Beyond the South End

Coast Guard Not Relocating

By TED SYLVESTER

(Excerpts from the December 17, 1971 column. A bit of Coast Guard history in Rockland.)

Is the Coast Guard interested in acquiring the Samoset property for its own future use?

We asked this question from Washington to Boston to Rockland this week and got a negative response. Officially we got the word that there is no intention of re-locating the Rockland station at the present time.

The theory that the station might be moved sometime in the future, however, was said to be a possibility.

CWO Kenneth Black, commander of the Rockland station, said there was a possibility that the station might be re-located if repairs to the existing facilities at the end of Tilson Avenue prove to be so costly that they would be prohibitive.

Black said that the Coast Guard has long range plans to modernize the Rockland station. “These are presently in the priority planning stage. We in the first Coast Guard district have certain priorities on new construction, and Rockland is third on the priority planning list,” he said.

As to the condition of the present facilities, Black said that “major repairs will be needed in the near future.” He suggested that the cost might run as high as $500,000.

He reiterated that modern improvements here are in the “long range planning stage,” and that “we have no plans at present to re-locate.”

As to comment on the Coast Guard acquiring Samoset property, Black said, “It must have been a premature guess on somebody’s part. There’s not a written word on the thing anywhere.”

Night in the Woods

There is a Rockland couple who are thanking their lucky stars after an experience last Sunday while out in search of a Christmas tree.

Father, mother and daughter were tree hunting in the South Warren area, got turned around and when darkness overtook them were forced to spend the night in the woods. There was no organized search for them as nobody knew they were missing.

The next morning they found their way out and would rather just forget about the whole thing and asked not to be identified.

No, they didn’t get a Christmas tree.

Unusual Gift?

Shopping in a Rockland store the other day for Christmas a customer was examining one of those new fangled clocks that orally tells you the time.

You’ve seen them advertised. You just place your hand on the top of the thing and a voice tells you the time.

The store clerk was explaining to the shopper how the clock worked and proceeded to give a demonstration. It worked perfectly.

The only problem was that the voice announced the time in Spanish.

Rockland Detective

An interesting discussion arose at the annual Rockland city budget hearing this week. It involved an expenditure in the police department budget of $1,700.

City manager Henry Bouchard explained that police chief Maurice Benner will be eligible for retirement in October (26 years service) and it was his hope that the chief could be enticed to become Rockland’s first detective.

“With the increase of crime here as it has been everywhere, I feel that Rockland definitely needs the services of a full time detective,” Bouchard said.

The proposed expenditure was approved by the council.