509

I recently went to a presentation Erie Insurance held for the retirees.  They discussed the new Technical Learning Center, which they will be building on East 7th Street.  They also discussed plans to restore the building  on the southeast corner of 6th and French, which was the Erie office from 1938 to 1956.  Another building to be restored is the Armory on 6th and Parade.  It will be used for offices.  They also had many pictures of the  restored mansions at 502 and 510 Parade Street.  After the presentation I hung around and talked to the program presenter.  I told him that I lived at 501 when I was a kid, and that my great-grandmother built 509 and the five "cottages".  I told him that 509 was my grandparents house.  He then told me that Erie Insurance is buying 509 and that it will be demolished this year.  

For more information see the September 2007 blog posting that Nancy made called "The Big House"  The house was built in 1892.  The wraparound front porch was removed in the late 1940's when the gray shingles were installed.                

Then and Now

The year was 1964, it was the first day for the introduction of the Mustang. Much fanfare and publicity about it compelled me to visit the local Ford dealership that evening. There was cake and soft drinks being served and balloons all about. Lots of people and good prices for the new offering. Prices starting at around $2400 stick in my mind.

Serving in the Air Force at the time, near a community called Newburgh New York, $2400 may as well have been $60,000, because military pay was next to nothing then.

After my visit to the Ford dealer, I thought I would stop at the local Studebaker dealer and see my favorite marque’s offerings. My memory is still very vivid of that evening 49 years ago. It was a dark side street, that reminded me of a Sherlock Holmes movie scene. I was greeted by a very well dressed elderly gentleman. On display in a one vehicle showroom, that looked more like a converted horse shed, was a black 63 Hawk. This was the only vehicle they had, and it was way more than the new Mustang. Needless to say there was not going to be a purchase that evening or ever for a new Studebaker.

Like so many things in life, when you would really like to have something, you can’t have it and when you can have it, it’s no longer available or it’s not important anymore. I knew it was just a matter of time before there would be no new Studies forever!

Now to the present time as I look at Hawk’s for sale on the internet, you read ads that say was running when parked 30 years ago, ready for restoration, good glass or has small rust hole in trunk. Don’t forget that galvanized sheet metal claim. One look at the photos of these cars means there will be no new purchase in 2013 either!
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Blogged by By Tom Barron

A very special 100th birthday…

On November 20, 2012, it was the 100th anniversary of the most loved, and loving aunt for all of us. Anna would have been 100 on this day!

Mike Crotty and I talked about the anniversary of her birth, and felt that it should be noted in our blog for November.  Life, as it usually does, got in the way of our good intentions to make sure this was properly noted and honored.

I cannot think of one of us, living or not, that did not benefit from Anna’s unconditional love and extreme generosity. She truly was our ‘Auntie Mame’.

Where else but Anna’s house could kids of the ‘50’s enjoy such exotic and expensive food items such as boiled shrimp, lobster tails, pheasant, duck, and tenderloin roast. Plus you cannot forget the endless supply of Rola Cola!  Ours for the taking from the back shed!  All kinds of flavors too!  She always had peanuts for munching and the block of moldy Swiss cheese sitting in the covered cheese dish. She taught me just to slice off the mold and the cheese was even sweeter underneath!

When I turned 14 or so, Anna gave me a key to her house…as she did for several of us. She always wanted to make sure we knew we always welcome.

Anna, from all of us to you, thank you for making our ‘growing years’ ones of great memories. Love you and think of you often.

***


Blogged by Dede

Christmas when we were little (1947)

We never got our Christmas tree until the day before Christmas.  It seems like there were a lot of places on Parade Street that sold them.  Dad had a wooden box about two feet square which was turned upside down and had a hole in it for the tree trunk.  After he put the lights on, Tommy and I would put the other decorations on along with mom's help.

Another decoration we had was our "fireplace".  They sold rolls of paper that had a brick design, and that was taped to our desk, which made it look like a fireplace.  Did we think that Santa came down the chimney through it?  I don't remember, but we did have a place to hang a couple of stockings.

On the night before Christmas I remember being unable to fall asleep for a very long time, and that Tommy didn't have this problem.  It then seemed like I had just fallen asleep, when Tommy was waking me up saying 'Santa Clause came!'.  We would get up and go to the living room to see.  Mom and Dad would hear us and get up, and then we opened our presents.  When all was done, it was time to play.  Mom and Dad would sometimes go back to bed as it was still dark outside.  As I remember it now, it seems like it was a long time before it got light out. 

Richie
         

Another Cousin has Retired....

On July 1, 2012, Mike Crotty officially began his retirement after 27 years as City Manager of Satellite Beach, Florida. In his honor, the city fathers have decided to name a ocean side park in his honor. The park, which is on the Atlantic ocean, will be called Michael P. Crotty Park.

On July 27, the city held a retirement party for Mike. As Mike told me, the dress was ‘Crotty casual’ or ‘Satellite Beach formal’….which interprets to shorts and T shirts! I proudly wore my Erie, Pa. T shirt.(thanks for getting this for me Rich and Barb!) I was able to go to the 2 days of the festivities, as was Patty from Dayton, Ohio and cousin Ann and her partner Claire from Jupiter Florida. Attached are: A copy of the Retirement party sign outside City Hall, a copy of the article that appeared in Florida Today, the picture of the proposed sign for the park, the stunning picture of the beautiful park area, and the picture of the four of us cousins that were there. Truly a mini reunion!

Lastly I include a portion of a letter written by Mike on the occasion of his retirement. His accomplishments are many. Wouldn’t his parents and all the aunts and uncles be proud of him?? I know I am. Enjoy your retirement Mike! Like I told you, as a retiree I don’t know what I accomplish all day but it takes me all day to do it! Enjoy! Thanks so much for letting me be part of this.

Satellite Beach park named for Michael Crotty



FLORIDA TODAY article:

Wednesday night, the Satellite Beach City Council unanimously voted to name a park in honor of retiring City Manager Michael Crotty.

City Hall staffers refer to the undeveloped site as the “Sunrise property.” This oceanfront, city-owned property is located at the end of Sunrise Avenue.

Crotty stepped down during the meeting after serving since 1985. He will take administrative leave until his July 1 retirement date.

A public reception honoring Crotty's retirement takes place from 5 to 8 p.m. July 27 at the Civic Center, 565 Cassia Blvd.

Written by

Rick Neale

FLORIDA TODAY

June 20, 2012




Portion of a letter written by Mike as he retired


A defining moment in my professional life occurred on July 1, 1985 when I interviewed for the Satellite Beach City Manager position. Exactly twenty-seven years later—July 1, 2012, I am retiring as City Manager. What an incredible 27 years it has been!

Satellite Beach has a rich history of collaboration among its citizens and community groups resulting in the city we know today. As manager, I have had the good fortune to play a part in so many of the projects that make our City unique and a desired place to call home. Highlights are many but a few of the memorable ones include:

* Preserving in public ownership 40% of the City’s oceanfront which will be a major part of the City’s legacy for current and future generations;

* Development of the 52 acre Samsons Island nature preserve;

* Elimination of the major drainage problems throughout the City. Long time residents will remember pictures in Florida Today of the long ago practice of canoes traversing many of our streets following even moderate rains;

* Development of the 35 acre Sports and Recreation Park which provided many firsts for Brevard County including a municipal dog park and skate park;

* Development of the 25,000+ sq. ft. David R. Schechter Community Center that serves as the hub for many of the activities that provide unique quality of life for toddlers through seniors; and

* Partnership with Brevard County on numerous projects especially the recent transfers of Pelican Beach Park and Hightower Beach to City ownership. These parks are now entrusted to our citizens to operate, maintain and preserve the fragile eco-system of the beach environment.

Anna's house

Anna's house was almost green!  I had remembered that she had ordered red shingles that summer day in the early 50's when the contractor was putting up green shingles on the front of the house.  I was outside playing when I saw the green, and I knew it was the wrong color.  I ran in and told my mom, and she went into Anna's house to use her telephone to call her at work.  I remember that the siding men weren't too happy about the mistake.

In the spring of 1959 Anna had me install the yellow plastic wall tiles.  If you look closely you can see that the job was less than professional.  On the wall by the telephone is the buzzer button.  If someone called my mom, Anna would buzz twice, and mom would go over to answer the phone (See the brick walk in the first picture).  It looks like there is a church missal, as well as a cigarette lighter and ash tray on the red cart.  Notice the moldy piece of cheese on the table.  The chair on the left at the end of the table was the usual place a visitor would sit and have a beer or two.  It was usually two, as Anna would insist that you can't "stand on one leg".   Anna would sit on the chair not shown in front of the sink and stove.

This room was originally intended as the dining room.  Anna had a kidney shaped desk in one corner, and in the opposite corner was an antique table on which sat a chrome cocktail pitcher and goblets.  The corner of the room pictured was probably used by visiting kids.  Anna liked to do crosswords  She sometimes had me go down to Eddy's on 4th and Parade and pick one out for her.

In the living room Anna had two yellow chairs of which the visitor chair is shown.  The chair she used had a higher back and a foot stool.  Sometime after this picture was taken the table lamp was replaced with a fiber optic lamp, which was the latest thing.  Anna spent many a quiet evening watching TV in her easy chair with her beer and peanuts.  I don't think there were ever any pictures on the walls.



Thanks dad for taking the pictures, and having the foresight to know that one day they would be enjoyed and appreciated.
 

The Ivy League

From the "NEW YORK OBSERVER"

Daniel Cappello’s The Ivy League: The Book Party That Threw Itself

It’s not every book party where you end up in a 5th Avenue estate, listening to a Columbia a capella group sing doo-wop classics.

But such a scene was fitting for Quest Magazine‘s Daniel Cappello, who was signing copies of his beautiful clothbound coffee table book, The Ivy League (Assouline), in the parlor of Candace and Rick Beinecke.

“They are old family friends of Daniel’s,” said Martine Assouline, co-founder of the luxury publishing house. Ms. Assouline was wearing her signature Balenciaga sunglasses indoors, which you are allowed to do apparently, as long as you don’t bump into one of the century-old portraits in the foyer or make the faux-pas of trying to put your drink down on a table without a coaster.

Photographer and recent documentary subject Bill Cunningham mingled among the Upper East Side revelers which included Allison and Jay Aston, Charles Rockefeller, Punch Hutton and Chris Rovzar from Vanity Fair, Anne Vincent from Vogue, Robert Burke, Kelly Rutherford, and The New Yorker‘s Ben McGrath.

The younger men displayed a disproportionate amount of pink and/or ascots, the women wore cocktail dresses. We were sure that what most of the guests shared, besides good genes and old money, was a degree from one of the eight Ivies that Mr. Cappello lushly illustrates in his new book. (Mr. Cappello, a New Yorker alum himself, also graduated from the Ivy’s Ivy: Harvard.)

We overheard Assouline’s Cara Buscaglia and Mimi Crume Sterling proudly telling party-goers how the event basically threw itself.

“We barely had to do anything…Daniel had everything planned out, down to what glee group he wanted.”

And Mr. Cappello did strike us as the type of man who never forgets a detail. When we mentioned that a Cornell alum friend had never heard of Dragon Day–which the book explained as a tradition involving a giant dragon created by architectural students– Mr. Cappello nodded.

“Right, well the dragon is only marched around part of campus as part of Architecture’s traditional rivalry with the School of Engineering.”

“Was your friend a law graduate student?” He asked.

We felt like we were talking to one of those TV psychics. How did he know?

“Law grad students live off-campus and are generally too busy to notice these types of things,” Mr. Cappello smiled. Neat trick!

When we asked Ms. Assouline why she approached Quest‘s fashion director for a book about the top colleges in the country, she admitted that it was partly for personal reasons.

“We were trying to find the best university for our son in the states when we moved here,” The Frenchwoman told us. “But there were so many schools to choose from! We wanted to see something you wouldn’t get from the brochures…something more like stepping on to a campus.”

Ironically Ms. Assouline’s son ended up going up to college in Montreal, since his French was (at the time) better than his English.

Full of history and trivia about each of the top-tier schools, Mr. Cappello does spend extra attention extolling the virtues of his alma mater.

“Well, Harvard is a brand,” Ms. Assouline smiled. “It’s like Chanel.”

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By Drew Grant
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