Southbridge Recollections
Memories of the 1966 Parade and Local Ham Radio operators -
Al Watson
Hi Dick:
Thanks for
the offer to contribute
to your web site, even though I don't have anything specific to add to
it.
As to any memory of the
sesquicentennial parade I have no specific observations,
except to say
that Sally and I were assisting the Sunday School youth of Elm Street
Church
with their Endeavour to raise money by selling soft drinks, etc. to the
people who
came out to watch the parade. We were in a tent-like area at the
corner
of Main and Goddard Streets where the present Friendly is now
located.
Friendly was not there at the time. From this location we had a
good view
of the parade as it came from Hamilton onto Main and toward the center
of
town. It was an ideal location for me to take pictures.
I took
advantage of the link you
provided to bring back memories of Southbridge, AO, and other
subjects.
One subject, in particular, was the history of Harvey Wells.
I remember
Cliff Harvey (W1RF) well, as I visited him on occasion in his basement
"radio shack" and he gave a course in electronics to members of the
Quinnebaug Valley Amateur Radio Club (QVARC). Across the street
from Cliff
lived Stanley Knight, whose call letters I don't recall. Cliff's
early
partner in the business was John Wells, W1ZD.
At that
time in the history of
Southbridge, there was an active group of "Hams" from Southbridge and
Sturbridge, as well as other towns. I saw an entry by Keith
Knowlton in
your web site. I'm glad to see that Keith is keeping the Club
License
active. I remember him well, along with Paul Dobson and Bob
Lavallee. In this era we would have what we called "Fox Hunts"
wherein on particular nights one mobile ham would park somewhere in
Southbridge
and others would try to find him. I didn't have a mobile unit so
would
accompany Charlie Mach (K1RNH) who ran Kennedy Electric in the
Globe.
Another ham I remember is Roger Johnston in Brimfield who later became
Keith's
father-in-law. I happened to be at the Sturbridge Transfer
Station
earlier this fall and a younger man came up to me, after noticing my
call
letters on the number plate of my station wagon. He asked if I
new
Roger. It turns out he is Roger's son. Small world! By the
way, one
of the pieces of equipment I had along the way was a Harvey Wells TBS
50 D,
which I traded to Keith for an electronic keyer. I remember Keith as
one of the
greats with the 5 - string banjo!
My
original call letters were
K1ABP. In the early 80's Charlie and I went to the FCC in Boston
to
upgrade our licenses: Charlie to Advanced Class, and I went for the
Extra
Class. While living in Maine I applied to the FCC to change call
letters
- they issued me WG1D, which I still hold. I've been licensed for over
50 years!
Where does the time go?
I am
presently not very active in ham radio because of my hearing loss - I
can't
understand conversations coming from the radio, telephone, TV
(thank
Goodness for Closed Caption), and conversations when there is
background
noises, such as restaurants, etc.
By the
way, one of the pieces of
equipment I had along the way was a Harvey Wells TBS 50 D, which I
traded to
Keith for an electronic keyer.
I've got
to spend more time looking
over your web site.
Al Watson
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