September 1, 2011 No. 187 You know you’re… Hopedale in August Here’s a lucky find. A picture of what could be called the prototype of the Statue of Hope woman, aka Hope, in Waldo Story’s studio in Rome. Of course they had to cover her up a little better before she could be seen in Hopedale. The high school Washington trip – 1936, 1937, and 1938. Even if you don’t know anyone from those years, you may find it interesting to see what they were wearing as they were about to step onto the bus. Have I offended you? A comment on one of my YouTube videos says that it’s stupid and an insult to the town, its history and its people. I thought it was…maybe a little quirky, but not all that. Well, now I know. In 1913, Eben Draper, Jr., went on what turned out to be a rather wild adventure in Alaska. Thanks to Giancarlo BonTempo for sending a link to a page on the New Bedford Whaling Museum site with a large number of photos from that trip. It’s an amazing collection of pictures, including a few of Draper, plus maps and log pages. The Milford & Uxbridge Street Railway by Gordon Hopper. History of Hopedale schools by Lucy Day. Just a short while after posting Rachael Day’s history of the schools, I found another at the library. Lucy wrote this one in 1937. It has some interesting information and anecdotes about the early years.
Metzke for sending them. Larry Olsen Road Race
Recent deaths <><><><><><><><><><> You know you’re from Hopedale if… There have been a lot of comments on Facebook recently in the, “You know you’re from Hopedale if”…group. I was going to post a few things there, but decided to do it here instead. As far as I’ve noticed, I don’t think I have any repeats of what‘s on there. These are memories of Hopedale in the forties and fifties. The Facebook ones are mainly more recent. You know where Patrick’s Corner, White City and Spindleville are. You played high school basketball at the town hall. You remember the milk-o-mat and the egg-o-mat on Dutcher Street. Your junior prom was at the Community House. You were in high school, (General Draper High School, that is) when everyone started and ended the day in the same room – the main room. You call that huge collection of brick buildings in the center of town “the shop,” not “the mill.” You helped to collect newspapers for the Washington trip. You raced down Freedom Street in the soapbox derby. You remember the times each day the bells at the shop rang. You took a mechanical drawing class in high school. Your high school yearbook was run off on a mimeograph machine. You remember when the, “Number please,” era was replaced by the Greenleaf-3 years. Maybe you had a party line. You spent Friday nights and Saturday afternoons at the Community House, and every kid you knew was there. You know that Bancroft Park isn’t a park. You climbed up on the roof of one of the old garages, and jumped from one to the next to the next, etc. You played hockey on Frog Pond up behind Prospect Street, or one of the other little ponds around town. You played in the dump. You picked blueberries and went door to door selling them. You shot archery and played croquet, shuffleboard and badminton at the park in the summer. You saw the Celtics play at the Draper Gym – both times, if you were lucky. You played bombardment at scout meetings at the town hall. You went sliding on Northrop Street. You stood by the shore of Hopedale Pond to watch the dredging job.
You were in the Saturday afternoon high school bowling league at the Community House. You earned a little money as a pin setter. You remember the original Sacred Heart and Union churches. After the rain stopped falling in 1955, you went to Freedom Street, the Draper parking lot and Spindleville to see the damage. You had lunch, had a cavity filled, and had Eddie Paradiso cut your hair in the town hall, but to do business with the town clerk, Mort Dennett, you went to the Draper Main Office. You remember the Union Church fire. You were at the park every morning in the summer, and at the pond every afternoon. That is, unless you had swimming lessons in the morning. You remember the plane crash at Hopedale Airport. You were in the audience, or maybe took part in, minstrel shows at the town hall. In elementary school, you got a little exercise during the school day by marching around the perimeter of the room while the wind up Victrola played John Philip Sousa marches. You brought soap, toothpaste, tooth brushes, and other such things to school to be sent to Europe after the war. You dressed in a prom gown and sold fudge you had made at the high school plays. At band concerts, you heard Nappy Scribner introduce the Worcester Brass Band, and then you ran all over the park with your friends, or spent your time getting soda, hot dogs and popcorn. On hot summer days you could get chips of ice off of the back of the Hopedale Coal & Ice truck while it made deliveries in your neighborhood. If you have some memories you’d like to pass along, send them to me, and I’ll add them to the web version of this, or start a new page of them, or post them to the You know you’ re from Hopedale page on Facebook.
receive replies and more to add. Here they are. You can send more.
Oak St. to Dutcher St. so that we could skate board" (A skateboard consisted of a piece of scrap lumber with hacksawed rollerskates nailed to the bottom. No helmets, pads or anything. One day we were doing it on the sidewalk and asked a car to clock us. 30+ mph! "George Mongiat called all the guys "Harry."
Add tennis as well during the day. Made my day to beat invincible Tommy Gillon. I play lot of tennis now (doubles). Summer with Billy Olsen cleaning lines on tennis court. Howard with the big green convertible bringing us to Longwood grass tennis courts in Boston. Charlie Espanet running the park program. Who was the band leader in the white suit? Is archery on your list ?
Ocean. History Teacher, Mr. Drisko, working at Henry's Farm, Larry Maher. Cross country runs into Hopedale Park over home plate; large crowds cheering runners' finish. Perhaps reminded importance of jock straps. One runner fainted when he looked down. Memorial Days at the cemetery and the Legion home. Mrs. Reid had everyone in chorus who could not sing stand by height and move their lips, forever to be known as Risers not tenors, sopranos, etc.- voiceless. Lip syncers. Pitch pipe could bounce off your head if noise came out. Mr Kimball - Dutcher Sreet School Principal. Stanis apple orchard off Dutcher Street near Milford line.
madness and greed. Thanks Dan
If you remember skating on the pond under the lights If you went to the park to find lost change the mornings after the band concerts If you remember the playground had a girls and boys side at Dutcher Street School If you asked your teacher if you could go to "the basement" If you remember the black squares at Memorial School If you knew Zeke If you went home for lunch (from school) If Mr. Wells ever scolded you for not eating all of your lunch If you rode the bus to get to the park and swimming lessons This was fun, Colleen Collette <><><><><><><><><><>
You remember playing ping pong and pool at the Community House on Friday nights and Saturday afternoons. You remember the Halloween parade followed by a costume party at the Community House. You remember when they would close Northrop street to cars so the kids could use their sidewalk surf boards made out of a single roller skate and a piece of wood. You remember shooting rats with a 22 or a BB gun at the dump, and the dump was always on fire. You remember the smell of the hot cinders being hauled from the foundry to the dump by the green Draper smoking container trucks. You remember night fishing for horned pout with a throw line, a lead sinker, and a huge night crawler on the hook at night near the first fireplace in the parklands. You remember clamcakes & chowder night at the Firehouse on Friday nights once a month. You remember the clambakes on Spindleville Pond at the VFW. You remember earning good money shoveling fire hydrants in the winter after a big snow storm. You remember picking blueberries near Rosenfeld Sand & Gravel off Mill Street. You remember buying a huge bag of penny candy at Billy Drapers.
graduation)
unless it was mint juleps and banana splits that were two for a cent). You had Joe Perry’s mother for a gym teacher. You were waited on at the drugstore by Stella. Mrs. Spear was your lunch lady.
. |
The Hopedale High School Class of 1938, ready to step on the bus and head to Washington. Click on the picture to see the classes of 1936 and 1937 also. |