Dana Newcombe Memories of Aerosmith, the Hopedale Airport crash, and more
that, Joey Kramer used to let me play his drums so that he could do a sound check. I'm a drummer and, at that time I had a little Sears drumkit. Playing his Tama drumset was one of the high points in my life. Another quickie is that I worked on weekends with a guy named Dino Bracci. Dino was a very polished auto mechanic and we worked in my uncle Fred Philpot's garage which was located next door up from Joe Perry's house. During the warm season when everyone had their windows open, Joe would be lying on his bed playing his Stratocaster guitar through a small battery operated amp that actually got feedback sound. When Dino would hear Joe playing, he always used to say, "That pot smokin, long haired, hippy freak ain't goin nowhere!" He was very wrong. Cheers to you Joe! You guys just keep getting better!!!!!!!!!! ********** Here's Dana's response after I sent him a link to the photo below. I loved the pic of Dino and friends. I actually worked for Dante at his Chrysler dealership in Franklin, cleaning cars to get them ready for sale. I clearly remember sitting down to lunch with my grandfather (Arnold Nealley,Sr.) and Dante, Dino, Americo (Matty) and many others. My grandfather was Hopedale fire chief for a short term until he had his last heart attack.I think that was around 1970 or '71. And a little later...I just got off the phone with Dino Bracci and the car they were sitting on was a 1931 Ford model A which belonged to Dante, who was in the service at the time. ********** And here's another memory from Dana. Dan; I was flipping through the Hopedale related questions. I was shaken a bit to view the question about the Hopedale plane crash. If the reference is to the crash that took place around 1972, I was the first person to the scene of the crash. I was a freelance photographer for the Milford paper. It was just a couple hours after noon and I heard the call come in on the scanner in my car. I didn't have to go far, as I was right in front of the Texiera residence heading towards Mill St. You have to bear with me for I've forgotten many of the street names in Hopedale. I looked off to my left and saw a cloud of smoke climbing from the wooded area just below. I grabbed my camera and ran to the scene. The flames had almost subsided in the short time it took me to get there. I was shocked at what I saw. There were three very badly scorched bodies still in the seated position. I later learned that two of the bodies were students at Hopedale Jr.Sr. High. Kenny and Phillip Melin (of 65 Hartford Avenue) were their names. The pilots name was Paul Pasquantonio. He was from Cape Cod. The boys weren't supposed to be on that flight. They had convinced the pilot to give them a ride. The pilot tried to climb in altitude too rapidly causing the plane to stall. I believe the plane went down approximately 300 ft. from the runway. . |
Sunday in White City. Helen Beal and Hermina Cichanowicz (with cat) seated on car. Fender, running board, left to right: Americo Bracci, Stanley Winowski, Ada Bracci, Dino Bracci and Tony Cichanowicz. The identity of the person in the car is uncertain but it may have been Serena Vitali. |
Dana E. Newcombe, 66, passed away on Wednesday, March 25, 2020 at his home. Dana was born in Milford, Massachusetts and was the son of the late Lemuel Earle and Helen (Nealley) Newcombe. Dana was a graduate of the Hopedale High School Class of 1973. He worked as a mechanic for the former West Street Auto in Milford before moving on to work for the Volvo dealership in Southborough where his work was much sought after. Dana was a drummer in high school and after with his band Yesterdays Papers. Dana always enjoyed telling the story about playing with the legendary band Aerosmith at the Hopedale town hall back before they were famous. He is remembered, years later, sitting down at a drum kit in a friends backyard and playing Innagadadavida off the top of his head, reminiscing about those kinds of stories and the stories of friends and their bands. Always a perfectionist he could hear anything even slightly off in tempo be it a car, a drum or a heartbeat. Dana really enjoyed working on cars, fixing anything for anyone just for the joy of it. He was also happiest at the beach and spent many years living down on Commercial Street in Provincetown. Fires out on Race Point and Herring Cove Beach were a summer highlight. Dana was always making a little bit of happy noise wherever he went and saw some of the oddest humor in so many things. He always had a grin and a 'how you doin'for everyone he met. Ssss sssss ssss. He was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force. Dana is survived by his daughter Shelby-Lyn Blaisdell and her husband Jason; his sisters Linda Woloski and her husband Gerry of Milford and Robin Belsito of Grafton; his granddaughter Faith Marie Blaisdell; his niece Kelly Alger; his nephew John-Peter Alger; his lifelong best friend Tom Lipsky, and his former wife Anne Marie (Freniere) Newcombe of Milford. He is also survived by his cousins Diane Nealley, Paula Nealley, Richard Nealley (formerly of Hopedale) and predeceased by his Uncle Arnold Nealley, Jr. and his wife Margaret. Dana was the grandson of Arnold Nealley, Sr. of Hopedale. The family and friends of Dana are mourning his passing. The current environment has prevented them from receiving guests as they would prefer, so we encourage all friends and family to reach out to his family and show your support. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Computers 4 Vets, P.O. Box 55, Epping, NH 03042. A celebration of his life will be held at a later date. Arrangements by Buma-Sargeant Funeral Home, Milford. Please call or write to them directly or you may leave your name and a memory on a digital guest book at www.bumafuneralhome.com. Published in Milford Daily News on Apr. 1, 2020. |
