| Hamden Fire Retirees' Association |
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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2011
Website is updated every Friday - Important interim updates will be posted when necessary
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Tradition 5 Golf Tournament
in Wallingford
Thursday, September 22nd
"Shotgun" starting at 9 a.m.
$75 (Golf, Hot Dogs, Burgers, BEER, etc.)
Contact Jim Moore - 203-248-4268
| Next HFRA Meeting - Tues., Oct. 11th at noon
Menu: Brian and Robin's B&R Burger
3/4 lb. of onion seasoned beef w/cheddar cheese,
barbeque sauce, bacon and an onion ring -
French fries and cole slaw
$6.00
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September 5, 1951 - Firehouse Becomes Schoolhouse
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| July 26, 1951 - The Hamden Chronicle |
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| 1951 - Station 5 was an annex of the neighboring Mt. Carmel School |
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Station 5 4th Graders Surprised During CD Drill
Was It Early Sex-Ed?
Through the years, a few Hamden fire stations have served as temporary school rooms and even places of worship when the need arose. For several weeks in 1944, the Humphrey station became a temporary schoolhouse after a disastrous mid-winter fire at Church Street School. A quarter of a century earlier, religious services were held in the Humphrey station meeting rooms after fire destroyed the Hamden Plains Methodist Church.
By 1951, Hamden's postwar population expansion was felt most heavily in Mt. Carmel, where the school population had exceeded the capacity of the Mt. Carmel School on Woodruff Street. As a result, some classes were held upstairs in Station 5 during the 1951-52 school year.
When school was in session, the paid men and volunteers at Mt. Carmel were relegated to the firehouse basement. And, of course, the basement decor echoed that of the two upstairs bedrooms, which were off-limits to the students.
Bill Farrell, who still lives in Mt. Carmel, was a fourth grader at Station 5 that year. Bill recently recalled when he and his young classmates got an unexpected lesson from Station 5 paid men during an unscheduled civil defense drill.
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As the drill got underway, 4th grade teacher Miss
Margaret Fitzgerald carefully shepherded her 10-year old students from
the second floor of the firehouse to the safety of the basement. The
paid men were unaware of the drill and were definitely not
expecting guests.
When Miss Fitzgerald and her kiddies arrived safely
in the basement, they got an eyeful: Impressive displays of trophies, banners and other fire company memorabilia lined the walls. But the most memorable display, according to Bill Farrell, were the numerous photos of young ladies in various states of (un)dress.
Whoops! (A memo from the Chief followed, no doubt.)
Posted 9/9/11
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| Miss Margaret Fitzgerald taught fourth grade at Station 5 during the 1951-52 school year (your web editor had her for third grade four years later). Former Station 5 career firefighter, Bill Bossoli, fondly remembered Miss Fitzgerald as a very nice lady. Indeed, she was. A Hamden native, Miss Fitzgerald taught at Mt. Carmel School until 1958, when she joined the faculty of the new Sleeping Giant Junior High School as an Art teacher. She retired in the 1970s.
The Station 5 schoolhouse experiment lasted only the one school year. Starting in 1952, Mt. Carmel School went on double sessions for all grades except 7 and 8. Normal class times returned in October 1954, when a new addition to the school opened. DGJ
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| 1951 Maxim on the scene in November 1953 (Photo by Chan Brainard) |
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