Fairfax Landmark is Gone

[MikeF9]

The pine trees across the road from the baseball field behind BFA are gone. They have been there a very long time, and I personally used to use them to try and figure where the old baseball field used to be. I found a couple of pictures of cheerleaders in the 1971 BFA yearbook. This is before the high school was added on.


The Varsity squad. L-R Julia Wolfe, Pauline Toof, Rebecca Ferguson, Patty Roussin, Diane Shaw, Shelly Bordeau, Donna Roussin. Kneeling- Mrs. Young, advisor. Look upper left hand side. There are the trees with the baseball backstop in front of them. The backstop is facing the school with the first base line parallel to the road.


I cropped the first photo for a better look. The current baseball backstop is located near where the old one was, but facing the other way, with the third base line along the road.


The JV squad. Back Row-Patti Bellows, Kim(?) Nason, S. Yandow, Laurie Therrien, Patty Larson. Front row-Gail(?) Collins, Johanna Rooney, sub M. Pigeon. The trees are behind the top cheerleader. Notice the softball backstop on the left. Right now, where the girls are, is where the high school is. The old softball backstop would be across from where Jim and Lena Meunier live now, and located where you would enter the back parking lot. The soccer field was located right behind the softball backstop, and ran perpendicular to the road.


Limbs had been coming down out of the trees at regular intervals. During the February vacation, a limb came down and took out a power line. I had talked with Doug Stewart, and he mentioned CVPS wanted to cut one of the trees down, and Doug wanted the other to come down as well. He mentioned that there had been THREE trees there, but he and his brother, Bob, had cut one down previously. When Doug said they were going to be cut down, I snapped a couple of pictures for history sake.


A normal sight travelling down Hunt Street. One more historic note, before the road name changes after 9-1-1 implementation, this road was called Spring Street.


The view as of Friday morning after the trees were cut down Thursday afternoon.




As you can see, trees were deteriorating and weakening, and was a matter of time before they would have come down on their own.

[Dick Brown]

Mike    As the team manager for the 1978 Baseball Team, you probably remember the line drives that Louie Caron used to pull foul down the " Spring Street " road , always curling towards Doug & Peg's house. Do you suppose that his " shots " hitting those big trees hastened their demise   He really hit those trees a lot !!!! Also, I'm trying to remember the names of those cheerleaders in 1971, but can't do so. Can you identify them ?
Once again, thanks for the memories your pictures brought out !!

[MikeF9]

I will get the names of the cheerleaders and post them.
There used to be a pull off under the trees back in the day, and a lot of parents used to sit over there and watch the games. From what I hear, a couple of men would enjoy a frosty cold one while their kids were playing ball.

[MikeF9]

I went back through the yearbook and got the names. They were listed only with a first initial. Louis Roberge and I were able to figure out who many were. If I goofed, please correct me.

[Henry]

Thanks Mike, Maryann was trying to identify them and got a couple of them in the bottom photo.

[roadkill]

Now Mr. Brown,---- How can anyone of us NOT remember Homer Mitchell.Baseball was our game and we were very good at it. Thanks for the pictures Mike, and to you Mr. Brown.

[Mike Raburn]

There are roads AND houses behind BFA now?

Get outta here!!?

[Dick Brown]

I do remember Mr. Mitchell and also his talented kids, Pam, John and Brian.....Remember also their older brother Wade, who was a great athlete not only as a player but also as a coach and referee in the Southern Vermont  area.
Some of our best and most knowledgeable fans were over in the pull-off , but the VHA , around 1980, mandated that anyone in attendance ( i.e., watching the game ) follow school rules which prompted the administrator to have to make more frequent trips to  that area...........maybe we should have joined them for a cold one ?  Anyway, another era, another story.
Thanks again Mike for listing the names of the 1971 Cheerleaders.

[Dick Brown]

Mike   A senior moment yesterday. and I apologize..........meant to discuss the old baseball fields with you and forgot to do so. The first baseball field that I was aware of at BFA was where the 1960 addition was constructed ( present day library lopcation ). I believe that the right field area encompassed the back of the 1942 addition, allowing Tom Collins and his brothers to smash a few ( ? ) home runs through the windows on the second floor .
When I arrived as coach in 1962 there was no baseball field and the home games were played at the old Cambridge HS. The " new field "was where the 1973 addition now stands and in the fall of 1962, kids ( both boys & girls ) picked rocks on Tuesday & Thursdayafternoons after school , mixing it with Intramural Soccer on the other days as we attempted to start a fledgling soccer team  .
The third field was near the present location, but it was changed slightly in 1984 or so when some Federal Funds were used to renovate it, with most of the planning and design courtesy of Mike Mahoney, John Gillis, John Shedd and with a lot of community participation and donated labor. 
At least, that's the way that I remember it.

[roadkill]

I remember of having the option to spend an hour picking rocks or an hour of detention. I always chose the rocks.

[Suzy]

Gary, you crack me up!  Nobody in your class EVER got detention....did they?!?!  LOL!  (I'd choose the rocks too, if given the choice!)  Have a great day!  Sooz

[Rev. Elizabeth]

Hey, Suzy, thanks for that great photo!

[roadkill]

Hey Suzy, I remember sitting next to you on rainey days

[Suzy]

@roadkill:  Not in detention, you didn't!!! 
Are you on Facebook yet?  All your old pals are here waiting for you....

You're welcome Rev. Elizabeth.  I remember volunteering for Vacation Bible School there one summer, and have fond memories of that church!