August 1, 2009 Hopedale History No. 137 1912 Hopedale in July Grafton and Upton Railroad – Milford Sunday News, July 19. Barry Gorman honored Milford Daily News article about Gorman, who has taught tennis at the Hopedale Town Park for ten years. Hopedale band concert – July 22 – The Fantasy Big Band. A great deal of progress has been made at the Little Red Shop Museum in the last few weeks. Perhaps the most important development was the completion of the entrance ramp. The highway department did the excavation and curb cut, Varney Brothers donated the concrete, and Troy Longacre donated materials and his time to build the form, do the leveling, etc. The first event to be held there will be a meeting of the Milford Area Chamber of Commerce on August 6. The shop will be open during Day in the Park in September, and an Octoberfest will be held as a grand opening event on October 3. By fall we expect to announce hours that the museum will be open regularly. Wednesday, August 5th, the Spellbinders, featuring Shanana's Lennie Baker, will be performing for the Hopedale Concert at the Hopedale Town Park from 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM. Lennie will be performing many of his Shanana favorites including Blue Moon from the movie Grease. In the twenty years that Lennie toured with Shanana, they played in 37 different countries, had their own syndicated television show from 1978 - 1982, and were the featured band, Johnny and the Casinos, in the movie Grease. <><><><><><><><><><> 1912 I find the local news columns in the newspapers of the 1950s and earlier fascinating in the glimpse they give of life in another era. The lines below, from the weekly Milford Gazette in 1912, tell of a time when a visit to Manchester or North Brookfield was important enough to get into the paper. A car trip to Troy or the Adirondacks, considering the cars and roads of those days, must have been quite an adventure. The paper didn’t have an obituary column. Deaths were reported in a few sentences in the local news column. Weddings of most people were quite simple and didn’t get much newspaper space either. August 30 W.E. Clifford ordered a new Ford automobile. Eben S. Draper is at the Profile House, N.N. for a vacation. Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Shattuck spent the weekend in Southbridge. The town’s new automobile fire truck arrived her Tuesday evening. Mr. and Mrs. William McCaslin are enjoying an automobile trip through the Berkshires to Troy, N.Y. At the groom’s home here, Saturday evening, Rev. C. W. Allen of Milford united in marriage Walter Meade and Eva Addie Robinson, both of this town. September 6 Mr. and Mrs. L. S. Burbank spent the holiday in North Brookfield. G. Russell Goff and family have spent the past few days in Rhode Island. During August 2145 books were given out from Memorial Library; 663 persons visited the reading room, and 65 new books were added. Fire Chief Kellogg was summoned late Tuesday night to restrain a drunken resident, who was making a disturbance to the annoyance of neighboring property owners. The new forest fire auto wagon, recently purchased by the town, was officially tested under the direction of representatives of the makers. The household goods of Louis Howes were moved to Milford Saturday. Mr. Howes being forced by the recent ruling of the Draper Co. to vacate the company tenement he had occupied for several years. September 13 Mrs. Charles A. Forster is ill at her home here. A.W. Beardsell is enjoying his annual vacation. H.L. Stone is spending a fortnight in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Walter C. McDonald is unable to work on account of illness. Miss S.E. Taylor of Talladega, Alabama, gave an interesting account of her work among the colored people Wednesday evening, at a special missionary meeting in the Union chapel. Mr. and Mrs. William Nelson have been in Manchester, N.H., the past few days, making the trip by automobile. September 20 Mrs. B.H. Bristow Draper is visiting in New York. The Milford Gas Co. is laying a new main on Hopedale Street. Mrs. William F. Draper, Miss Margaret Draper and their servants arrived in town Tuesday and will remain her until next Thursday. (They were in town for the unveiling of the statue of General Draper in Milford.) In the prize bowling contest Monday evening Fred B. Sweet finished first with 117 pins, and Archie Beck second with 100 pins. September 27 Mr. and Mrs. G.A. Draper went to Hot Springs, Virginia, Monday. Republican headquarters have been opened in the Town Hall building. The schools were closed Wednesday for the statue exercises at Milford. (Click here for more about the statue.) Miss Anna M. Bancroft and Mrs. Lura M. Day left town Monday for an auto trip through the Adirondacks. The ball team of Grade 9 defeated the Upton Grade 9 team on the Town Park Saturday afternoon by a score of 12 to 9. The directors of the Draper Co. voted not to close the works Wednesday for the dedication exercises at Milford, but posted notices that any employee desiring to be away on that day might do so by informing the foreman of his department. Because of the small force on hand Wednesday the work was partially suspended. At the primaries Tuesday, 126 votes were cast, only about nine of them being Democratic. October 4 Samuel Bassett has gone to Maine for his health. Harold Durgin won a prize for a model of an aeroplane at the Upton fair last week. Mrs. William F. Draper and daughter Margaret left town Friday for New York, prior to the opening of their Washington home. They are planning to spend the winter on the Nile. Mildred Alice, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W.J. Stewart, entertained 30 or more of her young friends Tuesday afternoon, in honor of her sixth birthday. Refreshments were served and games enjoyed. The young lady received a present of a $10 gold piece from her father. Town Clerk William H. Jordan and Miss Isa T. Denton of Westport, Nova Scotia, were quietly married Sunday afternoon by Rev. F. R. Lewis. They were unattended and will reside at 59 Bancroft Parkway. The groom is employed in the main office of the Draper Co. and the bride has worked winters at the straw shop in Milford. October 11 Hose 3 will serve a clam and oyster supper tomorrow evening. J.H. Cutler was operated upon at the Milford Hospital Tuesday. W.H. Jordan was called to Attleboro Monday by the death of his mother. Work on the foundations and batten boards for B.H. Bristow Draper’s new house was commenced Friday. Game Warden W.F. Durgin has received a consignment from the state hatchery of several thousand trout fry, which he has placed in streams in this neighborhood. Horace Norcross, Jr., is seeking a divorce from is wife, Mrs. Louise A. Norcross, who now resides in Milford. He alleges gross intoxication and seeks the custody of their child. October 18 The South Hopedale school, which has been closed on account of scarlet fever, has been fumigated by J. L. Quimby and is now reopened. A score or more of candidates for a soccer football team will come out for practice on the Town Park tomorrow afternoon. This was intended to be a somewhat random collection of local news, but as I was checking for typos yesterday, I noticed what I think is a little “story between the lines.” Mrs. Bristow Draper going to New York. The George A. Drapers going to Virginia. Eben Draper in New Hampshire. Susan and Margaret arrive in town. The dedication of the statue in Milford. There was a Draper family feud going on. It looks as though those opposed to the general didn’t want to be anywhere in the area during the dedication. <><><><><><><><><><> Recent death: Arthur “Butch” Pimentel, Jr., 66, July 13, 2009. 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