Serving Durham, Middlefield and Rockfall
Volume 17, Issue 24
Here it comes, ready or not! By Sue VanDerzee Town Times What’s “it,” you ask? In this case, “it” is retirement, and as a person dipping her toe in the waters, I feel a firsthand connection to this story that is quite unusual. The fact is that Baby Boomers – those of us born after Jan. 1, 1946 and before 1960 (that last number changes depending on who is doing the figuring) – are the next wave of retirees, and as has been true all through our lives, our demographic dominates the headlines. That’s because there are so many of us, and the sheer volume of people who have retired or will be retiring in the near future will make “retirement advice” a booming cottage industry for awhile. However, even though it’s coming, most of us are not ready. We’re smack in the middle of living our lives, for goodness sake, and though we might have questions, we have very few answers. That’s why Antoinette As-
Friday, September 24, 2010
A long time coming, but worth waiting for
tle, senior and social services director in Middlefield and herself a Boomer, decided to take matters into her own hands and schedule a free information session — with food — for folks who have not yet retired so that they can ask some questions of knowledgeable people. Astle notes that this retiring generation will be different than the previous one – for one thing, no Boomer lived through the Depression or World War II. Social safety nets have been part of the furniture of our lives for as long as we’ve been alive, but what does that mean with a huge demographic wave set to take advantage of some of See Ready, page 23
In this issue ... Calendar ...........................4 Durham Briefs ...........11-13 Middlefield Briefs......14-15 Sports..........................24-27
The Durham Activity Center (DAC) held an open house last Sunday, Sept. 19, to showcase the new facility for community gatherings and events. Above, from left, Bev Pedersen, Shari Slight, Henry Coe and Anne Cassady admire the facilities. At right, a wall mural painted by Slight will welcome classes for seniors, including excercise and art, as well as other community activities. DAC is located on the second floor of the new Carolyn Adams building, in the space where town offices were located while Town Hall was renovated. The space is handicapped accessible. See more on page 10. Photos submitted by Anne Cassady
The Farm Museum is a highlight of the Fair By Judy Moeckel Special to the Town Times
The baby carriage, right, from the 1860s is the prize new addition to the Farm Museum this year. Photos by Judy Moeckel
Bob Thody Jr., Superintendent of the Farm Museum at the Durham Fair, wants people to know that this year’s displays will include something special and new. Well, actually, it’s quite old, from the 1860s: a baby carriage that, for many years, had been displayed at the Hyland House Museum in Guilford. Its condition had begun to de-
teriorate, but, thanks to the efforts of the late Grace White Kelsey, the carriage returned to Durham a few years ago. Following its return, Ron and Marion Stannard took it to be restored by the Leola Carriage Shop in Pennsylvania. “The shop replaced the leather parts and was able to return it to its original condition,” Thody says, referring to the carriage’s leather “bonnet hood.” It was that bonnet which shielded a newborn
Howard White from the sun in 1916, the first year of the Durham Fair. According to fair historian Mabel Hamma, the carriage was probably made by G. and D. Cook and Co., one of many carriage makers in New Haven in the 19th century. In 2006, the carriage was officially given to the Farm Museum by Grace Kelsey and the family of Bertha Atwell
See Museum, page 21