THE EARLY FORTIES
TALCOTT AVENUE
During my early school years, I lived at 90 Talcott Avenue and attended Maple Street School. My school years are highlighted in a separate blog (Maple Street Memories), but when I wasn't in school, activities were centered around where I lived. It was Grandpa's ( A. John Alley) house, a four-family home with a big front porch, a big back yard, a garage and even a chicken coop.
90 Talcott Ave. was torn down several years ago. A vacant lot remains.
Grandma and Grandpa lived upstairs. Across the hall were the Uhlmann family. We lived downstairs across the hall from the Giorgi family. Gramps worked as a weaver at Hockanum Mills. My Dad, Luke Alley worked at the United States Envelope Company in the office.
The Giorgi family were good friends. Bill was a Navy veteran of WW-1. His wife Hilda was a war bride from Germany and their daughter Louise was a teen-ager and my baby-sitter. I still have some of the books she gave me as I was growing up. Louise went on to devote her life to teaching and family.
Neighborhoods were close in those days and I remember that our neighbors were all friends. Kerwin and Cora Elliott lived next door with daughters Dorothy and Elsie. Other neighbors included the Pinney's and Percy Baker and Mrs. Sheets.
Talcott Ave. was and is a steep hill. It was a challenge pedaling up on a bicycle during the warm months and a blast going down during the winter. There were very few cars in those war years and none when it snowed so we could safely bring out sleds and skis when the road was covered and slide to the bottom. When we did it right, we could make the turn onto Orchard Street and coast almost to Union Street and when we were going too fast to make the turn we simply piled into a snowbank. I remember ice-skating to Maple Street School one morning after an ice storm and also doing it on roller skates a few times in warm weather.
I was probably in fourth or fifth grade when we moved to 83 Orchard Street. I made new friends. Tommy Blake, Earl and Alfred Beebe lived down near and at the corner of Orchard and Union Street. We hit baseballs on Orchard Street, stayed cool under the garden hose in Tommy's back yard and ate fruit from a cherry tree and a grapevine in Ozzie Groutner's yard. Mr. Loveland had a small farm bordering the property at 83 Orchard which included a large pear tree right on the line between the two houses. I remember liking green pears, so the ones on his tree never did get the chance to ripen. I remember Mr. Loveland's horse dying and stinking up the neighborhood.
World war II ended while we lived here. Tommy and I went to the center of town and joined the majority of residents in celebrating the end of the war. There was a huge parade, lots of drinking by just about every adult and for the first time in years, everybody was laughing and smiling. I came home late and my dad didn't even holler at me. He and Mom had celebrated with neighbors.
During the war, Tommy and I towed our wagons around the neighborhood and collected scrap newspapers, eventually filling our garage. We called Mr. DeCarli and he loaded them on his truck and paid us $14.00, an enormous amount of money at the time for a couple of 11-year-olds.
Towards the end of my seventh grade year, we moved again, this time to 117 East Main Street. Somehow, Mom and Dad worked out a deal so I could remain at Maple Street School through my eighth grade graduation in 1949.
I already liked fishing, so the move to the house across the street from the Paper Mill Pond was as good as it gets. I also made more new friends. Bob Lukeman, Gary Rankin, Bob Hanson, Sam Strait, Rich (Slim) Miner, Milt Schlipack, Tommy(Doc) and Dick Trapp and Mel Malinowski became a major part of growing up. Things move fast in our early teens and we shared everything from football and baseball pickup games to fishing, swimming and ice skating on the pond. Milt Schlipack's lawn was our favorite spot to pick up night crawlers those spring nights. Mel Malinowski's Grandma lived right on the pond and let us fish and swim off her wall.
Gary's aunt, Ann Marley was part of the famous dance team with her brother Jim. They won the Major Bowles Amateur Hour and toured the country before settling back in Rockville. Ann had a dance studio in the house and offered us kids dance lessons at very reasonable prices. We learned to dance and discovered girls which distracted us from our sports but we enjoyed every minute.
We smoked wherever we could find a place to hide and light up. We made the best slingshots in town, carved from a study branch and propelled by surgical-tube bands, courtesy of Bob Lukeman's Uncle Rich Schortman who worked at Rockville Hospital. We hunted squirrels with those slingshots along with frogs and turtles at the pond. We swam and fished from the riverbank behind Spot Neri's Garage and used his property to cross the bridge to the Island.
Dave Faye's Tavern was right next to the garage. Dave's wife Alice made the best burgers in town. My dad and his golfing buddy, Fred Kemnitzer often made Dave's place the 19th hole after a day of golf.
Crystal Lake - A great spot to fish and swim
East Main Street was one of the busier roads in Town and the main route to Crystal lake. Bob Hanson, Sam Strait, Bob Lukeman and I all worked tobacco after getting our work papers at age 14. Sometimes a thunder-shower would halt work and we would get a day off, so the road in front of Gray's house was the best place to thumb a ride to the Lake. In those days, any kid could simply stick out their thumb and one of the towns-people would stop and give them a ride to the Lake On even the hottest days, the air was cooler at Crystal lake and the gin-clear water was a sure trip to cooling off.
All good things have to come to an end. For me, that happened in 1952 when Dad took a job in Westport, CT and we had to move. It turned out that that part of my life was to be outstanding as well, but at the age of 16, I didn't know what was ahead.
It was a longtime ago, but growing up in Rockville, CT in the 40's was all fun.
During my early school years, I lived at 90 Talcott Avenue and attended Maple Street School. My school years are highlighted in a separate blog (Maple Street Memories), but when I wasn't in school, activities were centered around where I lived. It was Grandpa's ( A. John Alley) house, a four-family home with a big front porch, a big back yard, a garage and even a chicken coop.
|
| 90 Talcott Ave. was torn down several years ago. A vacant lot remains. |
The Giorgi family were good friends. Bill was a Navy veteran of WW-1. His wife Hilda was a war bride from Germany and their daughter Louise was a teen-ager and my baby-sitter. I still have some of the books she gave me as I was growing up. Louise went on to devote her life to teaching and family.
Neighborhoods were close in those days and I remember that our neighbors were all friends. Kerwin and Cora Elliott lived next door with daughters Dorothy and Elsie. Other neighbors included the Pinney's and Percy Baker and Mrs. Sheets.
Talcott Ave. was and is a steep hill. It was a challenge pedaling up on a bicycle during the warm months and a blast going down during the winter. There were very few cars in those war years and none when it snowed so we could safely bring out sleds and skis when the road was covered and slide to the bottom. When we did it right, we could make the turn onto Orchard Street and coast almost to Union Street and when we were going too fast to make the turn we simply piled into a snowbank. I remember ice-skating to Maple Street School one morning after an ice storm and also doing it on roller skates a few times in warm weather.
I was probably in fourth or fifth grade when we moved to 83 Orchard Street. I made new friends. Tommy Blake, Earl and Alfred Beebe lived down near and at the corner of Orchard and Union Street. We hit baseballs on Orchard Street, stayed cool under the garden hose in Tommy's back yard and ate fruit from a cherry tree and a grapevine in Ozzie Groutner's yard. Mr. Loveland had a small farm bordering the property at 83 Orchard which included a large pear tree right on the line between the two houses. I remember liking green pears, so the ones on his tree never did get the chance to ripen. I remember Mr. Loveland's horse dying and stinking up the neighborhood.
World war II ended while we lived here. Tommy and I went to the center of town and joined the majority of residents in celebrating the end of the war. There was a huge parade, lots of drinking by just about every adult and for the first time in years, everybody was laughing and smiling. I came home late and my dad didn't even holler at me. He and Mom had celebrated with neighbors.
During the war, Tommy and I towed our wagons around the neighborhood and collected scrap newspapers, eventually filling our garage. We called Mr. DeCarli and he loaded them on his truck and paid us $14.00, an enormous amount of money at the time for a couple of 11-year-olds.
Towards the end of my seventh grade year, we moved again, this time to 117 East Main Street. Somehow, Mom and Dad worked out a deal so I could remain at Maple Street School through my eighth grade graduation in 1949.
I already liked fishing, so the move to the house across the street from the Paper Mill Pond was as good as it gets. I also made more new friends. Bob Lukeman, Gary Rankin, Bob Hanson, Sam Strait, Rich (Slim) Miner, Milt Schlipack, Tommy(Doc) and Dick Trapp and Mel Malinowski became a major part of growing up. Things move fast in our early teens and we shared everything from football and baseball pickup games to fishing, swimming and ice skating on the pond. Milt Schlipack's lawn was our favorite spot to pick up night crawlers those spring nights. Mel Malinowski's Grandma lived right on the pond and let us fish and swim off her wall.
Gary's aunt, Ann Marley was part of the famous dance team with her brother Jim. They won the Major Bowles Amateur Hour and toured the country before settling back in Rockville. Ann had a dance studio in the house and offered us kids dance lessons at very reasonable prices. We learned to dance and discovered girls which distracted us from our sports but we enjoyed every minute.
We smoked wherever we could find a place to hide and light up. We made the best slingshots in town, carved from a study branch and propelled by surgical-tube bands, courtesy of Bob Lukeman's Uncle Rich Schortman who worked at Rockville Hospital. We hunted squirrels with those slingshots along with frogs and turtles at the pond. We swam and fished from the riverbank behind Spot Neri's Garage and used his property to cross the bridge to the Island.
Dave Faye's Tavern was right next to the garage. Dave's wife Alice made the best burgers in town. My dad and his golfing buddy, Fred Kemnitzer often made Dave's place the 19th hole after a day of golf.
East Main Street was one of the busier roads in Town and the main route to Crystal lake. Bob Hanson, Sam Strait, Bob Lukeman and I all worked tobacco after getting our work papers at age 14. Sometimes a thunder-shower would halt work and we would get a day off, so the road in front of Gray's house was the best place to thumb a ride to the Lake. In those days, any kid could simply stick out their thumb and one of the towns-people would stop and give them a ride to the Lake On even the hottest days, the air was cooler at Crystal lake and the gin-clear water was a sure trip to cooling off.
All good things have to come to an end. For me, that happened in 1952 when Dad took a job in Westport, CT and we had to move. It turned out that that part of my life was to be outstanding as well, but at the age of 16, I didn't know what was ahead.
It was a longtime ago, but growing up in Rockville, CT in the 40's was all fun.
I was probably in fourth or fifth grade when we moved to 83 Orchard Street. I made new friends. Tommy Blake, Earl and Alfred Beebe lived down near and at the corner of Orchard and Union Street. We hit baseballs on Orchard Street, stayed cool under the garden hose in Tommy's back yard and ate fruit from a cherry tree and a grapevine in Ozzie Groutner's yard. Mr. Loveland had a small farm bordering the property at 83 Orchard which included a large pear tree right on the line between the two houses. I remember liking green pears, so the ones on his tree never did get the chance to ripen. I remember Mr. Loveland's horse dying and stinking up the neighborhood.
World war II ended while we lived here. Tommy and I went to the center of town and joined the majority of residents in celebrating the end of the war. There was a huge parade, lots of drinking by just about every adult and for the first time in years, everybody was laughing and smiling. I came home late and my dad didn't even holler at me. He and Mom had celebrated with neighbors.
During the war, Tommy and I towed our wagons around the neighborhood and collected scrap newspapers, eventually filling our garage. We called Mr. DeCarli and he loaded them on his truck and paid us $14.00, an enormous amount of money at the time for a couple of 11-year-olds.
Towards the end of my seventh grade year, we moved again, this time to 117 East Main Street. Somehow, Mom and Dad worked out a deal so I could remain at Maple Street School through my eighth grade graduation in 1949.
I already liked fishing, so the move to the house across the street from the Paper Mill Pond was as good as it gets. I also made more new friends. Bob Lukeman, Gary Rankin, Bob Hanson, Sam Strait, Rich (Slim) Miner, Milt Schlipack, Tommy(Doc) and Dick Trapp and Mel Malinowski became a major part of growing up. Things move fast in our early teens and we shared everything from football and baseball pickup games to fishing, swimming and ice skating on the pond. Milt Schlipack's lawn was our favorite spot to pick up night crawlers those spring nights. Mel Malinowski's Grandma lived right on the pond and let us fish and swim off her wall.
Gary's aunt, Ann Marley was part of the famous dance team with her brother Jim. They won the Major Bowles Amateur Hour and toured the country before settling back in Rockville. Ann had a dance studio in the house and offered us kids dance lessons at very reasonable prices. We learned to dance and discovered girls which distracted us from our sports but we enjoyed every minute.
We smoked wherever we could find a place to hide and light up. We made the best slingshots in town, carved from a study branch and propelled by surgical-tube bands, courtesy of Bob Lukeman's Uncle Rich Schortman who worked at Rockville Hospital. We hunted squirrels with those slingshots along with frogs and turtles at the pond. We swam and fished from the riverbank behind Spot Neri's Garage and used his property to cross the bridge to the Island.
Dave Faye's Tavern was right next to the garage. Dave's wife Alice made the best burgers in town. My dad and his golfing buddy, Fred Kemnitzer often made Dave's place the 19th hole after a day of golf.
|
| Crystal Lake - A great spot to fish and swim |
All good things have to come to an end. For me, that happened in 1952 when Dad took a job in Westport, CT and we had to move. It turned out that that part of my life was to be outstanding as well, but at the age of 16, I didn't know what was ahead.
It was a longtime ago, but growing up in Rockville, CT in the 40's was all fun.
