Picture South Windsor - Then And Now

SOUTH WINDSOR, CT — The latest installment of our periodic informal series highlighting businesses from South Windsor's past takes us to Mellen Marine, in the heart of the Route 5 corridor for more than 30 years.

Founded by Richard Mellen and George Winther, Mellen Marine sold and serviced name brand boats, including Sea Ray, Boston Whaler and Starcraft. For many years, the business supported South Windsor High School by advertising in its yearbook, The Centurion. The earliest ad we could find was from page 199 of the 1974 edition, seen below.

Now in his mid-80s, Richard Mellen still lives in north-central Connecticut, while George Winther passed away May 13, 2020 at age 92.

The business location at 1145 John Fitch Boulevard was taken over in 2008 by a franchise of Camp Bow Wow, a canine day care, boarding, training and grooming facility operated by Tami Sarra. Here is a more contemporary look at the property, courtesy of Google Maps.

Do you have a photo of an old South Windsor business which no longer exists, to which you own the rights and which we could feature in this column? Email tim.jensen@patch.com.

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