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Health & Fitness

Some colorful folks from the days of my youth

Stoneham has always had it's fair share of eccentric, odd & colorful folks. If you are a longtime resident of the town, you'll remember some of them, I'm sure. One woman who immediately comes to mind is Dorothy Crocker, who owned an old house on Bow Street. Dotty did not own a car that I can recall, but she got around town quite well on an antique bicycle, with big balloon tires, and a deep metal basket attached to the handlebars. One item that was ever present in that basket, unless she got caught in a shower, was a pair of red galoshes. She always wore a dress, when outside of her house, whether it was "on the town" or doing work in her yard. The other thing that stands out in my mind was the "stockings" that had a seam that ran up the back of the legs of the wearer. I was young but always stopped to say "Hello" to her. She was a wonderful person. Gone but certainly not forgotten.~  Stoneham Public Library was operated for many years by the Golding sisters, although I don't recall either of their names, one woman ran the "adult section" and the other ran the "children's room." [The addition to the library, ruined the character of this building, as the central part of the adult section had a "rotunda" that was encircled with low watt light bulbs, and the "reading room" had long Oak tables, with the classical green glass lamps on each table. Another pair of sisters were Julia and Rose Steele. These women were both school teachers and a delight to talk to. They lived in an old classis style farmhouse, that sat where the "Seville Condos" now are, at the corner of North & Main Streets. This house had no electric service of running water, ever & was razed in the early 1970's. Diagonally across from the house (where the "Stonehill Towers" complex now sits, was a gathering place among towering Pine trees, where you could picnic and enjoy nature, was a place known as "Steele's Grove."  The family also owned quite a piece of land that ran from North St., south on Main St. where today there are multiple brick apartment buildings. There were no buildings in this area, between Main Street, and High Street!  The family also owned the land where "Redstone" now stands. Julia and Rose Steele both passed away in the early 1970's.

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