Last week’s Friday Flashback of the Pack Roads men’s store stirred plenty of memories.
And though Fred Cantor sent this newspaper clipping in a while ago, it fits now.
The photo caption from the October 21, 1965 Town Crier describes the scene: junior high musicians playing to celebrate an extension being built in the back of a downtown store.
The photo has everything: music, nostalgia (The Remarkable Book Shop) — and there in the background is Pack Roads!
This photo is timely today. Two book stores opened recently downtown: Barnes & Noble, and Westport Book Shop.
Four members of band are still around. Trace Burroughs is a noted artist (and host, with his brother Miggs, of a popular Westport Library podcast). Rick Castillo lives in Norwalk, Chip Jackson in New York, and Tony Pryor in North Carolina. All are still involved in music.
And while the event back in the mid-’60s heralded the expansion of a downtown business, nearly 60 years later Main Street and beyond is undergoing its own renaissance.
Play it again, Rogues!
BONUS FEATURE: After last week’s Friday Flashback, Peter Barlow sent me a dramatic photo he’d taken of Pack Roads back in the ’60s. I added it to the story, but it’s worth posting again:
(Photo/Peter Barlow)
In the background on the far left is another kid who played in local bands back in the day, Larry McFaddin, who went on to a long and successful career in the world of soccer. I think the Rogues band member Timmy Wayne was the son of actor David Wayne.
You’re correct Fred, Timmy Wayne was the son of David Wayne. The Wayne’s home, off Old Hill Rd, was an easy walk from my best friend’s home on Side Hill Rd. Her older brother was a good friend of Timmy’s. One memorable day in the very early 1960s a group of us walked to Timmy’s house to see if he could “hang out.” No cell phones of course so we weren’t expected. What a surprise it was so see Timmy’s dad sitting in the backyard with Dwayne Hickman, the actor who played Dobie Gillis! Sadly, several years later Timmy and another Westporter, Malcolm Best, went missing and were presumed drowned while on a trip in Canada.
https://www.nytimes.com/1970/08/24/archives/david-waynes-son-missing-with-a-friend-in-canada.html
I alway thought the Pack Roads , building should be a Classy Restaurant ..
Great Photo: caught my older brother Kevin Doyle sitting in the background right side. Kevin is deceased, but his birthday is coming up and this was a thrill for the rest of us. Keep the Westport nostalgia coming!
Love seeing them all as little kids 🙂 Ricky looked like a bad boy even then 🙂
Hi Dan, Love your “Flash Back Fridays”. My Dad, Evan Harding designed the men’s store, Pack Roads for Mike Hyman, the son of a Hollywood film producer, and the store next to it for his wife, Shirly. It was called the Separate Shop, Fabulous apparel and accessories for both genders were housed in these unique and special spaces. My father did so much for this town that when I get the opportunity I proudly fly his banner high. Thank you for the opportunity. Marilyn Harding
MARILYN – I LOVED YOUR DAD. ; HE WAS VERY !SPECIAL AND KIND AS WELL AS AN EXTRAORDINARY LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT HE LEFT HIS MARK ON OUR DOWNTOWN AND ON MANY OF WESTPORTS PRIME ESTATES. HE ALSO LANDSCAPED MY LITTLE THIRD OF AN ACRE!. WAS SADEND TO SEE THE DEMISE OF EVAN’S DAYBREAK NURSERIES.
I MISS HIM
We used to do the landscaping maintenance there is the mid 70’s. We sold Christmas trees in the parking lot. Pack Roads would have warm cider and donuts.
Right on, Marilyn. Evan Harding was the best. Fly his banner high!
Thanks Fred for the pictures and Dan for all that you do. Your blog keeps us connected and stories keep the memory of our “old” town alive. My sister worked at the Separate Shop and her “future husband” at Pack Roads.. and that is my brother Kevin back right!!
Do not see the Rogues in this picture?!!
For several years my law office and that of my partner, Bruce Lev, was in the red house next door to Pack Roads. Later, when Shearson took over the Pack Roads building and needed more space, they made an offer to purchase our lease which was too good to refuse and we moved to King’s Highway North. It was the nicest office I’ve ever had, with a brick wall behind my desk and a deck on the River accessed by French doors. Sometimes in the summer while my family was in Provincetown and our house was rented, I lived on the second floor where there was a convertible sofa and bathroom with shower. (I suspect that was a zoning violation but the statute of limitations has run.) Fred was a great and flexible landlord and became a friend. I was sorry to leave that space.
Dan, where was Pack Roads?
Just north of Remarkable Book Shop — the other side of that downhill entrance to Parker Harding Plaza. Right on the river.