CLOCKS
SHEPARD’S, 25th WEDDING ANNIVERSARY, KITTY CAT, 1970s CORDOBA DASHBOARD
This is a crazy grouping, I know, but there are 3 clocks I remember well and a 4th that is a bit speculative, but here goes:
CLOCK NUMBER 1:
In the 40s/50s/early 60s downtown Providence had several department stores. The Outlet and Shepard’s are two I can name. SHEPHARD’S had a landmark or signature clock outside the store and it became a designated landmark/meeting place for couples and groups. This tradition continued when Shepard’s moved to the Midland Mall (now the Rhode Island Mall) in the 1970s.
I remember the Shepard’s clock was where I was supposed to meet (usually) Norma and Karen at an appointed time when we had mall outings. At that time the clock was not located outside the mall building but rather outside the store within the open part of the mall.
CLOCK NUMBER 2:
There was a clock that hung on the walls of the living room at The 461 for years. I believe it was a 25th WEDDING ANNIVERSARY gift to my parents from their kids. I was about 12 years old at that time so I’m sure I didn’t play much of a role in gift selection or contributing to cost of such gift but for some reason think this clock was a gift for that event/milestone. Can someone confirm/refute?
Below is a photo which includes the clock, taken, I believe, during a Christmas gathering. The photo features (L-R), Gil, Diana Blais, and Norma.
Another photo from the same night with Norma and Karen is below.
Same wall, same clock, different year. This time we have (L-R) Karen, Diana Blais, Norma, Bill, and Sarah.
The photo below is of Gil and Claire taken at the 25th Wedding Anniversary party held in their honor.
Two additional photos from the 25th Wedding Anniversary party.
To the right: Bill and Nancy on the dance floor.
Below: Claire, Gil, and Bill
CLOCK NUMBER 3:
Much like the anniversary clock, a kitty cat clock adorned the walls of The 461 for a number of years. The kitty cat clock was in the kitchen and I’m amazed I haven’t come across any photos with it in the background. I’m including a photo of a clock I purchased a few years ago. It reminded me of the one that had been in the kitchen. I think maybe the clock in the The 461 kitchen was actually a black cat with a white belly. The clock in the photo has since lost one of its hands and is in my studio waiting for me to figure out how to 3D print a replacement. Also, a whole other topic, but, I believe the kitty kat clock in The 461 kitchen may have been obtained via S&H Green Stamps.
CLOCK NUMBER 4:
This clock is the speculative one. I can’t say I remember it absolutely but I can say with some degree of certainty that the Cordoba that Gil had was “loaded” – it certainly was the fanciest car any of us had ever driven at the time. There was that moon roof, which I loved, and one has to assume the seats were of fine Corinthian leather (that’s what Ricardo Montalban pedaled, anyway). My internet sleuthing indicates that many of the 1970s (CHRYSLER) CORDOBA vehicles did in fact have DASHBOARD clocks which I’m thinking was a fairly new feature in any car.
PIES THAT CLAIRE MADE
SHEPHERD’S, BLUEBERRY, SQUASH, LEMON-MERINGUE
I believe SHEPHERD’S pie was a regular item in the dinner rotation at The 461. I recall my mother making BLUEBERRY pie and I definitely remember that she often made SQUASH pie rather than pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving. And apparently, her LEMON-MERINGUE pie was top notch. I recall her making it but don’t actually remember having it. I was all about blueberry or squash/pumpkin. Now love lemon-meringue… I feel I missed out.
MAZES WE’VE BEEN LOST IN
MIKE’S, WOJCIK’S FARM, SCHARTNER’S, ESCOBAR’S
Catherine worked at Warner Farm, home of MIKE’S Maze, in Sunderland, MA in 2016. Karen and I took a trip out to complete the maze that year which had a national parks theme. Below is a photo of Karen and Catherine after successful completion of the maze. Since Catherine worked there she may have had inside information on escaping/completing. I can neither confirm nor deny.
The Nickelsons all visited WOJCIK’S FARM in Blackstone, MA in 2018. Other years the combined Nickelson families have visited the maze at Davis Farmland in Sterling, MA.
I had forgotten that SCHARTNER’S FARM ever had a maze until I came across the couple of photos below from a visit Michaela, Catherine, Sarah, and I made (probably) in the early 2000s. I wasn’t convinced there really was a corn maze at first (I’m not sure what that thing is that Sarah and Catherine are tangled up in) but I was eventually able to find some confirmation on the internet that Schartner’s did have a maze for at least a few years.
Catherine made a trip to Portsmouth, RI with her girl scout troop (late 90s?) to tackle the maze at ESCOBAR’S FARM.
Did anyone go to a maze this year?
PLACES SPOUSES MET
ALTON-JONES
APPLE
ROCKY HILL
GATE AT SMALL, LONG PLACE
Megan J and Adam met at ALTON-JONES Camp and later were married there as well.
Michaela and Jay met at the APPLE Store in the Providence Place Mall when they were both working there.
Gil and Claire met either at the ROCKY HILL Fair or at a dance at the Rocky Hill Grange in East Greenwich. I always they had met at the fair but my Aunt Judy wondered if it was actually a dance at the grange but then thought maybe the grange dance was where Harry met Sally Lois.
“SMALL, LONG PLACE” is the Algonquian phrasing for Quonset. Norma and Chris met at the GATE at Quonset in the early/mid 70s.
I was going to grab an image of the gate at Quonset from the mid-70s from the internet to use here but I like to use family-sourced images when I can so I decided to use Tom Brown’s image of the Seabee at Quonset/Davisville from about the same time frame and then below that is a picture of all of us at Norma and Chris’ wedding reception.
2 responses to “November 1, 2025 – Puzzle Discussion”
Lemon Meringue pie always makes me think of mom! I remember all the other pies but the meringue was special!
The commercial for the Cordova made me laugh.
I’m not sure about the clock in the living room. It feels like it was always there. Before their 25th anniversary. Although I’m pregnant in one of those pictures soI could be wrong.
I’ve always wanted to but I’ve. never done a corn maze.
I actually met Chris in the house down at Silver Springs. He knew the people upstairs.
house at Silver Spring – hmmm, see at some point a different story is/was told and it becomes “the real story” – thanks for clarifying.