How about some new welcome signs? A special thank you and some numbers for your consideration

Posted By: David Fortier March 16, 2024

By Bob Montgomery

Welcome sign

A number of towns and cities throughout this country have a welcome sign which names three or four, for example, famous natives, those who have made a name for themselves outside of the municipality and state they are from. With this in mind, I thought that I would playfully suggest a billboard for Bristol. 

This display would not include politicians, because folks driving into or through Bristol would not have heard of them on a national basis. There are some names that were well-known but are now ranked lower because their heyday has past or they are on the bubble.

Some of these folks are Steve Pikiell (Rutgers basketball coach — he could rise with a championship); Tom Shopay, retired MLB player from the 1960’s and 70’s; Paul Severino (ESPN, MLB broadcaster now with the Marlins); and Malcolm Huckaby, who announces area college basketball for ESPN. Again, these are my thoughts. 

My billboard: “Welcome to Bristol, Connecticut, the birthplace (or hometown) of Mike Reiss (“The Simpsons”); Gary Burghoff (Radar O’Reilly character in “M*A*S*H”); Adrian Wojnarowski (ESPN Insider for the NBA); Donovan Clingan (UConn men’s basketball — 2023 national champions); and lastly, Karen and Sarah Josephson, 1992 Olympic duet synchronized swimming gold medal winners. 

Again, my list is to catch the eye of those passing by or visiting here as out-of-towners. Those who live in Bristol or once have might suggest some different entries.

Silly geese, seriousness and in between

While driving in the direction of Forestville while on Memorial Boulevard the other day, there was a pair of geese walking in my direction while on the bike path on the side of the roadway. They must have been confused…shouldn’t they have been on the bike trail on the opposite side of the boulevard?

Shoutout to attorney Jim and Cindy Donovan.

There was a total of 21 arrests in Bristol during the first week of this month. Of these, six (approximately 29 percent) gave their address as living out-of-town.

A thank you from Ashley Road resident

Janet McKinstry, a longtime resident of Ashley Road, called the Bristol Public Works Department after her trash barrel blew over in the wind on Monday. They responded by sending a fellow out to place it back upright. Before she could get to the door to thank him, he drove off. Janet was hoping to give the man a $50 tip for his service, but when she called the office back was told that employees aren’t allowed a customer’s money.

“They wouldn’t tell me his name and that I couldn’t pay him, so I called you (Bob Montgomery) to put something in the newspaper to thank him,” Janet told me.

Populations

Bristol went over the 60,000 mark for the first time census-wise with the 1990 count and that was 60,640. I recall it dipping just below 50,000 not too long ago, and it’s logged in as 60,833 as of the 2020 census. Today, I’m not sure of the exact number, but found we are ranked as the 10th highest in the state. Bridgeport leads the way with a 2024 count of 148,589.

Burlington (9,710 — 2020 estimate), Harwinton (5,484 — no count date), Plainville (17,479 as of 7/1/22), Plymouth (11,671 — 2020 census) and Wolcott (16,232 — no date) are our surrounding towns. Plymouth consists of three villages — Pequabuck, Plymouth Center and Terryville.

Contact Bob Montgomery at BobMontgomeryNews@BristolEditition.org or by calling him at 860-583-5132.

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