A Happy Interlude in Winchester — Part 1

A Happy Interlude in Winchester - Part 1

By William T. Riiska, Winsted

I have always been interested in politics and government. When a new charter for our town was being discussed, a friend on the board of selectmen appointed me to the newly formed Charter Revision Commission. We worked for two years and finally came up with as good a document as we thought we were able to draw up.

When the document was presented to the voters, the Charter Commission and friends of the proposed charter lobbied intensely for its adoption. When the vote was tallied the new Charter won by a two to one majority. The unique feature was the adoption of the Council-Manager form of government that would be effective with the hiring of the town's first professional town manager.

The board of selectmen elected in 1961 would appoint the new town manager, and I wanted to be a part of that board. The first manager was, in my opinion, a good manâ014but the others disagreed with me. His firing was very controversial and I had major differences with the Democratic Party, differences so major that I took a six-year hiatus from politics in the Town of Winchester.

But then the bug bit again and five of us got together to organize a slate of Democrats for the next election. We called ourselves the "New Breed" and we were very successful. I had gotten the most votes and was chosen to serve as mayor.

The manager in place was an ex-naval officer and he was an excellent town manager. He was responsible for the everyday administration of all the departments of the town government. There were seven selectmen; members of the minority party were entitled to at least two seats on the board. The mayor and the board of selectmen were supposed to represent the people and develop direction and policy for the town.

We suffered through the trials and tribulations of small town politics. We must have done fairly well, for four of us were reelected. In politics you take the good with the bad and hope there is more good than bad. In our case the good far outweighed the bad.

David Austin was the first settler in the Town of Winchester in 1750; the town was incorporated by the General Assembly in Hartford in 1771. For the most part our civic-minded citizens enthusiastically endorsed a major celebration for our 1971 Bicentennial.

It is truly amazing what a group of dedicated, enthusiastic citizens can accomplish. They proceeded forthwith to organize themselves, recruiting anyone they thought would help them, and opened their committee to any interested citizen who was willing to work. They enlisted the stores, factories, schools, churches, civic clubs, firemen, policemen, veterans and town employees, and even hired a consultant who really proved to be a gem. Two things that seemed to be at the top of their agenda from the outset were a monster Bicentennial Ball and an equally monster Bicentennial Parade.

Someone came up with the idea of inviting the Mayor of Winchester, our sister city in England, to come to Winchester, USA with his wife to help celebrate. An invitation was sent to Mayor Stanley G. Steele and his wife, Marjorie, and they accepted.

A very full week of activities was planned with something for everyone from kids to teens to the adults with block dances, barbecues and ball games.

The committee had published various pamphlets and a book by one of our own. Souvenir Bicentennial Coins were struck. We went to Kennedy Airport in a limo to pick up Mayor Steele and Marjorie. They were guests at various homes in town.

At one of the many receptions Mayor Steele, on behalf of the Town of Winchester, England, presented to me, Mayor Riiska for the Town of Winchester, Connecticut, a suitably inscribed sterling silver tray as a memento of our Bicentennial Celebration. The tray is in the Winchester Historical Society.

One thing on everyone's mind was the Bicentennial Ball. Vaughn Monroe's Big Band was going to make music for the dance. And the next thing was: "What do we wear?" It was a costume ball and it gave everyone a chance to express themselves. Fierbergs Theatrical Costume House in Hartford was pretty well cleaned out.

My wife and I almost immediately decided that we would go as Diamond Jim Brady and Diamond Lil. My costume was easyâ014tails and a huge homemade diamond stickpin stuck in my cravat. My wife Marge shopped for a suitable costume that turned out to be spectacularâ014respectable, but spectacular! She still has a very nice figure. She found the greenest green formfitting gown trimmed with green sequins and white marabou at the neckline and she wore matching green gloves. The most descriptive word I can think of is spectacular.

Stanley G. Steele was dressed in his full formal regalia as Mayor of one of the most ancient of English towns, the home of King Arthur, and was a fitting escort for his wife Marjorie. Men in their period costumes and the ladies in their colorful gowns made a beautiful picture set to the very nice music of one of the most melodious of the big bands. His theme song with his vocal was "Racing with the Moon."

But all things must come to an end, and the next day was Sunday and the day of our parade. It was a big parade. It was a long parade. It was our Bicentennial Parade. Dignitaries from near and far were assigned to convertibles for rides down Main Street. Mayor Stanley G. Steele of Winchester, England, dressed in full regalia, rode in a handsome convertible with his wife. The Mayor of Winsted (that's me) was left without a car. One of my daughter's high school friends, Linda Lippincott, had a Volkswagen Honeybee convertible which she offered to me, so I rode through town with my wife sitting in the back of a "bug."

I cannot recount the many participantsâ014the bands, honor guards, marching units, floats, fire trucks, policemen. The thousands of people from Connecticut who had come to share in our celebration all cheered as the units went by. The camaraderie engendered by the cooperation fostered a feeling of goodwill that lasted many months as the town settled back to normal.

To be continued â026