Date: Fri 07-Jul-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDREA

Quick Words:

B8-Sandy-Hook-Diner-Corrigan

Full Text:

WITH CUT: CELEBRATING 60 YEARS IN THE DINER BUSINESS (B8)

B Y A NDREA Z IMMERMANN

Sixty years ago, Josephine Corrigan and her husband Morris, a dentist, were

taking a Sunday ride through New Fairfield and spotted a charming little

trailer-diner out in a field. It caught their fancy, so they bought it and

moved it to road-front property at their home. Thus, the Sandy Hook Diner on

Church Hill Road was established.

½When I saw the diner in the field, I said to my husband, `I love that diner.'

And anything I wanted, Morris would buy me,¾ said Mrs Corrigan, who still owns

the property. ½We had a foundation built...and when we put the trailer on it

all the windows blew out [because it had sagged so in the field.]¾

Two years later they added a dining room and a larger kitchen. ½Mrs C,¾ as

people have called her for decades, ran the all-night diner with the help of a

½couple of girls.¾ She also rented rooms in her large home behind the diner to

people involved in the construction of Fairfield Hills.

¾Everybody was friendly and nice...In those days there was plenty of work

around,¾ said Mrs Corrigan. Many people would stop in on their way to Lake

Zoar. But when things were quiet, she and the waitresses would sit and talk.

Between meals she would change the beds in the house, do washing and ironing,

and mow the lawn.

Eventually the diner ceased 24-hour operation, but continued to offer three

meals a day. ½After closing, a bunch of the girls and I would knit in the

dining room,¾ she said. ½Our lives were different then. The whole world has

changed - you know that...We used to have a ball in those days all the time.

We had barn dances in the barn every Saturday night.¾

Years ago, she said a fried chicken meal was 50 cents. Coffee and a doughnut

was 15 cents, a whole pie 35 cents.

In 1949, Mrs Corrigan moved to Southbury and opened the Laurel Diner on Main

Street South. It became too difficult to cook at the Sandy Hook location and

then transport food to the Southbury diner so, in 1951, she leased out the

space on Church Hill Road. Although she stopped working at the Laurel Diner in

1972 she continues to be a partner in the business.

Last week, Ellie Lewis, who has operated the Sandy Hook Diner for the past 2«

years, decided to hold a barbeque to celebrate the 60th anniversary and honor

Mrs Corrigan. She invited customers, friends, and anyone who wanted to join

the patio party on June 30.

½After all these years, [Mrs Corrigan] deserved it,¾ said Ms Lewis. She said

in the past the diner had attracted mostly men, but now it is more of a family

place. The bears that line the walls, and a back patio are new features added

to the old business. The menu has changed, also. But when Mrs Corrigan noted

there were no mashed potatoes offered, she was delighted to find them on the

menu the next day.

½If a diner doesn't have mashed potatoes,¾ said Mrs Corrigan, ½I think, `What

kind of place is this?'¾

½I can't take her to a regular restaurant because she says a diner has better

food,¾ laughed longtime friend Iris Lord. ½She is a very astute business

lady...She's a fixture in Sandy Hook and in Southbury. If you don't see Mrs C

at the diner, people wonder where she is. And you know you can always ring her

at the diner in the morning if she's not at home.¾

At 83 years old, Mrs Corrigan still puts in a full day of work. She stops by

both diners early in the morning, maintains her properties including an

apartment house in Danbury, and takes care of all the yard work at her current

home in Middletown. Recently, while mowing the lawn, she had an accident that

severed some toes and broke every bone in her left foot. But she has since

bought a new tractor and plans on continuing to mow the lawns.

½The doctor said if I gave up and stopped working I'd be dead tomorrow. I love

it...Hard work doesn't hurt anybody,¾ she said. ½I'd do the same thing over

again - sure, why not?...It seems like I'm going to live forever.¾