Ambulance Association Formed 1953

Recently, while waiting for a family member being treated in the Middlesex Hospital Emergency Center in Marlborough, the Town’s ambulance arrived, doing as it has done for 60 years – transporting, without fanfare, those from our community in need of emergency service.  Arriving with the patient was EMT Kate Morris, who along with the 35 or more volunteer EMT’s and drivers, respond to nearly 1,200 calls annually.  This encounter was fortuitous since I had just met with Kate a few days prior to obtain information on the history of the East Hampton Ambulance Association.  Seeing these dedicated members of our community in action reminds me and us all of the important service volunteers provide – an important component in small communities such as ours where the well being of our families, neighbors and townsfolk becomes a common bond and an important feature of community pride.  Without this volunteer corps, response time to emergencies would escalate from minutes to hours if we relied solely on paid responders from Middletown or Hartford to respond to emergencies – all when time is of the essence.

EHAA formed when First Selectman Milton Nichols convened a committee on May 6, 1953, composed of local businessmen and members of Rotary, to evaluate, design, structure and determine the need for an ambulance association.  Incorporated shortly thereafter by members of the committee, Chauncey Bevin, Eleanor Fazzino and Jim Walsh (Kate Morris’s father).  Frank Popowitz was appointed the EHAA’s first President.  Its original mission was to provide transportation for patients in need of emergency medical care to the doctor’s office (Dr. Louis Sorreff or Dr. Norman Gardner) or hospital.  The basics have not changed, but the delivery of service has.  In those early years speed was tantamount, transporting the patient for medical attention quickly and as comfortable as possible. 

With a major transformation in The 1970s transformed service as medical attention on route became important.  Since the  mid 1990s, EHAA  has been affiliated with the Middlesex Hospital Paramedic Service providing advanced medical care which significantly improved the quality of service in emergency situations, and since 1998, the corps has been AED (defibrillator) certified, keeping pace with training and protocols from their medical control facility, Middlesex Hospital.

As previously noted, early supporters included businessmen of the community and Rotarian's who comprised many of the Town’s professionals and merchants.  Their support was critical as they possessed a firsthand view of much of the emergency requirements.  If a valued employee suffered an injury in the work place, it was imperative to get that worker treatment as quickly as possible.  As you may recall, East Hampton had several bell manufacturers and numerous other machine shops.  Long before OSHA, much of the machinery lacked what today we consider essential safety measures. Speed getting an employee to medical treatment could me the difference of saving versus losing a hand or arm.  Workers were not just valued employees. The closeness of the community and years spent together made them all like families. Unlike today, it was common for owner and management to be on the shop floor, running machinery or overseeing production. They knew their workers on a personal level.  They often attended the same churches, shopped locally, and recreated together, in the business and professional baseball or basketball leagues.  The formation of the EHAA included not only our business and political leaders, it was staffed by a volunteer group of twelve First Aiders, trained from the ranks of volunteer firemen, who responded to calls for aide “as often as they could” and were literally from the old school of “you call – we haul!” 

Our first ambulance was a 1939 Cadillac housed in one of the Bevin Bros. Manufacturing Co. barns on Bevin Court.  A few years later, a 1953 Cadillac was purchased and served the community, with the EHAA acquiring its first box type vehicle in 1976.  Today, we are served by two state of the art Ambulances and a proud group of highly trained and dedicated volunteers available to help any who call at a moment’s notice.

The First Aiders, volunteers from the fire department, coordinated by Captain Don Ingraham, provided emergency support until the early 1970s, when Ron Brady, one of our EHHS teachers, became coordinator and began an intensive training program to certify personnel as EMTs.  From formation, townspeople became “members” of EHAA for $5 a year which guaranteed transportation to hospital.  If you didn’t join, you were still guaranteed care and a ride to hospital.  Many families contributed because without the support, vehicles and equipment that might save their lives could not be purchased. In 1997, the corps moved away from the annual membership drive and became an insurance supported response team.  2005 saw the opening of the EHAA new headquarters on Middletown Avenue.  This three-bayed facility, made possible with bonding from the Town and significant financial contributions from our citizens, is equipped to become a regional center for emergency personnel in time of disaster.

So what could you do?  Kate Morris explained that many of the volunteers who start out as drivers train and become EMTs.  This is wonderful for the EHAA and our community, but often leaves us short of drivers.  You could give your town a wonderful Christmas or Holiday gift - volunteer your time to become an ambulance driver!  Give Kate Morris a call for further information.  860-     .  Remember, EHAA has never abandoned what it calls itself, “Neighbors Helping Neighbors.”

Center School Recreational Field

Often we take for granted our public facilities, parks or recreationaly lands, and certainly their origins. For instance, the athletic filed adjoining the Center School was originally a gift to the Town of East Hampton. In the Fall of 1922, Bevin Brothers Manufacturing Co. (the fabled bell maker) gave approximately 3 acres of land north of the then grammer school ( which became the High School in 1939) for a Community playground. The land was deeded to the East Hampton Bank & Trust Co. with the understanding that when $5,000 had been raised and expended toward putting the grounds into proper condition, the land should be deeded to the town. One of the stipulations of the gift was that alcohol could not be served on the grounds. You will likely note that although beer is served at Old Home Day, it is done so from the rear of the American Legion Hall and not from the school grounds.

A commission composed of J. Howell Conklin, Secretary, Albert B. Starr, Treasurer and Harlan G. Hills, Chairman formed to raise the money by popular subscription.

In July 1923, the Village Improvement Society voted to start this subscription with a gift of $1,000 and a pledge to give 75 pecent of the proceeds of the upcoming Carnival towards the same fund. The successor to the Village Improvement Society is the Old Home Day Committe, which we all know holds its annual festivities on those same grounds.

Work commenced on the grounds on the morning of July 19th, under the supervision of Harlan G. Hills with Wolfe Reisiner, as foreman. A carloan of tile had alread been unloaded and a ditch was dug from the Congregational Church north past the Methodist Church (now the American Legion Hall). Today, DEP and our town Sanitarian would initiate a cease and decist order until proper permits could be obtained, but in 1923, the 125 feet of 18 inch tile that would carry the brook as well as connecting Bevin's sewer with storm drains in the Village Center and permitting the project were not quite as involved or formal as today. Those drainage pipes eventually emptied into Pocotopaug Creek heading towards the Salmon then Connecticut Rivers.

In addition to the drainage, horse and carriage sheds belonging to the 2 churches were dismantled or moved.

The committee planned to put in 2 or 3 tennis courts, croquet, basketball, swings, teeter and everything that go to make up a playground, and, raise $10,000 within a few weeks. The project was a success and the field has been used for a variety of activities. Old Home Day annually, but from 1939 to the mid 1960s it was the High School athletic field. Home soccer and baseball games were played her as well as track and field meets. And from the mid 1920s to the 1950s, the East Hampton Bombers played their summer baseball games along with the factory league teams.

Chauncey Griswold Bevin

Known as Belltown since the mid 1800s, East Hampton was the epicenter of an international market of talented bell makers and manufacturers in an industry that produced and shipped millions upon millions of bells and related products. The premier manufacturer was, Bevin Brothers Manufacturing Co., which continues is operation today, 179 years after its founding. Started in 1832 by brothers Abner, William, Chauncey and Philo, the company grew from the roots and apprenticeship with William Barton and his sons, founders and first bell makers of this fabled industry. Barton was noted for his generosity and willingness to train young apprentices is his trade, production methods and secrets and encouraged those who worked with him to venture out and ply their trade in their own enterprises. In 1946, Bevin Bros. President, Chauncey Griswold Bevin, was honored at the 55th Annual Congress of the National Association of Manufacturers as being one of the oldest active business leaders in the world. At 95, Bevin had overseen the transformation from the 35 or so small foundry shops that sprang from the Barton first foundry just south of their family home at 25 Barton Hill, to modern large scale production and worldwide clientele. Known to all in the community, his employees and his extensive family as “Uncle Chan,” Bevin was also a founder of the Gong Bell Mfg. Co., a worldwide maker of children’s toys incorporating bells. These toys were the first to use the Walt Disney characters in their designs - endearing cartoon personalities such as Mickey Mouse. And ironically, when honored, two other local businessmen and company Presidents, N. N. Hill of the N. N. Hill Brass Co., age 84, and Clifford M. Watrous, of the Gong Bell Mfg. Co., age 74, remained active in their respective companies. Maybe it was something in our local water, but Bevin stated in an interview, “I’ve never had to go to a hospital in my life. Of course I don’t work like I used to. I try to be temperate in all things. Always was. Don’t drink. I cut out cigarettes a few years ago. I felt better.” Chauncey built his home on Bevin Court on a piece of land purchased from his father Abner, overlooking the family manufacturing plants. This spectacular circa 1880 Queen Anne style country home in the middle Victorian Period presented, in a tasteful manner, the wealth and success befitting the successor to the founders of the Bevin Bros. Manufacturing Co. The Bevin family, among the early settlers of Chatham and the East Hampton society were strict Congregationalists. Moderation and hard work were ingrained in their demeanor and lifestyle, thus the exterior of the home did not present some of the more decorative embellishments of other Victorian architecture. Those features were showcased within the four walls.