2007-02-08
South Portland — I was born on Preble Street in South Portland in 1933. When I was two or three years old the shipyard needed to expand and my portion of Preble St. was taken by the government, or whatever, for that purpose. My family then moved to upper Mussey St. just a mile or so further along Broadway from the yard. Because we were the first house on Mussey St. the traffic from the shipyard made an impact on us. My friends and I would run down and sit on an old stone wall (still there) and pass the time during shift changes, watching the bumper to bumper cars slowly make their way to and from the yard and the same time. The drivers were kind to these skinny little kids who waved at them and they would usually wave back, tired as they must have been. It was necessary for my mother to plan our errands for her to the local grocery store, McGonigle's Market, which was across Broadway, for before or after the shift changes as there was no way any little child with a dollar bill, or a sweaty quarter clutched in her hand, to cross during that time without considerable risk.
My oldest brother quit high school when the war started to work at the yard. It was here he caught Undulant Fever which comes from raw milk. They served this milk to the workers at lunchtime and I would think it came from local, uninspected dairys. When he later joined the Air Force he was sent back home because of this infection, which apparently it never leaves the system.
I don't know why the yard would have been expanded before we were brought into the war but expect that the U.S. was preparing to manufacture ships to sell to England perhaps. Writing this I can even remember the feel of the rough concrete on my bare legs as I sat on that wall!
Thanks for bringing back the memory.
Marie (Lavigne) Fuller
Formerly South Portland
Now, Damariscotta
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