Only a Picture Stops Time

Aug 15, 2009 White Elephant Sale - 148th New Ipswich Children's Fair  Bob with his pile of treasures The 161st Children's Fair will be held on August 20, 2022 on the grounds of the Congregational Church in New Ipswich, NH. However it will not have the White Elephant sale that was a popular attraction a decade ago. This is a look back at what it was like back then when Bob and Wendy Grippardi would organize the piles of donations and attempt to make them attractive enough for sale. Wendy keeps it tidy Rummage Sale The White Elephant sale shared the space with a clothing rummage sale which always featured some stylish threads. Dress for comfort This was BEFORE the Green Center existed

 A Fire-Breathing Dragon I guess it was inevitable that Bill Tobin would come up with something special for the 1987 Regatta on Water Loom Pond. He was a builder with a creative mind. He wasn't going to settle with just a Loch Ness replica, this was a fully operational FIRE BREATHING Loch Ness replica. The Seal Of New Hampshire Years later, Bill would create his masterpiece. A larger than life three dimensional replica of Seal of New Hampshire. It made many appearances over the years such as this on in the Amherst, NH 2011 Fourth of July parade. I never did learn what became of the dragon. Perhaps some misty morning I might spot it at Water Loom belching fire.

  New Ipswich Transfer Station We no longer have a dump in traditional sense. We have a transfer station. However I have fond memories of Scofield Town Dump picking with my dad on Saturday in Stamford, CT. Old habits don't fade away, so I still check out the metal pile in New Ipswich to see what treasures I might find. Imagine my surprise when I saw an Oscilloscope. I wasn't just any run of of the mill oscilloscope, it was made by DuMont Laboratories . They were pioneers in television technology. They were famous for their Cathode Ray Tubes, which is the heart of an Oscilloscope. What the hell is an Oscilloscope? In my opinion an oscilloscope is the ultimate electronic test instrument. It can graph an electrical signal in X-Y coordinates and display it on a CRT screen. If you've ever watched Outer Limits or Ernie Kovacs , you've seen an oscilloscope display. Usually the electrical signal is plotted against time but if two sinusoidal signal are plotted against each othe...

  GREENVILLE NEW HAMPSHIRE RaiL-HISTORY-Road Some historical information gathered about the activities of this railroad terminal. It was fully active from the time it was built around 1850 to 1950. It served the textile industry, chair industry, and wood turning industry, serving New Ipswich, N.H. Temple, NH, and Greenville farmers. There were three round trips of the passenger trains per day, six days a week and one round trip on Sundays. The hours of departure at 6.45A.M., return at 10.15AM, next train departure 11.45 AM. return at 215P.M., last train departure at 4.45 P.M., return at 7.15 P.M. Sunday departure at 6.45 A.M., return at 4.00 P.M. Mileage to Ayer Junction Mass. was about twenty miles going through Pratt Station, Mason N.H, West Townsend, Townsend Center, Townsend Harbor, West Groton and Ayer Mass. There was freight service six days a week, once every day. Ayer Junction terminal has served passengers and freight traffic coming from Boston on the Fitchburg Division, f...

  The 1946 Appleton class photo brought back some memories for some readers. Here is something a bit more "recent". The Appleton Academy class of 1958 in Washington, DC. It appears that the photographer spent some time arranging everybody by height with one exception.

  The Senior Class Trip to Washington, DC and a chance to meet New Hampshire Senator Charles W. Tobey in 1946. Appleton Academy senior class in Washington, DC on a sightseeing tour. Senior Class Trip chaperones were Emil Saari and Virginia Aho. Emil Saari, chaperone for the Appleton Academy Senior Trip in 1946.