Happy Halloween from the 1940s
This 2007 book by George Perkins tells of Burlington in the 1930s and 40s. Here’s his account of Halloween shenanigans, including his own plot to divert the Burlington cops — both of them! — in order to ring the church bell.
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The writing in the excerpt is very good.
In 1972 when I worked on the town highway department.Work was going on in the Church small steeple. I had to deliver some supplies, I think paint, but while there I got to climb up to the bell, and I looked out thru the louvers up there, I wish I had a camera. Have a good day.
Charming tales from a simpler time!
Chief Piper was my grandfather. ❤️💙
There is another tale about the bell being rung enough to make the minister, who lived in the parsonage located on the common, go to the church to investigate why the bell rang after dark. The timing of the story, of when this occurred, was before the parsonage had collapsed, while it was being removed from the common to make way for the current common. Young men tied a rope to the bell and rang it from the top of Simonds Park. The minister checked the church doors to find everything secured. The prank continued a couple of times before the minister gave up and stopped walking back and forth to check conditions.
One of the tricksters, a long time member of the church told me this story first hand back in the 80s before he died. It was not Mr. Perkins.