| Hamden Fire Retirees Association, Inc. |
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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012
Website is updated every Friday - Important interim updates will be posted when necessary
| Next Meeting: Oct. 9th at 6 p.m. at the Elks.
Menu: Chicken Cutlet sandwich with LT, 2 sides homemade potato salad and coleslaw, brownies with dash of whipped cream - All for $6.00
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ATTENTION ALL RETIRED
HAMDEN FIREFIGHTERS!
The Hamden Guardian Services Retirees Association, LLC (HGSRA), an organization formed recently by retired Hamden cops and firefighters to oversee and protect our pensions and benefits, is now a legal entity in the State of Connecticut. (NOTE: This is NOT the same association as the HFRA, Inc.).
We recently contacted every retired Hamden firefighter for whom we have an email address or home mailing address*. Information on the HGSRA was provided along with an application form. If you did not receive the notification and application form please contact this website right away (HFDBadge102@aol.com).
Well over one hundred fire and police retires have signed up for membership in the HGSRA thus far. They will soon receive notification from HGSRA secretary Dave Johnson on the membership fee and where to send it. (Membership fee remittances had to wait until the HGSRA became an LLC.)
The Hamden Fire Retirees Association, Inc. (HFRA), is pleased to provide a page for the Hamden Guardian Services Retirees Association, LLC on this website for informational purposes. See menu tab "HGSRA" Please be sure to check it frequently, particularly during the next few months.
A meeting for all new members of the Hamden Guardian Services Retirees Association, LLC will take place on Thursday, November 15th at 7 p.m. (location TBA). All members as of that date, or those retirees who plan to join at the meeting, are welcome. The Executive Board of the HGSRA will report on the status of the pension plan and on future HGSRA activities.
A specific meeting agenda and the location of the meeting - we are looking into several possible locations - will be posted on the HGSRA page of this website and sent to all HGSRA members as the meeting date nears.
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*Confidentiality regulations prevent the Town from disclosing addresses of retirees. Does anyone know how we may contact retiree Thomas Hart? We also have a California address for a Roger Sulllivan, but we're not sure he's our retiree. Mail delivered to old addresses is often discarded by those presently living there and not returned to the sender.
Posted 9/21/12
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Deadline for entering the
Local 2687 Golf Tournament
is NEXT Friday, September 28th.
Looking for more foursomes.
Contact info on the poster below.
(CLICK to enlarge).
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Next Meeting of the HFRA: Oct. 9th at 6 p.m. at the Elks.
Menu: Chicken Cutlet sandwich with LT, 2 sides homemade potato salad and coleslaw, brownies with dash of whipped cream - All for $6.00
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We caught fellow retirees Jimmy Moore and Charlie Cargan this week at Traditions Golf Course in Wallingford, following a tourney there in which it is rumored that Jimmy's "Magic Pen" played a role in a victory. (Hmmm - Not exactly sure what that meant.) Nice to see lots of other active and retired HFD folks there, too.
Don't forget - Active Hamden firefighters welcome all retirees to join in the Annual Local 2687 Golf Tournament, Friday October 5th at Laurel View. Entries must be in by NEXT Friday, September 28. See poster above for more info.
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Bassett's Getty Service Station
3050 Whitney Avenue
Wednesday, September 9, 1987
Mechanic touched off blaze that enguled service station,
then blamed department for "not doing more" to save building.
On Wednesday, September 9, 1987, a mechanic using a torch underneath an automobile ignited a gasoline fire in Bassett's Getty Service Station at 3050 Whitney Avenue. The building was fully involved within minutes. Miraclulously, no one was injured.
CLICK on the photo at right to view more previously unpublished photos of the incident, as well as news articles about criticism that was leveled against the department by a Council member, whose brother's torch caused the fire.
Posted 9/21/12
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| CLICK to see more photos and articles |
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BP Convenience Store
3050 Whitney Avenue
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Still evident today are certain architectural features, particularly on the north side of the building, that were there in 1948 (see article below). So, it appears that the building at 3050 Whitney Avenue, heavily damaged by fire a quarter of a century earlier, is still around.
Instead of an automobile "service station," as it was in 1987, it is now a convenience store that also sells BP (British Petroleum) gasoline. Compare the 2012 prices to those in 1987!
Posted 9/21/12
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| Today - 3050 Whitney Avenue - CLICK to enlarge |
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Bossoli's Flying-A Service
3050 Whitney Avenue
Thursday, October 28, 1948
Future Hamden Firefighter Opens Service Station in the Same Building
Thirty-nine years before Bassett's Getty Service Station went up in smoke, Bill and Charles Bossoli of Mount Carmel opened a Tydol Flying-A service station in the same building.
In a video interview conducted in November of last year, Bill Bossoli admitted that their business enterprise was very short-lived because too many of their customers were also their friends, some looking for freebies and "good deals," which the good Bossoli Bros. were loath to deny.
Two years later, Bill Bossoli decided that he wanted more stable employement, in a field which he had enjoyed as a volunteer firefighter since 1938. On September 11, 1950, Bill joined seven other recruits who were sworn in as brand new Hamden firefighters. Bill, who is now a very sharp 93 years of age, left the department in 1956.
Posted 9/21/12
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| CLICK to enlarge (Hamden Historical Society) |
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| This mid-1950s postcard of Hamden's Memorial Town Hall was sent by Chan Brainard. The photographer was standing in front of Charlie Crook's drug store, where this and many other Hamden postcards could be bought for a nickel.
The gearheads among us are immediately drawn to the Shadow Gray and Coral 1955 Chevy Bel-Air in the foreground, as well as that pink and white 1955 Ford convertible on the opposite corner. Even the most discerning observer, though, might have a little trouble noticing the nose of the 1954 Maxim sitting in Headquarters at the far right (enlarge the photo).
Notice the HPD signal light sticking out from the upper righthand margin of the photo? When this orange light was flashing, the Centerville beat cop was supposed to use the PD "call box" on that corner to contact police HQ. As that signaling light flashed, it also caused static on the AM radio at fire headqaurters, which alerted any cop who might be taking a break at Station 4.
Posted 9/21/12
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The department roster of February 1, 1979 will be posted in next week's update.
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Hamden Then and Now
2600 Whitney Avenue
"Sun" Cleaners opened in 1948; became "Rainbow" Cleaners in 1960.
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| 1948 - SUN Cleaners |
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| 2012 - RAINBOW Cleaners |
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Website visitors Charlie Lubowicki, Bob Slater and Joe Murray identified the 1948 photo on the left as the current Rainbow Cleaners at 2600 Whitney Avenue. The name of the original establishment was Sun Cleaners. The Verneris brothers acquired the Whitney Avenue site in 1960, when it became the northern branch of Rainbow Cleaners. Their other Rainbow Cleaners store was, and still is, located at 1540 Dixwell Avenue.
Posted 9/21/12
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