7 Comments

Being. Not bring! I hate this spellcheck.

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Super article on Walter Paajanen.

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At the time this was happening I was working full time. I would have preferred to travel around New Ipswich and meet some of these folks, I would have met with Walter , Bill Currier and definitely Marion Davis. Why couldn't I have retired when I was 30?

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These folks were some of the great ones and there were many others too. We must remind the young and middle aged to take time, stop in their frenzied tracks, and listen to older people. They are full of history. They love chatting and don’t ask for much more than a nice conversation. I remember hearing lots about the NSU mentioned in this piece. Not bring mechanically minded I didn’t absorb most of it except to recognize it as an automotive cultural artifact. Cars have always been big in New Ipswich, since when my father was young in the 20s.

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Walter was a close friend of my father and my uncle Oliver. I've said that Walter was a genius in this comment section a number of times. Now you know why I called him a 'car modifier'. He was our TV repairman and plumber. His sons were my age. His daughters, Anna and Viola also were very smart. Anna was valedictorian of her class at Appleton and a member of the National Honor Society. It was a privilege to know Walter, Bill Currier, and other talented New Ipswich men and women. Anyone reading this newsletter has come across a number of them.

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I enjoyed reading your story about Walter Pajaanen and his electric car! I remember him and my Dad talking about it a lot. Walter was married to my Grandmother's sister Ida. . Walter came to our house often to fix our TV. Walter was a nice guy, very smart and boy could he talk! My brother and I were so happy when Walter came because we knew he would fix our TV! Thanks for sharing this great story!

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In case you don't know what 'teaming hard pan' is. One uses a horse drawn scoop with a man handling the scoop and tilting it at the right angle to scoop a layer of hard pan (soil that is sand, clay, and small pebbles the consistency of concrete). Also risky, take too much of a bite and the horse will flip that scoop with handles whizzing by your ear. Today we use a tractor with a loader.

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