Howdy do, sweet! Here we are in the middle o’ September already. Things are getting back to normal. The kiddies have settled into their school routines, and summer is waning and will officially be over next week. But there’s still one right o’ summer that has to be played through, and that’s the Apple Festival, sponsored by the First Church parish. That seems to slam the lid on summer each year, and effen mem’ry suits, there were some years the event brought the chill of fall with it.
I remember one year it was quite cold on the old Green and effen yew weren’t bundled up, you’d feel it. Still at this time ‘o year the mornings are chilly and the days get almost hot. Enjoy the festival, and the weather whilst we can. Heaven knows we’ll be bolting the windows and turning on the heat soon enuff.
Here in the Asylum by the Sea things have been a bit quiet. Politically, things are really quiet. Methinks the boys and girls that run our politics are working on the national election and staying away from the folderol that normally goes on in these parts.
I did notice that Ray Collins III, who is running as a GOPer in the 117th district, replacing Charlie Ferraro who is retiring after a good run, is advertising on the Internet. Yeah, even Cobina has to be on the web to see what’s going on in certain areas, and she noticed that Ray has some spots.
Of course, Ray got himself in trouble earlier in the summer and had to resign as a member of the police commish after a two-decade run. When that creep that tried to drown his kids was in lockup, Ray went in there and did what I think a lotta people wished they could. Still, it was not a good look.
Do I think that’ll hurt him? Nah. Like I said most people would’ve taken the opportunity effen it arose. So, as a campaign isshew it’s not much of a much. Ray has gotta do what Charlie did and what his father, who held the seat at one time did – knock on doors and wear out the shoe leather.
Meanwhile, like I said, much of the under-ticket electioneering seems to be under the radar. Of course, as far as the other two districts in the city, they are held by Demmies, and have been since Fred and Barney were tooling around in Bedrock, so a “rose garden campaign” as they used to be called, is probably what is in the cards.
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As yew’ll see this in the middle o’ the week once it’s posted, you will note that the city is going through another “Bulk Trash Week.” I can tell yew from experience in my own area o’ the city, people have been revving up fer this since the middle o’ last month. It’s amazing what people get rid of on Bulk Trash Week, and it usually extends well beyond the week itself.
But as Sammy Bluejay pointed out over tea last week, whilst the city posts the “hows” and “whys” of what will be acceptable and what won’t, dollars to doughnuts there are gonna be more than a few people who will put out trash that cannot be collected, and will be upset when it’s not picked up.
F’rinstance, boob tubes have not been picked up by trash haulers ever in my recollecting, and the city makes it known in all its publicity about the week that TVs are not to be put on the curb. Of course, now the TVs ain’t the big pieces of furniture they were in our day, they are more just screens, but those screens have things in them that need special handline.
Still, yew will see TVs on the curb, and they may be there for weeks before the homeowner or renter determines they are not going to be picked up. Same goes for other items the city can’t or won’t pick up. It must frustrate the hauler and the people in charge of the cityside. Effen we’ve learned anything, people don’t pay attention much, and then are upset because of what they don’t know.
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I made mention to you in the last missive that Cobina is hearing rumblings about Quigley Stadium again. Nelly Nuthatch told me she’s heard the same and that an organization that has a big stake in the city is looking at Front Avenue in general, and it’s not who you think it might be. As the saying goes, right church, wrong pew.
But the subjeck has come up cuz the West Haven Twilight League, which is a tenant over there, has heard the same rumors. Trouble is, that same rumor has been going around for years, yet this time it seems to have a bit more staying power. Nelly was reminiscing about the last time the city proposed getting rid of the stadium, and then it had the old stands and looked quite better than it does these days.
In fack, that situation was quite a big story in town, and it probably cost Azelio “Sal” Guerra a thoid term in City Hall. Back then in 1989, the old Allingtown families were still around, and they were livid that one of their assets was gonna be put on the chopping block. There was a big rally in the stadium, and that ws really the event that seemed to put Clem Evangeliste on the map as the GOP contender.
The rest as they say is history. Clem was elected in a tight race, and eventually put the city into insolvency with a budget that double-counted funds. It was quite the mess. The GOP hasn’t recovered since. Those families, for the most part aren’t around anymore, and the whole area has taken on a new feel. Effen Quigley Stadium or Front Avenue go on the block, Cobina doubts there will be much of a brouhaha.
But staying on that area, when Nelly was discussing that we ventured to the “Enterprise Zone” that was delineated along the Front Avenue corridor. By my recollection, that was before COVID made the scene and is four or five years ago now.
That was gonna offer tax incentives and land tracts to medical research and like biotech operations. Here we are some years later and not much has been done. One or two businesses that were in the city already have benefitted from the perks – and good for them – but like much of what happens when there is a big ballyhoo about something, not much happens. Pressers are called, big plans are announced, and then it’s put on the back burner.
Staying in Allingtown, Nelly had a few more observations. The library and the fire brigade were supposed to coalesce into one building operation with the station on one side and the library on t’other. Nelly sez that the plan is still being worked on, and supposedly, there might be some type of announcement sooner rather than later. With new people in the development offices, one wonders effen they are still getting their feet wet. We shall see soon enuff.
Finally, there is the former Forest Theater site. That was used as a staging area when the new look along the Boston Post Road was being built, and with the exception of the former drug store that closed, the area looks quite spiffy. Now, one wonders effen anything is ever gonna be put on that site. The chatter seems to be that eventually something will be done, but, like anything else, the construction would have to fill a need or whet an appetite to get occupants. Barring that, we might see the area continue in its present state. Brick and mortar sites hafta have real tenants or they might just be ghost towns. Big cities are learning that in real time.
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‘Twas nice to the Special Olympics bocce tournament back at the Old Grove Park over the weekend. It brought back many memories of the 1995 World Games, when this area worked very hard to make the visitors to the Greater New Haven area very welcome. There was a bit of that this time, too.
The competitions went on and the public enjoyed the intensity the athletes showed in their events. And effen yew don’t think bocce is a big deal to some people, yew’ve never been down there on a summer’s even when some big contests are being competed. It could get heated.
Still there was none of that, but there was good fun and good cheer all over the venue. Nice to see the event back after a nine-year hiatus. There are some things that just seem right, and the city hosting that event is one of them.
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Cobina is still not happy about them tearing down the old Washington School, but she is marveling at the way the new building is going up. I mentioned this to yew back in the midsummer. I know a lotta the components are prefabricated, and it gives the whole feel of the construction as a bit of a big Erector Set.
But the shape of the building is being made by the components and it’s quite something at the precision of the parts. They fit just so.
Tennyrate, while we sometimes wonder effen any construction is going to happen in these parts (see above) this seems to be going along about as smoothly as could be, and the May 2025 deadline seems to be quite workable. That alone is something to be marveled at. We shall see.
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With that bit o’ chatter, I’ll close this time till next, mitt luff und kizzez,