tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436846479279507747.post168965211023240410..comments2024-03-28T19:50:52.148-04:00Comments on Hell's Acres: SHITTING to All Fields, Part 2Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436846479279507747.post-1443709157998116782023-10-08T20:24:31.130-04:002023-10-08T20:24:31.130-04:00Anyone remember playing hockey on the “swamp” behi...Anyone remember playing hockey on the “swamp” behind the Gas light? 1970’s Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436846479279507747.post-56779156503766361212020-09-28T05:46:47.340-04:002020-09-28T05:46:47.340-04:00I lived on Bolton St. until I was seven. I remembe...I lived on Bolton St. until I was seven. I remember putting koolaid in the lobster tank at Popular Supermarket, writing my name for the first time at 16 Acres Library. I also remember learning to swim at Duggan Junior High, and can still smell the chlorine. Boston Rd. was a busy place and Eastfield Mall was the best place to hang out. I even remember the toy chest at The Flaming Pit! An odd memory but always scared the bejesus out of me was the Bell Tower at Hillcrest Cemetery on Parker street used to have green lights on it at night- I swear, it looked like it glowed green! Between that and my first venture into a lunchroom care of Warner School left lasting impacts on a young boy in the early 1960s!Mrosenberg808https://www.blogger.com/profile/11354810792351773271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436846479279507747.post-77439498184280624082016-04-27T00:36:57.098-04:002016-04-27T00:36:57.098-04:00I remember zayre's well. Grew up on Bernard st...I remember zayre's well. Grew up on Bernard st. Remember the Tic Toc too. I knew the Jimmy and Johnny Mac well. Johnny was my best friend as kids and Jimmy got stuck in our outside fireplace and needed the fire dept to extract him. The dad, Tom, was very nice. Tragic that Johnny died so young....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436846479279507747.post-16218976670335330672015-11-11T08:54:36.984-05:002015-11-11T08:54:36.984-05:00Tic Toc Lounge had great hamburgs during the day,l...Tic Toc Lounge had great hamburgs during the day,late 1970's.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436846479279507747.post-76483277382258436922014-03-19T12:15:52.973-04:002014-03-19T12:15:52.973-04:00Hi Cricket,
I was a freshman in high school durin...Hi Cricket,<br /><br />I was a freshman in high school during the Blizzard of '78--it was the last year I had the paper route. Springfield didn't get incredibly slammed by the blizzard. We probably got around 15 inches, but this was after several blizzards in a short amount of time, so the snow banks were really high!Hell's Acresnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436846479279507747.post-36388347868891174982014-03-18T20:47:47.963-04:002014-03-18T20:47:47.963-04:00"The Schine Inn on Burnett Road later became ..."The Schine Inn on Burnett Road later became the Plantation Inn. Do you think Ali would have set foot in this place if he were greeted by this cracker, the former Mutual Ford Uncle Sam, who now stands guard there?" ====<br />lol. probably not.<br />Hey..."cracker"...now that's a term I haven't heard used in MA!<br /><br />Also, please clarify...the blizzard of '78 - I was a sophomore in college (I remember the blizzard well...we were jumping out of our 2nd story dorm windows on top of snow-ladened cars below. But how could you have been delivering papers as a youngster in school?? Confusing timeline... :/Crickethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14414255580258558222noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436846479279507747.post-38089344348699780632014-03-10T20:50:11.556-04:002014-03-10T20:50:11.556-04:00Open until 1990? I had NO idea. Wow.Open until 1990? I had NO idea. Wow.Hell's Acresnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436846479279507747.post-68440309834450460702014-03-10T20:43:53.534-04:002014-03-10T20:43:53.534-04:00Thanks, Dana.
Anyone with inside photos of the Ri...Thanks, Dana.<br /><br />Anyone with inside photos of the Rialto? I remember going to the Agawam rink across from Riverside a couple of times. Wooden floors!Hell's Acresnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436846479279507747.post-90542710936022893642014-03-10T17:54:29.069-04:002014-03-10T17:54:29.069-04:00I've really been enjoying going through your o...I've really been enjoying going through your old blog posts. When I was a kid we used to go on a trip once a year with the scouts to the Rialto skating rink. I still remember the soda fountain at the entrance, how everything was so old but quaint, and playing video games in the back more than skating. It's kind of odd that they took us there from Monson - my only guess is that our scout leader (who would be @ 75 to 80 if they are still alive) grew up growing to that place. It's funny that if you do an internet search the only pages you can find are some google images (the ones you posted) and references to the rink in people's obituaries (that they liked to go there). Those trips I went on were roughly 1983 to 1987, so it was open until at least then, and I found one google search link that said the place was still open as of 1990. I would love it if anyone had any pictures of inside the place. Dana R.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00224947853352143018noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436846479279507747.post-56399064222440781882014-02-19T12:40:23.077-05:002014-02-19T12:40:23.077-05:00Yes, I've heard them called the Horse Fields a...Yes, I've heard them called the Horse Fields as well. It's too bad those woods, as expansive as they are, have gotten smaller over the years.<br /><br />I heard that not too long ago that there was a well-worn path that stretched from Wilbraham, near Wilbraham Road, all the way to Fernbank Road. I looked along Fernbank road one day, but I couldn't see any trails there. They are undoubtedly long gone.Hell's Acresnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436846479279507747.post-48644312920284047132014-02-18T19:33:47.071-05:002014-02-18T19:33:47.071-05:00Great memories HA, we used to call them the "...Great memories HA, we used to call them the "Horse Fields" though. That's when we were back there with our dirt bikes and maybe the occasional "abandoned" car in the mid 70s. My cousin had a place on Marmon St. which, at the time, backed right up to the woods and all those trails.ybsobernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436846479279507747.post-1937298007001765162013-12-01T01:57:42.584-05:002013-12-01T01:57:42.584-05:00Remember the Zayres well, got the Coca Cola truck ...Remember the Zayres well, got the Coca Cola truck with the cool green bottle crates from there, I'm thinking they went out in the late 70's, if I'm correct.Caldor's was pretty cool also.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436846479279507747.post-8491206080440092052013-09-19T21:30:04.695-04:002013-09-19T21:30:04.695-04:00denny's was first named "sambo's"...denny's was first named "sambo's"...that didn't go over so well...caldors was "grants"...they had a restaurant that i'm ashamed my parents insisted taking me toAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436846479279507747.post-89607699577085322382013-09-18T14:50:26.254-04:002013-09-18T14:50:26.254-04:00The Globe said the Tic Toc sign was from West Spri...The Globe said the Tic Toc sign was from West Springfield, and I thought the newspaper had it wrong. But now I'm hearing from other sources that there was a Tic Toc in the West Side!<br /><br />Maybe The Globe was right. If so, there must be another neon Tic Toc sign out there!Hell's Acresnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436846479279507747.post-55326379127327745082013-09-18T14:17:55.097-04:002013-09-18T14:17:55.097-04:00I remember seeing that 2007 Boston Magazine articl...I remember seeing that 2007 Boston Magazine article, and I instantly recognized the Tic Toc sign in the photograph! I had wondered how he got it. <br /><br />I also remember a Tic Toc in West Springfield, on Riverdale Road. Was that somehow related to the one in Springfield?<br /><br />And a commenter above mentioned the Sunset Restaurant. You knew you were in for something special when Grandma and Grandpa took you to the Sunset Restaurant for dinner.Agawamiannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436846479279507747.post-90467369222712462202013-09-06T08:38:21.750-04:002013-09-06T08:38:21.750-04:00Thanks for the comment. For those unfamiliar with ...Thanks for the comment. For those unfamiliar with the Underpass, it became O'Driscoll's and is now the Tap Room. Sunset Restaurant is now Dana's Grillroom.Hell's Acresnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436846479279507747.post-58087864743260219712013-09-06T08:25:16.678-04:002013-09-06T08:25:16.678-04:00jerry was my aunt .. after the tic toc ,she opened...jerry was my aunt .. after the tic toc ,she opened the underpass saloon in Wilbraham. it looks like an old cowboy saloon. decades before the tic toc tom and jerry,my aunt owned and operated ..Tom AND Jerrys drive up drive in on eastern ave . they sold Christmas trees in the parking lot every year. tommy mac died years ago and jerry past away a few years ago.before jerry past away she worked as a waitress for the sunset restaurant in wilbraham Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436846479279507747.post-5660620134566382922013-09-05T16:52:56.093-04:002013-09-05T16:52:56.093-04:00Hi barrooman,
The Caldor parking lot on Cooley St...Hi barrooman,<br /><br />The Caldor parking lot on Cooley Street was such a big hangout--one of the stopping points in the Sumner Avenue-Bicentennial Highway cruise on weekend nights.Hell's Acresnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436846479279507747.post-11247797038204416952013-09-05T16:47:52.038-04:002013-09-05T16:47:52.038-04:00thanks again HA for the walk down memory lane. we ...thanks again HA for the walk down memory lane. we had a zayres and a caldors in the surrounding towns remember buying some vinyl there from their limited bins. vallee's was located by brainard field the airport right south of downtown hartford. ate there many many times with my folks.barroomanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12903199556163026319noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436846479279507747.post-33176436548079878312013-09-01T16:36:13.087-04:002013-09-01T16:36:13.087-04:00You're right, Randylou. Well, at least Forest ...You're right, Randylou. Well, at least Forest Park is still nice. But I wouldn't take my family on the Riverwalk unless we were part of a formal tour. And that's pathetic.Hell's Acresnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8436846479279507747.post-81414255027094319612013-09-01T11:36:52.949-04:002013-09-01T11:36:52.949-04:00Your comment about the condition of the parks was ...Your comment about the condition of the parks was spot on. However, you need to add to that the conditions if the schools and the safety if the streets as barometers of a city's revival. You yourself likely settled in Wilbraham because the schools. Until people WANT to send their kids to Springfield schools, the city has no chance of truly reviving itself. Randylouhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15395085556145687438noreply@blogger.com