Hopedale History October 2020 No. 387 The Summer of ‘67 Hopedale in October <><><><><><><><><><> Twenty-five years ago - October 1995 - O. J. Simpson is found not guilty of double murder for the deaths of former wife Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman. The Million Man March is held in Washington, D.C. The event was conceived by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. Quebec independentists narrowly lose a referendum for a mandate to negotiate independence from Canada. Fifty years ago - October 1970 - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is formed. The Weather Bureau is renamed to National Weather Service, as part of NOAA.
It was the Saturday of Father’s Day weekend in Florida and my Saturday task was to get all the debris from a recent roof replacement of my garage off to the Hillsborough County Transfer Station. As I approached the transfer station, in my fully loaded U-Haul pickup truck, I was amazed that the length of the line resembled the approach to the Callahan Tunnel from Logan Airport on a Friday Afternoon. Taking my spot at the end of the line, I decided to just chill out and go with the flow. Not wanting to waste gas or increase my carbon footprint, I shut the engine off and rolled the windows down to take advantage of the hot summer breeze. Although it was just after 12 noon, we were approaching 90 degrees and a standard amount of Florida humidity. Since I had loaded the back of the pickup with several hundred pounds of shingles and plywood, the heat and humidity were really of little consequence. I had the radio turned to one of the local PBS stations, WMNF where Dr. Bob’s Sixties show had just begun. There was just something about listening to Mason Williams’s Classical Gas, Van Morrison’s Brown Eyed Girl and Frank Sinatra singing The Summer Wind teaming up with that hot summer breeze blowing through the cab that somehow got me into a daydream about the Summer of 1967. I had a summer job working at Jimmy Tracy’s Oak Ledge Manor Nursing Home on Adin Street just past the High School. Originally the estate of The Dutcher family, it had become a nursing home with about 25-30 residents, which is small by today’s standards, but big enough to have a commercial kitchen, nurses, and housekeeping staff. My job there that hot summer of 1967 was to run the laundry. My day started early. About 7:00 to 7:30 AM. I arrived for my first day of work and was shown around the work areas of the kitchen and laundry room. I was shown the how to load the washer with the proper amount of detergent and the dryer operation and where to place the finished sheets and clothing for the housekeepers to retrieve. I was all set to go! The laundry room was just outside the kitchen and consisted of two residential size washing machines, two matching dryers and a small plastic AM clock radio. There was no air conditioning. Just a window with a small fan to boost the warm breeze from outside. One of the memories that is burned into my olfactory memory was the first time I opened the door to the laundry shoot. Let me tell you, behind that door was a pile of bed sheets, towels and resident clothing all being utilized by residents whose bladder control was not performing at optimum levels. Those items had been fermenting overnight in that hot unventilated room and once released to the outside air gave you an experience that you never forget. After getting up off my knees and asking myself just what the heck I had gotten myself into, I filled the laundry basket and quickly closed the door the to the subsequent piles that awaited my future attention. The laundry was a solitary job. I had my work, the radio and my assigned summer reading and book reports to be ready when I would return to school in the fall. After a few days I had developed a system where I had wash, dry and fold into a rhythm that allowed me to get my book reading and reports done after a couple of weeks. I just really remember the heat and the songs coming off 60’s Top 40 radio. I walked everywhere. I walked to Oak Ledge Manor in the morning. I was usually done by 2:30 or 3:00. From there I walked to Billy Draper’s to pick up the papers for my route. I delivered a combination of Milford Daily News and The Worcester Telegram and Gazette. I really wished my route were all Milford Daily News. The Telegram was a thick, bulky, heavy paper with cheap ink that rubbed off all over your hands. The Milford News was thin, and light and the ink stayed on the page. My route was Bancroft Park, The Seven Sisters, Progress Street, Lake Street, and Freedom Street from the pond to Soward Street. I remember one of the headlines that June of 1967. The tragic and horrific death of Jayne Mansfield when her car went under the back of a tractor trailer had replaced the usual Viet Nam related news. In 1967 we still had the Hope Street Bridge. While it was a very convenient short cut, I hated walking that bridge! As you walked the bridge you could see close up the ravages of age. The rails and lampposts were made of cast iron. I swear the only thing holding them together was the multiple layers of black leaded paint. You could see spots of rust poking through the paint and if you ran you hand across the railing you would come away with pieces of rust coated paint embedded in your skin. You could also see many layers of black top paving, seemingly holding the whole structure together just like the paint holding the railings and streetlamps. This perception was all reinforced when a car began to traverse the bridge and you were midway across. The entire structure would shake and rattle to the point where you, the pedestrian felt as though you would be ejected over the rails. If it were a large truck like one from the Coal & Ice Company, you were sure the bridge would simply collapse, and you would plummet to your death onto the railroad tracks below! The bridge did offer a great view of the backside of the shop’s operation. Trains coming and going, workers cars parked below, material being transported from foundries to the main buildings and the air filled with an acrid odor from the coke fires of the old foundry. The essence of US manufacturing right below you. The last stop on my route was my own house at 94 Freedom St. There I would change out of my work clothes and into gym shorts and tee shirt and get to the entrance to the Parklands at the bathhouse, where I would stick my head in an say hello to Alice Phillips. I would then start running the HHS Cross Country route through the Parklands onto Route 140, down Dutcher Street across Inman Street to Park Street and ending at the Town Park. I can honestly say that my summer of 1967 was filled with all the things that made Hopedale so special. The morning was in one of the old stately mansions that lined Adin Street, a birds eye view of the industry that made the town possible and finally a run through the nature paths and park that the founders so wisely put aside for the enjoyment of the residents of the town
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Hopedale History October 2020 No. 387 The Summer of ‘67 Hopedale in October
<><><><><><><><><><> Twenty-five years ago - October 1995 - O. J. Simpson is found not guilty of double murder for the deaths of former wife Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman. The Million Man March is held in Washington, D.C. The event was conceived by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. Quebec independentists narrowly lose a referendum for a mandate to negotiate independence from Canada. Fifty years ago - October 1970 - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is formed. The Weather Bureau is renamed to National Weather Service, as part of NOAA. Janis Joplin dies at age 27 from an overdose of drugs. The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) begins broadcasting as a successor to National Educational Television (NET), on NET stations October 10 - October Crisis: In Montreal, Quebec Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte becomes the second statesman kidnapped by members of the FLQ terrorist group. - October 17 - Pierre Laporte is found murdered in south Montreal.
Christmas. Garry Trudeau's comic strip Doonesbury debuts in approximately two dozen newspapers in the United States. News items above are from Wikipedia. For Hopedale news from 25, 50 and 100 years ago, see below this text box. <><><><><><><><><><>
It was the Saturday of Father’s Day weekend in Florida and my Saturday task was to get all the debris from a recent roof replacement of my garage off to the Hillsborough County Transfer Station. As I approached the transfer station, in my fully loaded U-Haul pickup truck, I was amazed that the length of the line resembled the approach to the Callahan Tunnel from Logan Airport on a Friday Afternoon. Taking my spot at the end of the line, I decided to just chill out and go with the flow. Not wanting to waste gas or increase my carbon footprint, I shut the engine off and rolled the windows down to take advantage of the hot summer breeze. Although it was just after 12 noon, we were approaching 90 degrees and a standard amount of Florida humidity. Since I had loaded the back of the pickup with several hundred pounds of shingles and plywood, the heat and humidity were really of little consequence. I had the radio turned to one of the local PBS stations, WMNF where Dr. Bob’s Sixties show had just begun. There was just something about listening to Mason Williams’s Classical Gas, Van Morrison’s Brown Eyed Girl and Frank Sinatra singing The Summer Wind teaming up with that hot summer breeze blowing through the cab that somehow got me into a daydream about the Summer of 1967. I had a summer job working at Jimmy Tracy’s Oakledge Manor Nursing Home on Adin Street just past the High School. Originally the estate of the Dutcher family, it had become a nursing home with about 25-30 residents, which is small by today’s standards, but big enough to have a commercial kitchen, nurses, and housekeeping staff. My job there that hot summer of 1967 was to run the laundry. My day started early. About 7:00 to 7:30 AM. I arrived for my first day of work and was shown around the work areas of the kitchen and laundry room. I was shown the how to load the washer with the proper amount of detergent and the dryer operation and where to place the finished sheets and clothing for the housekeepers to retrieve. I was all set to go! The laundry room was just outside the kitchen and consisted of two residential size washing machines, two matching dryers and a small plastic AM clock radio. There was no air conditioning. Just a window with a small fan to boost the warm breeze from outside. One of the memories that is burned into my olfactory memory was the first time I opened the door to the laundry shoot. Let me tell you, behind that door was a pile of bed sheets, towels and resident clothing all being utilized by residents whose bladder control was not performing at optimum levels. Those items had been fermenting overnight in that hot unventilated room and once released to the outside air gave you an experience that you never forget. After getting up off my knees and asking myself just what the heck I had gotten myself into, I filled the laundry basket and quickly closed the door the to the subsequent piles that awaited my future attention. The laundry was a solitary job. I had my work, the radio and my assigned summer reading and book reports to be ready when I would return to school in the fall. After a few days I had developed a system where I had wash, dry and fold into a rhythm that allowed me to get my book reading and reports done after a couple of weeks. I just really remember the heat and the songs coming off 60’s Top 40 radio. I walked everywhere. I walked to Oakledge Manor in the morning. I was usually done by 2:30 or 3:00. From there I walked to Billy Draper’s to pick up the papers for my route. I delivered a combination of Milford Daily News and The Worcester Telegram and Gazette. I really wished my route were all Milford Daily News. The Telegram was a thick, bulky, heavy paper with cheap ink that rubbed off all over your hands. The Milford News was thin, and light and the ink stayed on the page. My route was Bancroft Park, The Seven Sisters, Progress Street, Lake Street, and Freedom Street from the pond to Soward Street. I remember one of the headlines that June of 1967. The tragic and horrific death of Jayne Mansfield when her car went under the back of a tractor trailer had replaced the usual Viet Nam related news. In 1967 we still had the Hope Street Bridge. While it was a very convenient short cut, I hated walking that bridge! As you walked the bridge you could see close up the ravages of age. The rails and lampposts were made of cast iron. I swear the only thing holding them together was the multiple layers of black leaded paint. You could see spots of rust poking through the paint and if you ran you hand across the railing you would come away with pieces of rust coated paint embedded in your skin. You could also see many layers of black top paving, seemingly holding the whole structure together just like the paint holding the railings and streetlamps. This perception was all reinforced when a car began to traverse the bridge and you were midway across. The entire structure would shake and rattle to the point where you, the pedestrian felt as though you would be ejected over the rails. If it were a large truck like one from the Coal & Ice Company, you were sure the bridge would simply collapse, and you would plummet to your death onto the railroad tracks below! The bridge did offer a great view of the backside of the shop’s operation. Trains coming and going, workers cars parked below, material being transported from foundries to the main buildings and the air filled with an acrid odor from the coke fires of the old foundry. The essence of US manufacturing right below you. The last stop on my route was my own house at 94 Freedom St. There I would change out of my work clothes and into gym shorts and tee shirt and get to the entrance to the Parklands at the bathhouse, where I would stick my head in an say hello to Alice Phillips. I would then start running the HHS Cross Country route through the Parklands onto Route 140, down Dutcher Street across Inman Street to Park Street and ending at the Town Park. I can honestly say that my summer of 1967 was filled with all the things that made Hopedale so special. The morning was in one of the old stately mansions that lined Adin Street, a birds eye view of the industry that made the town possible and finally a run through the nature paths and park that the founders so wisely put aside for the enjoyment of the residents of the town
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Hopedale News - April through August 1995 |
Last month I caught up on some of the news items from 1970 missed while the Bancroft Library was closed. This month, it's news from 1995. |
Hopedale News - October 1995 |
Hopedale News - October 1920 |
Hopedale News - October 1970 |
Let it Be - It was on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in 1970. |
Watercolor of Billy Draper's Store by Ray Andreotti.
O-HI-O, O-My-O, a tune from 1920 |
