Spring 2013 Newsletter

How I/We came to Mason's Island  

Peter Goffe Briggs has long had a deep love for this island and he has served it well in many capacities over the years - and as Commodore in 1995 and 1996.  His contributions reflect his loyalty to this marvelous place - (he is the 'father' and author of Dinner on the Porch).  In a very biased editorial comment, he has been a superb member lo these 36 years.  I should know - he's my brother!                     Patty Copp

By Peter Goffe Briggs for the Briggs Family

And I always thought Masons Island came to me.

Masons Island was just always there for me.  My mother was very close to her sister, Patricia Brown Moore, mother of Brownie, Sarah (Hallberg), Margot (Greener) and Dion.  Our family were frequent visitors almost every summer I can remember, until the time I hit double digits, when I would come alone and spend a week or two with my cousins. I have always been grateful that they made me feel that Mystic and MI were also my home.

I remember crusty but lovable Jack Horn screaming at me from the dock as I attempted to control the Moore's kitten sailboat "Gypsy".

About the time I gained a driver's license, my parents became associate members, and the rest, as they say, is history.

I remember when the Club was wiped out in the 1954 hurricane, and many gathered in Ed Glocke's garage (now Ferrara) for a pancake breakfast to raise dollars for the rebuilding.

I remember many beers with Hugh Smith, Rusty Loutrel and many others when we decided definitively that Rusty knew where all the bones were buried and it was his job to write a tell-all about the island.  I remember crying at his funeral not many years later.  He would have been a great Commodore.

My going away party to the USMC was held at MIYC.  Refreshments were vodka (much), ice, and frozen concentrated juices of all descriptions, mixed in a trash can. Is that why we call it a trash can???

Upon discharge from the Marines I spent a month in Allyn's Alley #4.

But it was 10 years later, driving my son Goffe home from summer camp that we decided to stop at MI for a swim. It was one of those picture perfect summer days when you can reach out and touch Fishers.  Rufus said the Baum cottage (now North) was available because the tenant, an attorney, had to rush back to Washington D C to solve some matter about a Watergate, what ever that was. (Thank you, Dick.)  We were there for four more years. Fortunately, Candy fell in love with the island and its people, and we soon made it our year-round home.

I'm sure we all appreciate the Island's physical beauty, and the access to the Sound and many boating destinations, but to me the greatest thing about MI is the people, their almost universal concern and caring for each other.  And somehow, as we change and grow larger, that sense of community gets transmitted from generation to generation. 

That should remain a constant.

The woman in the white dress is Lou and Rufus' mother, Emily. Next to her is her sister-in-law Polly Allyn.

It turns out that the Gate House was built as a sales office. "1927 was the big year for real estate developments. Fisher's Island was laid out into building lots and the great summer places started going up. Florida became a speculator's paradise, before the bubble burst. The Mason's Island Company decided to start in a small way themselves. A small lot sub-division was laid out on the hillside south of the old Mason House. A new road was run from the crest of the hill southward toward the Sound, eliminating the old road along the shore. In 1927 they build the little stone Gate House for an office, and engaged the real estate firm of Dugan & Hurley of Hartford as sole selling agents."

Then came the depression - no sales. The Allyns (G.S., Annie, Jim and Gurd) moved from Waterford into the Gate House, with a new hand dug cellar and oil heat, until their new house at 24 East Forest was ready. Gurd stayed in the cottage until Jim and Em were married in 1938 and moved in for a short while. Then Howard and Sammy Smith were the occupants with a growing family: Howie (Howard M the IV), Andy and Leah. They moved out in 1966 and Rufus moved in until he built his house on Ram Point. Occupants since then have included John Heyniger, Mr. & Mrs. Frank Bohlen, Mandy Loutrel (and Josh and Mary Helen), and Michael Burlingame (who could be seen through the windows typing away on his two volume set Abraham Lincoln: A Life.)

If you've never been inside, the side door enters into a small general purpose room. From there you go into the kitchen, with a short hall, adjoining bathroom and bedroom, and a trap door to the basement. Then into the living room with its high ceiling and large stone fireplace. A flight of steps leads to the large loft above.   Water was originally supplied by a well on the site. Rufus recently installed a new pump which now supplies water to Donna's Garden.

Note in the 1938 winter photo (below) that there actually is a wooden gate: hence, Gate House.

In addition, there is a Supplemental Brochure for Renters called "Guidelines for Mason's Island Renters", which will also be distributed at the Annual Meeting on Saturday, May 25.  ONE PER MASON'S ISLAND PROPERTY. Additional copies available online.

Mason's Island Spottings

  

The great blizzard of February 2013 named "NEMO" dumps snow on Mason's Island and makes it look like a winter wonderland.

  

Photos by Gae Melford.