West Hartford’s ‘Thursday Throwback’
Test your knowledge of West Hartford history with this ‘Thursday Throwback.’
By Ronni Newton
Courtesy Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society
It’s Throwback Thursday (#tbt), and time to take a look back into West Hartford’s past to either stir up some memories, reflect on how much things have changed, or both. And if you have no idea, we love the photo captions, too!
In honor of baseball’s opening day, and the start of the high school spring sports season, last week’s image (at right and in larger size below) featured what was obviously a Hall High School baseball team, based on the equipment and the school name on their shirts.
We asked if anyone could identify the coach, or the players, or the exact location the photo was taken.
Shirley Redman and Chris Glowacki immediately jumped in with the name of the coach – the legendary Bob McKee! Most best remember Coach McKee as the former Conard head football coach, father-in-law of former Conard head football coach Rob Cersosimo, and grandfather of current Conard head football coach Matt Cersosimo.
However, in addition to coaching football at Hall in the days before Conard opened, McKee also coached the Hall baseball team. The exact date of this photo is unknown, but McKee was coach from 1951-1957.
Town of West Hartford
This week’s image (at right and in larger size below) is from the Town of West Hartford archives. Does anyone remember eating at Howdy Beefburgers?
Where in West Hartford was this located, and what is there now?
Please share your thoughts and memories below. Captions are probably not needed this week, but of course are always welcome.
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Town of West Hartford
The Hall High School baseball team was coached by Bob McKee from 1951-1957. Courtesy Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society
Howdy was on New Park Avenue, I remember it being next to Will Jacob’s Surf Shop which later moved into Elmwood (where Alyce Carella Dance is today). I think the location was on the East side of the road near Flatbush. My over-protective mother wouldn’t let us eat at places like Howdy’s saying that we’d get ptomaine poisoning!
Howdy’s on New Park Avenue. We used to grab a burger there when Dad was on a business trip. I can’t remember the quality of the food, but we all survived!
And thanks to the internet – the Howdy beefburger jingle:
Howdy Beefburger Drive-ins Serve up tasty treats
Beefburgers made with just the finest meats
Howdy Beefburger Drive-Ins, Drive right up and get
Speedy Speedy Speedy Service and the best Beefburgers yet.
It was located on New Park Avenue directly across from Foley Street. We lived on Foley Street as kids and would sneak coins from our parents and go over there and get fries and burgers. They were pretty cheap. Howdy was a chain started by Dunkin Donuts. There was also one on Main Street in East Hartford across from Pratt and Whitney.
We lived on New Park Ave in the 60s. My mother used to refer to this as Howdy Doodys. We didn’t have much money so it was a real treat to get take out from Howdys.