Picture Enfield - Then And Now

ENFIELD, CT — Today's installment of this weekly Enfield history series features a 1955 view submitted by loyal Patch reader June (West) Jensen (otherwise known as my sister-in-law, for full disclosure). In 1953, Dick and Gert West bought a large house at 278 North Maple Street (they needed a large house, eventually having nine kids!), and with it, a hot dog stand in front known as The Pines.

As evidenced by the photo above, taken in 1955 and showing employee Jean Brassard and customer Karyl Lugee, one could obtain more than just hot dogs at The Pines, named for its proximity to Shaker Pines Lake. There was a veritable smorgasbord of treats available, none of which would break the bank: cheeseburgers for 30 cents, milk shakes for a quarter, coffee or soda for a dime (FYI, I just paid $6.90 for a vanilla milk shake the other day at a well-known establishment out of town). You could also pick up cigars and cigarettes there.

The photo below, taken in 1956, shows Gert West with daughters June and Rita at the stand. After that is a shot of three kids in front of the house; I intentionally did not trim the borders off that picture, for it reminded me that every single family photo taken between 1950 and 1975 contained rough edges and the date at the bottom.

In 1960, the Wests opened the Pines Restaurant, which was, according to June, "more like a coffee shop, serving sandwiches, ice cream and my mother's homemade pies." Renovations began and a liquor license was obtained in 1964, and the name was changed to the HazardVilla.

At one point, a small 4-room motel existed in the back portion of the building, which housed, as June put it, "strippers from Shaker Park," a competitive nightclub just a few hundred feet to the west on Brainard Road.

This blurry photo shows the formerly yellow house after it and the bar were painted bright red. I'm sure many of you will recall being somewhat blurry after a night at "The Villa."

The bar attracted customers from throughout northern Connecticut and western Massachusetts. In fact, during the 1980s time period when Massachusetts raised its drinking age to 21 while Connecticut was still 18, the majority of cars in the Villa's parking lot bore license plates from the Bay State.

A fine restaurant area called The Dinner Edition, featuring prime rib and Sunday brunch, was added to the back section of the building, but Jerry and June West sold the business in late 1985. Dick West died in 1988 at age 69, and Gert West passed away in 2005 at 84.

The building was destroyed by fire on Oct. 17, 2000. The house at 278 North Maple still stands, but the concrete base is all that remains next door at the old Villa, as seen in this photo from Google Maps.

Last week's trivia answer:
Last week's trivia question was, "This quiet, unassuming Colonial in the Sherwood Manor section of Enfield was once home to which significant figure in television history?"

The answer: in the 1970s, this house at 25 Armstrong Road was the residence of Bill and Lois Rasmussen and their children. At the time, Bill was a broadcaster and communications director for the New England Whalers of the old World Hockey Association, and along with Bob Neumeier, called the action during an infamous bench-clearing brawl in 1975 between the Whalers and the Minnesota Fighting Saints, as heard below.

Following the 1977-78 season, Whalers owner Howard Baldwin dismissed many members of the front office staff, including Rasmussen and his son Scott, the team's public address announcer. While stuck in traffic on Interstate 84 (a real shock there!), father and son began discussing what they would do to earn a living. One thing led to another, and shortly thereafter, they formed a little company called ESPN.

This week's trivia question:
Fermi High School graduate Leah Secondo was recently hired to broadcast the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games, and Enfield hockey star Craig Janney played for Team USA at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. In the past 50 years, who is the only other athlete from Enfield to compete in the Olympics? Post the answer in the comments section below under your real name (we'll see who follows directions).

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