To the Editor:
A couple of weeks ago, Tim Dinsmore called to ask if I would be interested in joining a group of contemporaries at the old Taniscot Engine House on May 6 at 7 p.m. to share our memories of the great depression of 1929.
Last night the noble old building in downtown Newcastle was filled with the youth of yesteryear. I was eight when the great crash happened, and seemed most of those present were about the same.
When asked if we thought this present recession was comparable, we all agreed it certainly was not, since the crash of ’29 happened when we were all in the lower grades and lasted into high school years when FDR, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt began taking the edge off the poverty with WPA (Works Progress Administration), CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps), NRA (National Recovery Act), and the list goes on, but they brought $15 a week checks, from the government, to those applying – of course for their services rendered.
I remember Mamma’s saying, “I know that check is coming in.” It was the assurance of income, no matter how small, which had been missing for about eight years. There were many personal stories of the period from those present.
How they ever found us all and rounded us up, and supplied us at 8:30 p.m. with mountains of homemade cookies and cupcakes is something to make for a very warm, special memory… thank you one and all for remembering the “golden oldies” in such a special way.
Connie Curley, Damariscotta Mills
