Growing Up in the East End in the ‘60s

Over the years, I have enjoyed reading what others have written about their years growing up in the Torrington that they loved. It is important to remember childhood environments, however small they may be, and consider how they may have touched a few of our lives.

Let’s go back to about 1967 or so, to a July day when Joe Balsamo's fruit market had all the garage doors open on the corner of East Main Street and Crestwood Road. I don’t recall if Bredice was baking next door yet. On Pineridge Road, Behind Clem Crovo's gas station and Rolli's Fireplace Inn, a bunch of volunteer firemen were in the big field (where Sports Palace is today) setting up carnival booths, dunk tanks and those balloon and dart games for that "one night a year" bazaar to help benefit the firemen.

Schroeder's Equipment and their competitor Miller and Sons both had lawnmower items out on display. Ross's Motors had the best cars in those days, and they were always clean. A 1966 Mustang with its top down was in the front row.

Willie DeDominicis, his wife and their young boys George, Billy and Aldo were helping to keep Sky Top Lanes bowling the best in town. Thanks to that water bubble tank air conditioner outside the back doors, it was always the coolest place in the East End. Do you remember the big, wide staircase to get into the bowling alley’s front entrance before the bar was even built? That was a set of stairs!

The good people living in this area included the Monkmans, Szabos, Sebbens, Speziales, Hogans, Sabias, Milicis, Nickersons, Miss O'Brien, Sibleys, Moscarillos, Paces, Rovezzis, Drakes, Richmans, Holtmans, Foxs, Maroneys, Cusatis, Torsons, Fantozzis, Buonocores, Pezzes, Marcianos, Kilmers, Paganinis, LaRoccos, LaGambas, Scaccas, Noveys, Nardis, Dileos, Lamannas, Lucias, Dubreuils, Driscolls, as well as hundreds of other wonderful families within walking distance of Clem’s Shell and the road I grew up on, Pineridge Road. (I am sorry if I have left out your family’s name, but please forgive me, as it was 35 years ago.)

There were quite a few dignitaries living on this street, as well. Amidst all of the hullabaloo about the Warner Theatre lately, I recall a Mr. Jacobsen who lived next door to us. He'd always give me lobby cards and stuff from a business that he owned—yes, that is correct, Mr. Jacobsen owned the Warner Theatre back around that time. I wish I’d saved a few of those items he gave me. Oh, well.

Up the street we had a great place named Star's Department Store, now home to BJ's. Many a large bazaar came and circus-like arenas were set up behind Star’s. We were always scared of some young rookie cop named Sulkazi, as he dated a very nice lady who worked at Star's. He turned out to be the closest thing to Santa Claus.

It was a great time when we learned of the Sky View Drive-In and the awesome concession stand and those funny boxes that the sound came out of. (We were not in cars at that time—we were entering from the back!) There was a little hill there that still reminds me of the TV series Combat. We had to get over that hill to get into the drive-in side—and no one was firing back at us either, thank God.

Although, unlike some of the older kids, we did not have the newer stingray bikes that were just coming out, we did have our bikes. We even had a bike club—and, yes, we did put Mickey Mantle baseball cards in the spokes to make that crazy noise.

We used to ride up Hartford, Albany and Boston (streets and avenues, that is) and watched as a new Kentucky Fried Chicken was being built. Before that it was all woods back there—what a bike path it was! We would watch the employee at McDonald's manually change the number in those big, old "golden arches" from 5 to 6 million people served, or whatever it was. A little farther up was the Red Rooster Cafe—I always thought that shack might just fall down. The farthest we would go was to old man Zander's store, which was across from the Hilltop Inn—I’m not sure if it was called the Apple House back then, or if it became that later. If we were lucky, Mr. Zander might have the garage doors open so we could see the great older cars that he kept in the bays.

As we headed back towards home, the Brooks Bank branch back down the hill was open, and Dileo's Restaurant was about to become Clark's Restaurant, I do believe. Jimmy’s Store was a lot smaller in size, and Bruni’s Pharmacy had great cold soda. Torrington Beef always had that meaty smell, and Mr. Caldwell was smiling from his liquor store. There were a lot of houses on both sides of this part of East Main Street that just are not there anymore.

P & O Lumber Company was always busy, as was Jack's gas station across from Clem's; gas was, I believe, 27 cents a gallon. Back then it took you about seven minutes to go from Bruni's Pharmacy to the center of town—not anymore!

If we were not playing at the Szabos’ house, we were in Joe Lucia's swimming pool. We would play kickball for hours in front of the Scaccas’ house; how Mickey ever tolerated us, I will never know. Mr. Novey was a grumpy older man, but his wife was always nice to us, considering we cut though their yard daily. At least a third if not closer to half of the original people who built their homes on Pineridge, Hemlock, Deepwood and Whitewood roads still live there to this day.

I had crushes on some of the neighborhood girls: Angela Scacca, Nancy Torson, Melissa Santoro, Nancy Crovo, to name only a few. We would listen to music like the Beatles, the Monkees and the Byrds; even Tom Jones would dazzle us on television. Friday nights would have not been great without The Wild, Wild West; Hogan’s Heroes; The Beverly Hillbillies; and, yes, even Green Acres.

Being a kid back then was something right out of the former TV program The Wonder Years, though it was real. We could walk the street and never worry about anything—and I mean anything. We could sit on any steps in the neighborhood and hear the bugle bands playing or practicing at Fuessenich Park.

All of us kids should be thankful that we had moms and dads who gave us their all and worked so hard that we could grow up in a great part of the East End. I was fortunate to grow up on a street called Pineridge Road in a hometown called Torrington, Connecticut.