Fire destroys Compounce ride - Southington Library and Museum

2 -- The Observer, Thursday, August 31, 1989
Stroke club stretches to new heights in Plantsville
Thirty members of the stroke dub
gathered Thursday Aug 24 at
P1antswflle Congregational Church to
learn about a free exerO. program for
Surprise circled the room when
Miracle MulhalI. the guem speaker m
trodt.u d herself. Like many of the oth
e she walked wlth the md of a cane
She was accntnpanied by her hus
band Joesph Joe. as he introduced
h nself, is a s nal workrr w th a Ph D
in sociology He *s also wheelchair
The two have spent a combined career
of 40 years assmting stroke pa
tients and others adjusting to major
health changes w th coping skills
Three years ago M chele mtmted
Oecupatinnal Therapy Services of Con
nectmuL located at Rochambeau Mall
Mdldale
MulhalL as chrector of O T S. uses
expertise as occupational therapist
with a masters degree tn special educa
Lion m help private clients.
But hea" focus for the evening was
interesting members of the club in
grmap exercise To wet that interest she
brought a few of hea" handy props, m
cluding a balloon, beach ball and
parachute
Sca ed in a carrie, the group of recov-
and began to punch the balloon back
and forth it traveled short chstanees at
fi t. but soon flew across the room.
Next was a beach ball erss6n of
kick ball The group laughed Salie they
sat on the edge of seats to get their
turn
When the parachute was unrolled.
tt filled the entire cart le "When I count
to three, everyone raise )our end as
l-ugh as you can_" she ,md
Members their spouses got revolved
with trying to .aunch the on
the parachute high enough to reach the
"Some of you are stretching more
than you have in months. In years,"
Mulhall stud, encouraging theu- efforts.
When the exerose part of the pre
sentatlon ended. Muihall fielded quesuons
from the group
She responded to one person who
was concerned about O T S not eharg-
MoreHo, 4, tried his hand at the llshing tank. a game offered at the Southlngton Grange Falr on Saturday.
HI s/ster Anna. 9. looks on.
iLeaky pipe steams deft ov er
Thomas Del Santo remembers
three years ago when the street in
_ fi-ont of his Liberty Street delicatessen
was torn up and he has pl(tures to
-,prove it.
Yet, as town officials see it. the
street work didn't happen at all There
- are no records mdlcatlng anyone had
- permission to make repairs to the
" street or the pipes below
De] Santo was hoping to discover
that the repairs were authorized by
" the town or to at least discover who
" made them.
If the town ordered them. he could
" avoid assuming the $1.800 bill for fix-
: Ing a leaky water pipe. or service line.
- that runs from his business to the
, town's water main
"I was the good guy." he said
Tuesday in a telephone interview. "I
- saw the water coming out of the road
, and called the water department."
: If a private contractor made the
." faulty repairs. Del Santo might put-
, sue relief from that company, al
. though the Town Manager John We
Ichscl said the state only requires a
." one-year guarantee on such work.
,, Del Santo maintains that
. whomever tore up the street also
: damaged the pipe and made a faulty
,, repair to It that has broken down.
, "XVe have no way of reconstructing
€ what happened there." Anthony Tran
quillo, town engineer, told the town
council Monday "l'm at a loss as to
what people were doing digging in
[ronl-of Mr. Del Santo's property"
Tranqulilo said that about 2 percent
of the contractors that do minor
repair work In the town never bother
to apply for permits and never get
caught by town Inspectors.
He Sald the town IS attempting to
strengthen its excavation permitting
procedures to prevent these by-pass-
Nevertheless, a repalr such as the
one deso'Ibed by Del Santo, could be
accomplished in about half a day.
Tranqulllo sald, malcing it difficult for
Gilbert Bligh, superintendent of
the water department, could find no
record- of work on the water main.
which was installed in 1929. until Ju -
ly of this year.
Regarding the leaky patchwork.
Bligh said. *If I were the property
owner, I would have opted to repair
the whole service pipe."
Instead copper pipe was welded to
wrought iron, which, Bllgh Sald. "was
a risk somebody took and it dldn't
CORRECTION
hold up-
But. Del Santo doesn't beheve he
should bear responsibdlty for repairing
it nov,'.
Town Manager John Welchscl
made t clear that the respons,bility
does not belong to the town
"What ha e we got to do v,ath it?"
he told Del Santo "You bought it as
Ing a fee for the exe cL e group.
"I'm offering it flee of charge because
I haw found tlmt once the therapy
is ended, it is hard to keep up dull
exen s , which may or may not be appropriate.
As an o¢ 'upationaltherapist
I offer a challenge to physical ability.
because I believe R is always possible
to/a prove.° she said.
She set a group format so that
stoke victlms could meet others. She
told the group that an occupational
therapist assesses clients with a different
perspecUve than a physical therapint.
Thks dimens*on stresses regaining
function to complete activmes of daffy
Mulhall employs three part time
physical therapmts and two part-time
office warkers, as well as speech and
other consultants.
Husband Joe is on hand to help
too. "1 don't tell them anything, I help
them recognize what's happening." he
said. His experience has been to help
people during the difficult time of adapration
to their changes. "They will
rience changes In Interaction. relation-
He said wlth physical llmitatlona
there is loss of control "People cannot
do for themselves."
His wife added, that clients who
come to them represent every age
group. To accommodate them. Michele
also offers free group exercise for Indivlduals
with Parkinson's disease and
Large bipartisan group attends
annual Crocodile Club dinner
A tradition that began 115 years
ago continued furl bloom during the
annual Crocodile Club dinner held
last Thursday. Businessmen, poilUc;ans
and local gentry gathered at
Lake Compounce Festival Park to
hobnob and test the political atmosphere
J. Harwood Norton, better known
as "Stretch', served as master of ceremonies,
as guests tasted a menu unchanged
since the first Crocodile Club
gathering In 1875. Norton said the
menu is unique, offering barbecued
lamb. fried corn. boiled potatoes.
sliced tomatoes, a bottle of beer and a
cigar.
Norton's ancestors purchased the
lake and the surrounding land from
Indians in the 1600s. And in 1875.
Gad Norton. Stretch's great-grandfather.
won approval from the state leg-
IsLature to move town boundary lines,
changing his hometown from
Southington to Bristol. Gad Norton
thanked the politicians for their conmderation
by throwing the feast. The
hobnobbing has gone on annually
since.
"The first few years it was held outside.
because w didn't have the casino
in those days." said Stretch Norton
"That wasn't built until 1895. It's
a social club of people - an Invitauonal
affair."
Norton said that two offerings draw
some of the states most powerful
politicos to the annual feast. The
menu, said Stretch. and the second ks
the opportunity to rub elbows with
political friends and foc .
Lt. Governor Joseph FauIIso was In
attendance. And Congressmen Bruce
Morrison (D-3rd Dist.) and John Rowland
(R-5th Dist.) showed up to teat
the political waters.
"Thks year w had two gubernatorial
candidates - even though they
haven't announced yet." Stretch said.
"The highlight of the day was Rowland
and Morrison singing "I'll Be Seeing
You'. I wouldn't be surprised to see
the t vo of them rutmLr for governor. °
Norton said the crowd of 500 was a
record for a local election year. And
though the annual dinner began as a
stag event back in 1875. Norton said
more and more women turn out for
the event every year.
"It used to be only men." Norton
said "1 instituted the change back
around 1970 - when Ella Grasso became
a powerful figure in politics. Its
becoming a popular event for women
too."
After 139 years of continuous operation,
the Norton family sold the park
to Herco. and two seasons ago Herco
sold out to a partnership led by
Joseph Entertainment Group of Milwaukee,
Wks. Stretch Norton continues
to serve as special consultant and
historian at the country's oldest
amusement park.
theiS bitterWhenyouwath you the buysweet property " get Car dealer seeks town
At least two council members.
bone, Nicholas argued DePaola that the and town Robert had aCar-land rolt - site for parking lot
In the episode for failing to monitor
the work
"Somewhere along the llne, the
town was remiss." DePaola said.
He and Carbone suggested the
town try to find a compromise with
Del Santo. who said he would welcome
any town assistance on the repmr
blfi.
"Anylkting is better than $1.800 1
would llke to get something on that."
Del Santo said Tuesday.
The council decided to review the
Issue further and place it on the
agenda for its next meeting
Attorney Bx MeccarlelIo wa incorrectly Ident/fled in this photo oa page
one of last week's Observer. ,=
It may not be paradise, but
Mitchell Ford wants to pot up a parking
lot on a strip of town land adjacent
to and west of the auto dealership.
The request coincides with the
dealership's expansion plans and may
cotttllct with those of the Southington
Housing Authority and the parks department,
which would llke to use
portions of the adjoining land.
The town council has agreed to
explore the request and will attempt
to determine a fair market ] .rlce for
leasing the land. Mitchell Ford, which
has been in business at the Main
Steer location since 1950. would be
given a 30-day notice to vacate the
strip should the town decide to use
the land.
The parcel widens fi'om 15 feet on
Main Street to about 30 feet where it
merges with a larger tract thai measures
105 feet by 300 feel It is also
adjacent to Central Elementary
School ballflelds.
Richard i/ gidto, sup intendent of
parks, said his department would like
to construct a building for its malntenance
equlpment on the property, although
the project ks "in the planning
stage oaly."
The building may be shared by the
school system, he said.
Egldto sa d the site is his top priority
for a maintenance building "because
it's centrally located."
Other sltes, in priority order, that
n ght work are: land now occupied by
the Southington Drlve-ln: Mflldale
School, and the town dog pound on
Woodruff Avenue.
The drive-ln and dog pound site
are contingent upon the town purchasing
additional land.
"It wasn't deflnlte where a malntenance
building was going. It was only
definite that I would be building one,"
he said.
According to Ai Lalla, general
sales manager, his plans to expand
are definite too. However. he must
first find a place for his employees
cars so he can restructure his dealership.
"What we're doing is planning on
remodeIllng," he said. "The need (for
the parking area) is not that I can put
more cars on my lot, It's so I can have
more room for customers and service
and parts.*
Laila estimated that 30-35 employees
park cars on dealership loL
which makes it dlfficult for customers
to wlnd their way tlm3ugh It after concluding
their bustoess.
"The whole area here has really
been changing." he said, explalning
the dealershlp'. desire to renovate.
"We Just want to go along with it."
Lalla sald the planned improvemerits
are "extensive" and would indude
new llghthag and expanded servlee.
parts and showroom areas. The
placement of the showroom on the lot
would also change.
Regarding any work on the town's
strip of land, he sa/d: -Fll do whatever
the town would llke for me to do. If
they want me to pave it. rll pave
A portion of the land already is
"I think we can work something
ouL" Egidio said last Wednesday aRer
meeting with Lalla to discuss the request.
And. he does not feel the plans
are mutually excluslve.
However, whP the auto dealership's
needs mlght be met, Egldto's
need for centrallzed storage space
*l've got stuff scattered all over,"
he said. "rm up to my ears in (separatedl
space now. It's time consuming
and It's costly."