Chester Chatter: From trash to treasures

By Ruthie Douglas
2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC

The best thing about Gerald Ford as president was when he allowed for hot lunch workers’ unemployment when school did not open for the summer.

It was a great time for my daughter and I to have fun. It was a time when many had taken up the hobby of hunting for old bottles. Much was written about the old bottles and glass insulators. And catalogs pointed to their history.

The telegraph lines ran along railroad lines, and here from Bellows Falls to the Chester Depot train station. When the telegraph service ended, down came the poles and the insulators. We picked up these insulators and many were dated 1927. We washed them and sold them to the Steamtown Gift Shop, which in turn sold them for $10 to $15 each.

On the Green Mountain Turnpike, behind the stone school house, we found inkwells from the early 1800s. Folks used to toss their rubbish behind their homes and it is where we found many treasures. We found bottles marked Chester Drug Store, some with their contents inside. We had lots of fun.

Scene and heard

The votes were cast and ballots counted last Tuesday and the new building for Chester’s police, fire and ambulances services has been approved.

The new paint and lighting in the upstairs of Chester Town Hall is just great. Chester residents should be proud of their town office. Have a look, if you haven’t yet.

Donna Whitney has returned home after spending a week with her daughter in Virginia.

The American Legion Auxiliary held a basket party this past Saturday at the legion hall. What a success it was. Some 80 baskets were up for bid and there was also a 50/50 drawing for special items and 100 gallons of fuel oil. The auxiliary was able to raise $5,000 for its projects.

Happy birthday to my granddaughter Ivy.

Remember our veterans on this Veterans’ Day.


Answer to last week’s trivia question: The Cream of the Crop was a thrift shop across the alley from what is now the Free Range Restaurant.

 This week’s trivia question: Where was Reid Gallery located?


Filed Under: Chester ChatterCommunity and Arts Life

About the Author: Ruthie Douglas is originally from Springfield but has called Chester her home for 58 years, and has been writing the Chester Chatter column for more than 40 of those years. Ruthie is also a longtime volunteer throughout the community.

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