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.
October 1, 1964
Paul Jurta has a new 1965 Dodge truck. Paul is getting it ready for plowing on the State Highways later on.
Congratulations go to Mr. and Mrs. Allan Keyser of the Flaghole Road on the birth of a daughter born Sunday, September 27, at the Concord hospital. The baby weighed six pounds and fourteen ounces and will be home with her brother, John and Kim Keyser on the weekend.
Richard Shaw of Dyers Crossing had the misfortune of having the truck he was parking at his home go out of gear, and it rolled over one leg. He was rushed to Franklin Hospital.
Andover School News: Brenda Dukette was chosen captain of the cheerleaders and Kathy Sharkey co-captain for the year, with Mr. Feuerestein as their advisor. The nine cheerleaders are: 8th grade – Ellen Charles, Cheryl Downs, Constance Powers, Brenda Dukette, Ann Richards, and Rebecca Jewett. (Calista Miller was also chosen, but had to give up due to moving to Franklin.) 7th graders – Donna Keyser and Kathy Sharkey.
October 8
Andover Lions meeting was held at Potter Place Inn on September 28. Guest speaker for the evening was Robert Bibeau, Executive Vice-President and Treasurer of the Iona Savings Bank in Tilton. His subject was Ragged Mountain Ski Area in Danbury, which will be open this winter. The State is building 6/10 mile of new road off Route 104 to the area. Ten acres of slope will be open this winter, and 40 acres of the area has been graded and seeded. It will have a 4,500-foot double chair-lift, and its longest ski trail will be almost 1.5 miles long. $400,000 will be spent to get started, and $150,000 was raised by selling stock. $67,000 will be spent on the base lodge this year. In the future, they hope to sell lots to private individuals to build chalets.
Andover firemen and trucks were called to the home of Mrs. Gardner Provost on Saturday to put out a fire there. They found Mrs Provost and her friend unconscious due to smoke.
A Firemen’s Auxiliary has been started in Andover. At their recent meeting, officers elected were President Virginia Hutchinson, Vice-President Fannie Morrill, Secretary and Treasurer Tay Clark.
Ocean-fresh live lobsters are 79 cents a pound this week at your friendly Champagne’s Grand Union supermarket in Franklin.
West Side Story, a modern day Romeo and Juliet, will be showing at Weirs Drive-In on Friday and Saturday, October 9 and 10. The winner of 10 Academy Awards, it stars Natalie Wood, with George Chakiris and Rita Moreno, in Technicolor.
October 15
If you were out hunting the early part of the week up in old Hill Village and found a considerable amount of beer, cigarettes, and potato chips stashed away at the side of an old road, better check with the Franklin police. The loot was the biggest part taken early Sunday morning from George Brouther’s Shop and Stop Store in East Andover, worth about $125. Five young men from East Andover and Franklin have been taken into custody, arraigned, and bound over to Superior Court to face charges of breaking and entering. Chief of Police John P. Carey urges you to turn in any stolen goods you may have found (the police have the license numbers of a few cars seen in the area) to avoid future trouble.
A practice Civil Defense alert was held on Monday, October 12, with students keeping track of how long it took them to reach home after having been dismissed from the school.
JJ Newberrys in Franklin is selling men’s hooded sweatshirts for $1.88 a piece this week during their anniversary sale.
Open House in the Weathered Cottage Gallery in East Andover attracted a steady stream of delighted visitors over the past weekend during its open house. Violet Grant, artist and owner, Betty Jean Bassett, Gracia Snyder, Ethel Lindley, Florence Thompson, and Annaleida Vant Hoff exhibited. Mrs. Bruce Smith of New London assisted. All paintings priced for sale. The Gallery is now a permanent art spot in town.
October 29
Mr. and Mrs. Burton Prescott of Andover have announced the engagement of their daughter Wanda Louise Prescott to Gerald Rodney Smith, son of Mr. and Mrs. Rodney Smith of South Danbury. Miss Prescott is a graduate of Franklin High School with the class of 1963 and is employed as office girl at Franklin Hospital. Mr. Smith graduated New London High School in 1963 and is employed at Benson Auto Shop in Franklin.
Teresa Lordon has electricity in her home now. The new line has been put in from part of Beech Hill beyond the covered bridge where Teresa lives. Three other homes are being built on the Lordon Homestead land and will have electricity, too. There has never been any electricity on that road, so it is a thrill to them all.
At the primary election, Victor E. Phelps and John Maquire came in to tie for Representative for the Town of Andover. A drawing was held at the Secretary of State office in Concord recently, and Victor E. Phelps’s name was drawn.
Congratulations go to Mr. and Mrs. James Minard on the birth of a son at the New London Hospital on October 24 named Darrell, weighing six pounds, seven ounces.
The Pink Panther is showing this week at the Regal in Franklin, starring David Niven, Peter Sellers, and Robert Wagner. “You only live once, so see The Pink Panther twice!”