Pictures and Comments from Rowayton CT Kids growing Up in the 1950s

This photo was first posted on December 5th.

Connie with Len Calendriello in front row. Second row left to right: Paul Tebo, unknown, Chris Intemann.

This class is the one that graduated from 6th grade at Rowayton School in 1955. Went through Rowayton yesterday. Will fill you in later. Crick

from Connie

OK, just to confuse the “what schools we went to when” issue, here’s how I remember it. After leaving 6th grade in 1955, those of us who didn’t go to private school (I didn’t go to Thomas until 9th grade) spent a year at West Avenue School in Norwalk. It was just down the hill from the Norwalk Hospital, near the intersection of West Avenue with Route One, an intersection that I think no longer exists because of the Thruway. Anyway, the principal was a very nice guy named Harry Kane, my homeroom teacher was Mrs. Gloetzner (Linda and Janice’s aunt, I think), and isn’t that where you had Mr. Nartoff, Crick? His homeroom was across the hall from mine. Pam Jones was also in my homeroom, but I can’t remember who else was. In the 8th grade, West Rocks was supposed to be ready, but it wasn’t, so we had double sessions at Center Junior High. I can’t remember where in Norwalk that was. I had the afternoon session, which meant I could sleep late, which I loved until I realized I wouldn’t be getting home until almost dark every day. But after a couple of months, West Rocks opened, and Pat, how well I remember having to walk down the hill and take the public bus home if I stayed late, but it made me feel very grown-up and independent.

Then I went to Thomas in the 9th grade and walked to and from school every day for the next three years until my family moved to Phoenix. I spent senior year at Central High School in Phoenix, one of a class of 500. A big change!

from Connie

Connie and Ellin showing off their dolls at Christmas circa 1953. Mary Henry is in the shadows to the left of Connie.

“This reminded me of the time our mutual babysitter and second mother, Helen Horn, gave Ellin and me black baby dolls for Christmas. Ellin may have been too young to remember this. One of those dolls is in this picture.”

Here is Connie and Johnny Fogle (below) at Bayley Beach circa 1953.

from Crick

In the late 1940s and early 50s my preference was Hopalong Cassidy while Paul was Gene Autry. I liked Hoppy because of his two-gun belt … and I had the same hat and blue shirt as Hoppy. I guess the hat blew off while I was galloping around the fields before this picture was taken. Note the spurs and cowboy boots

I believe this picture was taken around 1951-52. In the late spring my sister Phoebe got contagious scarlet fever. So I was taken out of Rowayton School for a month and put on a train to Washington. My Grandfather and Grandmother picked me up at Union Station and drove me to their ‘farm’ in McLean VA. At that time McLean was rural with many dirt roads.

Grandfather had two horses, Sparta  (a male Tennessee Walker shown above) and a filly Blue Jean. Grandfather would send me out to the front pasture on Sparta leaving Blue Jean who was fairly wild in the barn. On one ride, when I was out in the pasture, I heard Blue Jean winny way back at the barn. So did Sparta because his head and ears raised up. Then Sparta took off in a gallop back to the barn. I held on for dear life. As I was speeding toward the barn, I saw Grandfather running from the house waving his arms to get my attention. He yelled “Duck your head when you go into the barn!” Sparta and I circled the barn to get to the front and I noncalantly ducked my head as we entered the barn.

What a ride. It was like Hoppy chasing after bandits with guns a blazing. Phewy!

from Crick

This article was published on May 8th, 1959, in the Norwalk Hour.

We also had a 6th grade trip (1955) to New York City and Museum of Natural History. It was a hot spring day and this was a memorable class trip because of the bumpy bus ride through the Bronx on cobblestoned Bruckner Blvd and back. I vaguely remember seeing some interesting things at the museum. However, I recall even better the nausea we all felt on the way back home. I believe that the next day most of the kids who took the trip were absent from school.

Left to Right: Jane Buffum; Sis Jenkins, Randy’s mom; Rolly Maury, Johnny and Dickie’s mom; Hatsie McKissock, Holly’s mom; Hester Maury, Brooke’s mom; Pat Gage, Jeff’s mom; June Leavitt, Crick’s mom; Ann Henry (behind June playfully placing a ‘witch’s’  broom in front of June), Connie’s mom; Jane Dwiggins, Ranny Grinnell’s mom;  and unknown.

First posted on February 27, 2010.

This was first posted in Feb. 2010.

provided by Margo

This picture was taken in the early 50s. The booth was at East Beach.

That’s David and Florence Baumgarten with Margo on the right and Laurie on the left in the late 40s.

…and the Smiths became neighbors to so many RowaytonKids.

from Jane

This is Kassie Foss’s (Westport Onion Hill Design) new Christmas card titled, “Winter Moon in Pinkney Park”. I particularly like this painting of the Pinkney House because of a holiday “connection” to this historic house. My father heard about a lot for sale on Ridgewood Road. After seeing lot #16 on Christmas Eve afternoon, he went to Mrs. Pinkney’s house and talked to her about the lot. She accepted his offer and since the banks closed early on Christmas Eve, my father endorsed his Christmas bonus check from Nash Engineering to her to hold the lot until the next business day. On Christmas Day, 1948, my parents, sister and I drove to the snow covered lot for the first time so my mother could envision a home on Ridgewood Road. The house was built during the winter of 1949 and we moved in mid-July. My father lived there until his death in 2006. I would like to think that the Pinkney house looked like this on Christmas Eve, 1948.

Merry Christmas to all …….!

Jane Smith Graham

from Jane

These 3 photos are dated August, 1949 one month after we moved in to the new house and before landscaping

Left to right: Jane Smith – note my Dad’s model A
Right: Alice & Jane Smith in front of the vacant lot where the Dawson’s built their house (#19) a few years later.
Lower: Alice & Jane Smith playing with Johnny Fogel who lived next door (before #14 was built)

from Jane

This is what the Five Mile River looked like with no pleasure boats or waterfront homes. The postcard is not dated but I believe it’s early 1900’s. The white house on the right may still be standing.

I have ordered this book and will provide a review after reading it. Crick

Margo found this on Amazon.

from Crick

Meg is my cousin. Her family lived on Wilson Avenue next to the Ladrigans and just down the hill from the entrance to Bryan Road where Connie and I lived. Her mom, Lois, was my mother’s youngest sister. Lois was very pretty too. Rex Gatten was her father. Rex and I coached Rowayton Little League baseball together.

Daughter Heidi is now a world class long-distance runner, and Meg and husband, Tom, live in New Hampshire. They also have a son, Tommy.

from Crick

Since this has been batted around on Facebook, I thought I should fess up. Becki put this up. I learned to sleep with a pillow over my head in the frat house at college because of the noise. Poor Brooke can’t come to our house because she is allergic to cats.

Counter-clockwise from the top left: Tricycle, Rolly (dog), Munchie, Lilly, Button, Muffin, and Tabasco at the window sill.

This was first posted on February 17th, 2010.

from Kathy Wilmot Pinto

This is me (left), Helen Meyer and Pat VonDwinglo in the foreground. Roton Avenue is on the left and Rowayton School is up the hill in the background.

That’s me below sitting on the fence in front of our house after we moved from Witch Lane to McKinley Street. This was 1960 or 61. Next to me is Robin Zwart, my best friend, who lived next door. We were about six years old at the time. I was tall for my age and Robin was small. What clothes!!!

This was first published on February 15th, 2010.

provided by Kathy Wilmot Pinto

Kathy is living in Vermont now and expecting a snow storm tonight. Here she is (center) with her sister, Donna Wilmot Koellmer (left), and Eleanor Stowe (right). This is not the Rowayton School pond. This is a pond near the eastern end of Witch Lane across Route 136 (Wilson Ave) from the entrance to Wilson Point.

Kathy said “My father, Fred Wilmot, built our first house (we had come from Colonial Village) in about 1956 at the end of Witch Lane across the street from the entrance to Wilson Point. At that time, there were no houses near us and across the street from us we had woods and a small pond. These pictures are from skating on that pond.”

Kathy explained the location of her house and the pond as follows: “If you are standing at the entrance to Witch Lane from Wilson Point and look to the right, my father’s house is there (in fact, it was up for sale not too long ago and I asked a realtor friend to take me in there!). You go up the little hill and this pond was on the left hand side. Those pictures were approximately 1958 or 59.” You can find this location by looking at the map above.

Regarding the picture below, this is a group of kids at the same pond. Kathy said “This is a bunch of us at about 3 or 4 years old. Two names in there I remember, Blair Crabtree and Lucy Arington. The area has now been developed and is full of houses. I don’t know if that pond is still there!”

I have quite a few “ROONEY” memories. Dad always sent me his latest book that Andy had signed for me. I believe that Dad and I went to a few New York Giant football games and at least one Mets’ baseball game with Andy. Although Andy, the sports writer, sat in the press box I do remember him at our seats on occasion.

The Giants’ games in those days were played at Yankee Stadium and our seats were good but there was an interesting thing about them. The old Yankee Stadium had columns and one of them was directly in front of us. When you first sat down it always appeared that this would be a severe distraction. I think that comments were made that there should be some kind of financial compensation because of the columns. Oddly enough, once the game started and you concentrated on the field beyond you stopped noticing the columns. So anyway…I remember going to a wedding (Maury wedding, huge wonderful wedding) and Julie was with me and I wanted her to meet some of Mom and Dad’s friends. We were seated by ushers in the big church but to our dismay we had a large gothic column directly in front of us. Then to my delight Andy and Marge Rooney were seated directly behind us and ‘Rooney’ leaned forward and quietly said to us “I think we should get some of our money back for these seats!”

None of my memories of Andy Rooney stand out more than one particular one. If you are going to do something that may make someone angry, you might want to avoid having that someone be Andy Rooney, right?

Around 1970 or so, when I was 10 or eleven, Mom and Dad threw a huge 4th of July party. We had a lawn and patio that was right on the waterfront in Rowayton. Many guests were down there but not too many by one corner of the garden. SOOOO. I was fortunate enough to have come into possesion of some particularly powerful fireworks. As I was pretty young I did not realize that these fireworks were really more explosives that mere fireworks. I put an M-80 ‘firework’ under a rock and lit the fuse. It was a rather unerving explosion. Andy Rooney was pretty much wearing his cocktail and holiday plate of food. Needless to say I then observed a very personal “Few minutes with Andy Rooney.”

Hi there folks. I stumbled on this web site and am SO glad I did ! I grew up in Rowayton and lived there from 1951-1961, when we moved to Atlanta , Ga. I lived on the corner of Bittersweet Trail, across the street from Brad Case, next door to Jimmie Atkins, and right below Meg Foster. I recognized Joan ( then Joanie ) Thompson’s photo from the site. I remember going to dancing school down at the church and looking forward, albeit with big time sweaty palms, to dancing with the likes of Joanie, Meg, and Lynn Atkins.

I went on into both the real estate business and advertising business, when at age 40 I went back to graduate school ( Fuller Theological Seminary ) and am now an ordained Presbyterian minister. I live in Pasadena Ca., am married and have 3 grown step -daughters. I would really like to hear back from you folks- I still have the autographed photo that Joanie, Meg , Lynn, etc. gave me when I moved !

Hoping to hear from YOU- Scott / Scotty Westervelt

from Crick

Last week the NY Times had a nostalgic article about the Polo Grounds where the New York Giants played in the 1950s before they moved to San Francisco. The article jogged my memory about the good old days when I was a kid growing up in Rowayton CT on Long Island Sound. I’ve been doing this reminiscing a lot over the last year as my parents spent their final days in our house. One of the great things my parents gave to me was their friends of their generation and sketchy stories about their early lives. I recollect the 1950s as the decade of my youth when nothing in life was complicated and there was a lot of fun to be had. My lone connection with the Polo Grounds was through one of their friends.

An important part of my life at that time was major league baseball from the beginning to the end of the 50s when my interest waned because of college. And besides, all of my favorite players had moved on or were about to. I was a devout Yankees fan and my best friend, Paul, was equally devoted to the Brooklyn Dodgers.

In the early 50s my father was one of the founding members of the “300 Club” which was centered at the Republican Club next door to where my father worked at Schumachers on 39th Street in Manhatten a few blocks walk from Grand Central Station. The “300″ stood for the number of members that could join the club, and also for the batting average we strived for. The season dues for club members was $10 each and I was the only kid in the club. This was a gambling club. The game was to pick nine batters who were likely to have the best batting averages, and three alternates in case one or some of the first nine did not go to bat for the required 400 times in the season. Whoever ended up with the best average of the nine players’ averages won $1200 at the end of the season. There was also a mid-season prize of $50 dollars at the all-star break and the persons who came in second through fifth at the end also won some money. Today we have fantasy sports like Fantasy Football. Back then, the only thing like it was the 300 Club. Needless to say as a young kid, I fantasized alot about winning that money.

First published on January 1, 2010

from Crick

This is a group of mothers who routinely got together for tea, and occasionally for lunch. From right to left: Rolly Maury (Johnny, Dickie, Betsy and Rosalie’s Mom), June Leavitt (Crick, Phoebe, Peter, David, and Andy’s mom), Nonie Shaw, Jane Dwiggins (Ranny’s mom), and Hatsie McKissock (Holly’s mom). Stefan Schnabel gave the group the name “Teabags” which stuck. This photo was taken in the early 1960’s at our house next to Hickory Bluff on Bluff Avenue. According to the Rowayton Civic Association, in 1958 Pat Gage and June Leavitt founded the Rowayton Garden Club which is still active today.

Below on the next page is Jerry Beatty, Judy and Janis’ dad, with June and Rolly probably at Bayley Beach. Jerry was one of my favorite adult men in Rowayton.

Last posted on March 5, 2010

from Crick

I delivered the Norwalk Hour to 42 residences in the mid-50s. After we got home from school, Paul would bike from his house on Ridgewood Road and I would bike from Bryan Road down to Louie’s  at the corner of Rowayton Ave and McKinley Ave. The papers would be deposited on the sidewalk in neat bundles with our names or route number on the package. I vaguely remember that either Johnny Wrigley or Dick Wilmont also had a route. Sometimes we would get there before the papers were dropped off, so we would go into Louie’s.

Louie’s was a special place. As I entered the store, I was dazzled by the rack of comic books on the wall to the left. I favored Superman and other action heros while Paul favored Little Lulu. Later Paul learned that his saxophone case was a good place to hide his Playboys (since he’s too busy to come to RowaytonKids, I can say that). But getting back to Louie’s, on the right side of the isle there was a cooler with the classic Coca Cola bottles, Orange Soda, and Yogi Berra’s favorate drink (what was it? YoHoo?). I’m not sure what these precious items cost, but we could afford them because of our work ethic.

Back to the paper routes, I’m not sure how long I delivered newspapers – probably about 2 years. Funny, but there were no paper girls. The only house I can remember delivering to was Connie’s because she was special. I believe that I delivered up Wilson Avenue, then on Crest Road, possibly Pennoyer Street, and definitely Bryan Road on my bike. At some point I started to tire of the route and distributed the papers by sub-contract with my brother Peter and sister Phoebe. Ultimately I turned the paper route over to someone else (could it have been Chris Henry?… I can’t remember). 

The pay-off was about $5 per month (I think, or maybe $5 a month). Mom and I would drive to the Norwalk Hour to cash in a lot of change once a month.

In the winter of 1963 before Christmas I applied to deliver the US mail in Rowayton for the two weeks around Christmas. I had to pass a test to prove I wasn’t a complete idiot. I barely passed  and delivered the mail for two weeks. I thought I was going to freeze but quickly discovered that by walking the route, you never get cold. So, it was a very positive experience except for a house near Jerry Hayes’ house. This house had a vicious barking dog so I flatly refused to deliver the mail there and they got no Christmas cards that year.  It snowed a lot in those two weeks but that didn’t bother me. It was an exilarating experience walking around Rowayton from house to house…perhaps one of my last in Rowayton.

Last posted March 19, 2010.

from Kathy

Donna is shown back in the 50s and 60s in an earlier article. Here she is today with her husband Bill Koellmer (top picture) and in the center (second picture below) with her daughter in law, Sue (left), her grand-daughter Jess, and  son Doug Hayes (Jerry Hayes and Donna’s son). Donna and Bill live in Florida.

from Jeff

See Doug Birchard’s Obit.

This photo was first posted on December 5th.

Patty and Johnny Fogel in front. In back left to right: unknown, Steve Miller, and Paul. I believe this is in Paul’s basement on Ridgewood Road.

First posted January 12, 2010

by Crick

The first time I recall being aware that I had a reading problem was in Mrs. Frank’s 3rd grade class at Rowayton School in 1951-52. I can recall sitting in the third reading group in a circle in the corner of the classroom with other poor readers trying to read a page from a book aloud. It was very difficult for me to go from one word to the next to complete a sentence … and I was continuously embarrassed about this through grade school to high school graduation and occasionally in college. I was an average to marginally above average student through most of my schooling and, no doubt, my reading disability affected my scores on tests. I also remember in Mrs. Strand’s six grade class being one of the worst spellers and Caroline being one of the best spellers. Nevertheless, there were several glimmers of hope.

I started reading voraciously, albeit slowly, in sixth through seventh grade. I read Hardy Boy books and Landmark History books which left images in my mind even ’til today.

from Crick

Stefan and Marion lived on Pennoyer Street in a house one or two down from Billy Parks. Stefan played the father of Barbara Cooke, the heroine, in “Plain and Fancy” on Broadway in the mid-50s. Here’s a photo (below; Marion is to the left) from Life Magazine with Stefan and Barbara on the right after the Amish community erected a barn. His role was major, and he even sang solos. It was a terrific hit. I went to this show, my first, which left me with indelible memories. After the show, we went back-stage to see Stefan in his dressing room. He later (in the early 60s) starred in the Three Penny Opera in German which was also a hit on Broadway. I discovered the picture below while cleaning out some drawers at my parents house recently.

One memorable experience with Marion and Stefan happened in June of 1966. They invited me to a barbecue at their house on Pennoyer Street. I was about to leave for the summer to travel around Europe on my own and they wanted to give me some advice for my travels. I remember only one piece of advice. Stephan recommended a restaurant in Munich, “Meine Schwester und ich” (translated “My sister and I”). So I took off from Idlewild Airport and flew to Frankfurt over night then hopped a train to Munich. I was exhausted from the trip when I arrived in Munich so I found a hotel near the train station and took a nap. I arose in the late afternoon. Then feeling a little lonely, I hailed a cab and asked to be taken to Meine Schwester und ich. It was still a little early when I arrived at the restaurant for dinner so I was the only patron in a long narrow dining room. I was led down the aisle with single tables on either side and placed at a table at about the middle of the room. I ordered goulash soup, the only dish I recognized on the menu. While waiting to be served, I noticed that there were many framed photographs on the wall. Then I looked to my right to the picture next to me. It was Stefan’s “actor photo” the same one that I had at home. I was both amused by this and comforted in my lonely state. After dinner with Stefan at Meine Schwester und ich I hailed another cab and went off to the Hofbrauhaus.

Stefan and Marion visited us at the farm in Woodstock from Switzerland near Lake Como in the late 1990s during a gibbous moon. I remember the conversation because dad and Stefan argued incessantly about whether the “G” was hard or soft. Stefan took the side of “Gee”. Stefan died about 10 years ago. More recently Marion called before my father passed away and recently to ask for some momentos that my mother and father had saved for her including the picture above which she wanted to give to her grandchildren.

This is from Jeff. Michael Shaffer provided the video to Jeff. The film was taken by Michael’s mother. Michael marched in the band from 1959 to 1964.

Near the beginning the NHS band comes marching with me, Paul Tebo, and Paul Ballard. You can clearly see the Norwalk City Hall in the background. Crick

Click through twice.

See the VIDEO

Here is the 1957 NHS band near the same location.