30 Oct 2018, 10:31am
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The Walworthians: Howard Triou

The Walworthians

 

A collection of telephone interviews published in the Wayne County STAR Newspaper and Wayne County MAIL Newspaper, 1994-209

by Kate Chamberlin

Howard Triou, Builder of Homes and Family Values

February 08, 2001

Howard Triou is one of the people in our neighborhood. Many of us live in Triou built homes and know him to be a man of integrity.

“I started in the home building business in 1951,” Mr. Triou said a few weeks ago during our telephone interview. “We did all the work ourselves – block work, roughing, electric, plumbing.  We did all of it. My son Daryl work before and after school with me since he was in high school. He took over the business in 1975.”

Triou’s grandparents emigrated from Holland when his dad was just a few months old and settled in this area. The name, Triou, is French and Howard was born on November 14, 1918.

“Growing up I had oil lamps and no indoor plumbing when my folks lived on S. Wayneport Road,” he said. ” The doctor came to the house to deliver my brother and sister. I worked with my father on a muck farm growing celery, potatoes, carrots, onions and lettuce on 12-acres. I used a horse and one-bottom plow to work the soil.

“When my Dad first changed from driving a buggy to  a Model T Ford in 1926, the only paved roads were Ridge Road and Route 31 . To go to Grammar School, I had to walk a mile and a half. Then when I attended the Fairport High School, I rode my bike two miles to catch the bus.

“I remember when there were 3-cents newspapers, 6-cents for bread, 10-cents for a hamburger and only 15-cents for a pork chop.” During the slow farming months, Triou worked at the Doberiender dairy farm for $1 a day plus his lunch.

One day, he and a buddy were walking passed the Walworth Methodist Church and noticed two girls sitting on the block in front of the church. His buddy introduced Howard and his future wife that day.

After Howard and Ethel Dieffenderfer, a member of the Academy Class of 1937, were married in 1939, they lived in various rented homes in Walworth. One of them was the large home just west of Orchard Street on Rte. 441. Another was the old McMurray house, located across from the now Academy Apartments, then the Academy (Walworth High School).

“It was owned by Tuttle then,” Triou said of the home’s rental units. “That was Emily Huntley’s father. The Tuttles and Huntleys were the monied people in those days.”

Triou served our country’s WWII effort by working in the shell factory, as he was classified as 4-F by both the Army and the Navy.

Dr. Esley was the family doctor in town during the 1940’s, and the electric was a 25-cycle generator owned by the town.

“It was half of what we have now and sometimes we had electric and sometimes we didn’t,” Mr. Triou chuckled.

Years ago when there were fewer houses, more open fields and virgin forests, Mr. Triou hunted and trap foxes and managed to catch a few coyote.

“About 15-years ago, the state stocked this area with coyote,” he commented during our October, 2000 interview. “They’re native to this area and the State thought it important to re-establish them. Apparently, they’ve flourished. They’ll get small dogs, cats and turkeys. You can hear them at night. They have a yippy kind of howl, not the long hoot of a wolf.”

Mr. Triou ran a grocery store in Walworth from about 1942 until 1951. It was in the old, original Masonic Hall. The store was on the first floor and the meeting rooms were above the store. During this time, he and Ethel attended the Walworth Methodist Church. Out of respect for their religion, they never had the store open on Sundays. They sold the grocery business to Donald and Irene Brockman in 1951.

When my husband and I wanted to add a wing onto our home in 1981, we knew of Howard Triou’s impeccable reputation as a home builder, but he was retired. We asked Daryl to work with our architect, Roger Johanson, to do the construction. We have never regretted Daryl’s attention to detail, the quality of his workmanship and the respect for our wishes and time schedule. It is obvious that Daryl was taught by a Master Builder of character and integrity.

The improved electric situation and indoor plumbing are two of the things Mr. Triou thought were good improvements to the town throughout the years he has lived in our area. He is not happy about the increase in crime, though.

“We used to leave our homes unlocked,” he stated. “Young people today have too many temptations. Too many young men have no father in the family picture. We need to get the family back. The seven of us used to all sit down and have dinner together. We talked and did things together. The decline in the family brought a decline in morality.”

Howard and Ethel’s family include their grown children Daryl, Judith, Linda, Susan and Edward as well as their children’s children.

Thank you, Howard Triou. You are a Walworthian with the accent on worth.

 

30 Oct 2018, 10:29am
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30 Oct 2018, 10:23am
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Paisley Prints and Flashes


Possible Cause of Charles Bonnet Syndrome Discovered


Possible Cause of Charles Bonnet Syndrome Discovered
Researchers at the University of Queensland have found an association between Charles Bonnet Syndrome (CBS) and abnormally heightened activity in the visual cortex of the brain. The findings were published October 25, 2018 in the journal Current Biology.
According to the researchers, up to 40% of people with loss of vision experience hallucinations, which are thought to result from interrupted neural signals to the visual cortex (the part of the brain that interprets sight). Named after Charles Bonnet, who first studied the phenomenon in 1780, it was later defined as “persistent or recurrent visual pseudohallucinatory phenomena of a pleasant or neutral nature in a clear state of consciousness” (Damas-Mora, 1982). The hallucinations involve flashes of light, shapes, or geometric patterns and/or complex hallucinations, including faces, animals, or entire scenes.
The reason why some people experience CBS and others do not has been a mystery, but this study may have hit upon the answer. Exposing macular degeneration patients to various flickering images while performing a task using their peripheral visual fields, the researchers found that CBS individuals showed strikingly elevated visual cortical responses to peripheral field stimulation compared with patients without hallucinations. This offers direct support for the hypothesis of visual cortical hyperexcitability in patients with CBS.
Knowing that the syndrome is a neural, rather than a brain, disorder should relieve patients of unnecessary worry, which alone might help to reduce the frequency of the hallucinations and offer some comfort to the patient. Most important, it may give doctors a subjective means of diagnosing and treating CBS.
For an audio/visual presentation about Charles Bonnet syndrome, visit www.mdsupport.org/nsg/cbs/index.html

9 Oct 2018, 12:48pm
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Comments Off on DAR: Recovered Memories: Spain and the Support for the American Revolution

DAR: Recovered Memories: Spain and the Support for the American Revolution

Recovered Memories: Spain and the Support for the American Revolution

Written by: Ann Dillon, President General, NSDAR

October 9, 2018

 

DAR was honored to be invited by the Spanish Embassy to attend the opening of the exhibit, Recovered Memories: Spain and the Support for the American Revolution, at the Former Residence of the Ambassadors of Spain here in Washington, D.C.

Many people are not fully aware of Spain’s role in the American Revolution. In fact, even before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Spanish Crown had been providing money, arms and supplies to the Thirteen Colonies. Between 1776 and 1778, this aid took the form of largely-covert shipments from Europe, from Havana and also from the strategic port of New Orleans. Having declared war on Britain in 1779, Spain joined France in launching a series of major military operations on land and sea, not only in Europe but also in the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. At the same time, Spain continued to send supplies and loans to Congress until 1783.

 

 

 

 

Recovered Memories: Spain and the Support for the American Revolution showcases this support from Spain for the American colonies prior to and during the Revolutionary War, and also highlights notable Spanish figures whose lives impacted the emerging new country. The exhibit takes the visitor on a chronological journey of Spanish-American relations beginning with Spain’s own Age of Enlightenment during the reign of Charles III, through the times of European and American revolutions, and ending with the technological advancements at the turn of the 20th century.

Organized by Iberdrola and SPAIN arts & culture, the temporary exhibition is on display through November 18, 2018, at the Embassy of Spain’s Cultural Office at 2801 16th Street NW. It features historical documents and works of art. Also on display are clothing of the period, musical instruments, maps of colonial America, and many other historical pieces.

 

 

 

 

We were especially excited to see some items in the exhibit that were loaned by the Espana DAR Chapter in Spain! On display in the “Women at Arms” section of the exhibit was a commemorative medal collection that the DAR engaged The Franklin Mint to design in honor of the Bicentennial. “The Great Women of the American Revolution” collection of pewter medallions depicts women who contributed to the fight for Independence and was loaned to the Embassy of Spain by the Espana Chapter for their exhibition.

The Recovered Memories exhibit is very insightful and well done. If you are in the greater Washington, D.C., area this fall I encourage you to see it or tell others about it. The exhibit is free and open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm or you can contact the Cultural Office at the Embassy of Spain (contact@spainculture.us) to book a special tour date and time. The exhibition is open from September 28 until November 18. This would make for a marvelous chapter activity.

Thank you to the Embassy of Spain and their Cultural Center for hosting this engaging and carefully documented survey of Spain’s contribution to the founding of the United States. Over the course of the exhibit, the cultural center plans to welcome nearly 1,000 students from multiple schools on field trips to learn more about the American Revolution and Spain’s involvement. What a wonderful educational opportunity!

Today’s DAR Blog, 1776 D Street NW, Washington, DC 20006

Sent by presidentgeneralsblog@dar.org

 

4 Oct 2018, 4:17pm
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The Walworthians: Regina Nichols

The Walworthians

 

A collection of telephone interviews published in the Wayne County STAR Newspaper and Wayne County MAIL Newspaper, 1994-209

by Kate Chamberlin

Regina Nichols

October 21, 1999

Regina Nichols is one of the people in our neighborhood. She lives in West Walworth, but from there it gets a little confusing. Her husband works in Rochester, her children go to the Penfield Schools, she attends Church in Penfield, her phone is the Fairport exchange and her post office address is Macedon. So where are her hearth and heart?

“I fell in love with the Walworth area,” Regina said. “My husband’s job with RG&E brought us here in 1991, so we rented for a while and I just wanted to stay.”

Although Regina has traced several ancestors to Pultneyville, she grew up in Saratoga Springs and attended NYU. She was home for a week end visit and happen to   go to a party. Despite others warnings, she met and danced with a Navy man.

“He asked if we were Skidmore girls,” Regina recalled. “It was terribly corny, but he asked me to dance and that was that.”

William Nichols is in Energy Operations with RG&E, working out of downtown Rochester. He and Regina have two daughters, Helena, age 5 and Sabrina age 3.Their family is rounded out by a German Shepherd named Shep and a 7-toed cat named Wesley.

Regina’s top priority is her family, but she manages to keep herself very busy in other ways, too. She has served on the West Walworth Election Committee, was on the St. Joseph’s Catholic Church social ministry committee that sponsored the first Habitat for Humanity in Monroe County, participated in the Walk With You Project that provides mentors to welfare to Work clients, as well as writing children’s stories in verse and serving as co-chairman of the Walworth Food Pantry.

“I saw a plea for Food Pantry volunteers in the Town Topics,” Regina said. “You think of hunger as only being in the city, but it is everywhere. I have a sense of community and I want my daughters to have it too. My 5-year old often goes with me to help pack groceries and things.”

Regina gets very enthusiastic as she talks about purchasing items in bulk, distributing them, driving around to pick up sewing machines for the mentoring program Gwyn Bassage facilitates, procuring donated cases of goods and setting up schedules for volunteers.

“Eventually,” she bubbled, “I’d like to see us have enough space to offer household items and clothing, but for now we do very well with what we have.”

The perishables come in on Tuesday evening in readiness for distribution on Wednesday evening 6:30-7:30 PM at the Walworth Baptist Church. Volunteers are always welcome to help distribute goods, bag groceries, deliver heavy items and chat with clients.

“It is also important,” she said, “that we are feeding bellies and spirits. The Out-Reach Mentoring program is building self-confidence and self-worth.”

Regina purchases the perishable goods with the cash donations, but canned goods, paper goods and toiletries may be dropped off at the Walworth Hardware, Jax’s (hair) Salon and the Town Hall from 9:00 AM-5:00 PM week days.

Various community organizations are very helpful in stocking the Food Pantry’s shelves not only at holiday times, but also all year round.

Regina didn’t want to let her college education go to waste as she stayed home with her young children, so she resurrected a manuscript she’d written during one of her college classes. It needed a little work, but she liked it and wondered if she could do it again.

She has a unique talent of writing in verse! Her stories are charming, humorous and appealing to a wide age range. “Little Rabbit Sleeping” is a manuscript for a young child’s board book she hopes to have published eventually. It opens with: Little Rabbit’s sleeping In little baby’s shoes, What a cozy place, To take a bunny snooze.

Thank you, Regina, with your sense of community, talent and mirth, you are a Walworthian with the accent on worth.

2018 Up-Date: With the advent of Food Link trucks coming to our area, the Walworth Food Pantry became redundant and disbanded.

 

 

 
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