Lee Historical Society
Newsletter
Vol. 11, No. 4
April 2014
Our unique history and blend of people defines the foundation of our town.
Crossway Tower
P. O. Box 170
Lee, MA 01238
Visit us: www.leehistoricsociety.homestead.com
Contact us: Lee.Historical@hotmail.com
A VERY HAPPY EASTER HOLIDAY TO ALL
Please join us on Thursday evening April 10 at 7:00 p.m. in the Senior Center at Crossway Village to listen to “Only Yesterday (1940-1959)” music of the 1940’s and 50’s as performed by Musician, Naturalist, and Educator, John Root. We thank the Lee Cultural Council in joining with the society to bring Mr. Root to Lee for the third straight year. This program is free, open to the public and there will be light refreshments available for all. Please join with us.
The society will hold a short business meeting starting at 6:30 p.m. prior to the program meeting by Mr. Root for Officers, Board and Committee members and interested members.
We thank Linc Streeter for sending us the article from the February 2001 issue of the New Yorker that featured Joe’s Diner and the Sorrentino family and gave a history of the diner. We also thank John Cinella for sharing a personal letter that he received in November of 1982 from the late Father Edward J. Kroyak, who was instrumental in spearheading many youth activities while serving in Lee in the 1950’s. Thanks also to George Nettleton who sent us pictures of early classes of the old South Lee School.
Below is this month’s picture sent to us from the Lee Library’s Historical Collection of Lee photographs. This collection has been digitalized for the Lee Library by the Boston Public Library. We thank the Lee Library for making this possible for our readers. If any of our readers would like to comment or add additional information, please contact Mary Philpott at maryphilpott@mindspring.com.
This photo is on a postcard that Edward S. Rogers sent out in 1907. The residence, built in 1897, is the home of Tom Cinella, who is also the owner of the postcard. Edward S. Rogers was the owner of The Valley Gleaner which he bought at the age of 20, making him the youngest newspaper proprietor in America. In 1886, Rogers married Jessie Foote, daughter of T. L. Foote, a leading Lee businessman and owner of Maple Hill Farm, one of the oldest residences in Lee. In 1895 Rogers was nominated at the convention of the Massachusetts Prohibition Party to be Lt. Governor. This followed a steady rise to prominence in Lee. In 1901 he became a trustee of the Lee Savings Bank, and one year later was appointed by Governor Crane to Associate Justice of the Lee Court. In 1902, Rogers sold the Gleaner and one month later became director of the Lee National Bank. In 1904, when the legislature passed a law separating national and savings banks, Rogers took the position of treasurer of the Lee Savings Bank, a position he held for many years.
In March 1952, Doctor John T. Cinella and Jane C. Cinella purchased the home from members of the Rogers family.
LIBRARY NEWS:
FamiLEE Library Movies – Saturday, April 12th at 11:00 a.m. – FROZEN, 108 minutes, Rated PG. Oscar Winner for the Best Animated Movie and Best Song. FREE! Please join us.
Quilt Show in April – The show will be on exhibit for the month of April. We will have an opening reception on Saturday April 5th from 11 – 1. The exhibit is sponsored by the Lee Library Association and Pumpkin Patch Quilts.
Member Bob Kelly has informed us that there is a new book coming out on April 22 titled “Renegade Revolutionary, The Life of General Charles Lee”. This book is written by Phillip Pappas, Associate
Professor of History and Chairperson of the Economics, Government and History Department at the Union County College in Cranford, New Jersey. General Charles Lee is the man that our town was named after. The book is a vivid new portrait of one of the most complex and controversial of one of the American Revolutionaries. Lee’s erratic behavior and comportment, his capture and more than one year imprisonment by the British and his court martial after the Battle of Monmouth in 1778 have dominated his place in the historiography of the American Revolution. This book retells the story of a man who had been dismissed by contemporaries and by history. Few American Revolutionaries shared his radical political outlook, his cross-cultural experiences, his cosmopolitanism, and his confidence that the American Revolution would be won primarily by the militia (or irregulars) rather than a centralized regular army. By studying Lee’s life, his political and military ideas, and his style of leadership, we gain new insights into the way the American revolutionaries fought and won their independence from Britain.
RECOLLECTIONS XIV
By U. S. Navy Retired Commander Vic Mottarella
A Lee native
(Continued from the March-14 issue)
The Cougar had a hydraulically activated wing folding system, which, as far as I know, never failed. The wings were folded to the upright vertical position from just outside of the fuselage, in order to reduce parking space on the carrier. It was a very simple procedure. First the pilot would lift a lever to unlock the system from the horizontal wing position. Then he would lift the second lever, buried under the first lever, to activate the hydraulic system for the folded wing position. I remember one incident when four of us in Tom Hoskin's division flew into an Air Force base. It was in French Morocco at a place called "Sidi Slamain” (or something like that). We all folded our wings and parked next to each other and only took up about 40 feet of space. Several of the Air Force pilots were really impressed. The Hellcat and Bearcat planes also had folding wings but they were not hydraulically operated. Manpower was required.
Another thing that was vastly different in this plane was that it had no ailerons. Instead, it had what was called flaperons. Every plane that I had flown up to that time had ailerons. With ailerons there is a small-hinged flap at the outer back of each wing that is used to turn or roll the airplane. When you move the stick to the left the left aileron lifts up while the right one goes down. For a right turn you move the stick to the right and the opposite happens. The flaperon on the Cougar is activated by hydraulic pressure. There are two flaperons that are flat pieces of metal hinged to the top of each wing but only one is activated at a time. When you move the stick to the left the left flaperon lifts up and causes the plane to turn to the left. Moving the stick to the right causes the right one to lift up and causes the plane to turn to the right.
ASSIGNMENT AS ORDNANCE OFFICER
Within a week of reporting to the squadron I was advised by the Commanding Officer that I would be the Ordnance Officer. The only ordnance that our Cougars carried at the time were 20 MM automatic cannon and rockets although they could be fitted with the smaller bombs. I was happy with the assignment because I had a good reputation in the Bearcat Squadron in scoring the highest average in air-to-air gunnery competition among 20 pilots. At the time I was a junior Ensign. My first decision in my new assignment was to figure out some way to bore sight the guns. Since they were all new planes I assumed that they had not been bore sighted. This would involve actually firing the guns. I knew there were no areas at the home base where this could be done. My first thought was Otis Air Force Base located not far from Hyannis, Mass. (The Kennedy Compound) and was only about 75 miles from Quonset Point. I had fired scores of rockets there when I was in the Bearcat squadron and got into a little trouble as a result of rolling the Bearcat on takeoff at departure. I remember the base having several hundred acres of unoccupied land. I flew over and discussed the matter with the Base Operations Officer who told me that they had the proper accommodations for bore sighting the guns and he would make the arrangements with his Commanding Officer. I then reported back to CDR Riner who thought it was a great idea and was told to proceed with the project. We had a total of seven ordnance men in the squadron and a minimum of four would be required to accomplish the mission.
The most senior ordnance man in the squadron was named Heinzpeter and he had earned the rate of a First Class Petty Officer. I discussed the matter with him and mentioned that we should fly over to Otis to check it all out. He wanted one of his men to join us. Since the squadron didn't have utility planes of any type I elected to borrow a plane that would hold three of us. It turned out that the only plane available that would suit the purpose was an old TBM Avenger Torpedo Bomber that had been converted for utility service. I had flown the Avenger in which I had less than three hours flight time but even that happened about seven years earlier so I had to ask the plane captain a few questions involving the starting procedure etc. I could tell that my two ordnance men were getting a little fidgety about the situation so I tried to calm them down by saying that it was a very easy plane to fly once I got it started. Everything went fine and they sort of made a joke about it later. On the following days the ordnance crew drove over to Otis Air Force Base with a carryall vehicle while I joined them in one of the squadron's Cougars. We completed bore sighting that plane first before starting on another flown in later by one of the other squadron pilots. Otis Air Force Base had everything we needed with one thousand feet of range and a landline that connected the firing site to the target.
Before starting on the procedure it was necessary to disconnect and slide off the nose section of the plane in order to get at the gun adjustments. The barrels of the four guns protruded through the nose section. The gun site on the Cougar was actually about five feet above the guns, which were meant to converge at one thousand feet. The gun site pipper (the aiming point) was an illuminated dot adjusted to be at the center of the target; then one round was fired at a time. The object of the mission was to have each gun hit the target at the same point as what was seen in the gun sight. Before firing, a bore site optical aligning device was inserted into the open end of the barrel from which one could look through and discern where the shell should hit the target when fired. There were always minor deviations so each gun was adjusted until a shell actually penetrated very close to the center of the target. A pilot would be sitting in the cockpit where he would turn on the proper switches and pull the trigger on the stick when told to do so. After each firing the target observer would call back and indicate the distance and direction of the hit from the center of the target. The procedure was repeated for the other three guns. It took about two weeks to complete bore sighting for all the planes; about three hours were required for each plane. Only two planes were completed per day. I flew over to Otis with a Cougar each morning and met the ordnance crew at the bore site range and stayed there until each plane was complete with the bore sighting procedure. I then flew a Cougar back to Quonset Point.
(Continued until the May-14 issue)
DID YOU KNOW?
If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.
HOW ABOUT BECOMING A MEMBER OF THE LEE HISTORICAL SOCIETY? OR GIVING A GIFT MEMBERSHIP TO A FRIEND, OR RELATIVE. IT IS INEXPENSIVE, IT DOESN’T HURT AND IT MAKES PEOPLE HAPPY AND IT SUPPORTS OUR SOCIETY.
Student Membership - $5.00 
Senior Membership (one person over the age of 65) - $5.00
Senior Membership (one person over the age of 65) - $5.00Business Membership - $25.00Individual Membership (one person under the age of 65) - $10.00
Individual Membership (one person under the age of 65) - $10.00Family Membership (all members of one family living at home) - $15.00
Name: __________________________________________________________Mail to:
Mail to:Address: ________________________________________________________Lee Historical
Lee Historical Society,City/Town: _________________________State:_____________Zip:________P. O. Box 170,
P. O. Box 170,Lee, MA 01238Telephone: ______________________Email:__________________
Officers of the Lee Historical Society for the year
President – Stephen Cozzaglio – 413-243-3204 or scozzaglio@roadrunner.com
Vice- President – Gary W. Allen – 413-2543-2140 or garywallen@earthlink.net
Treasurer – Mal Eckert – 413-243-1797 or MalEckert@msn.com
Secretary – Bambi Johndrow – 413-243-2845 or disdeer62@netzero.net
Board of Directors of the Lee Historical Society
Mary MorrisseyEthel NoonanPeg BironAlan BuckesChristine ParesiJoAnn ZarnochBrenda LiebenowAdele Hawley Society Historian – Charlotte Davis
Collection Chairman – Open Position
Newsletter Editor – Mal Eckert
The Lee Historical Society has the following items that are related to our town available for sale.
Picture Packets – Six, 8” x 10” colored pictures of “Old Lee” for $8.00 each or 3 for $20.00 plus $2.50 if shipped.
Refrigerator magnets – (approx. 2” x 3”) street scenes of early Lee for $3.00 or $10.00 for a set of four different scenes. No Shipping charges.
Cookbook, “Boiling Water” – A 400 recipe cookbook put together by the ladies of the society for the price of $10.00, plus $3.50, if shipped.
“Historical Lee”, a tribute to Betty Dennis. A seventy-three page book containing the articles written by Betty between April of 1971 and August of 1977 that appeared in the local Penny Saver. Cost is $8.00, with an additional $2.50 if shipped.
Picture note cards – Five note cards, including envelopes, with different early Lee scenes. Cost is $5.00 per packet with a $1.50 shipping fee.
Commemorative mugs with six different images;
1. Memorial Hall
2. Central Fire Station
3. Lee Library
4. Congregational Church
5. Hyde School
6. South Lee Covered Bridge
These mugs are $8.00 each or buy the whole set for $40.00. Shipping and handling will be priced according to the shipping location.
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR “BUSINESS MEMBERS” THAT SUPPORT OUR SOCIETY
The following is a list of the area businesses that are currently “Business Members” of the Lee Historical Society for this year. If you would like your business or company listed here, please fill out the membership application below and send it to us with a check for $25.00.
Bartini Roofing CompanyBen’s ShopCharles Flint Antiques
Ben’s ShopCharles Flint Antiques290 Pleasant Street68 Main Street52 Housatonic Street
68 Main Street52 Housatonic StreetLee, MA 01238Lee, MA 01238Lenox, MA 01240
Lee, MA 01238Lenox, MA 01240413-243-0570413-243-0242413-637-1634
413-243-0242413-637-1634Lee Audio ‘N Security, Inc.Quality Plus CustodialLocker Room Sports Pub
Quality Plus CustodialLocker Room Sports Pub 65 Fairview Street260 Chesnut Street232 Main Street
260 Chesnut Street232 Main StreetLee, MA 01238Lee, MA 01238Lee, MA 01238
Lee, MA 01238Lee, MA 01238800-369-3905413-243-2197413-243-2662
413-243-2197413-243-2662Frank Consolati Ins. AgencyPaperdilly, Inc.Dresser Hull Company
Paperdilly, Inc.Dresser Hull Company71 Main Street74 Main Street60 Railroad Street
74 Main Street60 Railroad StreetLee, MA 01238Lee, MA 01238Lee, MA 01238
Lee, MA 01238Lee, MA 01238413-243-0105413-243-1928413-243-4545
413-243-1928413-243-4545Robert M. Kelly, PaperhangingDeely & Deely, AttorneysJonathon Foote 1778 House
Deely & Deely, AttorneysJonathon Foote 1778 HouseSouth Prospect Street218 Main Street1 East Street
218 Main Street1 East StreetLee, MA 01238Lee, MA 01238Lee, MA 01238
Lee, MA 01238Lee, MA 01238Monk’s Professional Barber ShopLee BankDevonfield Inn
Lee BankDevonfield Inn91 Main Street75 Park Street85 Stockbridge Road
75 Park Street85 Stockbridge RoadLee, MA 01238Lee, MA 01238Lee, MA 01238
Lee, MA 01238Lee, MA 01238413-243-3341413-243-0117413-243-3298
413-243-0117413-243-3298Hunter & Graziano P. C.Terrace Hair StudioWilcox Plumbing & Heating
Terrace Hair StudioWilcox Plumbing & Heating10 Park Place135 Housatonic StreetP. O. Box 561
135 Housatonic StreetP. O. Box 561Lee, MA 01238Lee, MA 01238Lee, MA 01238
Lee, MA 01238Lee, MA 01238413-243-0789413-243-1799413-243-2494
413-243-1799413-243-2494Kelly Funeral HomeLee Hardware Store, Inc.Berkshire Mt. Country Store
Lee Hardware Store, Inc.Berkshire Mt. Country Store3 Main Street221 Main Street151 Main Street
221 Main Street151 Main StreetLee, MA 01238Lee, MA 01238Lee, MA 01238
Lee, MA 01238Lee, MA 01238413-243-0204413-243-0786413-243-2144
413-243-0786413-243-2144A. F. Viale Insurance AgencyGreylock Federal Credit UnionPumpkin Patch Quilts
Greylock Federal Credit UnionPumpkin Patch Quilts75 Main Street47 Main Street58 West Center Street
47 Main Street58 West Center StreetLee, MA 01238Lee, MA 01238Lee, MA 01238
Lee, MA 01238Lee, MA 01238413-243-0347413-243-2121413-243-1635
413-243-2121413-243-1635Considine & Leary, AttorneysKaren Keenan Gifts & Home
Karen Keenan Gifts & Home49 Main Street69 Main Street
69 Main StreetLee, MA 01238Lee, MA 01238
Lee, MA 01238413-243-4900413-243-2689
413-243-2689Check out TownOfLee.com for information about Lee; where to eat, places to stay, shopping, etc.
