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Marty’s Memories: The Sweater by Marty Trower

Gladys and Albert Bennett’s variety store on Firehouse Road thrived in the summers of the 50s and early 60s. It was a good biking destination, just down the road from Bowen’s Garage, another active gathering place at the time. I remember now a trip to the store that set in motion an unexpected friendship on the island. On a soppy, gray day in my early teens my friend Maggie and I rode down to the store looking for yarn to knit sweaters. This was an ambitious undertaking prompted by too many dreary days without sunshine. I pushed hard to open the rain-swollen door, and everything inside seemed to jiggle and clang as we entered. Shelves of toiletries lined the walls, and above them, Albert’s slightly naughty illustrated jokes on wooden placards crowded the space. Next were tables and more shelves loaded with Maine souvenirs, many bearing the name “Chebeague Island,” and lots of candy and gum and small toys. We poked around the alluring offerings, cheered by the possibilities around us, until landing finally at the knitting supplies. I chose an aqua color yarn for my future sweater, and Maggie decided on black, of course. She knew it was a more grownup color and had the confidence to take it on.

Off to the side, from what may have been an alcove, we heard voices conferring at the small ice cream parlor counter. It was Jimmy Todd and Brother Toby, both large men, atop swiveling high stools discussing their latest diets. We gathered up our supplies and moving to the counter to pay for our yarn, we looked over at the “parlor.” There we spotted the tall empty parfait glasses with leaning long silver spoons in front of the dieters’ vacated places. So much for those diets! Maggie and I never got very far knitting those rainy-day sweaters. Maggie’s mother finally took hers to be finished by a professional knitter. Years later my mother found my half-knit and almost forgotten sweater in the bottom drawer of a bureau in the spare room. She suggested I might want to call longtime Chebeague summer resident and prolific knitter, Kitty Mayer. So, I did. Kitty accepted the challenge. I arrived at her home, afraid that she would remember me when she was a golf club director and I, a slothful new teenager fiddling away my days playing cards in the clubhouse instead of honing my golf skills. But instead I found her patient and helpful, and we ended up sharing our island stories. By fall, the sweater was complete and a new friendship had begun.

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DECEMBER 2017 CHEBEAGUE ISLAND COUNCIL CALENDAR