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Remembrances
Jim
MacDonald: When I started working there for the weather
service headed by Dr. Tom Malone in 1956 we were in the Central Row building
along with WTIC.
Television began downstairs (on the 4th floor, I believe). Then
when Broadcast House was completed we moved to the top (19th) floor of #1
Constitution Plaza where we had a great view for a short time before winding up
on the north end of the Plaza where we had almost no view of the sky. A question
of saving $$$$$. That was the time during which the Travelers Research Center
flourished. I'm not sure if they were part of Broadcast Plaza Inc. but I know
that the Weather Service was. When the Research Center was scuttled, The Weather
Service, as part of Broadcast Plaza, stayed on the Plaza for a while but was
also shut down in 1984. Charlie Bagley, Bruce DePrest and I then went to work
for CH3 directly and moved into Broadcast House joining forces with Hilton
Kaderli and Dave Nemeth on the weather staff.
As a side note, the environmental section of the Research Center
continued on and became known as TRC Inc. (stock symbol TRR) and moved to the
Windsor Office Park where they are a thriving company today. One of the other
Meteorologists at the old Research Center, John Russo, bought a restaurant at
the Windsor Office Park which he named "Jonathan's on the Lake" It was sold and
is now known as Cheffries.
Nancy Wallace Martens:
I'm 81 now [April, 2008]... I was Nancy Wallace when I worked for WTIC,
and Continuity Director. I left in 1960 to move to England where
I was a TV writer/producer,and commercial radio consultant. After
two years, family illness necessitated return to states. Went to
work at Connecticut General in the advertising & sales promotion
dept, where I worked for ten years. Married in '67 to the love of my
life, Ed Martens. We lived in Avon until '81 when we sold our
house and took our boat to FL via the intercoastal and settled in Punta
Gorda - the city no one ever heard of until Hurricane
Charlie. Spent almost 8 years there, then sold the boat and
settled on Cape Cod - Orleans - where I now live alone. I lost Ed
in October of '06. I still miss him - I always will.
I
have many happy memories of my TIC days. The teasing I took from the
"boys" in the booth! Writing commercials for Bob Steele, and taking
some interesting sponsor meetings with him. I remember getting
stuck in the elevator at Royal McBee with him and I think Ernie
Peterson or maybe Bob Tyrol. Bob S. kind of panicked and hollered "GET
US OUT OF HERE!!!!"
Then we had fun with the sponsor who
owned the imported sports car showroom - his name and that of the
business escape memory, but whenever he got in a new special car,
like the gullwing Mercedes or the Silver Cloud Rolls Royce, we,
B.S.,B.T. and yours truly would take it out for a test drive. Now I had
never learned to drive with the clutch - I had a bad knee so only
drove automatic. Those devils took the Cloud out - me
sitting in the back seat like a queen, and when they got to a
good place to stop, informed me it was time I learned the clutch!
I was terrified! I'm behind the wheel of a $20,000, Rolls and
every time I tried to go forward, we'd lurch like mad. Those
fools were laughing themselves silly until I put my foot down -
on dry ground and got into the back seat where I belonged!
Working at TIC was like working with a bunch of big brothers! But
we had loads of fun.
We had many good times and now all those
memories to keep us laughing. Has anyone ever mentioned the then-famous
Flood Bank we ran when the remnants of Hurricane Diane dumped a few
feet of rain on Connecticut in '55. My biggest memory of that
occasion was when the Berkowitz brothers at Conn. Packing sent over a
complete buffet - roast beef, turkey, hams, salads, rolls, cole
slaw and all kinds of cakes,etc. Bob Tyrol & then-Gov.
Abe-Ribbicoff had just walked in from a flyover to view the flood
damage. I was on my way back to the switchboard with a plate of food,
and when I saw Abe's face, I just handed him my plate and said,
"Governor, you need this more than I do." I shoved him at a chair
and left him eating. Later he confided that it was the first time
he'd eaten ham. I said, "Governor, that ham came from the
Berkowitz Brothers, so it's a good Jewish ham!" He never
forgot. Years later, when I was at CG, he was there for some
symposium, and he gave me a big hug and reminded me of the time I fed
him some good Jewish ham!
Among the many friends I rmember
fondly is one person I still keep in touch with - Katie Mahoney.
She was the center of our lives at TIC. That's where we all
gathered when some new gossip came to lilght, or someone had a new
joke. All of us gals had to learn how to operate that antique
switchboard, and be available when Katie was away from her desk or on
vacation. Trying to fill her shoes was a real challenge and all
the (male) callers would ask anxiously if "Kay" was okay. Her
beautiful voice sounds just as young and vibrant as it did 50 plus
years ago.
I have rambled on far too long - it's easy when the
subject is TIC. Please give my warmest greetings to everyone at
the reunion. I wish I could be there - I will be in spirit.
All the best...Nancy
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