Forestville Update: Sidewalks, Party & Cell Phone Tower

The new sidewalks are here! The new sidewalks are here!

This…is Forestville for Wednesday October 3, 2012.

The sidewalks constructed in the center of the village are complete and citizens are enjoying the new walk ways as there has been brisk foot traffic. A ribbon cutting ceremony planned for the grand opening was abruptly canceled when the ribbon failed to arrive.

John and Barbara Deavers will be having their annual Halloween party on October 27th. Invitations are going out the end of this week.

A 23 year old Forestville resident wants a cell tower in Forestville village. “Bristol has one why can’t we? I am tired of my calls not going through,” said an agitated Lloyd Mobley at the canceled ribbon cutting ceremony.

Village life is difficult. The summers are long; the winters longer and everything else is in between.

Good night Forestville…and good luck.

Mr. Bubbles Promotes Mitchell Luby

Mr Bubbles car Wash promotes local resident

Mr. Bubbles Car Wash, the notorious car wash along East Main Street in Forestville, announced today the appointment of Mitchell Luby to Assistant Night Supervisor.

Mr. Luby joined Mr. Bubbles as just an assistant five years ago.  He received his GED in 2005 and has held various jobs in the community.  Occasionally Mr. Luby attends mass at Saint Matthew Church.

“We are fortunate to have someone like Mitch working for the company and I am pleased that he was promoted,” said his co-worker and friend Banana Bob.

Baseball Field at the New Green Hills School

View from Field 1 of Forestville Little League with Green Hills in the background

The ball fields at the new Green Hill School are progressing.  The backstops are in and the infields are laid out. To the untrained eye one field appears to be a big league diamond, and the the other a softball diamond or a Little League diamond.  The fields are built in the area that formally had contained two Little League fields and a batting cage.  But the city of Bristol, the landowner, destroyed the Little League fields in order to construct the new school.  Forestville Little League which had three fields prior to construction now has one.  With the school scheduled to open this August let the games begin!

The view from the backstop of the smaller field.

The big league diamond

Happy Halloween Forestville has no power!

Another closed road in Forestville

A freak autumn nor’easter ripped through Forestville Saturday and Sunday leaving most residents without power.  Power lines are down all over Forestville resulting impassable road ways.  Due to the lack of lights and heat, long lines have resulted at gas stations and eateries.  According to some estimates it could be a week before power is returned to the ville.

Schools canceled classes M

What a mess

Schools canceled classes Monday and Tuesday and the mayor, while declaring a state of emergency, urged trick or treaters to stay home.

So in the last six months we have experienced a blizzard, a hurricane, an earthquake, flooding and a crippling nor’easter.  Check the boundaries is this really Forestville?  Nothing happens here, ever.  What’s next locusts?  A volcano?  Tsunami?

Emergency Meeting to be held Regarding the Future of Forestville Little League

Forestville Little League to close?

Forestville Little League is on the verge of collapse.  As a result, an emergency meeting will be this Thursday at 6:30 PM at the A. Bartlett Giamatti Little League Center on Mix Street to advise parents and players alike of its peril.

The league is in need of volunteers to maintain its survival including a president, a safety coordinator and a group dedicated to running the auxiliary (Snack Shack).

This past season was a difficult year for the league.  Temporarily reduced to one playing field, parents complained of transporting their children to play and practice at other facilities all over town.

FLL has been plagued with problems and bad luck in recent years.  Last year league officials discovered funds were stolen from the Snack Shack, and two fields were taken away to make room for the expansion of Green Hills School.  Town officials claim the league will have access to a full compliment of fields once construction is completed.

This season saw their Accounts Receivable take a hit due to the elimination of the two fields and a lack of volunteers to maintain the shack, which sells food and drinks during games.  The money raised from the auxiliary is used to purchase new equipment, uniforms, and maintain the fields.  Unlike McCabe Waters across town, which has a dedicated set of volunteers in place to run the Snack Shack, Forestville has no luxury.

The incoming president will be need to be deal with host of problems and be a visionary, a problem solver and a cheerleader for the league to continue.

In the 60s and70s when baseball was king, FLL was flush with 600 players in the program.  This past season they had less than 200.  Why is it so difficult for the league to recruit players?  Computers?  Video games?  Soccer?  There are a variety of factors but the truth is Little League’s popularity in the United States has been eroding for years.

So, residents of Forestville, come out and be a volunteer or the league which was founded in 1954 will fade away just like the Forestville Boys Club, the Forestville Manufacturing Company, and the Forestville Train Station.

 

Hurricane Irene comes to Forestville

Looking south on Center Street

The Pequabuck River overflowed its banks yesterday during Hurricane Irene leaving one man  missing when his canoe capsized in the river.  Rescue workers began searching the river area near Nuchie’s for the canoeist after 4PM.

Normally a sedate tributary of the Farmington River, the Pequabuck raged as water pounded the center of the Ville causing damage to businesses and homes to be evacuated.

Forestville Center

As word spread about deteriorating conditions in Forestville’s flood zone, hundreds gathered throughout the day to take pictures and video of the historic flood.

Memorial Boulevard

While the destruction of Forestville seemed imminent, news from the mothership (Bristol) was not much better.  The Coppermine Brook on Route 6 overflowed flooding Staples and nearby parking lots, and Memorial Boulevard looked like a disaster zone with tree branches, tree stumps, sand, dirt and mud scattered everywhere along the roadway.  Stately Floors appeared to be teetering on the brink of collapse into the Pequabuck and employees from Bristol Auto Parts (NAPA) were feverishly removing water from the store front, which rests atop the normally quiet river.

Stately Floors

Staples and Coppermine Brook

Forestville Prepares for Hurricane Irene

Forestville residents gassing up

Hurricane Irene will arrive in Forestville after midnight Sunday.  As a result, residents of the Ville have been busying themselves with various preperations.  The Pine Street Plaza has seen longer than expected gas lines since Friday.  Several gas stations located at the mothership (Bristol) ran out of gas yesterday prompting many to come to the Pine Street Plaza to fulfill their petro needs.