Here’s some old news from the Andover, East Andover, West Andover, Potter Place, and Cilleyville “gossip” columns of the Franklin Journal Transcript, selected by Heather Makechnie.
March 7
Sgt. First Class Roland Jeni has been visiting at his home in Potter Place for the past two weeks arriving from Germany where he was serving with the US Army as a cook. He left Monday for Fort Leonard Wood Missouri and a new assignment.
30 relatives and friends were at Roger Henderson’s Saturday evening to celebrate his birthday.
March 14
Andover High Queen Crowned
Queen of the Andover High School Winter Carnival was Ms. Sharon Jewett shown here as she was formally crowned by last year’s queen, Miss Rebecca Tilton.
Joan Barnes, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Barnes, was given a birthday party last Thursday in the afternoon with six of her friends. Joan was five years old. She opened many gifts, and favors were given to all present.
Miss Esther Stafford has been home for a while helping her mother while her father is in the hospital. Mrs. Stafford and all her family were cut and bruised in an automobile accident March 6 on the Salisbury North Road. Her car skidded into Bernard Shaw’s school bus. We wish them all a speedy recovery.
A group of East Andover and Andover children will be on the Uncle Gus TV Popeye show on Channel 9 on March 18.
Twila Henderson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Roger Henderson, celebrated her fifth birthday March 4 with a few of her friends and relatives at her home. Twyla opened her gifts, and all the children played until refreshments were served.
The fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth graders took part in the Manchester Union spelling bee contest. The fifth through sixth grade winners were: first place, Martha Burney; second place, Brenda Dukette; and third place, James Shanelaris. Seventh through eighth graders were: first place, Irene Stacy; second place, Rosalene Thisell; and third place, Brenda Kimball. The top winners will go to Franklin on March 30 to compete with other country winners. We wish them all luck.
Andover High School held their carnival last Friday. The theme was Fantasy of the Sea. The snow sculptures were made on the same idea. Skiing and skating races were held. Many thanks to Proctor Academy for the use of their ski tow and skating rink. The carnival came to a climax in the evening with the Carnival Ball with a capacity crowd at the high school gym. The hall was decorated in light blue and green with a background of the stage painted in a sea scene done by Miss Betty Bassett. The queen, Miss Sharon Jewett, and king, Ronnie Bigelow, were crowned by last year’s queen, Rebecca Tilton. The princess and prince were Miss Irene Stacy and Richard Hoyt. Crown bearers were Colleen Currier, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lyman Currier, and Jean Brothers, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Brothers. Congratulations go to the king and queen and many thanks to all who helped make this carnival a success.
March 21
A community house in a little New England town can be literally that. Take for instance Salisbury. They have a small community house on the North Road and all the folks in the community aim to have a part in its physical upkeep by working together. Right now the ladies in the area are braiding a grandmother’s rug. It will be a little over 9 x 12 when done and it is all wool, too. In another two weeks, the ladies anticipate completing the rug and then will make it available to a buyer and use the proceeds to improve the physical features of this old community house.
Originally the community house was the old Baptist Church in East Andover, and it was moved to its present location in 1926 for use as a community house. The old pews from the church are in the present community house which in days gone by has seen a lot of activity. Members of the community house club anticipate bringing back the memories of yesteryear with dance card parties and other activities that were associated with the community house in the past.
Congratulations go to Mr. and Mrs. George Finnie on the birth of a daughter at Franklin Hospital last week. The Finnies live in the former Charles Putney home.
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Cloutier and family of Franklin have moved into their trailer on the Flagpole Road.
Congratulations go to Mr. and Mrs. Richard Day on the birth of a son at the New London Hospital on Monday. This is their third son. Mr. Day is a teacher at Andover High School, and they live in the house by Bryant Adams.
Mrs. Donald Crisp, Chairman of the March of Dimes for Andover, announced that $126 was collected. Those helping Mrs. Crist were Mrs. Gertrude Brouthers and Miss Betty Bassett for East Andover, Mrs. Leo Carpenter and Mrs. Margaret Fenton for the Plains and Salisbury Road, Mrs. Reba Powers and Mrs. Lorna Johnson for Potter Place, and Mrs. Dolly Smith and Mrs. Virginia Hutchinson for Andover. Many thanks go to all those who helped make the Dime March a success.
March 28
Many Andover residents were shocked yesterday to learn from a bulletin posted at the Franklin and Tilton plants of J.P. Stevens and Co that a sister plant, the Stevens Marland plant in Andover, Massachusetts, will cease operations shortly “due to economic and competitive conditions particularly due to the unfair and burdensome competition from low-cost foreign imports. It has become necessary to discontinue the operation of the Andover Massachusetts plant after the work in process has been running out and operations of that plant will be discontinued. The company definitely plans to continue the operations of the Franklin plant. This decision is unavoidable in view of the losses which the Marland plant has sustained over the last several years due to the disastrous effect of imports from low-wage countries.”
The golden anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert L Young was observed with an open house Saturday, March 23, from 7 to 10 PM in the East Andover library by their four children and families. Over 150 relatives and friends attended the celebration and numerous greetings and gifts were received.
Steele and Twila Henderson, children of Mr. and Mrs. Roger Henderson; Forest Burney, son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Burney; Joan Barnes, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Barnes; Tina, Twila, and Gary Currier, children of Mrs. Carolyn Currier; and Heather Keyser, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Keyser, were on the Uncle Gus TV show March 18.
Little Steele Henderson celebrated his third birthday at a party in his home given by his mother, Mrs. Roger Henderson. Steele opened many gifts. Refreshments of cake, ice cream, and punch were served.
Cheryl Fenton, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Fenton; Debbie Coffin, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Coffin Jr.; and Kendall and Bruce Currier, children of Mr. and Mrs. Clyde Currier, were seen on the Uncle Gus TV show in Manchester, March 18.