Construction site releases ancient spirit
The Chandler Road neighborhood must say goodbye to this familiar curtain of trees and the footpath that has invited many generations of hikers into the woods.
Here’s Mill Pond Estates. It will be sandwiched between Chandler Road and the Mill Pond conservation area, like all real estate on that side of Chandler Road. Developers are clearing a new path downhill from the old one.
But never mind all that. Here’s the real news: Brad Cushman of 14 Red Coat Lane found this shopping bag in a pile of debris at the construction site.
Notice the faint slogan, “You’re important to us.” That slogan caused a big argument, according to Robert Gorin, whose family owned the Almys chain. He says he butted heads with car dealer Peter Fuller about use of that slogan, each company claiming it as its own. Gorin finally told Fuller, “Fine, go ahead and use it. Everyone will think of us anyway.”
Almys closed in Burlington in the mid-1980s. So let’s do a quick calculation. Anyone have a calculator? Oh, here’s one.
The bag is at least 35 years old. This should remove any doubt about the environmental impact of plastic shopping bags. They really do stick around. Keep that in mind when your biodegradable, earth-friendly paper bag breaks in the Shaw’s parking lot and your strawberries go rolling around the parking lot. Paper bags may be a pain, but plastic is the greater evil, for it never really dies . . .
So when you’re trick-or-treating this year, beware of the Ghost of Almys. It roams the land once again!
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These Retro posts are always so interesting. Thanks for taking the time to write them!
Late 60s … grandmother would take me to Almys for $0.10 match box cars … one every other week when she visited!!!!
Thanks for the write up and cool pictures! Also, thanks for letting people know about plastic waste. I pick up litter in my town (Belmont), and have picked up hundreds of pounds of plastic in about a year and a half.
Thanks for these pictures and write ups! It seems like only a few years ago my mom would bring my sister, brother and me to LeeWards for our arts and crafts!!
sad, ……………….when will burlington stop cutting down its few wooded areas…………………they will strip mall and build on every area of town……………….good comments on the dangers of plastic……………down here in the pine barrens of south jersey, our sea turtles are ea ting the bags………………………….and dying……………………………write on
That’s the house I grew up in. Having trees surround us was a beautiful thing. Playing hockey on the swamp, what memories. Sad day cutting those trees down.
I grew up in those woods and skating on that pond next door. Kevin Brown lived in that house also I believe. I grew up on Harris Drive and knew the Cyrs. We lived in those woods. That woods goes back to Colonial times and I bet they may/did expose old relics when they dug. There were old stone walls back there. We ditched a car in there once and the cops caught on and had it towed out. I knew Brad Cushman and remember him. Mark MacElhiney
Kevin lived next door. I still see them all!! We all loved those woods.
anyone know the johnson family who lived on mill street……………….alan,betsy,and eddie………….nice folks…………i served at ft drum with alan……………..where we were almost courtmartialed for eating the officers’ large ham,during kp……………..yummy…………..
I live a few houses down. The new construction isn’t that bad. It’s only 3 houses (tacky McMansions, but that’s what sells these days). Plus, the old trailhead was technically trespassing. As part of their deal with Mass DEP, they built a new, legal trailhead, that’s much better than the old one.