Moving along with the summer season, I see we are in preparation for the annual Savin Rock Festival aat the Old Grove Park. Whilst it is the last weekend of the month, yew know that things are prepped earlie than that as the rides and amusements are put up in the area near the Grove.
It also means that July will be over, and we’d be headin’ into the Dog Days of Summer. With it comes more mugginess (more than we’ve had), and the beginning of the late summer-early fall fishing season. Blues and other fish bring out hundreds of people along our piers and jetties. It jest means summer is rolling along and will be over before we know it.
Heck, Cobina has started to see “back to school” commercials already. I remember as a kid, when hearing those ads in the heyday of radio, when those commercials came over our Atwater Kent, m’self was none too pleased.
Tennyrate, with the Savin Rock Festival in the offing, ‘tis interesting that Cobina got this note in the post a few days ago. I thought I’d share it. It came from a friend of ours, and it speaks of a problem that was mentioned and dealt with last year, but like the seasons has to be dealt with each summer.
“The area around the Lone Sailor has again become a hangout for loud, drunken vagrants and people with off-leash dogs. I tried taking the grandkids down there yesterday and had to go elsewhere. Wasn’t this spot supposed to be West Haven’s Pride and Joy?”
Two things. Foist off, when this became a problem last summer, and this papyrus reported upon it, there was the usual hue and cry from certain quarters that we were picking on those in lowly estate (to put it poetically). The question of “what could be done to help these poor people?” was mentioned several times.
Cobina is always amazed that for some, the question is always an either/or. If the city is trying to keep its public areas clean, presentable and usable by keeping the “night culture” out of the way, we become Simon LeGree. Many of those people can be helped and there are programs to help them, but they don’t seek that help.
Nobody wants to put them in prisons or workhouses, but people have a right to have their public areas without having to climb over people sleeping on the benches or making a mess by pitching a lean-to. The “night culture” in this town has been a well-known secret for decades.
Secondly, we see the City Council is considering an ordinance against off-leash dogs on the beach. Most people know better. Some either don’t know better, or won’t know better. Anyone who walks the shore at any pernt of the day, but particularly early in the morning or later in the evening, know the number of dogs being walked (or walking their owners). Given the fact there are many people down there, no dogs should be unleashed.
There shouldn’t be the need for the City Council to pass an ordinance, it should be common sense, but we know there are a lotta people who somehow missed the boat when that was divvied out.
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Sammy Bluejay was here t’other afternoon and we got talkin’ about the ground survey that was done to find out if there are any remains of Adj. William Campbell, late of His Majesty’s forces that landed on Savin Rock 245 years ago. We have always made a joke that the reason things in West Haven are so screwy sometimes goes way back. After all, what other community can claim that its main drag is named after the enemy? Methinks that makes us unique.
Well, Campbell was killed as the redcoats moved toward New Haven. Snipers fired upon the marching soldiers, and Campbell was a casualty. He was buried on the Allingtown Hill, and his monument has been a place of historic moments for a while. Last year, his descendants came across the pond from Scotland and honored him.
The gizmos they used at the monument site were to see effen the soldier’s remains were still extant in the burial location. I know local historians were interested in the projeck and who knows what happens next.
Whatever happens, it’s a good story to tell new generations of West Haveners. It has decency, conflict, and is part of our history. Effen they do find any remains, let’s hope they don’t dig them up. Campbell has done enough. He’s earned the rest.
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Hang onto yore hat, Felicia! As if getting in and outta this burg isn’t hard enough, the next two-plus years are gonna be Hades and then some. Effen yew haven’t hoid, the state is gonna do replacement work on two bridges that are part of I-95: the First Avenue overpass, and the span that goes over the railroad tracks and the West River estuary.
As we noted in this week’s editorial, this ain’t the foist time that the DOT has worked in these parts. It’s been less than 10 years since the real Exit 44 was eliminated in that same area, and the configuration we have now has been in use. Let’s jest say getting into the city at rush hour is not a “rush.” It’s more like a crawl.
For 27 months this is supposed to take place, meaning that I-95 is have lanes rerouted and all kinds of back ups effen past projects like this are any indication. Because of the problems with the new configuration over on Kelsey Avenue, many people have avoided that exit and gone via First Avenue or Sawmill Road when going south.
I might hafta bring Madame Olga here to look at her crystal ball, but effen lanes are closed or rerouted, that makes using those exits a bit more difficult going south. We ain’t really seen the way the DOT guys have planned it. Supposedly, it’s still in the “planning stages.” But how much you wanna bet this burg is gonna be a traffic nightmare for more than two years? Effen Cobina was a bettin’ gal, she’d drop the mortgage on it.
It ain’t gonna be pleasant, and people will try to use backroads or alternate routes. That will only show how difficult getting into and outta our little corner of the universe is.
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As I am scribing this missive, Herroner and the governor are gonna be having a press conference to discuss rehab that’s gonna happen on Melloy School on Meloy Road (yeah, yew read that right). The plan is to make it a community center for various things. A few kopecks have been set aside for the projeck, and, of course, this gave everyone an opportunity to have a presser and the usual photo op.
Well, on a practical note, as mentioned by Iva Lootey, the former school, which is currently housing the students from Washington School whilst the new building is being constructed, is perty centrally located to all parts of the city, is on a major artery, and already has some community cred as the Community Garden is there in the back. Soooo, I guess making it a community center of sorts was a no-brainer.
It’ll be interesting to see how this pans out. We’ve had schools used as community centers before, but always housing just one or two different agencies or groups. This seems to be a more “under one roof” approach. We’ll see where this goes.
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The Wag came in t’other day and we were discussing the two PD officers that saved those young toddlers a few weeks back. Luckily, they got there in the nick of time, which means Providence was looking down, and they apprehended the culprit.
But, it got us to talkin’. Remember a couple years back and “Defund the Police” was all the rage, and certain quarters of the city determined this was a good idea? In this community the movement didn’t takeoff like it did elsewhere. And that might’ve helped the fack that these kids were saved.
In today’s “victim culture” everyone wants to put themselves in the position of underdog, and they make silly buzz statements like “defund the police.” Aside: they always seem to be two- or three-word phrases.
Tennyrate, like we said earlier, things don’t hafta be either/or, they can be both/and. Our police do a job nobody wants these days. And incidents like the one a few weeks ago shows why we need them, and the way they protect our community.
Here endeth the rant.
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I’ll end this installment with an observation that we’ve had another two weeks since our last publication, and nothing has been done on the erstwhile Haven property. Maybe, the reconstruction on I-95 will have a stalling effeck on that as well. Who knows?
With that bit o’ chatter, I’ll close this week till next, mitt luff und kizzez,