Doug Mooberry was our guide and did a wonderful job, adding many personal stories to the prepared script: he got the title to his first car at one place, and as a youth spent Sundays painting another one. Some of the homeowners were on hand and shared stories of the features (good and bad) of their houses, and Ella Sestrich, sporting a bonnet and long skirt, told us all about the building that used to house Sestrich's General Store (now Catherine's Restaurant).
I found it fascinating to learn that there were once three oyster bars in Unionville, and one resident told us that she still finds oyster shells whenever she digs in her garden.
Doug told us that he also helped out on a previous tour of Unionville that was held in 1976 for the Bicentennial, but this year's was much, MUCH easier and safer because of the brick sidewalks -- the Unionville Pathway -- that were installed in 2005. It was so interesting to walk through town because you notice so many more details of houses and gardens than you do when you're driving by. Plus we got to see the little garages and studios behind many of the buildings.
If I listed all of the people I saw on the tour I could fill up this column to my editor's satisfaction. I got to chatting to one nice woman, and I asked where she lived. Well! It was as if we were at one of those testimonial person-of-the-year dinners where they start giving general hints about the identity of the honoree and finally get so specific that even he or she figures it out. First she told me her road, and then the minute she said "schoolhouse" I knew EXACTLY where she lived and who she was and realized we were Facebook "friends" but had never met. It was so nice to finally shake hands!
At the end of the tour, going back to our cars, we saw people gathering in the hall behind the post office. Always curious, I went up and asked a guy with a tie if this was another part of the tour. He laughed and said I was more than welcome to stay, but it was actually a zoning hearing.
I left hurriedly.
For more information about Unionville history, a very good resource is the East Marlborough Township Historical Commission's website, http://www.eastmarlboroughhistorical.org/
P.S. A few days later I mentioned to a pal that I'd seen Bob Weer at the town walk. I couldn't understand my friend's reaction at all: first he was in shock, and then he was absolutely beside himself with excitement and wanted to know what on earth he was doing in Unionville, what he looked like, etc. Turns out he thought I had met Bob Weir, the Grateful Dead guitarist, rather than the East Marlborough Township supervisor.
No comments:
Post a Comment