Dentistry in 1914 was truly primitive. Tuft's Dental School saw this young man travel from Washburn, Maine, to earn a DDS Degree and begin his practice. "Down Maine" might be his middle name s he was truly a Maniac. He was humble and an intellect. In the depth of the Great Depression Doc Wight had to find a new place to practice. He was about age 57.
Somehow he plugged into the North Brookfield Community. The Wight family rented from F.Arthur Fullam on South Main Street. Doc Wight walked to work. His office was in the Adams Block - 2nd floor. The negotiating of the flight of stairs was the warning to impatient patients.Clarence Wight was staid in his mannerisms. He always called me "boy!"
The antiseptic-smelling office hosted two large framed prints of a lion and a tiger. I wonder why? The privacy curtain afforded little privacy to those who waited. The Steeple Clock ticked away as he drilled. No high-speed equipment back then! His mortar and pestle I owned at one point in my life! He's shook mercury into the mix and come up with a wad of silver filling. He would shake it to get rid of the residual quick-silver.
In his back room was an antique Morris Chair. It was here this arm-chair traveler allowed his mind to wander all over the Globe. It was at Benvenuti's Fruit Store Doc Wight would socialize. The Good Doctor enjoyed a 7-20-4 Cigar and maybe a nip.Old Bob Quigley and Clarence Wight were also close friends as was old Matthew Benvenuti.
In the wintertime you would see Doc walking and enduring the NorthEast storms in his mackinaw .. collar up high.
In later years, after 50 years of marriage, the Wight's purchased a home on Elm Street. He dubbed it "BIRCH TREE FARM!" You could tell he was content.
Doc kept an oar in the dental waters past age 90. We were friends 'til the end. He and his wife Mae are buried down at the Walnut Grove Cemetery on Elm street, NB. His memory and stories persist as Doc Wight was the real deal .. a painless dentist. LOL
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