Date: Fri 04-Jul-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDREA

Quick Words:

trailer-park-Violette-Midway

Full Text:

The Accidental Enterprise: Three Generations Operate Newtown Trailer Park

BY ANDREA ZIMMERMANN

When the gas pipeline was coming through town in 1953, workers asked if they

could park their trailers (and families) on the grounds of the Midway Grove

restaurant located on Route 6 in Newtown. Restaurateurs Forrest and Margaret

Violette agreed, beginning an accidental enterprise that continues to exist

today as Midway Mobile Home Estates.

In 1933 the Violettes bought the roadside stand, which was "midway between

Danbury and Newtown," and added a second story where they would live with

their two children. The year they moved in, "there was a big field of pansies

on one side, and a big strawberry patch on the other side," recalled the

couple's daughter, Louise Morgan. The family drew water from a well and used

an outhouse until the fall when Mr Violette installed indoor plumbing.

The couple started with one or two acres and gradually acquired ten; it was Mr

Violette's intent to someday open a garage at the location. The restaurant was

a busy place, attracting locals and passersby alike. The Tom Mix Circus

stopped by in the late 1930s to fill up on gas and food. And during World War

II, a soldier convoy came through and "cleaned her right out - food, candy,

pies, everything. "

"As a roadside stand, my parents sold gas, hot dogs, hamburgers, ice cream,

cigarettes, chewing tobacco, individual pies. And they expanded [into a real

restaurant] as time went on. My mother's specialty was breaded fried chicken

and fried clams," said Mrs Morgan. "We raised our own chickens. We had chicken

coops and a vegetable garden. I remember cleaning 100 chickens one weekend [to

serve in restaurant meals]. The vegetables we grew for the restaurant and for

the family; we used to have a hired man to do the gardening.

"The fried chicken was always freshly done. People had to wait; they didn't

get served immediately. It wasn't fancy, it was homestyle cooking," said Mrs

Morgan. "She made her own pies, too. As kids, my brother and I used to go up

to Taunton Hill and pick blackberries.... She'd make blackberry pies and sell

them in the restaurant." The family worked at the restaurant from 6 am to at

least midnight, seven days a week, recalled Mrs Morgan.

For a short time, the Violettes hosted square dances inside the restaurant.

"They pushed the tables to one side," said Mrs Morgan. "The neighbors would

come." But things got "a little rough" so the family didn't continue the

dances.

The winter of 1934 was memorable because one storm dropped two feet of snow.

"We had a vegetable man who came, a bread man, and a meat man. We didn't see

anyone for three days. The meat man, Max Berry, came from Danbury - he was the

only one concerned about us," said Mrs Morgan. "My brother and I walked down

to Clarence Ruffles - he had cows. It took us three hours to walk the

half-mile for milk and eggs."

The family's phone number was "telephone 44, ring 4." The number of rings

indicated which party on the party-line was being called. "If it rang one

time, you didn't pick up. If it rang two times, you didn't pick up - unless

you wanted to listen in on other people's conversations," said Mrs Morgan. Her

parents felt that eavesdropping was not the polite thing to do, however others

in the vicinity had no qualms about it and they had to be told to please get

off the line, she said.

One of the first years the Violette family was here, the Hawleyville Firehouse

burned down leaving the company without a location to hold its annual

carnival. "They used our lot for the carnival that year. Father donated the

electricity," she said.

Throughout her youth, Mrs Morgan's parents took in foster children. "My mother

raised about 30 of them. Some stayed a week or two, others stayed for a long

time. And there would [sometimes] be six or seven kids in one family, and they

considered her their mom," she said. "Some still keep in touch with me."

Mrs Morgan graduated in the Hawley High School Class of 1938. "That was the

first `large class' - there were 32 of us!" she said. At that time, high

school was on the top floor, and younger students on the main floor;

agriculture classes were held in the basement. And one-room school houses

still existed in town.

"I was the first part-time clerk at the high school," said Mrs Morgan. "They

were planning then to build the high school on Queen Street, but had to stop

because of the war."

When the "pipeliners" temporarily settled on the Violette's property, "they

parked any old place." Ten or twelve trailers surrounded the restaurant. "They

put drums in the ground and that was their septic," said Mrs Morgan. "My

father made the garage into a community house where they could take showers."

In 1955 the Violettes closed the restaurant and rented the space to the owner

of The Little Red Shoe Store, which eventually became a small chain in the

area. That business closed in 1963. "The owner gave kids Bazooka bubble gum,

so [my son], would go down every day to chisel him," recalled Mrs Morgan.

When the pipeline workers left, Mr Violette got the idea that trailer living

might appeal to elderly people because there would be less maintenance than a

home, and attract young families who were just getting started. He tore down

the chicken coop and used a tractor to dig trenches for septic and telephone

lines; Morris Nesvesky installed all the electrical lines.

The first person to live in Lot No. 1 was Betty Thornholt, who resided in the

trailer park for the last 20 years of her life. She was a housekeeper for one

of the town physicians, Dr Benton Egee.

"Complete families lived there - a mother and father in one, their children in

another, a brother in one; they all stayed there together for a while," said

Mrs Morgan. "When my folks [operated the park], they'd come around and my

mother would say, `Come in, sit down, have something to drink.' They developed

really close relationships.... Today, lifestyles are different."

Mrs Morgan and her husband, Ernest, took over the trailer park for a short

time, and then their son, Ernest, Jr, became owner and manager of the business

in 1988.

The original trailer park pre-dated Newtown's Planning and Zoning Commission,

but now there are specific local and state regulations which apply to mobile

homes and mobile home parks. "Today, when mobile homes come in, they're there.

The wheels and axles are still on, [but they don't move]," said Mr Morgan. "Up

until 15 or 20 years ago, no building department was involved. Today, you have

to get a CO, so it's easier to just sell [the mobile home] on the lot."

According to Mr Morgan, Connecticut is the only state that will not allow

16-foot trailers on the road, so the largest mobile homes he has in his park

are those a little over 14 feet wide. "The old parks were designed to hold

eight feet by 30 feet units. Now they have 16 feet by 70 feet units on there -

it's difficult," he said. "I don't have that problem [with length]. I can

accept up to 60 footers."

Although he cannot accommodate double-wide mobile homes, he said they are

"just like a little ranch" - two units bolted together to form a 28-feet-wide

home.

Mr Morgan has a license to have 25 mobile homes in the seven-acre park. Most

of the units have their own septic systems. "I provide a lot, which [extends]

from one side of a mobile home to the other - about 50 feet by 70 feet, some

bigger, some smaller. I provide water, electric service to the meters, take

care of common property - plowing and sanding the roads, and [maintain]

septics," he said.

Although people can have cats, Mr Morgan does not permit dogs anymore (unless

they assist someone who is disabled) because there were too many problems with

them in the past. "We're on our own well system and I have to monitor the

water constantly for bacteria - just like any water utility. I test for lead

and copper, too," he said. Residents may have a limited number of vehicles on

their lot, and are not allowed to have relatives do laundry at their trailer -

past abuses have required these restrictions, the landlord said. Car washing

is not permitted because of the potential strain on the well supply, and kiddy

pools are forbidden due to liability issues, said Mr Morgan. "It's common

sense stuff you have to put in the lease," he added.

Residents in Midway Mobile Home Estates may have flower gardens, and vegetable

plants in container gardens. The few children living in the mobile home park

can play in the half-acre center of the horseshoe; they are not allowed to

play in the road.

The monthly charge for a space and utility hook-ups is $310. If more than two

people live in unit, there is a $20 per month water/septic charge for each

additional person.

"It's an alternate to apartment living.... A mobile home, depending on the

quality [and whether it is used or new], will cost between $25,000 and

$50,000. And if you keep it up and work at it, it will hold value," said Mr

Morgan. "Most are two-bedroom units. For the lot fee and [mobile home]

mortgage it's between $600 and $800 a month. Where can you find something

[comparable] for that amount? The newer ones are well insulated, and have a

500-gallon heating season for hot water and heat. " Kerosene is the fuel used

in mobile homes.

Mr Morgan said he has all types of people living in his park - single men,

single women, young families, one disabled person, and a husband and wife -

each 90 years old - who have been living in the same location 30 years. "A lot

of people have lived here a long time," said Mr Morgan.

Just as in any situation where diverse people come together, there are

sometimes personality clashes between neighbors in the mobile home park. For

example, some like to stay up late and others like to go to bed early, said

the park owner.

"You've got to hear both sides to get the truth. You've got to `father them

along,'" he said.