Do You Know This Woman?

This photo was in with some books recently donated to Russell Library.  It is on a card addressed (but not sent) to Lena Sansome, and is signed Jennie Petrelli.  With it was a postcard addressed to Jennie Petrelli at 133 St John St in New Haven; the date is Jan. 6 1914 and  it was mailed by "Elizabeth" from Pasadena CA.  Census records show that Donato Petrelli lived at 133 St John St in 1914.  If Jennie is related to you, I would love to return this photo!

Historic baseball game today! Better late than never reminder-

Just a reminder that this morning: The Norm Way Memorial Classic Baseball game will be held on July 4 at 11 a.m. at Bill Pomfret Stadium at Palmer Field, Middletown. Pregame ceremony starts at 10:30 a.m. Tickets are $4 for adults and $3 for youth or seniors. Proceeds benefit the Greater Middletown Military Museum.

So...how about that hurricane Earl?

Although Ct was not in direct in the path of Hurricane Earl (slamming into the Carolinas as a category 4 hurricane) , all local news stations reported that even inland cities and towns such as Middletown would most likely experience some higher than normal windows and at the very least a down pour yesterday evening. And we got nada.

Yesterday, the reporting style of the tracking of Earl seemed reminiscent of that of last years February 9-11 supposed "Blizzard of the Season" which caused the closing of schools and the State departments prior to the storm in anticipation of statewide disaster. State department closings also put a halt on the Clean Energy Plant explosion investigation. Nicknamed "Snowmagedeon", the second Nor'eastern of the season was supposed to drop a foot or more on Connecticut, but ended up with only moderate accumulation (at most 2-3 inches in Hartford and Middletown) in most parts of the state with the exception of the immediate shoreline which did get 9-12 inches. This hyped up forecast caused many to use precious time off from work to hunker down, and business owners close down shop and loose revenue. Better "safe than sorry" seems to be the attitude of the weather reporters of CT, god for bid they miscalculate the severity of a storm that causes major damage.

But really weathermen,- putting citizens in a state of frenzy rather than take a chance and or admit a wrong prediction for what?- hype & ratings? job security? Why make the effort to calculate an accurate prediction when they can get away with just making a prediction? I seriously question when such exaggerated weather reports about minor storms on TV will cause citizens to adapt the attitude that the weathermen are simply crying wolf again.

Past New England hurricanes have killed people, so accurate early warning is key. This lack of accuracy was the issue in the first major storm I ever heard stories about was the Ice Storm of 1978. The storm hit February 6th of that year in such severity that then governor Grasso shut down the streets for snow removal. My father tells me homes in southern Middletown lost power for up to 2 weeks. He was resigned to shaving in the basement bathroom of his then job at Mallove's Jewelry on Main St.

The biggest blizzard I remember was in '96, but it was only 18 inches of snow, and 1 missed day of school. My grandmother grew up near Westerly RI, at the time when the 1938 hurricane killed over 100 people. Today, as an adult, these events explain my grandmother's odd behavior I witnessed as a child, of her filling the bathtub every time there was a thunderstorm, her latent fear of there not being running water if the storm got bigger. Even though I know about these past storms, and watched the catastrophe of Andrew and Katrina, I find my generation are the ones who do not understand pre storm hysteria caused by past post storm disaster; the last major hurricane I lived through and did not just see on TV, Gloria in 1985, I slept comfortably through, in my crib.

In college I taught my my roommate from San Diego to drive in the snow and to avoid fishtailing. Understandably, she was quite nervous about driving in a foot of snow, as I would have been say driving in phenomenon that I would consider foreign.

Is 9-12 inches of snow in a geographical area where we get 2-12 inches sometimes reason to shut down? I think we ought to be careful, but is it just me, or in the last few years have people lost their New England due or die spirit and gotten all soft when if comes to inclement weather? I realize hurricanes are another story, and no laughing matter, but I am talking about just a plain old snowy winter- but the manner in which major and minor weather systems are reported with the same vehemence is what the issue is.

I visited my grandparents yesterday after work.

"So how about that hurricane Earl.. this is some big storm huh?, I asked.

"I think they just make the weather up these days. I don't get it they have all these computer machines" answered Joe S., 85 of Middletown.

"When I was a kid I remember the hurricane of '38. Before the highway, everybody had to go through Middletown from New York to get to Boston or up North. So there was this chicken truck. With crates of chickens sticking their heads out, like now you see only in the movies. Well it tipped over by the (town) Green and there were all this chickens running everywhere ( laughing hysterically) ... you see you couldn't buy chicken in packages, you went to this guy we called the 'Chicken Man' on Court Street and you picked it out and he killed it for you in the back...but we didn't get chicken very often, too expensive, more so than meat then. Well anyway all of us kids chased all these chickens and people started grabbing them and bringing them home. There were feathers everywhere like snow and all this wind! The power was out for days... trees down... now that was a big storm, that was a real storm!!"

(image is 1938 storm map NOAA)

A Night of Ghosthunting--for a Cause

There's a Guided Lantern Tour at Indian Hill Cemetery tomorrow, Saturday, August 21, 2010. Let me be clear--”Guided Lantern Tour” is a euphemism for “a serious night of ghost hunting in local cemeteries.” I just want to make that clear right from the start.

But it’s also a fundraiser. Yup, you heard that right, too.

I’m sharing this event information with the Middletown Eye community not as a ghost hunter myself but as a member of the board of directors of one of the two nonprofit organizations that will benefit from this fundraiser--the Godfrey Memorial Library and the Indian Hill Cemetery Association. I also share this event info as a lover of Middletown history and with a deep respect for the people who made Middletown the community that it is today. All the Mighty Titans of Middletown are buried at Indian Hill Cemetery--the Hubbards, Russells, Southmayds Baldwins, Alsops, and Mansfields are just a few of the names that shaped Middletown. Many common heros are buried there, too, including those who gave their lives for the sake of the Union; the great and unsung hero soldiers of the Civil War should not be forgotten, either. Indian Hill Cemetery is a jewel in the crown of this community and the Association is proud to show it off in whatever way folks wish to experience it--including its paranormal possibilities.

I’m also sharing this event information with acknowledgement and respect for the varied interests and beliefs of a contemporary society--people are now, more than ever, interested in all things paranormal. The nonprofit organizations involved neither endorse nor condemn that interest; we just recognize that it’s something that some people wish to experience, and if that interest creates an opportunity to help us fundraise, then why not.

So (and this is the last of the disclaimers), this fundraiser is an experiment. A possible win-win for the nonprofits involved and an opportunity to advance the mission of a volunteer-based organization called the Paranormal Association of Central Connecticut. If it works, then we all might make this an annual fundraising event. If it flops, well, we tried. Simple as that.

Anyway, the Guided Lantern Tour is a marathon night of ghost hunting. It’s an event uniquely designed for people who have an interest in “things that go bump in the night.” It will have a little bit of Middletown history thrown in, and it costs $60 a person to participate. But please, don’t let neither a history lesson or the cost dissuade you. Read on.

The event begins at 5:00 p.m. with a welcome and overview of the history of the cemetery provided by Augie Defrance, President of the Board of Directors of the Indian Hill Cemetery Association. Some historical objects from the collection of a private individual will be shared including an original copy of the Addresses Delivered at the Dedication of the Indian Hill Cemetery, photographs of members of the Hubbard family from the 1850 era, and an original Autograph Book owned by J. W. Bailey with the signatures of many of Middletown’s well-known names from the 1860-1880 era (including Sawyer, Roberts, Vance, Neale, Southmayd, Hubbard, Atkins, Petras and Burke.) Several of these folks are buried at Indian Hill Cemetery because, after all, in the mid- to late-1800s and into the 20th century, Indian Hill was “the” cemetery to be buried in. Anyone of any status in Middletown wanted to be buried there. In fact, many families even disinterred their relatives from other cemeteries in town just to put them into the higher-status Indian Hill. Mortimer Cemetery, for example, on the corner of Main and Liberty, “lost” about 20% of its population once Indian Hill opened.

Participants in the Guided Lantern Tour will learn that Indian Hill Cemetery opened on September 30, 1850 with great pride and day-long fanfare including an elaborate program of speeches, a processional and music and “singing on the way to, and around, the Cemetery Grounds.” We will share some of the words spoken and music sung on that proud day as we open the program. For those interested, we will host a graveside storytelling about one of the many Civil War soldiers who are buried at Indian Hill, including a reading from some of the detailed letters he wrote while serving as a member of the mighty 14th regiment of the Connecticut Volunteers--an unsung, but unforgotten, hero.

The remainder of the event will be hosted by Stephanie Borrelli of the Paranormal Association of Central Connecticut (PACC). Stephanie is co-founder of the PACC and a Middletown resident (you may know her husband Ron from Planning & Zoning Commission). She and her team promise an evening of ghost-hunting with “respectful consideration to the hallowed grounds that we will be touring and with consideration to the varying beliefs of all participants.” Stephanie describes herself as a “spiritual Christian” but recognizes that people of many beliefs and faiths will be participating in the event; she promises to host the event in a non-denominational way, respecting the diversity of the participants and respecting those buried there.

The PACC will provide instruction in the tools and equipment they use to investigate paranormal activity; participants are invited to bring their own equipment including digital cameras and digital tape recorders. Sturdy walking shoes and flashlights are also a “must”. The event will include a pizza social at the Indian Hill garage at approximately 9:00 p.m., shuttle transportation to and from the locations, and experienced guides to lead small teams of participants. The ghost hunters will be touring several cemeteries in Middletown including Indian Hill, Vine Street, and the Farm Hill Cemetery on Ridge Road throughout the night. The PACC has also secured permission to access the grounds of the Wadsworth Mansion after midnight. The event is scheduled to end by 3:00 a.m. but attendees are welcome to exit the event anytime they wish.

The directors of Indian Hill Association have one request; please do not disturb the headstones while on the tour. The engravings of some of the cemetery markers are very fragile. Even rubbing some of the old brownstone headstones may cause permanent damage. This is why cemetery documentation projects now use only photography methods, not rubbings, to document the history recorded there. Think of old cemeteries as genuine historic ruins.

If you have an interest in participating in the Guided Lantern Tour and becoming a ghost hunter, then this is the event for you! The cost of the fundraiser is $60 a person and proceeds will be split 50/50 between Indian Hill Association and Godfrey Library after expenses. To register for the event or for more information, contact Stephanie Borrelli at 860-301-0204.

Happy ghost-hunting and thank you for supporting the event, if you are so inclined, and if you dare!

Requests for Personal Involvement with History

Middletown historian Liz Warner is seeking people who were alive and involved at certain important times in local, regional and national history. Here's her request:

I am hoping to find some Middletown residents who were here during the Hurricane of 1938 or who were involved in activities related to the Civil Rights Movement in the 60s. I have current 8th-grade students doing research on these topics and I'd love them to gain some data via first-hand accounts. Other students might need some information and guidance on Metro Square, the town's early movie theaters, the Negro baseball league in town.... There are more but let's see what response these get. Please let me know if you have info to share. The kids would love it.

Contact Liz at:ew06457@aol.com

Authors on History

Benny Morris will speak at Wesleyan Monday night February 2 at 8 p.m. in Room 108 of the Usdan Center on Wyllys Avenue. His recent book, "1948: The First Arab-Israeli War" (Yale University Press) is a fascinating look at the birth of the Israeli state and the conflict that followed. Over the years, Morris had been a critic of the Israeli version of the conflict but following the 2000 Intifada, he veered sharply to the right. However, his book looks critically at both the Arabs and the Zionists, at the myriad mistakes made and how those same mistakes have been magnified into the "no-win"situation that exists today. The disarray of the Arab states and their inability to deal with both the Israeli leaders who initially pleaded with the Arabs to stay and the refugees created by those heads of state who expected the new state to be crushed makes for compelling reading.

The lecture is free and open to the public.

This invitation came today from the Friends of the Wesleyan Library.

On Thursday February 5, Wesleyan University Library will celebrate the life of the noted author and historian William Manchester, who passed away in 2004. This event, entitled "William Manchester: Portrait of a Writer," will be held in the Smith Reading Room on the first floor of Olin Library, 252 Church Street. At 7 p.m., Leith Johnson, Project Archivist, and Jenny Miglus, Archival Assistant for the William Manchester Papers, will speak about the author's career and writing process as documented in his papers. There will be a brief reception from 7:40 - 8 p.m. At 8 p.m., there will be a lecture by Clare Potter, Wesleyan Professor of History and American Studies. Highlights from the Manchester Collection will be on exhibit at Olin Library through March 15. The event is sponsored by a bequest of William Manchester and the Friends of the Wesleyan Library. For more information about the event, contact the Friends at 860-685-3897.