I drove through Baldwinville on my way to a listing appointment in Winchendon last week. I was hit with memory upon memory as I drove through my hometown.
Crossing the Otter River Bridge where the color of the river was always a surprise in the ‘70s, Baldwinville Garage, Ray’s Variety (where we were all viewed as likely shoplifters), the combination police station/laundromat/apartments, the wall in front of the Memorial Congregational Church (where my Brownies meetings were held, but never were we allowed to sit on that wall) and Mrs. Hubbard’s Nursery School on the corner of Elm and Pleasant.
Just after Mrs. Hubbard’s Nursery School and before the church where we went to Vacation Bible School (don’t look for it because it’s a Dunkin’ now) is a left on to Pleasant Street. That’s the neighborhood I grew up in…Fessenden Street (where we lived), Columbus Ave, Summer Street (where we lived later), Forest Street (where my Kosakowski cousins lived), Cherry Street and Fisher Street (where my Chipman cousins lived until they moved in with us on Fessenden Street). Our neighborhood was full of modest homes on small lots, with two variety stores (Flis’ and Frank’s) where we got our penny candy.
It’s just so ironic that when I arrived home from that appointment, after driving through Baldwinville twice, I received a text that Pete Duprey had just passed away. Obituary and services information here.
With the grid layout of the streets in ‘Back Bay’, our back yard was also someone else’s back yard. Our yard lined up with the Taft, Adams, Beane, Tutlis and Duprey families, and Mrs. Columbus–who my grandmother (living in our garage/studio apartment) referred to as ‘Columbus’. My grandmother Rose ‘Ma’ Andrews drove well past when she probably should have, and she brought Columbus along with her to the thrift shops and grocery shopping.
This was a great neighborhood to spend your childhood in–mainly because all the moms were home all day, so we were sent out to ‘play in the neighborhood’ all day. Two things we knew–#1: Don’t come inside when your mom is watching her soaps (including ‘All My Children’, also kind of ironic since we couldn’t come inside), and #2: You’d better be home by dinner.
Nothing said you’d better head home for dinner more than Pete Duprey’s signature two-fingers whistle. Pete and Bette lived on the corner of Summer Street and Columbus Ave in Baldwinville with their kids Petey, Michelle and Michael. Michelle was my best friend, although being 2 years older than me, she probably doesn’t remember that I existed, but I sure looked up to her.
One time, perhaps the time I most vividly remember getting in trouble in my childhood, Shelly and I took to the road on our bikes to go see her grandma on Bridge Street. If you know anything about Baldwinville, you know that to get from the corner of Summer and Columbus to Bridge Street, you must cross the highway. Turns out we were missing persons, and we sure got in a load of trouble once we were located. I was 5 and she was just 7 at the time.
Another time I remember getting in trouble with her was when the only bike we could find was my father’s. Between the two of us, we decided that if we had only one bike and wanted to get somewhere, I should ride in the baby seat. I don’t think I was smaller than her, I was just younger and she was better on the bike than I was. Parts of me hurt to this day remembering this adventure. We were at the playground between Baldwinville Elementary School and our third grade school, which is pretty high up on a hill…we had to get home because it was about dinner time and we knew we should be very close by when we heard Pete Duprey’s whistle.
We hopped on the bike–her in the driver’s seat and oversized me in the baby seat wearing flip-flops (morons) and blasted down the hill. If you know the area where route 202 curves just before the Otter River Bridge, imagine when we hit a patch of sand in front of the Boynton Public Library (now the Municipal Light office). I am afraid to get on a bike without proper shoes, to this day.
Pete Duprey worked with my father at both H&R in Gardner (firearms assembly) and Level Manufacturing in Winchendon (restaurant furniture assembly)– – in the 70’s/80’s when manufacturing jobs were local and could support a family, including owning a home.
Writing this story, I was determined to find neighborhood photos and newspaper clippings with Pete Duprey in them. The best I could find is the photo above, showing Bette Duprey along with (all now deceased except for Bette, from L to R), my uncle Tom Kosakowski, Grampa Rich (actually not my grampa, but that’s what we called him) and my stepfather Ray Page.
I am committed to figuring a way to scan/sort/store photos so that I can find photos as needed, and so as to not burden my kids with buckets of photos where they know only some of the people.
I actually spent about 6 hours looking for a specific photo album that I know is ‘around here somewhere’ in order to have photos that would be actually representative for this story. I did not find that album. I also just ‘helped’ seller clients by bringing all their old family photos to one room of the house they were sorting through, and I think I actually just overwhelmed them by showing them the photos mountain they had to deal with.
Please SHARE your success stories, your storage solutions, etc. on what to do to avoid dumping a massive pile of photos on my kids, and how to create something that’s searchable and enjoyable to look through. I’m a little afraid of Google Photos, but am open to ideas!