The leaders and employees of Norwich have got to come to come to the reality that the days of autonomy and independence of individual departments is over.  They have got to realize that everyone must work together for any one individual, let alone the City of Norwich to progress.

Why is it so important that the Senior Center, Adult Education and the Recreation Department have separate bulletins?  For heaven’s sake department heads join forces and add Otis library programs and ask the churches, schools, scouts, fire departments, and anyone else with a formal program to join in too. If you are not certain who they are, ask. Someone will help you.  YOU should be demonstrating and promoting yourselves as leaders in making Norwich a bigger, brighter and better city to live in.

We all want to have jobs with financial security but what better way can there be to establish yourself as indispensable than to find new, better and more cost efficient ways of getting things done. Imagine how thick and exciting the pamphlet would be if it were to list all of the activities available for toddlers, school children, teenagers, adults and senior citizens to do in one place instead of own individual fliers.

The time has got to come to an end of, “If you didn’t know to check with so and so or look there” you really weren’t interested. Norwich is a city, residents and visitors have lots available to them and its time we became loud and proud of what we have to offer.

Whether you are an elected official or an employee it is time for you to stand up and lead, follow or get out of the way.

Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com

View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs01?taxid=1172

Great project happening in Taftville documenting its history in film and they are looking for videotapes  of any of Rene Dugas’ talks. Anyone who has information or such tapes is asked to contact Samuel P. Browning at TappingReeve@aol.com.

Like all of the communities of Norwich , Taftville has a rich and colorful history and I am hoping that this documentary will be more than the standard recitation of the mills were built and people came to work there.  “Look at the factory building. It is very long and has a bell tower. People came from far and wide to shop there.  The mills were famous for their quality cotton, wool and velvet cloth.”  

Those are the standard stories for all of the communities that have a mill. I am desperately hoping for the stories of the people. The romances, the shopkeepers, the land barons (yes, there were a few. The pieces of land or house may have been small, but for those that had scrimped and saved it was an estate as large as any castle known and it was theirs.

I want to hear the stories of the sports stars who came home to Norwich to run their tavern. Regular readers of my Norwich Bulletin blog know this story well.  I want to read of the great fires of Taftville so I am hoping the documentarians will be accessing the news film libraries locally as well as in Boston, Providence and New York. There is so much more available than ever before.

I have blogged a few of the crimes of Taftville that came from other cities and states. Those stories built the impressions of how people outside of the area saw Norwich and Taftville.

There are stories of the adventures and misadventures of the school children and the mischievous adults, the faithful, the unfaithful, the disappearing (there were quite a few), the murders and the occasional mayhem.

Deep in Norwich City Hall there are some amazing plans and maps of how the streets were laid out. OK some have them have wandered away and are now framed on the walls of private homes but there should be enough left to tell quite a story.  The growth of the neighborhoods is also documented in the city directories. Names, addresses, ages and occupations can be found there. Not just men but the women as well.  Who were the first female voters of Taftville and why were they the first? By the way does anyone know how many US Presidents have visited Taftville?

I can’t wait to see this project  and hope it inspires the other Norwich communities to rise up and tell their stories .

Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com

View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs01?taxid=1172

Valentine’s day is not my best holiday. I think of it more as a retail free for all.  Everyone demonstrates their love or admiration for another by purchasing stuff.

Did you Know?

Juno is the Roman goddess of love, marriage and women, but the name June has fallen out of favor with new parents more interested in naming their children after fruits and cities.

While over 190 million cards are given for Valentine’s Day, the number is still second behind Christmas.  The City of Verona, Italy post office still receives over 1,000 letters addressed to Shakespeare’s Juliet from Romeo and Juliet.

In the 1800’s doctors would prescribe chocolate to patients suffering from lost love. Now Americans purchase over one billion dollars of chocolate for this one day alone without a prescription.   

Geoffrey Chaucer wrote the poem “Parliament of Foules,” in 1375 and is credited with being the first to mention Valentine’s Day. Chaucer wrote that on February 14^th birds and humans go about choosing their mates.

“For this was on Saint Valentine’s day,

When every fowl comes there his mate to take,

Of every species that men know, I say,

And then so huge a crowd did they make,

That earth and sea, and tree, and every lake

Was so full, that there was scarcely space

For me to stand, so full was all the place.”

 Wearing your heart on your sleeve was popular before it was advertising for your favorite city, beer or sports team.  In the Middle Ages, men and women would pull names out of a bowl, and would then wear that name on their sleeve for the next week.

In Norwich in the February 6, 1875 Evening Mail there was the following announcement

“Married, at Norwich, Sunday evening, 31st December, Dr. Enoch Smith, so called, aged 66, more or less, a renowned collier, to the amiable and accomplished Miss Mary Melony, a celebrated tailoress, aged 26 next grass.” I am hoping that means she will be 26 next spring.  

Buddah was once asked the difference between I love you and I like you. His answer was If you like a flower, you pluck it. But when you love a flower, you water it daily.

This weekend is also the great Backyard Bird Count. So if you are not a regular feeder of our feathered friends but want to participate you can purchase cracked corn and seeds by the handful at Agways on 217 Otrobando Avenue, Norwich, CT. norwichagway@gmail.com or http://www.norwichagway.com They are very helpful and will even give you directions to Mohegan Park Center and Brown Park. It just takes 15 minutes of your time to count the birds you see on the ground and report them on www.birdcount.org.  Please mention you saw this on Norwich Nuggets and thank you for participating!

Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com

View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs01?taxid=1172

Why is it that when I start looking at anything one of the first things that begins to appear in my notes is a list? Never the same list twice but a list of things I need to check out, things I need to compare, things, things, things!

This time I began looking at retirement communities; different communities across the country and not just in Norwich or in Connecticut.  

My list this time began pretty simply with things like distance from family, friends, weather, restaurants, shopping, educational facilities, entertainment, public transportation, transportation, (bus, train, plane, ferry.)  And that was just about the surroundings.  Then I began a list of all of the amenities of the individual centers. The list started out pretty simply but when I tried to add all the things that made each place that I looked at interesting all I can say is thank heavens Excel can really expand without end.

Facilities can be found nationally in every state, city and community. Most of them have websites with enhanced pictures so you have to be careful to check everything before you sign on any dotted line.  You also have to decide what you are looking for and how you are going to pay for it.  What are the banking facilities like in the area you are interested in? Will there be mortgage, purchase fees, maintenance fees, entrance fees, monthly fees, parking fees? When was the facility built? Updated? Renovated?  

Are you looking to move into an apartment, condo, cottage, assisted living? Steps, stairs, elevators, handicap access? What about the shower or bathtub?  Are the rooms big enough to have furniture and a wheelchair? How big is the kitchen? Not for catering purposes but for being able to prepare meals and heat up water for tea.  Can I reach the cabinets and do the counters come in colors for people with vision problems, what is the lighting like?  What are the floors like?  

Then there are the comparisons of the facilities and what they have that might be needed in the future. Things such as skilled care beds, memory loss units, meals, exercise programs, physical therapy, walking trails, pool, library, activities room, classes, Wi-Fi access, beauty salon, wood shop, emergency call button, storage and housekeeping services.

All of this is only the tip of the iceberg of the items that need to be examined and compared before a move can be made. What comparisons am I missing?

Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.comView my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs01?taxid=1172

One of the best kept secrets of Norwich are the Pineapples of  Norwich, CT. The pineapples are hidden in plain sight and can be found in abundance on Laurel Hill, Bean Hill, in Yantic, Greenville, Taftville and Norwichtown.

Pineapples equate with hospitality because as the remote islands of the Caribbean were discovered in the 1600’s the natives would hang the fruit at the entrances to their homes as a welcome to strangers.   It wasn’t long before colonial houses began showcasing the fruit through images in paintings and carvings into the columns at their entrances, common areas, fences and gates.  The pineapple became a symbol also of extravagance, prestige, and wealth.  So much of an extravagance that some people would rent a pineapple for a special event decoration in their parlors or living rooms.  The pineapple was soon carved into trays and wooden bowls reserved for guests.  

Often when a visitor spent the night, he was given the bedroom which had the pineapples carved on the bedposts or headboard–even if the bedroom belonged to the head of the household.  But it was not only that the wood-carvers etched the immortal symbol, but the needle-workers hands have preserved this symbol in family heirlooms over the centuries. Items such as pineapple samplers, table cloths, and crochet doilies. Modern decorative items include pot holders, towels, small framed accents, drink coasters, decorative flags, brass door knockers, curtain finials, stair-rail and mailbox posts, and welcome mats.

Just as in past period times, colonial, victorian and homes of today are still decorated with paintings, photographs, and even logos adorned with the pineapple as the universal symbol for hospitality although our sailors are no longer bringing the fruit home from a faraway place and placing it on the gatepost.

The next time you are out on a walk, look for the pineapples as visual reminders of the welcoming and hospitality of Norwich.

Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com

View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs01?taxid=1172