Stratford Center

Stratford Center… pretty much as far north as I ever got when I lived in the town and it was way far north when I moved out to Lordship, surrounded by water and swamps.

The business district was fairly complete, if small. But the smallness meant everybody knew you and there was never a stupid clerk who said, “I don’t know,” when you asked about anything. The clerks knew the stock and knew how best to get what you needed. The stores were quiet and peaceful with no loudspeakers blaring.

Further north was Paradise Green, a place I almost never visited. I guess it had its share of stores, but I could not tell you if tortured beyond belief. There was a small restaurant Mom took me to not that long ago for a delicious Greek salad, two plates thank you. But that was for people who lived up in central Stratford. Snooty, I thought.

Further up was Boothe Memorial Park, and area with, as I recall, no stores and no center at all. Just some crazy windmill and other things that always amazed me; it’s a sort of museum. I don’t know where the people locally get their eats from, but it certainly is the ritzy part of town, not at all like Stratford Center.

The Center had one of the country’s oldest hardware stores: Lovell’s. It started before our country was born and lasted up until just a few years ago. The huge chain stores had more, but Harold Lovell had the intimate service and knowledge, the personality and the wooden floor that creaked comfortably.