HOULTON, Maine — A gang in Houlton in the 1940s and ‘50s? Could that be? It seems there really was one and probably many more. The tale of the “Charles Street Gang” came to light after a gathering last summer of some of the members at Nickerson Lake.
Joe Inman, former librarian for Ricker College, Houlton High School and Cary Library hosted the event at his family’s camp. The following week when he arrived at the Southern Aroostook Agricultural Museum where he volunteers in the summer, he shared some of the stories with me of what it was like growing up in a Houlton neighborhood.
Back in the day just about every house was filled with children; three, four, five, six or more; ‘only’ children were rather rare. These were the days when children left the house following breakfast, came back for lunch, maybe, and were gone again until the evening meal.
Out in the neighborhood, the buddies played cowboys and Indians, hide-‘n-go-seek, climbed trees, built tree houses and rafts for the river run, only to find out that the hardwood was too heavy and the raft went under as soon as they all were aboard. They dug for worms and hiked to ‘B’ Stream to try their luck at fishing. Some days they either went to the U.S.O. Club located over the Fogg Block on Main Street which also served as the Rec Center or to Community Park, which was right in their backyard. Going to the movie theatre downtown was another popular pastime.
Later they transitioned to the new Putnam Gym on the Ricker Campus, the Gentle Memorial Building, (the new Rec center) and then the new Houlton High School gym, becoming the proverbial “gym rats.” Their most favorite was the Rec Center, they loved it there. They spent countless hours playing not only basketball, but pool and ping pong, too. They even gathered there at noon during high school to shoot a few baskets or listen to Rock ‘n Roll on the juke box. That’s where everybody learned to dance!
They so loved the late Madalyn Crawford.
“She was fabulous,” said Pete Caldwell.
These gang members, now in their 70s, couldn’t say enough about their childhood experiences and the Town of Houlton itself.
“We got to rub shoulders with some of our local sports idols,” said Steve Rich, naming Woody Dunphy and Pete Webb, while others included Jack Dobbins, Bob Fields and Bobby and Paul Davenport and Marty Smith. Rich himself became a teacher and basketball coach at one of the largest high schools in the United States located on Long Island. He remained at this one school his entire career.
Now retired, some of these guys are taking it easy, while others fill their time volunteering, but their recollections all reiterate the same “Houlton was a wonderful place to grow up.”
In the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s most mothers were leading the “Leave It To Beaver” lifestyle and were home all day. Kids roamed the streets playing from house to house without the worries of being kidnapped or falling into harm’s way.
“We had great mentors at school, at church, as members of the Boy and Girl Scouts, DeMolay, Rainbow and a variety of other groups,” said Peter Caldwell.
“We walked to Pleasant Street School in the morning and back home for lunch, then back to school until 3:30 p.m.,” said Bill Colbath.
When summer came, the fun began. It seemed endless and they found themselves on the go from morning until night with the added fun of getting to some of the local lakes to swim. One popular destination was the Pavilion at Nickerson Lake and the Inman camp often became a beehive of activity as it was on the day of this interview — July Fourth.
Since their previous gathering in 2013 plans were put in place to have their own float this year from a suggestion by Joe’s sister, Helen ‘Duckie’ Boomer. Meeting at St. Mary’s parking lot to put the final touches on, Colbath brought his guitar for a sing-a-long and the dozen individuals each claimed a chair for their debut. Some held signs depicting what decade they lived on the street and a good time was had by all.
Of course, many of these grown-up boys had funny stories to share along with their good times, as we all know, “boys will be boys.” One such incident was knocking a few mailboxes off posts, another was repositioning the smudge pots that were used to warn motorists of road construction. These were small black canisters filled with kerosene and lit to alert motorists of street repair. The road crew had placed them on the street in front of the old McGillicuddy Furniture Store on Water Street. The smudge pots mysteriously found themselves moved to Pleasant Street hill, spilling their contents in a line in the center and then ignited!
The infamous Houlton Police station was also located around the corner on Water Street and a couple of the gang members experienced the confinement of a jail cell for a short time. Apparently the police chief was a man of few words and escorted the 11-12 year-old boys to the cell in the basement, locked the door and returned to his office upstairs. There they sat for about 30 minutes or so until the arrival of their parents. Lesson learned.
Then there was the fishing tale of the boys fishing either at ‘B’ Stream or some other popular fishing hole. To escape the rule of catching beyond the legal limit, they often filled their boots with a few extra trout. I wonder if their mothers ever wondered why those boots had such a fishy smell?
As the boys matured, they secured jobs at local gas stations and worked in the potato fields. Some had the responsibility of driving loaded potato trucks at 15 years of age to the potato house. Some recalled the break down of the potato hoist on the Bob Callnan farm. The barrels weighed about 165 pounds when full and had to be loaded by hand. It usually took 45 to 50 barrels to fill the truck. It was hard work.
These childhood experiences carved out good work ethics and character for their many chosen careers and they all agreed that their generation was fortunate to be a part of this town.
Most of them went on to receive college degrees, becoming educators, coaches, businessmen, attorneys or servicemen. Although their careers led most of them away from Houlton, their memories have kept them close in spirit. Coming back to Houlton to celebrate the Fourth and attend class reunions rekindles times gone by with friends from an earlier time.
Although there were also girls in the neighborhood who also tagged along during some of these escapades, today it was all about the boys.
Included in this interview were: Steve Rich, Joe Inman, Bill Colbath, ‘Connie’ Conlogue, Peter Caldwell, Peter Webb, Jim Donald and Tom Brown.
