Spring on Broadway

Up the Rockport version of Broadway the wife and I walked into an ambitious group of Sea Scouts really doing a job in tidying up the grounds of the new town office building. Why the town can't afford to hire men to do that important chore is beyond us. But it gives the young men a chance to add to their merit badge achievements, we suppose.

Straw boss evident was Shorty Lesch, who incidentally does a grand work with the scouts. He has a habit of winning their confidence and getting the best out of them. 'Tis a pity that more fathers don't try to emulate fellers like Shorty and Skip Brown (Boy Scout fame). Why are so many fathers so willing to set back on their golf clubs and let somebody else take care of their sons! That we'll never know.

More evidence of house cleaning was spotted on the front lawn and side one too of the Methodist Church. They tell us that Roger Smith and his aides gave up a day to tidy up the place of the winter debris. Whoever dun it, dun a bright job.

Across the way you couldn't help but delight in the sensation of the full blossomed magnolia tree in the immaculate yard of the Rockport Post Office where Eben Knowlton does a thorough performance. We doubt if there's another PO around in the nation that looks any better.

That brought us up to the sight of Rockpor's only police dog, a shaggy and shy terrier owned by Patrolman L. Ellsworth Harris, a Broadwayite, Rockport style. Old faithful besides watering our bushes faithfully, also haunts the town gaol. He's a moseyin' kyote with nothing but peace in his heart, and no stomach for crime bustin'.

Ever think how lobster buoys can be so decorative to a garden? Well, Postmaster Ralph Wilson, another Broadwayite in Sandy Bay, must have thought so for he has done a right smart piece of out-door decorating with these colorful buoys mixed with massive junipers. The effect is prizeworthy. And those buoys form an impressive background to the old stone wall. The Wilson grounds gain plenty of strength of character in that quaint wall. The town has many of them. May any historical committee fight hard to retain such walls so us sentimental walkers can continue to revel in our weekly strolls. Let's not ge too darned modern!

Along we swung up onto Main Street and past the Frank Parady yard. Maybe we've mentioned it before but that old-fashioned wooden chair swing rolls up all the nostaglia of the past. Yup, as kids we burned up many an hour a-pushing and a-dreaming the biggest whoppers in such a swing in the backyard. And we had that chair swing a-whooshing high into the air beyond all safety zones. Yet there was nary a mishap. Them were the days when they celebrated the good old Fourth of July with the vang-bang salutes and firecrackers that shot tin cans rocketing into the ozone. In the days before the old ladies sewing circles hamstrung a decent big Fourth toot, American independence was sabotaged along the way by petticoat government, say we.

But what's this? A real old-fashioned merry-go-round nag. And right in Dr. Jack Bloombergh's yard on the main stem. This we had to take a closer look at, so we invaded the premises. Sure enough, it was the real McCoy. It was hard to resist the temptation to jump on the critter's back and even though there was no motor, we could imagine us off on a ride to nowhere but fantasy land of youth!

J.P.C., Jr.