I keep busy maintaining my house and yard. (pics on website under Host) Spend most of my time with my computer hobby- writing programs for collectors of guns, knives, and cars, and selling them at shows. Not making any money, but the hobby gets me out of the house on weekends and lets me travel to neighboring states.
The best thing about living here is there are 2 commercial free radio stations that play "golden oldies" and "classic country", respectively !! The worst thing about living here is that I get no visitors. It seems that no one travels through Kentucky to go anywhere! (Ha Ha)
Best wishes. I'm looking forward to seeing you all again at the reunion.
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Revere Park, Hull, MA - Fort Revere Park is an 8+ acre historic site located atop Telegraph Hill in Hull Village. The Park contains the remains of two seacoast fortifications, a water tower with an observation deck, a military history museum and picnic facilities. (old photo- the tree is gone!) The fortified site consists of 3 circular battery positions (2 are out of photo to the right), and it looks like each could hold 3 cannons. The Dedication Stone reads - Dedicated July 14, 1976 by the Republic of France and the people of Hull in celebration of the Uniited States of America Bicentennial. In grateful tribute to the French sailors and marines who served and died at Fort Independence during the American Revelution. The Grave headstone reads - "In memory of the French Military who died in Hull. Ils sont mort pour notre liberte. Jean Le Ne, Angoumois Unit, died 1782. Antoine Sorrent, Angoumois Unit, died 1782." |
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Old Scituate Lighthouse, Scituate, MA - The sign reads - During the year 1810 the U.S. Congress voted 4000$ to build a lighthouse at Scituate Harbor. During the war of 1812 Abigail and Rebecca Bates, young daugthers of the lighthouse keeper, prevented a British naval force from sacking the town by playing a fife and beating a drum. They have gone down in history as the "army of two" and their courageous act has recorded in many textbooks and and story books. For more info check this web site Etrusco Shipwreck - Another interesting happening here - The lighthouse bears a plague marking the site of the wreck of the The Italian freighter Etrusco, a 7000 ton liberty ship, grounded off the coast on March 16, 1956, in a northeast blizzard. All hands were safe and after repairs wre made it was refloated on November 22, 1956 and renamed "Scituate". Ed Leonard remembers- "I went to see it on the 17th with the ocean still blasting the ocean side with the spray of big waves. They were still taking crew members off the ship by breachers bouys. (sp?) I took 8mm movies and have meant to find them and give them to the Association which was created because of this event." |
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Gerry contributed the following:
I remember these things fondly-
Household Chores- Keeping the kerosene fuel cans filled on our kitchen stove and our living room heater. The cans were filled from a tank in the basement. The only heat upstairs for the bedrooms managed to make its way up the stairway in the hall off the living room. My sister and I quickly learned to wear a sweater to bed and sleep completely under the covers.
School- My sister and I always walked down the hill to have lunch at home. We must have been very poor since we never bought our lunch in the cafeteria. Someone at a class reunion mentioned they brought their lunch to school and ate in the cafeteria. Well, this idea never occurred to us. I wish we had done that since it would have given me a better chance to get to know all my classmates better, especially those from So. Easton. I never saw the cafeteria in three years !! Crazy!!
Holding hands on the bus driving back from basketball games. Boy, we must have been bashful- we always covered our hands with a basketball jacket. Crazy!! Learning about the thrill of first kisses was wonderful. But I did not like long kisses- I held my breath during a kiss. Where did I get that idea? Crazy !!! ( talk about simple, innocent times !)
Going to teen dances in the Frothingham Hall and being terrified because I did not know how to dance and was too shy to ask girls to dance. Damn, couldn't they have included a course on dancing in the curriculum? The kids that follwed us sure had it easy when rock-and-roll came in fashion. I could have danced to that !!!
Dropping into O'Connor's News store downtown on Main St. after school to meet with friends, buy an ice cream treat, and check out the newest magazines.
Sports- Playing on OAHS sports teams with a great bunch of guys. But those cheer leader uniforms! What was it with those sport coat jackets? They sure were not very inspiring for the players! Were we so innocent that the girls were not allowed to wear tradional sports sweaters! Crazy!!
Going to coach Valente's house on Friday evenings before Saturday football games, along with the other members of the backfield. I guess he wanted to keep us from going out carousing the night before games. Little good it did to our team success though!!
As a senior in 1951 playing football on Thanksgiving Day, the first game ever played by OAHS on this holiday. But the most interesting thing about the game was not that it was played on Thanksgiving Day for the first time, nor that we won by 44 to 14 over Howard High, nor that our captain Richie Holmes playing fullback scored three times, but that Ritchie failed to score a fourth when he ran 107 yards and did not score !!
We were backed up to our own one-yard line and the play was called for Ritchie to punt the ball away from the back of our end zone. Well, he spotted an opening in the defensive line and surprised everyone by running the ball instead. After weaving through the opponent's defensive punt formation he headed for the goalline but accompanied by the groans of the fans was tackled on the opponent's three yard line. Ritchie's exploit made him sought after by regional newspapers and radio stations to talk about his famous run.
Living so close to Frothingham Park I spent most of my summers there playing in pick-up games, I was in awe that it was such a beautiful place. Playing Junior Legion baseball in the summers in the park with coach Connie Spillane. He was a good coach, a funny guy, and a interesting character. We learned our first mild swear words from him when he got mad .
Playing basketball in our small gym and trying not to crash into the auditorium stage, and trying not to step on the fans seated along the sides of the court. And also trying to avoid errant passes so that we didn't hit these folks in the face with the ball.
Cars- Driving my dad's Kaiser and Fraser. If you backed up in the Kaiser the gears would jam and you had to reach under the car with a tire iron and free them. I loved the luxurious Fraser. It was "before its time" - no door handles on the inside, just Fraser emblems that were unrecognizable as push buttons. Learning to drive on the country roads going to Fairhaven to visit my grandparents.
My dad always had old cars and one of the oldest was unique since it had a "burglar alarm". On the pillar between the front and rear doors was a metal pendulum hanging inside a metal circle wired to the battery. If anyone tried to get into the car, stepping on the running board would tilt the car so that the pendulum struck the circle. This contact would complete the circuit and the horn would sound !!! So much for old technology !
Sneaking into the Brockton Fair under the fence. And the "Holy Shit" moment when my friends and I got into the car to drive home and were surprised when a "drunk" sat up in the back seat and asked, "Where we goin?" ( Who locked anything back then !)