Andover, Connecticut |
Hislorical - Democratic Town Committee, WWII Newsletters |
">
">
">
">
Andover Newsletter, Vol. 3, #3 Sponsored by the Democratic Town Committee Andover, CT. September, 1945 To the Servicemen and Women of Andover, Greeting: The children are back at school, the silos are full, the grasses are crowded with golden rod and wild asters, and the folks at home are situated in a nice quiet spot where a tropical hurricane and a good old nor'easter are about to meet head-on. We go calmly on with harvesting and canning, hanging the wash out between showers, and bringing it back in to dry in the kitchen, and wondering whether that old maple tree will stand another big blow, or what direction the old chicken coop will be apt to take when it takes off. Ah well, the weather bureau could be wrong. John Gasper is building a race track over in Rhode Island, and John Phelps is spending long hours on the telephone to collect news for this issue. But the write-up will be a one-woman enterprise this time, and if you detect any changes in form or tempo, try to bear with us till the man-power shortage eases. We have two items of very sad news to tell you first. Mr. and Mrs. Murray Burns of Andover Lake lost their five-weeks old son, Murray, Jr., early this month. He was their first baby, and he died of a heart ailment. Then, on September 11, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Mann, also of Andover Lake, lost little David, who was just over a year old. David had inhaled a tiny piece of gauze while playing in his little pen, and he died at the St. Francis Hospital in Hartford. There just isn't any way of telling these parents just how sorry we are. We are pleased to report that Bud Brown has returned to the Charleston Air Base, as of September 11, after spending a month in a Georgia hospital with a kidney ailment. Sgt. Buster Hutchinson had a 10-day emergency furlough at Andover recently, because his father was seriously ill. He has now returned to Camp Shelby. SF 1/c Bud Bramhall is on Okinawa, helping to build a permanent naval air base. His mother says that she isn't expecting him home before next spring. His brother, Dick, is an engineer training group at Camp Belvoir, Va. Corp. John Bausola will be in Andover in time to wish his family a Happy New Year, if his hopes and plans work out according to schedule. He is now at Camp Norfolk, Trois, France, with the 275th combat engineers. Don Parks was last heard from somewhere in the Philippines, having been transferred from Hawaii during July, 1945. A/C Walter Parks has been marking time at Advanced Bombardier School at Big Springs, Texas since VJ Day. Capt. Mercer Dean (Benny) and Emily Yeomans Barefield are spending the last part of the Captain's leave at his home in Hollandale, Mississippi. Young Rusty is undoubtedly making a big hit with his southern grandparents. 1st lt. Irene Willis Murray has been discharged from the Army Nurse Corps, after thirty-three months of service--30 of them overseas. Her husband, Capt. Robert Murray, is back in the United States, too, and they expect to make their home in Grand Rapids, Michigan. F 1/c Joe Remisch, Jr. sent us greetings from somewhere beyond Pearl Harbor, in a section of the Pacific that is just as rough and rolling as every other portion of it that he has seen to date. Well, Joe, our tales of births and marriages may make this look like a growing town, but you'll still be able to recognize the old place when you come home. The very good news we promised you, in this issue has now been released, and many of you know it already. John V. Gasper and Dorothy LaVigne went over to Hillsgrove, Rhode Island, on June 17, 1945, and, at the home of some friends, were married by Rev. Francis X. Caron. Just before the last Newsletter went out, John finally broke down and told us about it, but then he wanted us to wait to tell you until he could be sure his letters had reached his brothers. So the newness has worn off, but we still feel that it's some of the most exciting news we've had for you this year. John and Dot are living at the Gasper homestead on Hebron Avenue for the time being, and the cellar-hole for their new house is already dug. The new house will be on Hebron Avenue, also. Here are sincere good wishes for their continued happiness together! Town election is coming up very soon, and we hope you will all send to Town Clerk Covell your request for an absentee ballot, or pick one up while you're home on leave. Here are the candidates, lined up side by side for your consideration: Office Democratic Candidate Republican Candidate Assessor Waity Brown Montague White BD of Tax Review Eugene Thompson E.K. Seyd First Selectman John V. Gasper Peter Mortlock Second Selectman Ellsworth Mitten Edward Merritt Town Clerk, Ellsworth Covell Ellsworth Covell Treasurer & Agent Town Deposit Fund Lewis W. Phelps Lewis W. Phelps Grand Jurors Earl Gallipo Lincoln Bathrick Grand Jurors William Palmer Arnold Hyatt Irving Pease Elwood Hudson Collector of Taxes Rachel H. Stanley Rachel H. Stanley Constables Joseph Carter Harry Erickson Andrew Gasper William McCarroll Paul Jurovaty Gustave Dexter Paul Kralovich J. Russell Thompson Registrar of Voters Katherine Mitten Lillian Hamilton Board of Education Vera Cross Taylor Virginia Brown Bd. of Finance John H. Yeomans E.K. Seyd Library Director Helene MacNeill Marie Hudson Norton Fund Comm. Margaret Jurovaty Gertrude Seyd Fire Commissioner Lewis W. Phelps Arnold Hyatt Mr. and Mrs. Joseph LeMaire have announced the birth of a daughter, Cheryl Rose, at the Manchester Memorial Hospital, on September 11, 1945. Welcome to Andover, Cheryl! Corp. Morty Friedrich is in Pilsting, Germany. Morty has been looking around for his grandfather's birthplace, but so far he hasn't been able to locate it. He was in the First Army from D-Day to VE Day, when the 1st was broken up and he was placed in the Third Army. He saw plenty of action in the Ardonne Forest, Battle of the Bulge, Remegan Bridgehead, and Leipsig. His parents have a picture of him which was taken while he was on the Riviera, and Morty has put on weight. The spirit of victory touched off several light-hearted affairs in town during August, including a strictly male gathering of the Sportsmen's Club at the Gasper Cabin. I haven't heard the details on that one, but I'll venture to guess that it was up to the usual standards established by that stalwart body in shindigs of the past. The Andover Fire Department sponsored a Victory Dance at Town Hall on August 23. About 200 gals and boys of various generations assembled to trip the light fantastic to the music of Ellsworth Mitten's Orchestra. For the square dances, Andrew Gasper croaked (pardon me! Prompted, I mean) the turns. Ed O'Grady, who had recently received his discharge, played a trumpet solo, "Stardust", when requested to do so by Mitt, the orchestra, and the assembled dancers. Jimmy Gray has finally gone off to Maryland to begin training in the U.S. Navy. He was beginning to wonder what it all about when, four Wednesdays in a row, he was called to New Haven, only to be sent home again. The clam bake the Democrats put on on August 18 proved to be a huge success, and it was, as predicted, a victory party. Some of our most well-known Republicans attended, and we all had fun and food together. The lobster, clams, fish, chowder, roast yams and potatoes, watermelon, and other items that I've probably forgotten were received and consumed with gusto, and there was no slack season at the beer and soda dispensary. A blind accordionist and a guitar player from Hartford furnished music for dancing, and the hot sunshine had long since given way to cool moonlight before the Cabin was closed for the night. Eleanor Covell Sheehan was paged for a 'phone call from Norfolk, Va., while she was attending the clam bake. It was four hours later when the call was completed, and you should have heard her voice when she squealed: "Larry!" He, S/Sgt. Lawrence Sheehan, had just returned to the good old U.S.A., having been as far as the Panama Canal on his way to the Pacific Ocean when the Jap surrender was accepted. Larry got home to Andover a few days later, and he and Eleanor have been having a whirl for themselves, including a trip to New York City. He's going back to Damp Devens on Sept. 23, and nobody knows yet what comes next. Other servicemen at the clam bake were Ted Watts (who brought along his wife and tiny baby daughter), Paul Kraal, and Frank Norris. Ted and Paul have gone back to camp, and Frank (Master Skipper, Army Transport Corps) is at home at Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., with a "temporary" discharge. Major Lionel Faulkner is enjoying a furlough, part of which he has been spending in Andover with his mother, and Nate Gatchell has been home from Brooklyn several Sundays. Congratulations are very much in order for ARM 1/c Willis Covell, who has been awarded the Air Medal for his work in spoiling the fun of the German submarine warfare. 'Ray for Sonny. Walter Smith is still in England, working in communications. His father and mother have sold their home on Andover Lake and have moved to Florida, where Mr. Smith has gone into the business of growing tung nuts. George Bonkowski is very cozy in what he thinks is a soft spot in Furstenhagen, Germany, where he is teaching school. "The Army has set up a re-educational program over here. I'm one of the instructors. The students are Army boys learning something that will help them in civilian life...Blueprint reading is my department...I now know how that poor teacher felt up in front of the classes back home. I never knew people could ask so many questions in the short time of fifty minutes..." You're one of our regular correspondents now, George, and we do enjoy your letters very much. Johnny Sprout is still over in the E.T.O., cussing his luck, because he has many more than enough points to allow him to come home to Milly and the twins. But the slow processes of the Army haven't come around to him yet. Capt. Joe Gasper was among the few first pilots to fly into Japan for VJ Day, but he hasn't been able to tell us much about it yet. In his spare time he is helping to build an air field. S 2/c Glenn O. Griswold, 207-62-62, C.D. 2793, C.B.R.D., is at Camp Parks, California. Addresses seem to be changing suddenly and frequently for many of you, so be sure to let us know where to send the Newsletter in October. We'd like to hear from all of you before we go to press again. Safe home! Vera Cross Taylor, Editor. |
