It is the oldest collegiate athletic competition in the nation.  Sports Illustrated has called it "the most venerable rivalry in college sports".  Gales Ferry, CT is home to it all. The Thames  River has been the location of all but 5 races since 1878.   The 146th race will take place today, May 28th.

The colleges first raced in 1852, and in 1878 the race was moved to the Thames River.  Both crews maintain camp in Gales Ferry - Harvard at Red Top on Military Highway and Yale at the end of Hurlbutt Road. (Photo at left)  In the early 1900's over 100,000 spectators would view the race from yachts and observation trains on both sides of the river.  The glory days of the race are over but it is still well attended each year with plenty of people watching from the shore and from the water.  There are 3 rowing competitions including the varsity race of 4 miles, the longest race in the western hemisphere.

If you search their websites, Harvard calls the race the Harvard-Yale Regatta, while Yale prefers the Yale-Harvard Regatta. Either way, each year, the young men of Harvard and Yale arrive in "the Ferry" just after their final exams.

Harvard has won the race 4 years in a row.  The Boston Globe is predicting a close race.

I wrote a blog post here last week about Big D’s Diner of Gales Ferry. Lots of people shared stories and wrote comments on my Ledyard Facebook Page and here on my blog .  My very favorite comment came from long time resident, Dale Treadway. In case you didn’t read it, I’ve copied it here:

Back in 1969, I had just been appointed a Ledyard Constable and I was being trained by one of the old timers in the Constabulary, we were patrolling the Town in the town's only cruiser, a 69 Chevy, we were looking for folks who were having trouble navigating thru a pretty tough snow storm.

We had chains on the cruiser and could pretty much go thru the accumulating drifts with little trouble, that coupled with a experienced old timer behind the wheel, and we had been able help out a number of drivers who had gotten stuck in the greasy skid stuff.

George, suggested we pull into The Big "D" diner and grab some much needed coffee and breakfast, it was the only place in town that was open and that's where the Snowplow drivers were grabbing their repasts! We had been on duty 10 hours by then earning our $3.25 an hour keeping Ledyard Safe from predators, thieves, and scoundrels and helping out the driver having difficulties. We did enjoy a respite from the rigors of the road and when we were about to pay the bill, which as I recall, came to less then 2 bucks a piece, the counter man just had us sign our bills saying that the town had a running tab for the road crews and we could put our eats on that!!

A welcome treat we thought for a long nights shift.  Boy did we come to regret that hasty decision....... Several weeks later our Mayor chewed me out in spades for thinking that as a Constable I would have the audacity to think the Town would buy my breakfast!!! Boy I tell we, or at least I, never did that again, he deducted the Sumptuous repast from our wages earned that night! and THAT'S HOW I REMEMBER THE LEDYARD DINER! IT WAS A GREAT PLACE TO EAT AND WE HATED TO SEE IT GO!!

I must admit I needed to look up the definition of the word “repasts”.  Thank you for sharing Dale.  Besides bringing me a smile as a Ledyard Town Councilor, I did learn a new word.

Photo above by Improbcat found on Flickr

Several months ago, someone on my Ledyard Facebook Page asked me if I remembered the diner that was located on Route 12 near Dow Chemical.  I moved to Gales Ferry back in the early 70’s and remembered the diner but couldn’t report on whatever became of it.  Until now.

While I was searching Flickr, I stumbled upon a photo of the Stateline Diner pictured below.  Larry Cultrera of the Diner Hotline Weblog kindly gave me permission to post it here.

Doing some further research, I stumbled upon more photos at  Quahog.org, and this tidbit, “The State Line Diner, a handsome Worcester Lunch Car (#846), has done a bit of traveling. Manufactured in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1955, it was first sold to a Mr. and Mrs. Bonthilier in Southbridge, Massachusetts. Whether they ran it as a diner in that location is currently unknown. The next we hear of it, it’s in Gales Ferry, Connecticut, possibly under the name Big D’s. It wasn’t until sometime in the 1970s that the diner was moved forty miles northeast to Foster, Rhode Island, where it was called Ricky’s Kitchen.”

Anyone up for a road trip?  I want to try the clam chowder.

I found this photo with comments on Flickr  this morning and thought it was a good day to share it.

The Kid's Fishing Derby, will be held at Sawmill Pond tomorrow starting at 7:00am.  The derby is open to children ages 15 and under.  Participants should bring their own tackle and bait. The pond will be stocked so there should be good fishin!   A Department of Environmental Protection educational trailer will also be on-site for information about fish that are caught. Free food and prizes too!

Sponsored by the Ledyard Rotary Club, and the Ledyard and Groton Town Police

Connecticut Saw Mill - Ledyard

As reported in the Day, Nov. 24, 1962:

“In almost a 2-1 margin, Ledyard townspeople last night again rejected zoning. The final vote announced at the end of the four hour meeting was 139 against establishment of a planning and zoning commission and 73 in favor”

The approximately 700 word article talks in detail about the meeting held 46 years ago and reports that at that time 90% of the people in the state lived in zoned areas. Despite that statistic, Ledyard decided to continue to buck the trend. Some of the argument centered around the state of zoning in Groton. One Ledyard resident who recently moved from Eastern Point Road in Groton spoke of Pfizer and how “They promised up and down that there would be no smell, no noise, no smoke and all the rest,….and now the place stinks.” He added that “one side of Eastern Point Road is zoned for industry while right across the street is an A-1 residential section.”

That argument won the day but zoning would be adopted in Ledyard a year later. .

I remember showing houses in Ledyard during the summer of 1981. Gypsy moth caterpillars were a problem throughout the state but Ledyard was one of the worst hit communities. Driveways were slick with caterpillar droppings and trees were defoliated. Anyone who was a resident of Ledyard back then will never forget it. It was like a horror movie of "The Birds" variety. You could hear the caterpillars chomping at night. "Disgusting" was the only word to describe it.

As a result, the following year, I became involved with Ledyard's town-wide gypsy moth spraying campaign. 6 years later I had my "fifteen minutes of fame" and appeared on the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather. Here is the story as written in the "Home News" by reporter Steve Adams on September 29, 1989.

It's been said that in the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes. For Linda Davis, however, her interlude in the limelight was more like seven seconds. Davis, a Board of Education member and local realtor, appeared September 8 on the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather. She was featured during a report on a fungus that is killing off gypsy moth caterpillars. Davis was involved with the town-wide gypsy moth spraying campaign in 1982, when Ledyard was one of the worst-hit communities in the state.

"The only word I can describe it is "disgusting"" Davis was shown telling correspondent Richard Schlesinger. "They covered the houses, driveways became slippery, we even had stories of people carrying umbrellas". "That was about all you could say in seven seconds," added Davis, who was described as a "community activist" by a network graphic.

The interview was filmed in July at the Ledyard Town Green. CBS cameras also filmed the town's most famous tree, the Ledyard Oak, which was destroyed by the Gypsy moth blight. Schlesinger was shown standing next to a plaque indicating that the tree was killed by gypsy moth caterpillars in 1969. Davis was a member of a volunteer group which banded together to coordinate a spraying campaign during the first year of the blight. Davis, who is seeking re-election to the school board this fall, joked that she will print campaign brochures with the slogan, "Dan Rather comes to me for the news."

Now a private home, this building in Gales Ferry Village, once housed the Gales Ferry Fire Department.  Built originally in 1942, the fire house was ironically destroyed by fire in 1948, and then rebuilt that same year. 

Like many of the original owners of the homes in Gales Ferry Village, George Bailey was a sea captain. Over the years, this home was owned by many familiar Ledyard names, like Allyn, Chapman, and Avery. The Ledyard Historical Society describes this architechure as a modified Greek revival. I love it for the wrap around porch!

It is the oldest collegiate athletic competition in the nation.  Sports Illustrated has called it "the most venerable rivalry in college sports".  Gales Ferry, CT is home to it all. The Thames  River has been the location of all but 5 races since 1878.   The 145th race will take place this Saturday, May 29th. 

The colleges first raced in 1852, and in 1878 the race was moved to the Thames River.  Both crews maintain camp in Gales Ferry - Harvard at Red Top on Military Highway and Yale at the end of Hurlbutt Road.  In the early 1900's over 100,000 spectators would view the race from yachts and observation trains on both sides of the river.  The glory days of the race are over but it is still well attended each year with plenty of people watching from the shore and from the water.  There are 3 rowing competitions including the varsity race of 4 miles, the longest race in the western hemisphere.

If you search their websites, Harvard calls the race the Harvard-Yale Regatta, while Yale prefers the Yale-Harvard Regatta. Either way, each year, the young men of Harvard and Yale arrive in "the Ferry" just after their final exams.

Harvard has won the race 3 years in a row. This year they have 5 sophomores competing and if they win again, it surely won’t bode well for Yale.

*Photo of the Yale Boat House taken this winter.

The Town of Ledyard owns the 11–acre Sawmill Park, which includes a water powered up-down saw, shingle mill, blacksmith shop, a gristmill, ice harvesting equipment, and other mill artifacts of the Industrial Revolution.  The mill museum is located in an 1860 restored building.  The saw mill is operational from April-May and October-November. The park with two-acre pond is open year round and on this day, I found a few fishermen on the shore.