Serving Durham, Middlefield and Rockfall
Volume 17, Issue 12
What’s going on at Hank’s garage? By Stephanie Wilcox Town Times It looks like your typical garage with an assortment of bottles, cans and tools on the shelves. But scattered throughout the room with the tires are empty black cases the shape of guitars, mandolins, banjos, fiddles and a base. Sitting on mismatched chairs in a circle in the garage are a group of folks singing and strumming their instruments along to a bluegrass tune. It’s a homegrown musical gathering. Does it get any cooler than this? “We call it Hank’s Garage,” said Larry Bartlett, of Wallingford. “This was Hank Crandall’s idea about 20 years ago.” On nearly every Wednesday evening during the year, anywhere from nine to 20 people, some listeners but mostly players, gather with their instruments at Hank Crandall’s garage on Main
Street in Middlefield to play music — mostly bluegrass. Going around the circle, one by one each person gets their turn to pick a song that everyone plays and sings. No one acts embarrassed by the quality of their voices, and an incorrect note or chord is easily forgotten. No one’s really reading music anyway. Best of all, there are no age limits, as long as you can play and/or you like the music. In fact, Bartlett says, “You basically have to know just three chords, and it doesn’t matter which three.” Some people have even learned their instruments while playing at Hank’s Garage over the years. In total, the group, which changes weekly but includes folks from Middlefield, Durham, Rockfall, as well as surrounding towns (one guy even comes from New York once in a while), know about 150 songs. Songs include, “I See Hank, page 25
Shirley Bastura takes her turn at a Wednesday evening jam session at Hank’s Garage in Middlefield.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Blessing of the Animals
Rev. Dale Azevedo. left, pastor of the Middlefield Federated Church, blesses one of the two horses who showed up at the special service last Sunday while Anastasia Koch looks on. More photos of the Blessing of the Animals service on page14.
First in our summer series of in-state places to visit ...
For July 4th: On the trail of Nathan Hale By Trish Dynia Special to the Town Times What we know for sure Connecticut State Hero Nathan Hale was born in Coventry, Connecticut in 1755, and was the sixth of 12 children born to Richard and
In this issue ... Calendar............................4 Durham Briefs................17 Libraries .........................24 Middlefield Briefs...........16 More Graduation .......18-19 Sports ..........................26-27 Vacation Day Trips ..5, 22-23 Weddings.........................21
Elizabeth Hale. After studying with a local preacher for several years, he was accepted to Yale College at the age of 14. Following his graduation in 1773, the 18-year-old taught school in East Haddam and later in New London for two years. When word came of the battles at Lexington and Concord in 1775, Hale ended the wanderings of a young man when he traveled to Coventry and gained permission from his father to join the Revolutionary Army. He served under Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Knowlton. Knowlton is recognized as the United State’s first intelligence professional, and his unit, Knowlton’s
Rangers, made a significant contribution to intelligence gathering during the early years of the war. Hale’s father was a dedicated patriot and one of the wealthiest landowners in Coventry. He provided shelter and food for traveling soldiers during the war and was proud that his son wished to serve in Washington’s Army. However, family lore indicates that had the elder Hale known of his son’s intention to become a spy, his permission might not have been granted so readily due to the extreme danger. While stationed in Con-
See Hale, page 12