February 22, 2005 - Vol. 16, No. 21
News That Concerns Kiwanians and Their Families
Attendance
20
Invocation
Jane Thibault
Senior Members
Peter Karagianis
Guests
From the Key Club: Sec.'y Bridget Cass, Bulletin Editor Alex
Stewart, Mike Beliveau, Owen Sanborn
Key Club
Sec.'y Bridget Cass reports that they will be putting together
a sketch show fundraiser at the High School (they will be looking
for judges from our club) and they will be sending several delegates
to the District Convention, April 6-10, in Springfield, Massachusetts.
They plan on having their regular meetings Wednesdays in Room
218.
Win a Classic!
Pres. Paul Cotton noted the participation at Motor-Psycho Madness,
Whittemore Center, U.N.H. last weekend by himself, Warren Mitchell,
Dianne Roberts, Don and Sue Nelson, Roger and Pam Landry, and
John Stow. Our roadshow to UMass., April 9/10 has been canceled.
Our next show will be at the boat show, Steeplegate Mall, Concord,
March 4/5.
Don't Show Up
Pres. Paul Cotton advised that we will be returning to Pheasant
Ridge Country Club Monday next.
RIF
Chair Joe Adrignola reports that Don Nelson, Kathy Calvin, Joe
Collie, Jane Thibault, Warren Mitchell, and Nancy Williams were
on hand at Elm Street School, Wednesday last. The next program
is at Woodland Heights School, Wednesday, March 9, 9:15a-10:30a:
Joe Adrignola, Don Nelson, Larry Murphy, John Stow, Kathy Calvin,
Warren Mitchell.
50/50
Jim Fortier/Joe Adrignola, $14
Fines
Sgt.@Arms Roger Landry found Chet Cilley, Larry Murphy, and Kathy
Calvin pinless and Kathy Calvin for being tardy.
Happy Dollars
Jim Fortier and Joe Adrignola had a dollar each for winning the
50/50.
Kiwanis Memories
by Sr. Member Ed
Chertok
This news item was in Saturday's Laconia Citizen's "Our
Yesterdays 75 Years Ago": With more than 1,000 in attendance,
"a large proportion of them women, the Republican Caucus,"
Feb. 12, "flung tradition to the wind and nominated Charles
E. Carroll for mayor by a vote of about three to one. Carroll
received 645 against 283 votes for Mayor Charles O. Hopkins."
Precedent had been "that time-honored custom under which
a mayor was permitted another turn by a sort of genial agreement
among the people at large." After Judge Frank B. Tilton
nominated Mayor Hopkins for reelection, Carroll stood up and
nominated himself. "When Carroll rose, he was greeted with
a burst of applause which thundered out into the street and caused
pedestrians to halt. He spoke smilingly and in his first words
remarked how happy he was to agree with Judge Tilton. He told
of the bond issues of 1927, 1928 and 1929 and then roared a scathing
denunciation of the expensive process by which Church street
was changed from a silver avenue into a golden boulevard with
a bronze tablet on the bridge to mark that thrifty administration.
Carroll paused deliberately. "It is true, as Judge Tilton
says," he added, "that Mayor Hopkins has not raised
your taxes but he has increased your indebtedness." This
brought a roar from the crowd and enthusiastic clapping of hands
from the women. "It is a pleasure," he continued, "to
coincide with Judge Tilton. I want to say that Laconia does need
a business administration by a man who is educated to conduct
it. Ladies and gentlemen, I therefore have the pleasure to nominate
Charles E. Carroll as the man who is best qualified to do it."
(LEC) Here is what it triggered in my memory: I remember Dad
Max coming home from the caucus and telling Mother that Charlie
Carroll had nominated himself. The caucus was held in the Armory
on Court Street. It was a wooden building where Masons Hall now
stands. After the new Armory was built on Union Avenue the building
was purchased by the Odd Fellows. Saturday night in the winter
there would be a basketball game and dancing there. There were
also professional boxing matches. Later, the Odd Fellows had
bowling alleys downstairs. The building burned sometime around
1950. The Odd Fellows built a new Hall on the front end of the
ruins, selling the back area to Cote Brothers Bakery who built
a distributing warehouse and garage. When Cote Brothers left
Laconia, I bought that building from them. Goulet Plumbing Supply
now occupies that building. The Odd Fellows sold their building
to the Masons several years ago. Now to get back to Charlie Carroll.
He was a colorful character, salesman, mortician's helper, and
aloud voice which he didn't hesitate to use. Speaking of Church
Street as a "golden" Blvd. I started to walk to the
high school from Cross Street in the fall of 1926. The bridge
on Church street was an old wooden narrow bridge with just enough
room for two cars, as it was built for teams of horses. The new
bridge was magnificent, just like the new bridge on Elm street
compared with the one that it replaced. However, those were tough
economic times in Laconia, the car shops had finally closed for
good in 1927 ( I think) and then the 1929 stock market crash
was a double blow. My Dad's business went from a volume of $75,000
at that time to a low of $ 25,000 by 1933. Things were so tough
in Laconia because people could not pay their taxes and the city
ran out of money so Charlie Carroll as mayor closed the schools
two weeks early, telling the teachers and all school employees
there was no money to pay them. Then, Charles Hopkins, Laconia
mayor, referred to in the news item was a prestigious Lakeport
resident. I knew his son Kenneth Hopkins who was a Kiwanian and
the partner in Hopkins and Barlow Hardware store besides the
Mt. Belknap Hotel in Lakeport Square. It was such a pleasure
to go into that store and smell the linseed oil, paint thinner,
etc. which came in casks from which the clerks would pour out
whatever amount the customer bought. Charlie Carroll went on
to become a Belknap County Commissioner. He married a "rich"
woman. I am not sure whether she was a widow or a divorcee. Her
husband had owned the Boston Elevated Railway. When Charlie died,
his widow bought the most expensive casket that Wilkinson could
supply so the story goes. It was also said that she placed ten
thousand dollars of cash in the casket with Charlie and, as the
story goes, Ace Beane swapped his check for the cash as the casket
was closed saying "This will be just as good where Charlie
is going."
Monday, March 21
Lakes Facilitator Anne Huff, N.H. Connections, will speak.
Monday, March 14
Our speaker will be School Resource Officer Kathleen Yale, Laconia
Police Dept.
Monday, March 7
Boards meet; NISE
Monday, February 28
We return to Pheasant Ridge Country Club. Supt. Joe Panarello,
Belknap County House of Corrections will speak.
Michael
Bastraw
Editor
Kiwanis Kronikle is a weekly publication of the Kiwanis Club of Laconia, N.H., P.O. Box 757, Laconia, N.H. 03247-0757. We meet Mondays at 6:15 p.m. at the Pheasant Ridge Country Club, Country Club Rd., Gilford, N.H. Please call your President or Secretary about any Member or family member in case of illness. Email: Michael Bastraw or Steve Loughlin
In Memory of Max Chertok, Charter Member - Normandin, Cheney, & O'Neil - Byse Agency - Baron's Major Brands - Wilkinson-Beane Funeral Home - Decorative Interiors - Laconia Savings Bank - Meredith Village Savings Bank - Martin, Lord & Osman, P.A. - The Village Bank - Hart's Turkey Farm Restaurant - Quik Laundry & Cleaners - Stafford Oil Company, Inc. - The Home Beautiful - Cantin Chevrolet/Mitsubishi Contact Webmaster at Mac'N Mike