Brookfield Down Through the Years

 Memories are funny things. You can go along for years without thinking about something and then, out of nowhere, someone or something triggers a memory from the past. Those of us who have lived here most of our lives know how much Brookfield has grown and changed through the years.

After a stop at the Brookfield Market recently, I found myself thinking about how it has changed since I was a child. One of the things I most remember is that the entrance was located on the very front of the building near the bridge over the Still River, not on the side as it is now. It was one of the few places in town where you could buy groceries.

Times were simpler years ago. There were many farms here–today, houses sit in meadows where cows once grazed and crops grew. Some of the farms had large tracts of land, many of which were swallowed up by the building boom of the 1960s and ’70s. I grew up on the Gurski Farm, which is now town-owned open space. My mother and I would often go to the Mudry farm up the road from us on Obtuse Hill Road (Route 133) to pick blackberries. I remember one of those experiences very well, because it was there that I was frightened by a blacksnake that was bent on keeping us company in the berry patch. The Mudry farm is gone, and so too are the blackberries as well as the other farms that existed at that time.

Our pleasures seemed simpler back then despite living in the shadow of the cold war. I remember drills in school where we would get under our desks or go to the basement. How those actions would have helped us survive a nuclear attack still makes me wonder. Talk about exercises in futility.

I don’t remember many organized activities when I was a child. We pretty much had to make our own fun. There were some events, however, that were entertaining. How many remember Melody Fair that offered musicals under a tent on a large field later occupied by Caldor, and now Kohl’s?  My mom took me a couple of times—my first experience with musical theater.

Remember soda fountains? A pharmacy at the Four Corners had a soda fountain that had as one of its offerings the best fresh orange ice cream soda that I have ever tasted. I have never found another like it and have failed miserably trying to duplicate it at home with orange soda (for the fizz) and ice cream. It was a special combination of fresh orange juice, seltzer water, and rich, rich vanilla ice cream. The pharmacy, in addition to prescriptions and the soda fountain, also offered gift items. During my high school years and after, my best friend and I spent quite a lot of money there. You could always find the perfect gift for someone there as well as cards, wrapping paper, and bows. Unlike the Walgreen’s and other drugstores today, there was no food for sale except at the soda fountain.

Federal Road has changed a great deal since I was a child. There were no traffic lights. There was no I-84 or Super 7 bringing lots of traffic to town. There were a few small stores but no big box stores. There were tourist cabins behind two houses where Brookfield Commons is now. The bakery that recently opened was once Lavelle’s Wagon Wheel, a great place to eat that had the best prime rib you could find. My family often went there for dinner or for a snack in the evening following shopping in Danbury.

There were few places to shop in Brookfield, thus the need to go to Danbury for clothing and other needs.

One thing was certain: There were not many places for teenagers to work in Brookfield. I never had a job until I was a senior in high school, and that was at an insurance company in Danbury. I started working there after school, then worked full time after graduation. I remember being excited because I had to have my first car. I would drive to school, then to work, and then home. I considered that the best part of my senior year. It gave me my first real taste of freedom.

The center of Brookfield has changed from what I remember. The Brookfield Museum and Historical Society was the town hall when I was a small child; then it became the Joyce Memorial Library. Since the Consolidated School (now Center School) was just down the street from it, my classmates and I would walk up School Street to borrow books or do research assignments. The house on the corner next to St. Joseph’s Church later became a convent for nuns who taught at St. Joseph’s School

The Village Store was one place that teenagers could work. I had two friends who worked there over our teen years. They would wait on customers and, if needed, deliver groceries to local residents.

The house on the left side of St. Paul’s Church was the Congregational Church rectory; St. Paul’s rectory was a Victorian house located on Longmeadow Hill Road almost opposite St. Joseph’s rectory. The Congregational Church and St. Paul’s were the only churches in the center when I was a child. St. Joseph’s was located then on Pocono Road.

Highway names sometimes changed. Candlewood Lake Road was once White Turkey Road, named for the inn that sat on the corner of Federal Road. Passenger trains then stopped at the station near the Brookfield Market, now part of the Craft Center complex. My elementary class once took the train to Danbury to see the sights in the “city,” such as the big firehouse and City Hall, both no longer located where they were then. Our firehouse at the time was just south of the center on Route 25. The building, which had other uses before it was a firehouse, has been an apartment building for many years. I once went there to interview a fireman for a school project. I often remember that as I pass it on the way to errands or appointments.

There are so many more memories from my youth here, but one thing I have learned as a a resident is to adapt to the changes I have seen happening all around me. I could not expect Brookfield not to change through the years. It is no longer the rural farm town I remember. Years from now there no doubt will be additional changes, as plans become reality for the northern Four Corners.

Despite the changes, even negative ones, such as increased traffic, Brookfield is as great a place to live today as it was when it had one-quarter of its current population. It just takes a little more time to get around than it once did, especially now with municipal projects moving forward on Federal Road. You just have to know what roads to take to avoid delays in getting where you want to go.

The Girl Scouting Experience

 

One hundred years ago, Juliette Gordon Low of Savannah, Ga., was so impressed with the new Boy Scouts organization that she decided to begin one focused on girls. Today, more than 3.2 million girls and adults in 90 countries are members, and nearly 60 million women in the United States are Girl Scout alumnae. I am one of the alumnae.

I didn’t start out in Girl Scouting as a small child as my granddaughter, Jenna, has done. I wasn’t a Daisy. In fact, it wasn’t until I was in high school that I joined Senior Girl Scout Troop 6 in Brookfield.

We met once a week at the home of our leader, Barbara Walker, the wife of Congregational Church pastor Edward Walker. Their house, located to the left of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, became one of my favorite places during my four years of high school.

That house, after falling into disrepair over the years, has been replaced by a new one, but my memories of the good times we had in the Walker home have not changed.

We learned so many things in those weekly sessions, earning badges for our endeavors. But that is not all we learned there. We learned to have confidence in ourselves and to have the courage to try new things and accept new ideas. Most of all Scouting helped build our characters; it helped us become the people we are today. It taught us to work as a team for a common goal as well as take on individual projects of our own.

We learned to set goals. One of the things we most wanted to do was to visit Washington, D.C. To make it possible financially for everyone in the troop to go, we held bake sales and enlisted the local Explorer Boy Scouts to join us in a variety show. I sang in the chorus and played two piano solos while other members of the two troops played other musical instruments or acted out skits. It was fun, and it helped raise funds for our trip.

We later gave a thank you party at St. Paul’s parish hall for the Explorers for helping out and taking part in the show. We played games and had refreshments, and even our leaders, Mrs. Walker and Cole Bradley, seemed to have a good time.

We also helped with community service projects, such as serving refreshments at Red Cross bloodmobiles and other local activities. It was an early look for us to see the many ways individuals can volunteer to help their town. I like to think that my involvement with Girl Scouts led to my later service on boards and commissions in Brookfield and 10 years as a 4-H leader.

The trip to Washington, D.C., in 1955 was a dream come true for me. I have always been interested in government and politics, and I was thrilled to see the Capitol building, where we had our photograph taken on the steps with one of our Connecticut senators. We stayed at a Girl Scout facility in Virginia and went into Washington every day and at night to see all the buildings lighted. We visited the White House, Supreme Court, Library of Congress, Washington Cathedral, Jefferson and Lincoln memorials and the Smithsonian and climbed the Washington Monument. My favorite was the Lincoln Memorial, and I think I have read almost every book written about President Lincoln.

The cathedral was lovely, but it was still under some construction in 1955. It is now undergoing repairs following last year’s earthquake that caused damage to it. It is expected that its repairs could take several years.

We even got lost around the Pentagon. No matter what street we drove down, it seemed like we ended up by it. Finally, Mrs. Walker stopped the car and asked a man in an Army uniform, apparently an officer, for directions. Those of us in the three cars looked on as he pointed out the correct route for us to finally get away from the building.

Another day we visited Arlington National Cemetery and saw the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. My uncle had been killed in the Pacific in World War II. I could not remember him, but I do remember how sad I felt as I stood in front of the Lee Mansion and looked out at a sea of white headstones for those lost to war. We also visited the Marine Corps’ Iwo Jima Memorial located near Arlington.

We visited Mount Vernon and saw the burial place of George and Martha Washington. Though the rooms in the house were interesting, what I remember the most was the gardens. They were so beautiful and well cared for. Everything was so authentic that you almost felt that you could turn a corner and see President Washington.

That trip was the highlight of my Girl Scout years, but there was much more fun ahead of us. One summer we had a campout at Mt. Tom. We spent a weekend sleeping in sleeping bags or tents, cooking over an open fire, and swimming in the lake. We hiked to the top of the mountain, where we admired the scenery from the observation tower. We also had sleepovers at the Walkers’ home.

Looking back, I am amazed that they had all of us overnight and wonder if they got any sleep at all. I know most of us didn’t.

We did several hikes around Brookfield, down Route 133 near the railroad overpass or through the Iron Works, where we checked out a tunnel that ran under Route 25 to the river and the railroad station that was still in operation at that time. Today that building is part of the Brookfield Craft Center.

Another fun trip took place in 1956, when we stayed at a Girl Scout camp outside of Boston. During the evenings we would play games and cards. In the daytime, we saw the city from the top of the John Hancock building, spent time near the ocean, where we saw old ships, and visited Boston Common, the Capitol building, Paul Revere’s home, Old North Church, and many other interesting places.

After Boston, we stopped in Lexington and Concord, where we saw the minuteman statues, and in Salem we toured the Witch House and House of Seven Gables.

I remember only good times during my four years as a Senior Girl Scout. We learned a lot about ourselves, our country, and about citizenship, and we had a wonderful time doing it while having a wonderful time.

I’ll never forget Mrs. Walker and the Girl Scouts in my troop.

Congratulations, Girl Scouts, on your 100^th year. Keep up the good work.

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