had their share. So the staff of the park and a nameless Bulletin reporter visited with Cindy regularly to be certain she received her share of food and to feed her treats.
On the Christmas eve visit though, Cindy did not come right away when they called her name and there was fear something had happened to her. But then there was a glint in the moonlight and there Cindy stood as if she were trying to show them something. Around her neck was a beautiful wreath of laurel, red berries and pine combs and as if Cindy was giving instruction her audience followed her gaze to notice the sign on the wire fence.
Cindy remained a popular, gentle and friendly deer with visitors to the Mohegan Park Enclosure for many more years even though she never became a favorite of “Litchy.” Happy Holidays to all!
Never will you hear an argument from me that my hair is grey and getting greyer by the day. On occasion I have been known to color it using a box of chemicals available on retail shelves. You know the ones. Blond, brunette, auburn and a few best known by the name assigned to them by Crayola Crayons.
In addition to the stuff in a box I have every once in a while tried a “home remedy” from one of my history books. I have rinsed my hair in herbal teas, fresh lemon juice, peroxide, beer, eggs and coffee. Some smelled delightful and others, uh, well, not so much.
In the January 7, 1918 edition of the Norwich Bulletin I read an advertisement I just could not wrap my head around. It started out that “Grandma never let her hair get gray, kept her locks youthful, dark and glossy with common garden sage and sulfur born.”
All I know of my grandmothers are pictures of them with white hair. Of course that the photos are in black and white makes a difference too. But no one has ever mentioned them smelling like thanksgiving. That is the first thing I think of when I think of the smell of sage even when it is fresh from the garden sage. Sulfur is not so lucky. When I think of the smell of sulfur my nose immediately wrinkles and my tongue slips between my downturned lips and I think yuch as I recall the smell added to natural gas for my safety and eggs gone very bad.
But I digress. Was “Wyeth’s Sage and Sulfur Compound” popular and most of all did it work and for how long? How often did the woman have to re-do the treatment? Was the overnight compound used only by women? Is there a secret that is crying out to be shared?
What was it that Karl Marx said in the Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte? “Hegel remarks somewhere that history tends to repeat itself. He forgot to add: the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.”
In the Thursday, January 3, 1918 edition of the Norwich Bulletin I read a paragraph that sounded so familiar I got cold chills down my spine and goose bumps on my arms. The only thing I can do is share it with you and hope that it will make you think about what we are saying and doing as a community, a state and a nation. Perhaps enemies is a little strong, so please substitute illegal aliens where it reads alien enemies and then see if it sounds familiar.
“At the request of Attorney General T. W. Gregory, Mayor Allyn L. Brown instructed Chief George Lindon of the local police force to secure an estimate of the number of alien enemies in Norwich and to forward the estimate to the United States Marshal at Hartford, CT. This is the preliminary step in the registration of alien enemies in Norwich.”
I don’t know which bothers me more; repeating the past or failing to learn lessons from those actions of the past. What about you?
Have you ever read all the way to the end of a story and found that the last few pages were missing? That is happening to me and I do not like it one little bit. The incident took place on the evening of November 11, 1913, on the corner of Roath and North Main Streets here in Norwich.
The headline of the Norwich Bulletin Riot Trial Nearing its finish caught my attention because it reminded me of the headline of a recent paper but I was reading a paper from January 3, 1914. The story of the trial told many different sides of the story. But obviously missing were some important details. There was a strike at the mill or was it a lock out? Stones were thrown and a shot was fired. There were witnesses but every story was different. One man was a witness but he was not in the crowd when the shooting took place. Two others were standing and talking until the shots rang out so they walked to the scene. Others were at the scene but didn’t see anything. A man believed his life was in danger. He was 24 years old and had lived in this country only three years.
There was a green car but one account said they watched the car head south while another account said it headed north. As I read the varying descriptions I kept thinking how familiar it sounded. My mind kept returning to how little progress we have made as we wander on our journey to civilization.
And I wondered what happened to David Ferns, Harry Hankin, George Malcolm, William H. Bowen and Grzegorz Doszjosski. How were their lives affected by this incident? Were they ever the same? How did they move on when the court case was over? Did the press let them live their lives in peace or check on them every few years for progress reports and a rehash of the incident?
I am still looking for what the jury decided.
“What if” is a wonderful game to play. “What if” the circumstances could be changed if only we could all wish together hard enough.
How would Norwich be different today if the meeting held in February 1914 between local farmers and representatives of Heinz Pickles resulted in the establishment of a pickle factory in Yantic? Who was able to make a connection to bring a growing pickle manufacturer to Yantic? What was their approach? What lessons were learned when it didn’t happen? How can we use those lessons today?
I want to see Norwich in a better light. I want to see Norwich as municipal leader where companies want to locate. Norwich has a large, varied and talented pool of potential employees suitable for almost any industry but so does every other city and town in the United States. How is Norwich being portrayed to potential Norwich investors? What are they saying about the labor pool? How are they showing the properties suitable and available for their business? Who is showing the properties? What differentiates Norwich from every other city and how are we working to make it better?
Complaining is not a solution but participating in the process is. Make a start today by not playing the “What if” game and start participating in meetings and committees and start taking actions that improve your neighborhood. Now is the time to make Norwich the place you want it to be.
I only had to read the first page of Century of Growth – Norwich by Eleanor B. Read to realize what happened to Norwich. I read “The Nineteenth Century was one of phenomenal change. When America gained independence from England in 1783, for the first time they were legally able to manufacture products in the country. New England, with its many rivers, had an abundance of free water power. Textile manufacturing began to replace agriculture and, in the Norwich area, mill after mill was built along the Yantic, Shetucket, Thames and Quinebaug rivers.
Shipping also changed, shifting from sail to steam. By the 1840’s steamboats began to make regular trips along the coast and across the Atlantic to Europe. Now the factory owners could plan their shipments of manufactured goods on a regular schedule. Norwich was easily accessible to the major eastern seaports of Boston and New York, and considered by many to be the quickest route between them.”
The Civil War stimulated the growth of the firearms industry. Norwich was in a great place but completely unprepared to fight to retain these industries when after the 1938 depression other cities and the southern states lured the mills with incentives of lower taxes and cheaper labor. Norwich never rose to defend itself from the thefts of our jobs and industries. When companies left, Norwich residents simply quietly wished them well and success in their new homes and expected new companies to replace them.
Sadly, the rest of the country was hearing the song of progress with a new drummer, with a new song and a firmly placed new lively step. Norwich residents turned deaf ears to new and heard only the old song and closed their eyes to this blasphemy of a brave new world.
To this day, Norwich leaders and residents beat the drum of to the tune of the past and still sing the praises only of what was long before their birth and their memories. These residents and taxpayers look to the security of buildings that have been empty for more generations than they were filled. What is the new music? What is the new beat? What do you hear?
During the winter season when the trees are bare and the ground is dull or covered in snow; sometimes clean and sometimes dirty and frankly even the air tends to be grey in color I look for the bright colors of the birds to brighten my day and one of my favorites is the cardinal. The bright red of the male makes him stand out in the trees, bushes and the bird feeder. So when I read this I just felt compelled to pass it on to you.
A cardinal is a representative of a loved one who has passed. When you see one, it means they are visiting you. They usually show up when you most need them or miss them. They make an appearance during times of celebration as well as despair to let you know they will always be with you. Look for them and they will always appear.