'Twenty five years ago I was a freshman at Worcester Junior College. Amongst a variety of subjects required was English Composition. Innocently I reported to class the first day with a couple of other North Brookfield students, Joe Przypek and Ronnie Stackow., only to learn our professor hailed from North Brookfield, too! Mr. Robert C. Gould was a tall (Princeton University no less.) scholarly type who had bought John Wood's house on Bennet's Hill - Waite Corner a few years earlier.
'Amongst those theme papers in my attic is a two page theme entitled "Christmas in My Hometown I'd like to share with my readers some of the feelings I wrote back in 1961.
"Adding to all the brilliant Yuletide decorations exhibited (bye townspeople) a romantic but vicious blizzard blanketed my town with more than a foot of snow on December 12, 1961. Traffic was at a standstill for more than a day. After digging themselves out, North Brookfield shoppers filled the stores in preparation for the coming holidays.
" Before I knew it, Christmas Eve was greeting me! As night fell I decided to go outside my house and observe the surroundings. To the north I saw a gleaming steeple in the distance signifying the presence of our Almighty Being. As I turned to the west a white farmhouse caught my eye, perhaps displaying a small manger.
"Looking south and east I saw several homes displaying the decorative skills of their proud owners.
"Then I sat down for a moment and began to think about the true meaning of Christmas. I suddenly realized the true meaning was right before me in both the beautiful natural and man-made splendor of the season. Walking back to the house several snowflakes dusted my face. Feeling them, I fully realized how fortunate I was to celebrate Christ's birth in New England.
' My grade was a B. Mr. Gould's comments in red ink read "Naturally it sounds realistic to me."
NB.. this memoir was written just months before Col John Hershel Glenn' flight into space!
RLP
My cup runneth over!
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