Just Stopped by to say "Hi"

[Dean Romig]

I was out at CVS on the corner of Main and Chestnut Streets to pick up some ice packs for Kathy who underwent rotator cuff surgery yesterday and it occurred to me that William Harnden Foster lived on Chestnut street until his death in 1941. He was at a New England Grouse Dog championship in Connecticut when he was stricken with a massive heart attack and was dead when he hit the ground.

In any case, the thought prompted me to stop by his grave site on my way home just to say "Hi" and make sure all was well with his headstone... especially after we have seen what happened to the Parker family headstones. Well, Bill Foster's headstone is in fine shape and shows no sign of damage or vandalism.

Foster died a little more than seventy years ago and that period of time is finally coming into perspective the older I grow... it wasn't really that long ago and we are darned lucky to have had such a man whom we can count among the ranks of some of the greatest sportsmen ever. Foster was an artist, author, editor of two magazines, co-inventer of "Skeet", innovator of the early L.L. Bean sneak boat... the list goes on and on.


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[Bill Murphy]

Also shot Parker shotguns. How is the restoration of the old Glen Rock Kennel property coming along? Do you know who the new owners are?

[Dean Romig]

indeed he did shoot Parkers - with a preference to small bores. I don't know if he shot Parkers for waterfowl but he did enjoy duck and goose shooting - a fact not a lot of people know about.

The former Glen Rock Kennel (Davies) property has undergone a very nice yet subtle transformation. The tall shrubs at the front of the property along Dascomb Rd have been removed and a rock wall put in their place. The place looked very pretty at Christmas time with wreaths in the windows and candles and one strategically placed spotlight. The lot immediately nextdoor which was wooded with very big white pines has been cleared, apparently for the construction of a house. I don't know if this piece was part of the Glen Rock property or not. The wife of the couple who bought the Glen Rock place works with my daughter at Pfizer right down the street from my house. Melissa is coming here today when she gets out of work and I'll ask her to ask her friend what the plans are for the kennel houses. I hope they preserve the history. They know of the history of the place. Maybe they can get a small grant to help to repair some of the ravages of time that have been wrought on the place.

[Dave Suponski]

Dean, Thanks for the update. Is that the picture we took a few years ago or do you have snow on the ground up there? All I know is I have a welping box from the kennels courtesy of a good friend. Please give Kathy our best...we are thinking of her.

[Dean Romig]

You're right Dave - it is a picture I took in '09. We have absolutely no snow at all...so far.

You may remember that W.H. Foster's name above his wife's name above two or three other family names are on the back side of this Foster family monument. Nothing elaborate, just a family monument. In fact, his house on Chestnut street is a nice house to be sure, but also is not elaborate.

[Dean Romig]

Melissa just left, but not before I was able to extract some information about the former Davies property.

The adjacent lot belongs to the couple who own the former Davies place and it hasn't been sold and it is not being prepared for a new house. They have three children, two of whom are boys and the lot is being cleared in order to provide a larger play yard for the kids and their friends. It was severely overgrown, much like the kind of grouse covers we don't set foot into anymore because they are way past their prime.

As for the Glen Rock Kennel houses, they have experienced water damage through not being repaired when they should have been. The boys (being boys) will want to explore them and play in them and there are some rusty nails, kennel wire, etc., to say nothing of the dirt, dust and debris in there, and so the kennel houses may be torn down eventually. This is not definite but it's their property and they can do with it as they wish.

I asked Melissa to keep me informed on this.

[Bill Murphy]

Thanks, Dean. Some pictures of the property and the kennel houses would be appreciated. I guess some memories of the past have to be surrendered to the earth.

[Dean Romig]

The original skeet field, well behind the Davies home, is now a cul-de-sac with several high end homes... there is no trace of a primitave shooting range or skeet field ever having been there.

These pictures are of the Glen Rock Kennel area, the kennel houses and the Davies house.
It is privately owned so I will not divulge the address.

The third picture is of the inside of the office in the main kennel house. The Lynn Bogue Hunt illustration on the wall now hangs at my house. It appears to have been the top of a calendar.

The fifth picture is from within the kennel house looking to the entrance door at the far end of the office. I have the key to the entrance as a key fob on my everyday key ring.





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[Dean Romig]

A few more.

the first is of what I refer to one of the whelping boxes but others say they are not.

The big trees in the fourth picture are all gone now.

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[Dean Romig]

And finally...




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