Volume 7, Issue 4 January 2003

I '

Bfttty Conner the Sunshine LadyIf we could write a profile of a Hawthorne resident,

many of them would be like Betty Conner's. Bo~n onValentine's Day 1910 in New Jersey, Betty remains asweetheart of a lady.

After high school she was involved in the YWCAand worked in summer camp in Maine to put herselfthrough college. Those were Depression years andeveryone had to work. Betty attended Newark Normal

, School, now the prestigious Rutgers University. Shebegan teaching Kindergarten in Hillside, NJ, a factorytown. A unique challenge for Betty was teaching thechildren English, as it was not their first languageand they were not taught it at home.

Betty had fun visiting friends in her 1929 FordRoadster that she purchased by saving her money

1m teaching and various part-time jobs. Friends\.6m her days at summer camp introduced her to

George Conner, an optometrist. They were marriedin 1934,and settled in the Boston area. Threedaughters followed. Caroline lives in Bradenton,Florida and presently works in food services. Sarahlives in Minnesota where she is a nurse at a TraumaCenter. The family now includes 12 grandchildrenand 14 great-grandchildren. Betty's middle child,

, Ripley, died in an airplane crash. She was the pil~tand dense fog caused the accident. To add to thistragedy, the Conners' home was burglarized duringthe funeral services, and they lost many valuablesthat were never recovered.

After the children were grown, Betty was unable tofind a suitable teaching position. Waitressing andother areas of food services became her secondcareer. The Kernwood Restaurant in LynnfieldMassachusetts was her favorite place to work formany years.

The Conners purchased a gO-acre farm inKennebunk-Maine in the 60's. Betty kept a largegarden and sold produce from a stand in front of herhome by the roadside. She maintained the garden

~one. As a sideline she entered the antique bus,iness.With a large barn and garage she stored the antiques.Her activities brought much pleasure and were asource of income. The buildings were always

See Conner on naze 3

A Glimpse Into the FutureFew residents who attended the Brown Bag

luncheon on February 5 could remain as pessimisticabout, indifferent to, or disinterested in the future asthey were before Dr. Nanette Rodgers gave her mind-stirring talk about the shape of things to come. Dr.Rodgers, Home Economics Consultant and FuturesTask Force member of the Florida Department ofEducation, electrified those present with herdescriptions of trends in future living, the new literacy,and a scenario of the 1980's and into the next century.

Futurists, Dr. Rodgers told her audience, arepersons from allover the world who scientificallystudy and analyze the past, present and future todetermine what probable alternative futures exist.Such understanding of tomorrow's world can lead toappropriate choices and the making of wise decisionstoday.

Dr. Rodgers spoke of the great and rapid changein our society that makes every American over 35 a"marginal" member of two cultures, the culture of1942 and that of 1982. The atomic bomb, thecomputer and television illustrate changes in thephysical sciences; while in the biological scienceswe have the effects of genetic engi neeri ng andadvances in medicine. As these and other changescontinue into the future, there is a need for people toattain a new literacy in five different areas ---emotional, physical, economic, technological andinternational --- in order to cope with future life styles.

In a composite of trends and projections drawnfrom numerous individuals and organizations, specialreports and publications, Dr. Rodgers gave a fewdetails of life around the year 2000. The tendencytoward mass operation will dissipate, with diversityrather than conformity becoming the key tocivilization. Businesses that will prosper are thosethat have customized their products and services.The United States is likely to lose to producers inother countries industries such as steel, automobile,machinery, appliance, textile, shoe and apparel.These will be replaced by, among others, electronics,information processing, oceanography, industrial

See Future on naze 2

Future from nape 1

applications of space, and molecular biology.By 2000, it is thought, robots will do much of the

work of the assembly line, and more people will bein service industries dealing with persons instead ofmachines. Office employees will be able to do moreof their work at home instead of in a centralizedoffice, which will lead to a rise of an electronic versionof cottage industries. Rapidly changing technologieswill spread job obsolescence so that people will bechanging careers three and more times during theirlifetime, and lifelong education will be the rule.

One of the most pleasant prospects Dr. Rodgersmentioned for the year 2000 and after is a populationthat is prosperous but less consumption-minded, thatplaces greater emphasis on the quality of life ratherthan on material things, leading to a simpler life, lessdemanding in resources and generally less hectic.The limits of what can be done, she said, are only inthe minds of the people.

Marie L. Richardson in Penn Notes, March 1982

Editor's note: We invite your reaction to this article20 plus years later. Contact me at vonflow43@aol.comor leave your comments on myC!ippee at 167Jacaranda

Getting the Morning Paper

Stroll out in that stunning housecoatwith which you were Christmas gifted

And there won't be a soul to see younor a single eyebrow lifted,

Sneak out in that ancient bathrobeyou just won't throwaway

Then half of Hawthorne will wander byto ruin your whole day.

- Ethel McQuillanPenn Notes, March 1982

HAWTHORNE REMEMBERSA Publication of the

Hawthorne Historical Society

EditorWriters

George Wolf

Nancy ApseyMarion LudlowLee Manausa

Deaths in 2002Time is one of our most difficult enemies. We deal

with this controlling demon every day of our lives.One of the comforting things about death is trOllpromise that time is no more. There is no night ,:Jthat heavenly place. Pain and sorrow are also gonefrom our future existence. I am comforted by thesethoughts. The following list was read at the AnnualMemorial Service on January 5,2003. These are thepeople who have lived in our community and died in2002. We try to include even those who moved fromHawthorne before their deaths. The names are thosereported to us. We are listing them alphabeticallyfor your convenience.

Noreen AllenEleanor AndersonBill ArmourTheresa BombardLou BradfordKenneth E. BrownDorothy BrownCharles BuckmanClaude CarterFran ChilleoMabel W. ColeMae ColettiWilliam CollinsJames CriscimagnaLloyd E. DavyKenneth "Casey" DeGoodAlphretta DeSimoneElizabeth DeurleinFrederick "Slim" DeyoEileen DiodatiMary A. DittusCharles J. DockendorfMadge DolezalVirgi nia DwyerRay FitzgibbonOrene GiffordJulie GirardLouis "Ted" GrannanGeorge GreenwaldRaymond J. GrigsbyRuth D. HallCarl L. HarrisonJohn HartSusan HealeyRay HendersonEsther HinksonIrene JankowskiBetty JohnMadelaine June Jump

Continued on naze 4

Conner from nave 1

maintained in good condition. Georgepassed awayin 1970, and Betty continued her self-employmentventures.

.By 1982, Betty began to tire of the long wintersnd deep snow that make Maine such a picturesque

place. While visiting her brother Bud, in Winter Park,Florida, she began checking out the possible placeswhere she could escape the cold north. A Sundayride through Hawthorne called for a return visit.Salesman John Harmon assisted Betty in thepurchase of her home at 139 Aspen Circle, in anarea of huge shade trees. Betty moved into ourcommunity in October 1982. Her first participationin an activity was the Halloween Dance, having beeninvited by neighbors John & Madge Dolezal. She wonthe prize of a bottle of champagne with her "Ape"costume. The timeliness of Betty's purchase mighthave been better. It was just during the fall of 1982when Hawthorne was in the process of purchasingthe park from Colonial Penn. She put in the extranecessary money to help with the purchase.

Memories of activities in those early years amazeBetty. Participation in dancing (she loved makingcostumes for the masquerade dances), Kitchen Band,exercise groups, Peanut Carnival, Singles Club, DinnerTheatre, Crafts, Volleyball (when she first arrived),1\1 atu re CIub, Sh uffl eboa rd, pool swi m m i ng,

\.....:>lotography,Travel Club (she was an avid traveler),and the Library. Betty stated, "Moving to Hawthornewas the best thing I have ever done!" Hawthorne isfor Betty a place that "seems like home".

At the top of her list of advantages for living atHawthorne today is the opportunity to make friends.Sometimes the newer residents are harder to get toknow because they participate in different activitiesand have a different outlook on life. She feels othershad more in common with each other when shemoved here twenty years ago.

"I can't pinpoint a favorite activity over the years",says Betty. "I've liked them all." As one grows older,participation changes from one activity to another.Betty wouldn't change anything at Hawthornebecause she likes things just as they are now. Sheenjoys baking for various fund raising events and forfriends. A pet project is sending birthday cards andother cards to residents in the park. She finds cardsat various "household" sales. She is also AARP'sSunshine Lady.

Betty offers her words of wisdom to all Hawthorneresidents. "Get involved in activities and be willing

~) help out, serving on various committees, helpingto make the activity 'go'. We need helpers to keepHawthorne vibrant. Take advantage of the trips withvarious groups. And PLEASE wear your nametags!"

-Interview by Nancy Apsey

COMPULSIONI have been reading recently about the

idiosyncrasies, aberrations, and yes - compulsionsthat besiege persons as they grow older, and I worry.It's not that I'm concerned about old age itself. Ifind much compensation in that state of affairs.

What I do worry about is that I seem to havebecome compulsive about something. Not eating. Iam still able to refuse a hospitable urging to "havejust a little more" of a hostess's delectable dish. Notcollecting. I am very fond of the various small objectsthat perch in niches around the house, but I feel noneed to add to their number. I'm not even compulsiveabout money, either spending it or hoarding it,although naturally I should like to have a little moreof it.

The thing I am compulsive about is sunsets, lookingat them, that is. The trouble is that for most of theyear I have duties that keep me indoors at the, tome, most beautiful time of day. There's an obviousreason why: sunset and the evening meal usuallyarrive around the same hour. So there I am, in thekitchen, chopping the celery or breading the fishfillets, while outside the sky is flaunting its spectacularcolors: vibrant orange-reds, delicate lavenders andmauves, dainty pinks touching the tips of white,cottony clouds. I can catch a glimpse of the pageantfrom my kitchen window, but I cannot accept thismeager taste. I am overwhelmed by a compulsionbeyond my ability to control, and I dash outside tostand and state at the glory of departing day.

The time of sunset varies, of course. Some weeksit is at its most dramatic between entree and dessert;during others, when the potatoes are ready to bemashed or the last saucepan scrubbed. I wonderwhy I do not just change dinner time to accommodatethe sunset, but the ingrained habits of some fiftyyears are too difficult for me to break. I continue tosuffer with my compulsion and worry about the lackof wiJl power my submission to it denotes.

But there are a few weeks during the year whenthe days are long and the sun keeps shining beyondthe habitual dinnertime. Then I can prepare, cook,serve, and eat the evening meal and leave thesparkling, clean kitchen to stroll leisurely toward theglorious west. My frequently frenzied compulsionhas disappeared. I am relaxed and at peace and asI gaze at the miracle of sunset, I feel only wonderand enchantment.

- Marie L. Richardson in Hawthorne HeraldApril 1984

Bald Cypress Tree BogHawthorne's only Cypress bog and pond island is

located on the northwest side of 105 and 107 RoyalPalm Drive at one of the lowest elevated areas in ourpark, estimated to be only 40 feet above sea level.

This interesting land and water pond is nestled ina most peaceful setting of serenity, surrounded andguarded by about 67 tall, green, deciduous BaldCypress evergreen trees. They are from 50 to 70 feettall with buttressed and swollen trunks at the baseof these trees, some measuring 3 to 4 feet in basaldiameter. There are some two hundred exposedknobby "knees" that grow up from the tree roots, inand out of the little water pond that circularizes asmall island with a number of cypress trees. These"knees" bring air to the roots when heavy rains andsurface run-off water from the near-by citrus groveon the sloping area southeast of Royal Palm Driveflood the pond.

Hawthorne cleaned up this shallow water bog andisland in the early 1970's with added improvementsto the area. A small concrete dam for water controland a pump house unit was installed at the bog'spond overflow outlet. The over-flowing water drainsinto the Palatlakaha River - hence into Lake Harris.

Historically speaking - after the last of the glacierperiods many centuries ago on the Florida peninsula,the wetlands and everglades of the saw grassappeared, plus evolution of seeds and plant lifegrowth started to cover the surface of Lake Countybefore man existed.

Hawthorne's primitive areas could go back to aboutfour thousand years ago as we review it now. In 1819the United States acquired the Florida peninsula fromSpain. Maybe the Florida Indians of Okahumpka,Seminole and Arawak tribes utilized the resourcefulBald Cypress tree bog that is now on Royal Palm Drive- some three to six hundred years ago.

Carolee and Edward Foster at 107 Royal Palm andDorothy and George LeMay at 105 Royal Palm (nowRobert and Rosemary Harriman-ed.), take great pridein keeping the wetland grounds and the island neatand tidy - with some custodial acts of preservation.

Many interesting wildlife creatures live or visit thisarea from time to time. A hawk's nest rests in thetop of a Cypress tree, and about 15 fish spooringnest areas are scattered over the pond's bottom,visible from April to August.

There is a "Cathedral Hush" at this Hawthorne BaldCypress bog. If you can visit this RoyalPalm historicalsite, try to go early in the morning as the rising sun'srays filter through the green foliage of the tall trees.

The Cypress tree flowers of purple color appearearly in April.

The estimated age of the largest tree in this bog isjust about 100 years old and could live a long life ofover 3,000 years or more under certain condition-

V- Dewhirst W. Wade in Hawthorne Herald

July/August 19892002 Deaths frompage 2

Irma L. KocikEdward LaskeOpal Marie LeverenzHenry C. LeviJames E. LosieHector MacLeodAbbie (Lee)McCulloughHarry W. MiethJohn "Mac" MorganFloyd MoultonPeter MullerRuth MurrayRalph D. NolandEdward NoyesKathryn O'HeranBetty PerrySarah L. PostHelen T RobinsonElmer RoddaWilliam Bradford RowlandRichard V RudolphKarl RushMarguerite SageIrma SarariieroErnest SchanzeAnita ScullinKathryn SetzerNorman ShepherdLowell "Bud" SicklerHedwig SienkoVivian SimcoeChristina SparksDottie SullivanPatricia SweeneyGeorge TimmsRuth WarsickiAudrey K. WheelerJack B. WilliamsJack Zimmerman

Our sincere sympathyto all who have lost 'Jloved ones during

this past year.