Minette

CHANGES

Monday, 3. November 2008, 02:07:05

Summers were always the very best time in my part of NH.
I worked from the time I was 12, totally illegal but back then if it was ok with my mother and ok with my boss then it happened.
The first job I ever had was at Shore Edge, the first house on the left heading up Lake Ave. as you leave the harbor.
It was a guesthouse with 6 cabins and 5 guest rooms in the main house.
The owners sat 6 tables at night for dinner, no menu, just one meal lovingly prepared by the Mrs.
I was food prep, set-up and serve and clean up.
That was where I first started learning to cook.
The Mr. & Mrs. were very good to me, always nice, always patient although I’m a quick learner but still. They treated me like I was their own daughter and if some of my friends came to the kitchen door to see what time I’d be getting off work they’d check them out.
There was one they didn’t like and the Mrs. would warn me against that kind of boy with the best of intentions.
They had several Studebakers in the driveway and I complimented them once, the Mr. thanked me and said he collected them.
What he never told me was that he was one of the top dogs at Studebaker and I never had a clue.
It wasn’t until just 6 years ago I found that out, someone was telling a story about them and when their name was mentioned I cut in and said they were my first employers.
I guess they didn’t die well; the Mrs. went first and the Mr. who was kind of tight with a dollar wouldn’t let his son hire live in help. Apparently at one time someone entered the house and found the Mr. in a coma with one of his many dogs chewing on his toes.
I was devastated to find this out of course; they were such nice, down-to-earth people. Nobody should die that way and the fact that it was by his own choice doesn’t make me feel any better about it either.
I liked the job and I liked them. I worked there the summer I was 12 and again the summer I was 13.
The summer after that I went over to The Anchorage where I did food prep for the first year and then became a waitress for the next 3 years.
When I was 18 I worked at The Community Store which was right across the street from the laundromat and another grocery store. I also lived upstairs, the building isn’t there anymore, it was condemned and replaced with a park.
I loved all of those jobs and even though I worked full time I always had time for swimming, water skiing, boating and partying.
There was a lot to do back then and the harbor was always full of people from all age groups.
There was a pinball hall, pizza parlor, concerts where the band set up over the public toilets…now they have a gazebo but then that was where they played.
The tour boat had a night time cruise every year for the working kids in town (or any kid) with a local band playing and munchies that we’d manage to smuggle some beer on.
There was a teen dance every Thursday night at the Yacht Club and a smaller pinball hall there as well.
There were 4 restaurants and at least 6 bars and we hardly ever had any trouble that was alcohol related.
Now it isn’t nearly as much fun. There is nothing for teens to do at all; the nightlife is severely limited with only one restaurant and a deli. The restaurant, still The Anchorage, has live music some nights but they are only allowed to serve 5 drinks per person. The town has changed so much and they seem to want only daytime activities that are family oriented.
Family activities are fine, always, I love the days in the harbor but a summer resort needs nightlife too and they actively discourage any kind of night activities.
The most valuable piece of commercial real estate was bought last year but the lake’s protective association, what a waste of real estate. They are a power hungry group that once did a whole lot of good but all they do now is make headaches for those who own lake front property.
They want to put the new library in the harbor too, why I’m not sure but that’s what they’re planning regardless.
Where the Christmas Shoppe, later the Sweet Shoppe used to be is a real estate office, where the hardware store used to be is a beauty salon, which is also moving soon since the building has been recently purchased by someone whose plans we don’t know.
Every other Sunday there used to be a water ski show but that’s been gone for years although there is still a band concert every other Wednesday night, it’s at the gazebo now instead of on top of the public toilets, good for those on land but not so great for those that used to sit in the harbor in their boats.
The Community Store location is a park, the other grocery store closed and that is also some kind of business, not retail.
There are only 2 gift shops now as well as a bookstore and an art gallery.
Where there used to be several little shops and boutiques there is now just the marina and boat rental slips.
Outdoor, night concerts for teens are few and far between and there hasn’t been a “block party” dance in the parking lot at the public docks since….well, I don’t know, since I was in my 20’s anyway.
There is a “new” school, built in the late 70’s and added to in 1998 so we no longer have 1st grade through 12th grade in the little school on the hill, which is a definite improvement.
That’s the only benefit of having all those summer people become permanent residents though. The direction the town is headed is somewhere I don’t want to see it go. There is micro-management, power mongering and outright money grubbing when it comes to permits.
The police department is too big given the amount of residents, crime and trouble in the town but I guess they have to spend all that lake front tax money on something to justify charging the rates they do.
Gone are the days of calling a kid’s parents when he got caught smoking a little pot or drinking beer, now they want as many arrests as they can get like it builds their status or something.
Gone are the days of calling the police after 5:00 pm and getting the chief’s wife who decided if the call was important enough to wake the chief up from his nap or if it could wait until he woke up on his own.
The bars are all closed, buildings torn down, small hotels turned back into private homes and condos where some of the large hotels used to be.
There are no grocery stores with meat counters or rotisserie chickens cooking and bins full of fresh vegetables. A lot of the original, really nice homes around the lake have been torn down to make way for McMansions, including mine.
In my 54 years I have seen many changes to the harbor and the town. Some call it progress but I’m not so sure. I just call it change and leave it at that.

AWAKENINGSOME RANDOM THOUGHTS ON THE ELECTION

Comments

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klonkk # 3. November 2008, 16:15

yes, times they are a changing. i can't see any progress also.

Minette # 3. November 2008, 20:20

Maybe it's because we're older? The young people don't feel the way I do except sometimes.

klonkk # 5. November 2008, 21:14

hmmm... getting older gives the chance to become an overview ... or somthing like that.

Minette # 6. November 2008, 05:16

we've seen things come and go, come back again sometimes and sometimes not. we're more realistic I think.

Jim # 6. November 2008, 14:58

Thanks for coming by my blog. Reading you had your first job at age 12 struck a chord with me. I had a loving Mother and sisters but I was always independent to a fault so I hopped a freight train at Modesto, Ca, when I was 13 and rode it (and other ones) to Odessa, Texas where my Dad and a married sister were. My brother-in-law immediately put me to work as a roustabout in the oil patch for $1.10 an hour. I worked there for two months then went back home and finished the 9th grade.
Times they are a'changin' and it's hard to say if it's for the better or the badder. Great post.
PS Please visit my other blog. There is a piece there that you might enjoy called,"You Can Never Go Back."
http://atimeandaplace.blogspot.com/

Minette # 6. November 2008, 15:56

I got 1.00/hour for waitressing back then, 40.00/week. But the tips were great. I'm going to your blog now

klonkk # 7. November 2008, 19:30

PS Please visit my other blog. There is a piece there that you might enjoy called,"You Can Never Go Back."

minette, be carefull.
if you go to that blog
maybe you'll never come back

Minette # 8. November 2008, 03:17

CUTE!!!!!

klonkk # 8. November 2008, 10:50

thanks, i'm on your side

Minette # 8. November 2008, 16:05

glad someone is, I need as many on my side as I can get

klonkk # 8. November 2008, 22:38

want to become the first female president of the usa?

Minette # 9. November 2008, 00:41

it's way too hard

you can't please people no matter what you do in that job!

klonkk # 9. November 2008, 15:08

and some people like to shoot on presidents.

i prefer to stay dwarf.

Minette # 9. November 2008, 16:52

I don't believe in shooting presidents. it isn't necessary.

klonkk # 9. November 2008, 17:02

the nextone will be elected.
it's an endless circuit.

Minette # 9. November 2008, 17:39

LOL!!!
I think I am an endless circuit....

klonkk # 9. November 2008, 18:01

interesting association

Minette # 9. November 2008, 20:53

sometimes I'm interesting!!!

klonkk # 9. November 2008, 21:24

everybody is interesting, mostly.
but it will be difficult to know everybody on this world.

Minette # 9. November 2008, 23:29

almost impossible I would think.

solid copper # 10. November 2008, 07:00

i'm on your side

I wonder which of her sides.

Minette # 10. November 2008, 15:46

LOL

You've got a valid point there LOL!!!

klonkk # 11. November 2008, 03:52

there lives a woman in albuquerque
which doesn't know everything.
and it is good like this.

Minette # 11. November 2008, 04:57

that means I've got company

klonkk # 11. November 2008, 15:48

thank you for good collaboration.

Minette # 11. November 2008, 17:20

you're welcom, anytime!

klonkk # 11. November 2008, 20:52

thank you, but i ment solid coper.

Minette # 11. November 2008, 23:49

that's ok, I take it wherever I can get it LOL.

klonkk # 12. November 2008, 00:18

right on.

but aren't you catholic?

Minette # 12. November 2008, 01:55

LOL...no

klonkk # 12. November 2008, 03:27

i see ...
i ment the real irish people are catholic.
the people, who like to drink, are they called catholics?
no - i think something like this.
another kind of holics.

Minette # 12. November 2008, 16:25

LOL, I was adopted and raised Episcopalian (sp?) but now I'm just Christian and I don't have a church. Churches, no matter how well intentioned, always become about people's petty power and quest for control. At least in my opinion