Talking about trolleys
On Monday, June 19, at the Wilde Chapel at Portland’s Evergreen Cemetery, Donald Curry, shop manager of the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, spoke and showed slides of the Riverton Trolley Park during its heyday. He wore a conductor’s cap and jacket. His talk was titled, “Trolleys Were The Way To Go.”
Several in the audience had visited the park when it was active. It opened in 1896. My father took us children out there in the summer to enjoy the amusement section rides.
The city of Portland bought the property in 1946. All of the old buildings were demolished. What a shame, as the beautiful, big casino building was designed by Portland’s famous architect, John Calvin Stevens. The building included a reading room, a dance hall, and dining rooms. On the 38-acre park, were an amphitheater facing the Presumpscot River used for concerts, a croquet court and an animal park. Canoes could be rented at the park, and visitors paddled them on the river. The trolleys left visitors at the landing at the park. Trolleys left Monument Square in Portland, steamers left Cumberland Mills in Westbrook, going down the river to the park. It was a very busy and popular place.
Mr. Curry’s slides of Riverton Park, and also of the Kennebunkport Trolley Museum, and his comments were very interesting.
We read in the June 19 Portland Press Herald that the city hopes to “recapture a jewel, long-lost to a forest.” The ride from Monument Square to the park was advertised as “a 10-cent escape, a ride into the country for a nickel each way.”
It will be nice to see the park developed. The Friends of Riverton Trolley Park, are working on plans to give hikers more trails to walk on, and visitors in general to have this area as a place to relax, have picnics, etc.
Octogenarian triathlete won’t be hindered by age
This headline appeared in the June 27th Boston Herald, with a picture of World War II Navy veteran Mary Stroebe, 88, on her bicycle, training for her 12th triathlon to be held July 15th in Madison, Wis.
The triathlon is a succession of swimming, biking and running. In January, Mary broke her left leg after a snowboarder fell in front of her while she was skiing at Squaw Valley. Doctors forbade her to compete in this year’s triathlon, but she said, “Nothing doing.”
Almost every day she spends up to three hours riding, biking or walking.
Another comment of hers – “I think I’m young, so I act like it. I don’t realize how old I am. I’m in good health and good shape. I’ve stayed active the whole time. Those are things that pay off.”
Isn’t she remarkable? We have 88-year old friends who also are still skiing and playing golf. They have stayed active all their lives too.
RECIPE
This recipe in my files was dated Nov. 17, 1965, and was in the South Portland-Cape Elizabeth Journal. I had also typed that Westbrook’s Camille Huard liked them and that Kate asked me for the recipe. I had made them when our family rented Rufus Jones’s nice cottage “on that lovely vacation,” on Dyke Mountain. I recall that Kate Hay Guest and Bob visited us there and presume that I had baked them then, and that I had probably baked a batch to take to my sister’s cottage at Watchic Lake when Camille (named Larry Brooks when he was a famous Broadway singing star) was visiting Jane and Merrill at the lake.
Anyhow, I’m glad they liked it!
CHOCOLATE BITS SQUARES
2 cups (about 24 crackers), fine graham cracker crumbs, firmly packed
1 pkg. (6 oz.) chocolate bits
1/2 cup chopped nutmeats
1 can (15 oz.) of condensed milk
Combine crumbs, bits and nuts, blend in condensed milk. Pour into 8×8 greased pan. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown, about 40 minutes. Cool and cut into 2-inch squares. (I baked mine 30 minutes in my gas oven).
Send questions/comments to the editors.
