Blog On Hiatus

I am sorry to say that I must put the blog on hiatus for a few months. My right hand is in need of surgery, that will happen later on this summer. Until then, I must use it as little as possible. That means, no typing, no mousing, no nothing :(

Thank you so much for your continued loyalty, and I hope to be up and running again as quickly as I can heal.

Your favorite blogger, Sandra

Sail, Power & Steam Museum

Opening May 1

 

The Sail, Power and Steam Museum in Rockland is

 reopened for the season on May 1

and has a fantastic line up this year

 for YOUR entertainment.....

BEGINNING WITH CHRIS & MAIRE

The Old Town Trolley Tour

(Please read “A Yankee Does Savannah” first before you read this story.)

I took the Old Town Trolley Tour around Savannah’s historic district while Nanci was doing her thing with Jeopardy. I took the Paula Deen tour the last time I was in Savannah, so thought I’d take in a little history this time. I love history.

My trolley driver and tour guide for most of the trip was named Scott. Besides all the historical facts he imparted to us, he also related some stories and facts you might not see in the history books. He was very entertaining and I enjoyed the tour very much. A beautiful blue sky kind of day with a slight breeze made the open air trolley ride even better.

There are 16 stops on the tour. I will tell you some of the stories and history Scott told us about along the way.

We were shuttled to the trolley’s car barn which is on Martin Luther King Boulevard. Here you will find the historic railroad station and at Stop 1 nearby is the Savannah History Museum; the Civic Center; Roundhouse Railroad Museum; the Civil Rights Museum.

I must mention that even the shuttle driver made us feel welcome before we even started the tour. He made sure we understood that we were now on “slow” time, as is the Southern way.

As we headed out to Stop 2, via Oglethorpe Ave., Scott told us about General James Oglethorpe, the founder of Savannah. Please see the other sidebar, “Oglethorpe and the Founding of Atlanta” for more of that history.

What he did tell us about Oglethorpe, who had a charter from the king of England to found the city, was the four things Oglethorpe would not allow in the new colony known as Savannah:

1.    No hard liquor was allowed. You could drink beer or ale, however.

2.    No slavery

3.    No Catholics

4.    No lawyers

The general was sent to the area to act as a buffer south of the Savannah River to protect the Carolinas from Spanish Florida and French Louisiana, both Catholic strongholds. Thus the ban on Catholics.

Scott told us, however, that after about 25 years, all four of the bans were lifted.

SCAD or Savannah College of Art and Design (I think that’s right) have done a lot of restoration work in the city. Scott pointed out the places they had worked on or were in the process of working on.

 

 

Stop 2 is the City Market area as you see in this picture. There was a horse and carriage similar to this one when we went by. What used to be an open market now has been built up with lots of interesting shops to visit. You can take carriage rides throughout the city, go by pedicab or even by Segway.

 

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

 

From the Lady Chablis internet page.

 

Scott pointed out many places along the way that had been the scene of many movies over the years. Most notable is the book made into a movie by John Berendt called Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil which was based on a true story. We went by Club One where one character, who is a real person in fact, Lady Chablis, a transgender woman, performed. She still does. I thought of Lady Chablis when I created one character in my own book, who was also a real person. You can take a tour that covers the life of Jim Williams from the book.

Other Scottisms

A couple of other good stories Scott told were about the Monument of the Confederacy and the first house in Savannah that had electricity.

The monument was paid for by the Daughters of the Confederacy. It was made in Canada and shipped down to Savannah so that it would not touch Yankee soil on the way down. It was placed facing the North—towards the enemy.

The first house with electricity in Savannah turned out to be a big event. Townsfolk were invited to come and stand outside the house when they turned the lights on for the first time. Everyone expected the house to explode when they turned them on so they all jumped back when the house was lit up.

Scott said that it became a big date night when a beau asked if his girl wanted to go see the lights come on in the house in the evening. Guess that was their “whale watching” gimmick in those days.

The Waving Girl

 

 

 

At stop 11 on River Street is a statue of a waving girl. She stood by the water and waved to every ship that went by for years and years. A sailor said he’d come back to her, so she waved every day in the hopes he would come back. Her name was Florence Martus. She lived from 1862-1941. When she died, 2000 sailors came to her funeral.

This is the only stop I got out at because it was a short walk to the candy store where I wanted to get some pralines. While I was there a humungus container ship came in to port right by where we were in the trolley.

The Final Calamity

OK, here it is. You cheaters have read all the way through so now I will tell you the end of the story.

When the trolley returned to the car barn and I was waiting for the shuttle to take me back to the hotel to meet up with Nanci again, I decided to call her. Guess what? No cell phone. My five year old Blackberry with every important phone number in my life on it was nowhere to be found.

Along the way I was struggling to keep track of a cane; the backpack; reading glasses and dark glasses; a hat, a pad and pen for notes; and later the bag of candy. Remember the text message I got when I started this trip back at the hotel? That was the last time I saw it.

So now what? The cell phone was the only way I could contact her. I had already checked out of the hotel. I was in a panic. I know my blood pressure went up considerably. Well, I said, she will probably go back to the hotel looking for me. I knew, of course, she must be panicking too at this point.

I had to wait a while for the shuttle, but when I got to the hotel and saw the car in the parking lot I breathed a sigh of relief.

Alls well that ends well, I guess. I left instructions for the possible return of my phone—fat chance—and we got on the road home to get back to our Butchie who was home alone with a pile of food and extra water.

Nanci says she thinks she did well this time with Jeopardy. We have our fingers crossed. We could use a break. Who knows what will happen if we attempt to take a trip to California for the show?

For more on the history of Savannah and its founder, General Oglethorpe, please go on to the next story, “Oglethorpe and the Founding of Savannah.”

Thanks for listening.

UPDATE: The lost is found! The good people of Old Town Trolleys found my phone and sent it back to me via Fed X yesterday, less than a week from when I took the tour. My heartfelt thanks go out to everyone at Old Town Trolley for their attention to details when it comes to their tourists. I highly recommend this tour if you are ever visiting Savannah. The drivers/tour guides are very pleasant in the southern way and very informative. Thank you Old Town Trolleys!

 

AUGUST 14-16, 2015

Harbor Park, Rockland

 

 

REACH NEW BUSINESS.

BECOME AN EXHIBITOR.

 

For more information:

call 888-565-4951

or go to:

showinfo@maineboats.com

 

 

A Yankee Does Savannah

This Yankee and the other Yankee from Philly, Nanci, recently spent a night and a day in Savannah, Georgia. The trip, which is about four hours away, was mainly a comedy of errors. However, once we got there we both had a great time, until calamity struck at the very end of our visit. You’ll have to read this whole story or cheat and go to the end now to discover what the calamity was. Don’t cheat!

There will also be two other side bars with this story so go into the blog and look for “The Old Town Trolley Tour” and “Oglethorpe and the Founding of Savannah.”

The reason for our visit to probably the most charming and history-laden city in Georgia, was Nanci’s participation in a Jeopardy search event at the Westin hotel in Savannah. We have gone to Savannah once before for the same reason. We hope this time, which is about the seventh or eighth time she’s tried out for the show, will be the one, the magic charm so to speak.

I did take some pictures, but they didn’t come out very well on this little cheap camera I have. I therefore have stolen some shots from the brochures I brought back with me.

 

The Trip Down

We left the Atlanta area about 1:00 pm after Nanci actually did some of her real job in the am, if you can believe it. Nanci had looked online and tried to pick the best route for us. Everywhere she looked she could see construction delays. It’s the story of our life around here. Kids growing up in Georgia would think it strange if they didn’t see a bunch of orange cones in their travels around the state.

We more or less flipped a coin and chose several connecting highways to get to our destination. Although the day was nice, the construction about drove us crazy. She drove and we couldn’t go more than 50 miles or so without running into a stretch of construction. She’d get it up to 80 or so and learned how to use the cruise control to save her bad knee when she could.

And oh, did I mention the bugs who insisted on ending their short lives on our windshield all the way down?

The Hotel and Dinner

We checked into our hotel about 5:00 or so and tried to catch our breath for a while. Our room was nice with a nice couch, microwave, frig, and tv. We munched on the snacks we had brought with us while we waited for our reservation time for dinner at Lady and Sons.

Our favorite Southern chef,
 Paula Deen

 

 

Parking was scarce on those old narrow streets and it was also Spring Break time and the city was loaded with people. Therefore we pulled into a parking lot for a whopping $10 dollar fee. The parking attendant was amusing though. He and Nanci exchanged jokes and he probably told the one she gave him for the rest of the night. I think the man may have warrants out on him up Atlanta way because he mentioned he had a DUI and couldn’t go back up there because of it. Hmmmm.

Before we went in to eat we went next door to the Paula Deen Store. Oh boy, I could have bought one of everything in there. I did get an apron and a T-shirt. We got out of there before I went really crazy.

For dinner I had an appetizer of fried green tomatoes, one of my very favorite southern dishes. Then we both had crab stuffed shrimp. She loved dinner, I wasn’t crazy about it. I think I prefer my shrimp in more of a plain fashion.

Did I also mention that I forgot my reading glasses? I only had four pair at home and none of them found their way into my suitcase. Therefore I couldn’t see what I was eating very well and the lighting was also poor so there you go. We were going to bring some key lime pie back to the room with us, but decided against it.

Nanci walked down the street after we left the restaurant and got me some new glasses and a bottle of Tylenol because we both had forgotten to bring any kind of pain medicine with us—she with a bad knee and me with a bad knee and ankle.

The Next Day

The next morning we got Nanci all dolled up to go see the Jeopardy people and she left about 9:00 am. By the way, she forgot her good shoes and had to wear the sneakers she drove down in. She only had to drive over the New Talmadge Bridge to get to the Westin, about ten minutes away. We packed the car before she left and I put what I needed for the day into a backpack.

Checkout was 11:30 am so I hung out in the room awhile. There was a free breakfast downstairs but I was feeling apprehensive about going on a trolley tour by myself with a cane and knee and ankle braces to get me through the day. Although I had exercised ahead of time, I still have not recuperated enough so that I can stand or walk for too long.

I finally got up enough courage to go find some breakfast. There was actually a tour representative for the tour I had booked ahead of time online, in the lobby. She relieved my mind about how I would get to and from the tour. She said there was a shuttle that would take me back and forth.

So I managed to get an English muffin toasted in the breakfast room which was full of people. There was hardly elbow room. As I found a place to sit, my cell phone text feature rang. It was T Mobile telling me they had received my most recent payment. I thought, “get lost.” I have enough to think about right now.

Some other people in the hotel were going on the same tour, so I made friends with them. They could see I had a cane I think because when the shuttle left us off we had to walk a bit to get to the trolley for the tour. One of the women let me get in front of her to get into the trolley so I wouldn’t have to stand too long. I got a wonderful seat right behind the driver and my legs held up just fine. I planned to stay on the trolley and not get on and off, which was an option. Another trolley would come along in about 15 minutes and your tour would pick up right you left it off.

As it happened I did get off once. But you will have to read the tour story, “The Old Town Trolley Tour” to find out where. And guess what, you’ll also have to read to the end of that story to find out what the big calamity was. Sorry, cheaters.

Oglethorpe and the Founding of Savannah

Photo from Wikipedia

General James Oglethorpe was granted a charter by King George II to establish a colony south of the Savannah River to protect the Carolinas from Spanish Florida and French Louisiana.

Oglethorpe arrived in 1732 in the ship Anne which carried the general and 114 colonists. In 1733 the settlers landed at Yamacraw Bluff and were greeted by Tomochici, the Yamacraws, and John and Mary Musgrove, Indian traders.

With Mary Musgrove acting as translator, Oglethorpe and Tomochici formed a lasting friendship. The result was the founding of the city of Savannah, along with the Province of Georgia. The Yamacraws chose to live on the island, leaving Savannah to the colonists. In this manner Savannah was able to flourish without the threat of warfare with their Indian neighbors unlike the troubles other beginning colonies had with native Indians.

As noted before, Oglethorpe placed four bans on the colony as it was formed:

1.    No hard liquor allowed, beer and ale were all right

2.    No Catholics (because of the first paragraph in this story)

3.    No slavery

4.    No lawyers

We can understand why he would place the first three bans, but the last one, no lawyers, is still a mystery. Maybe he had bad relations with some lawyer along the way. In any event, all four bans went by the wayside within about 25 years of the founding of the city.

Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County. It was the first colonial and state capital of Georgia. It is known as America’s first planned city. Its unique architecture, much of it surviving Sherman’s march to the sea during the Civil War, attracts many visitors to the area.

Some historic sites include the home that was the birthplace of Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A.; Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences (one of the South’s first public museums); the First African Baptist Church (one of the oldest black Baptist congregations in the U.S.); Temple Mickve Israel (the third-oldest synagogue in America); and the Central of Georgia Railway roundhouse complex (the oldest standing antebellum rail facility in America). Savannah’s downtown historic area is one of the largest National Historic Landmark Districts in the U.S.

Today Savannah is also an important center of the arts with its art schools making an important mark in their host city. SCAD or Savannah College of Art and Design have restored antebellum buildings and it continues to go forward in that pursuit.

Pat’s Big Surprise

Or

The Rest of the Story

 

 

My 1959 classmate from Rockland High School and good friend, Pat Graves Pendleton, has recently become a YouTube star. I’ll leave that story to her son who appears below in a video about Pat’s big Christmas surprise. What I would like to do here is introduce you to a friend who was among the circle of my high school friends who had the same classes and hung out in my Dad’s old Desoto “bombing the rotary” chasing boys on a Friday evening when we were in high school.

In case you are wondering, the car pictured above is close to the DeSoto I drove the girls around in. It is a DeSoto Firedome S-16. I don’t know what year it is, probably a 40 something. You will see why I included a picture of it after you see the video.

 

 

This is Pat’s 1959 “Cauldron” or yearbook picture. Under her name it says: “Live today for tomorrow may never come.”

Below is a picture of my classmates and good friends, also DeSoto occupants except for Ron, who took business classes from Miss Sherwood. We sometimes called her “Diddie” just to tease her. Where that nickname came from I don’t have a clue. Pictured here left to right are: Sandra Sleeper Zimmerman, Violet Carr Karl, Miss Sherwood, Ron Murray, and Pat.  I don’t know where this picture came from, but I think I must have taken it myself as I would ordinarily be in such a picture with my friends. The occasion was our high school graduation as you can see them all holding tight to their diplomas which they were recently endowed with.

 

 

This is a more recent picture of good friends and “sistahs” for over 50 years, Violet and Pat. The class is still very close and meets once a month at a local bakery and coffee shop to have a cup of coffee and sit and gab for a while. I always enjoy that time if I am home at that time of month.

This video and the type before it were posted by Pat’s son recently to “This Blew My Mind” and You Tube.

She’s Raised 2 Sets Of Kids Over 45 Years,

But Nothing Could Prepare Her For This.

My Mom has had a lot of trials and tribulations in her life. Her second son died of SIDS at the age of 2 months, on my sister’s first day of school. She would later go on to raise my brother, my sister, and I, pretty much by herself. When the last child was about to leave the house to strike out on his own, tragedy struck when my sister was murdered. My Mom would go on to adopt and raise my sister’s 2 children, once again taking on the role of Mother. Through all the sacrifices and struggles my Mom has endured over the years, there’s one thing she’s never had. Watch the video below, when, at 73, she finally gets something she’s never had. It was an emotional day for the both of us, and one we’ll never forget.

 

(Pat was interviewed in 2013 in relation to her daughter’s murder and also to reach out to people who have lost a family member to murder. She is a member of the Maine chapter of Parents of Murdered Children. See excerpts from that Bangor Daily News story below.)

This is what Pat had to say about taking care of her children:

“Taking care of the children, though, may have been a lifesaver for Pat, who is now 72 and lives in Rockport. I couldn’t have been any other way. People say they were lucky to have me. I say I was lucky to have them,” she said.

“Pat Pendleton is a member of the Maine chapter of Parents of Murdered Children, which is trying to reach the families of loved ones who have been killed, to place the victims’ names on a memorial.

The monument will be erected at Holy Family Cemetery on Townsend Road in Augusta and will be dedicated to the lives of murder victims with connections to Maine families.

The state chapter has a list of more than 450 known Maine-related homicides over the past few decades but has family contacts for fewer than half of them.

If families are interested in having their loved ones’ names added to the list, to be inscribed into the monument, they may contact Art Jette at 277-3518 or mainepomc@gmail.com.”

(I don’t know if this monument has been erected yet as the story comes from 2013. I will ask Pat and update you on that later.)

Friends are probably the greatest gift you will receive in your lifetime. Enjoying time with each other and helping each other along life’s way is what being friends are all about. The friends I have in Maine have always been there for me even after I left Maine. That was especially true when Nanci and I lost our home to a flood.  Thank you, friends and thanks for listening.

Update: Pat reports that the memorial was in fact dedicated last fall. “It is in Augusta in a lovely cemetery by the turn to Market Place Shopping Mall,” she says.

 

 

Sonny’s Sunshine Corner

 

Our Sonny in his later years.

 

 

So Nanci and I leave the 8^th for Savannah. Hotel reservations have been made…check. Tour arrangements for me while she’s doing her thing on the 9th done…check. Tour ticket bought online…check. My tour will stop at several historical places in Savannah including the Juliet Lowe house. I won’t be able to tour the Girl Scout founder’s house, however, because you have to make reservations way in advance. On the evening of the 8^th Nanci and I will dine at Lady and Sons, Paula Deen’s restaurant. I’m looking forward to some fried green tomatoes and some shrimp right out of the Savannah River. Yum.

Readership of the blog to date is 64,000 plus. The last four stories on the Village Soup site saw 848 views. Thanks, everyone. The most popular March story was “Maine Expressions…Mainespeak.”

Blogs this month include Ted’s Fish and Chips, Thomaston Library News, and a special story for recipe of the month and recipes to go along with it. Check the blog for that surprise. I also have already written a side bar story to go with Ted’s column, “The MGM Grand Fire of 1980.” You’ll have to read Ted’s column first to understand why I chose to write the side bar.

Kudos

Special kudos this month go to Lyman Pope of the home town area who has contributed $1 million to the Pope Memorial Humane Society of Knox County. I understand they plan to use the money to expand the facilities. I’m sure our lost and “waiting for a forever home” friends will really appreciate it.

Update on the Maine Report

Remember the special blog I do after I return home every summer called, “The Maine Report” in which I assess the state of the old home town through my eyes? Well in the past I have mentioned that the city didn’t have any podiatrists. Guess what, there is now a practice which includes more than one of those very necessary doctors, especially to the elderly. And then…I was reading the paper a while ago and saw where US Cellular is upgrading its system to include, I believe, more cell phone towers. It was one of my main gripes one summer. So…do you think someone up there is really listening to me?

Communications

It was nice to hear from Karl Henrikson. He is the men’s basketball coach at the University of Southern Maine and the son of Lars Henrikson, former deputy warden at the old Thomaston Maine State Prison. Karl said he had read my story on “James Lewisohn, the Prisoner Poet.” He appreciated the information in the story about James as he is working on a manuscript of his own about his growing up on the grounds of the prison.

Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors says goodbye

I have just finished reading the latest edition of Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors and noted that Peter Bass, who wrote “From the Front Porch” has left the magazine for “warmer waters.” I’ll miss reading his work in the magazine. Good luck, Peter, in your future endeavors. Look for a review of this edition in the blog this month.

Recommendation

I received a great feed from Facebook this month called, “26 of Maine’s most beautiful places to see.” I cannot bring it to you here because it would take too much room and I don’t want to infringe on any copyrights. It was done by Karen Beaudoin, Portland Press Herald web editor. I highly recommend it. You can find it at: http://mainetoday.com.

That’s it from Sonny’s Corner, now Butchie’s Corner, if he sees fit. He says, “Let me out, I have birds to pester.”

Bye till next time.

By TED SYLVESTER

(This column appeared in the Bangor Daily News on April 16, 1976)

A Rockland man has returned home after spending the winter in San Francisco, where he enjoyed a couple of unusual experiences – spending a day as a spectator at the Patty Hearst trial, and a weekend trip to Las Vegas, Nev., where he watched Dean Martin being roasted in a show at the MGM Grand Hotel. While our friend declined to be identified here, his experiences and observations are well worth sharing.

At the Hearst trial, the spectator section is limited to just 60 persons. This led some to stand in line all night outside the courthouse, and then “sell” their place in line the next morning for $20. Our friend got a chance to attend the trial through the acquaintance of a N.S. marshal. The day he attended, Defense Attorney F. Lee Bailey had prosecution witness Dr. Joel Fort under cross-examination. Our friend termed Bailey’s performance very impressive as he attempted to discredit the psychiatrist’s testimony.

The San Francisco press has engaged in considerable speculation over Bailey’s fee for defending Patty Hearst. One paper quoted Bailey as saying he was being paid $100,000 plus expenses by Randolph Hearst to defend his daughter. Other reports placed the fee at $8,000 a day, plus expenses. Included in the expenses were complete accommodations at San Francisco’s finest hotel, and a Cadillac purchased for Bailey by Hearst for the lawyer’s use.

Two paragraphs in a San Francisco Chronicle article by Jerry Carroll describe Bailey:

“Patricia Hearst is on trial, but it is the magnetic Bailey who dominates the 170-seat courtroom, his powerful baritone rising and falling like a cathedral organ. He moves in a jaunty strut, perilously near a swagger, the handsome leonine head with its tuffy sideburns seeming too large for the meaty 5-foot-8 frame.

“Bailey is dressed on this day in a beautifully tailored dark blue suit with vest and a violent orange and white tie that shouts in polka dots and stripes like an anarchist in a board room.”

Our friend termed his visit to the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas as “unbelievable.” A brochure lists the hotel as “a $100 million dollar fantasy.” It features 2,100 rooms and 376 suites. There are six restaurants, swimming pools, tennis courts with all the frills. Guests have their choice of six 18-hole golf courses. Our friend went to the show as a guest and didn’t know about the costs. An indication of what it costs might be compared with the price of two drinks our friend purchased - $15.

Ever wonder what questions kids would have for a judge? The student body of Rockland District Junior High School was given this opportunity following a presentation of a mock juvenile hearing designed to give the young teenagers an insight into the workings of the court. The judge was Paul A. MacDonald of Sixth District Court.

The first question asked was how long had he been a judge, which is 11 years. He was asked what qualifications were needed to become a judge, and how were they selected. The 12, 13 and 14-year-olds were told that one must first become a lawyer and then “lucky” enough to be appointed by a governor.

The students wanted to know what the maximum sentence one could receive to boys’ training center, what was the youngest age at which a person could be sent there? The answer was that terms to the center are indeterminate with the person’s behavior dictating his release. The state has the power to keep an offender there until he reaches the age of 18. The youngest an offender can be sent there is 11. The judge was then asked what about those under age 11? What does he do with them? He said in these cases it is usually a matter of parents unable to handle the child and in such circumstances he transfers the custody of such children to the state.

During the dramatization a youthful offender was stopped for suspected probation violation and searched by an officer. A package of marijuana was found in a pocket. The students questioned the judge afterward on the legality of such a search. In this particular instance, the judge said, where an officer has probable cause to suspect an offense has taken place (probation violation) he has the right to “pat down” a suspect to check for any weapons.

The judge was asked what was the most common crime committed in the Rockland area by juveniles. Judge MacDonald said he believed it was criminal larceny, many times involving breaking and entering. Also listed was shoplifting and vandalism.

A question was asked was it a crime for someone to “give” marijuana to a friend. The answer is yes. Even to give a friend marijuana is considered a sale.

Finally a student asked what would happen if someone tried to bribe a police officer. The judge advised that this was a very serious crime and that anyone brought before him for such a crime would be “sent away.”

The judge’s appearance at the school was one in a series of projects promoted by the Chamber of Commerce – sponsored CYC committee (Community and Youth Communications) where a group of concerned people are attempting to open up the line of communication with the youth of today and to stem the tide of an increasing crime rate in the coastal area.

Did you see it last Sunday during the televised Boston at Baltimore baseball game? It was during one of those periods when the TV camera scans the crowd. The camera zoomed in on one sign that read, “I am from Rockland, Maine.” The message was read over the arena speakers by Red Sox announcer Dick Stockton.

Have no idea who the two people were holding the sign. One was a young man who appeared to be in his 29s., wearing a baseball cap and red warm-up jacket. He was also sporting a “Luis Tiant” moustache. If anyone can shed any light on the identities of the displayers, we will be happy to pass it along.

The MGM Grand Fire of 1980

 

The MGM Grand today, with a sign promoting Las Vegas as “The City of Entertainment”

 Ted’s “Fish and Chips” column for this month comes from 1976 and mentions the MGM Grand hotel in Las Vegas. As I was typing the column, I remembered the fire that occurred at that hotel in 1980. Now this may not be a story that is related very much to “Beyond the South End,” but as we all know, the business of Las Vegas is to separate as much money from you as possible; so consider this an April Fool’s story then if you like. After all, as the old saw goes, “A fool and his money are soon parted.” I suspect some of you New Englanders have visited Las Vegas, including members of my own family. Therefore, you can also look at this story as an impending vacation lure. Don’t forget to check out the amazing YouTube video of the fire also, which I have included at the end of this piece.

A few facts about the MGM Grand

Let’s look at a few statistics of this grand old hotel. It was built in 1973, just three years before Ted’s friend visited the place. A mere three years from that, in 1980, the fire occurred. The hotel has 2,100 rooms and 376 suites. Those numbers come from Ted’s story and may have changed since 1976.

As far as the fire goes, don’t be afraid to visit Las Vegas. Many of the safety measures of today did not exist then as the video will show. 9/11 and other bad fires, including the MGM, served to help change safety measures for hotel visitors.

Fire Statistics

At the MGM fire, 85 people died and 700 were injured. As the video will mention, most of the hotel had no sprinklers. There was also no warning system in place. No one even went knocking on doors to alert visitors.

The 14^th Street Fire in Atlanta

I must mention another fire here which I was an actual witness to.

I was working at the Jewish Community Center on Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta. I think it was in the 90s.

We looked out the window of my office which faced Peachtree Street and saw smoke coming from the 14^th Street building which sat directly across from our building. Not long after that the fire department arrived along with every emergency vehicle in Atlanta I believe. The street was choked with vehicles and equipment as we watched the drama unfold.

We watched the hook and ladder truck extend their ladders up to the tenth floor, as far as they would go. Some people inside had broken out some of the windows. I watched one woman come down the ladder with a fireman. She had a death grip on her purse. Must have been something really important in that purse I thought at the time.

I believe one woman died because she jumped from about the 5^th floor. I believe that building is approximately 15 or so stories high. Another woman jumped and broke every bone in her body. I didn’t see either of these people jump as they were on the other side of the building.

I don’t remember what started the fire, but guess what? Whenever I stay in a high-rise hotel, I refuse to stay in a room above the 10^th floor. To be truthful, I don’t like heights very much and much prefer the charming inns of New England to mammoth hotels.

So that’s my April Fools’ story for this year. Be careful out there today. Here’s the video.