New Bern Academy, new parking lot parts of city history

The New Bern Academy was the first
school chartered in North Carolina

The New Bern Academy, located at the corner
of Johnson and Hancock streets is the oldest
public school building in North Carolina

The completed parking lot is at the corner of New and
Hancock streets adjacent to the Firemen's Museum.

The New Bern Academy, located at the corner of Johnson and Hancock streets, is the oldest public school building in North Carolina and one of the oldest in the United States. The construction of the city parking lot at the corner of New and Hancock streets, facilitated by Swiss Bear, played a major role in the opening of the New Bern Academy Museum to the public in December 1991 as a part of the Tryon Palace complex.

In 1764 the North Carolina legislature authorized the town of New Bern to build the New Bern Academy as a “school and residence for the school master.” The original building, destroyed by fire in 1795 led to the construction of the 1810 brick building. The success of the school led to the construction of a second building, New Bern Graded School or “Bell Building in 1884.

By 1899 the New Bern Academy became a part of the city school system and both buildings served as schools until 1971 when the New Bern school board decommissioned the buildings and they were no longer used as schools. Because of its rich past and impressive structure, the New Bern Academy Historical Commission was created by the legislature in 1975. The Commission was charged with preserving the school’s history and the original building.

Vacant and in need of restoration, dedicated volunteers raised grant funds and contributions and the building was renovated in the 1980’s. Recognizing it as another opportunity to relate the history of New Bern and Craven County, the Tryon Palace Commission knew adequate visitor parking was vital to its success.

In February 1987, recognizing the proposed use of the building would add to the mix of attractions and enhance tourism and the downtown revitalization effort, Swiss Bear chairman Harold Talton developed a strategy, embraced by the City and County, to acquire the New Bern Garment Company property at the corner of New and Hancock Street, owned by John Carver, that was for sale. The property could serve as a large City public parking lot for visitors to the New Bern Academy, the Firemen’s Museum and downtown shoppers and employees.

The Swiss Bear board authorized Harold to look into the feasibility of and to offer to purchase property near Simmons Street and Trent Boulevard, if zoning on that parcel of land permitted the operation of a garment factory. This property would be traded for the property at New and Hancock Street.

It was a complicated process. Zoning of that property was required prior to the purchase and an option on one parcel was necessary to secure the site. With the support of the County Commissioners and Board of Aldermen, in April 1987, Swiss Bear signed an option on the old Armstrong Wholesale Grocery building to purchase and trade the property to John Carver to relocate and house the New Bern Garment Company.

Swiss Bear wrote and acquired $75,000 in grant commitments from the Kellenberger Historical Foundation and Craven County Tourism Development Authority which covered 50 percent of the total cost of the project.

By May 1987, options on both properties were signed and on June 23, the Board of Aldermen approved Swiss Bear’s request to rezone the Armstrong parcel for use as a garment factory.

In early February 1988, closings on the two properties took place. In addition to the $75,000 in grant monies, Swiss Bear borrowed $75,000 to complete the transaction. The City agreed to pay monthly interest fees on the loan until it was able to purchase the property. In January 1990, Swiss Bear transferred the deed to the City and Swiss Bear was reimbursed for the $75,000 loan. The City then applied and received grant funds from the Kellenberger Historical Foundation to demolish the garment factory building and develop the parking lot.

In December 1990, the New Bern Academy Museum opened as a part of the Tryon Palace complex.

The Kellenberger Historical Foundation was created in 1978 by philanthropist May Gordon Latham Kellenberger, who served as chairman of the Tryon Palace Commission for twenty-seven years and contributed her time and assistance to a number of public endeavors. The purpose of the Foundation was to aid in the preservation of significant structures in New Bern and Craven County, including the Tryon Palace complex.

The Foundation was/is a valuable asset to this community and Tryon Palace. It played a major role in providing funding for major projects that made the revitalization of the downtown historic district possible.

Swiss Bear's rehabilitation role for a major anchor building

The Belk Building: Adult entertainment center? Not in our downtown!

The Belk Building in pre-rehabilitation days.

The O.Marks building at 233 Middle St.
is shown in 1988 after its rehabilitation
was complete.

The O. Marks building at 233 Middle St. was originally two separate buildings. The three story portion, adjacent to the First Baptist Church, was constructed in 1915-16 for Oscar Marks & Son to house their expanded dry goods and shoe sales operations.

Following his death in 1921, business declined and the firm closed its doors in 1927. The building remained vacant for four years until it was used as a Chrysler dealership. In 1937, Belk purchased the building and replaced the original storefront with large tin panels to “modernize” the façade and replaced the windows with glass brinks in the 1940s and 1950s.

The two story section on the south side was built in 1927 for the Coplon Investment Company and occupied by Montgomery Ward until 1964 when it was leased by Belk to expand its department store. The same large metal blocks were added to that façade to unite the two buildings into one, creating a major anchor building in the central business district.

In 1979, Belk joined in the exodus to the suburbs and relocated in the new Twin Rivers Mall. The large 57,000 square foot monolithic building added to the growing number of vacant deteriorating buildings and downtown’s decline.

At the June 1980 Swiss Bear Board meeting, finding a tenant became a priority when Ella Bengal, board member and alderwoman, stated she felt Swiss Bear should seek a tenant for the vacant Belk Building.

During that year, Swiss Bear monitored investor activity of those interested in leasing or buying the building and were spurred into action in February 1981 when the Board learned a company from Jacksonville planned to purchase the building for use as an adult entertainment center.

At the February 1981 Board meeting, Charles Blythe’s motion to pursue purchasing the building, passed unanimously. Jay Smith, Doug Davis, David Henderson, Dell Ipock, Dabney Coddington, Bill Edwards and Newsom Williams were authorized to secure a 90 day loan from NCNB and Jay Smith agreed to underwrite the loan interest.

To acquire the $20,000 option on the building, Swiss Bear raised $15,000 and the New Bern Preservation Foundation joined the effort contributing $5,000. With the support of four local banks, BB&T, NC National Bank, Wachovia and First Citizens Bank, Swiss Bear acquired the property. Belk donated their half of the building and Swiss Bear purchased the adjacent portion from the Coplon family at a bargain sale for $150,000. The banks allowed Swiss Bear to pay on the loan, interest only, until the building was sold.

A recruitment team developed guidelines that clearly defined the use of the building with restrictions preventing an undesirable use of the building. The metal façade would have to be removed from both buildings and the exterior rehabbed according to the specifications of a façade study. The selling price was $175,000.

In November of 1982 a Low Interest Loan Pool was formed with the City, Swiss Bear and the four banks for the purpose of allowing merchants to borrow money for building improvements at 71 percent of the prime interest rate. A federal law stating banks did not need to pay tax on interest gained from loans made in specified redevelopment areas (four core blocks bounded by Tryon Palace Drive, Craven, Hancock and Broad Streets) made it possible for banks to lend at a lower interest rate. Each bank contributed $500,000 and the City’s final approval was needed for all loans. The creation of this loan pool was the deciding factor in the eventual sale of the Belk building.

By December 1983, Swiss Bear had $131,000 invested in the building. Although it had been shown a number of times, no real interest was generated until Swiss Bear took a new approach working with the banks with a syndication method of financing. The banks also increased the line of credit for Swiss Bear so an architectural survey, a financial analysis, feasibility and other studies could be undertaken.

In 1984, five local businessmen, Lonnie Pridgen, Jr., Tom Karam, Gordon Parrot, Chick Askew and Joe Alcoke created the O. Marks Partnership and purchased the building for $200,000.

The original goal was to develop the building into a first-floor retail mall and offices on the upper floors.

The major $2.2 million extensive renovation restored most of the original exterior and interior. O. Marks Mall opened in 1986 with eight specialty retail shops and offices on the upper floors.

Although downtown was gradually beginning to turn around, the lack of pedestrian traffic needed to support the shops led to all but one closing within several years. Recruiting businesses to lease the empty spaces was very challenging, however community support for the project led to leases with the New Bern Chamber of Commerce, Neuse River Council of Governments, Swiss Bear, Weyerhaeuser and other local businesses that relocated into the building.

When the U.S. Postal Service made the decision to move out of the Federal Building (corner of Middle and New Street) to their new facility on Glenburnie Road, the downtown business owners lobbied for a downtown post office branch which was opened in the O. Marks Building. Currently the mix of businesses on the first floor includes several retail shops, a sandwich shop, offices, the post office and offices on the upper floors with 94% occupancy.

The rehabilitation of this building by the O. Marks Partnership, who faced financial challenges for many years, was key to moving the revitalization effort forward. This significant structure, a downtown anchor building, is an example of how critical private investment was to downtown’s recovery.

We commend the men who formed the O. Marks Partnership for their commitment to this key project and downtown’s recovery.

A piece of history on display

Historical shipbuilding winch placed at Lawson Creek Park.

Bryan Caton, left, assists Marty Williams in setting up a draw
winch for display at Lawson Creek Park Wednesday morning.
The display is expected to finished by Monday.

A bit of New Bern’s shipbuilding history will soon be on display at Lawson Creek Park.

A draw winch assembly of the type that the Barbour boat company used to haul boats into dry dock for repair is being placed on a concrete pedestal by the side of the first boat launch in the city park.

Williams Service Company — the same company that mounted the Blue Angels jet near the park entrance in 2012 — began installation of the display Thursday morning. Marty Williams, who is supervising the construction, said he expects the work to be completed by Monday.

Swiss Bear Downtown Development Corporation Director Susan Moffat-Thomas, who has overseen the overall project, said that a ceremony will be held in a few months, once a storyboard telling the winch’s story is completed.

The winch, which is about 8 feet in circumference and weighs in at three or four tons, had originally been purchased by the Barbour boat works, second hand, from another company, according to Robert Chiles of Robert M. Chiles Engineers and Consultants. Chiles, who in the 1960s, was also employed by Barbour.

The winch was part of a system used to pull boats into dry dock for repairs. He estimated that this winch could have pulled boats as large as 300 tons. The winch was built by the Crandall dry dock company, which built dry docks around the world, especially during World War II. While “Crandall started building these things all the way back in the year ‘one,” Chiles said, he estimated this particular winch was probably built around the 1930s.

While Barbour already had winches at its main location (where the N.C. History Center now stands), this winch was purchased with the plan to use it along the Neuse River at a second yard that is currently Maola Milk property.

The planned dry dock could not be built, however, because the channel was too close to shore, so the wheel remained lying on the property until it became overgrown with weeds and forgotten.

Moffat-Thomas said she first became aware of the gear when she was chairing New Bern’s 300 Committee in 2010.

“Tom McGraw, Harry Goodman and Dick Lore had found the artifact while they were out walking and wondered if I thought it would fit in with the theme,” she said. “I went out and looked at the machine and was very excited about it.”

Moffat-Thomas approached the Maola Company, which donated the winch to Swiss Bear.

“The city disassembled it and stored it behind some buildings at Glenburnie Park,” she said, while funds were sought to restore and display it.

For some time, the winch set idle, as the economy “tanked,” she said. But, “I never gave up on wanting that artifact restored because it is the only remnant or historic artifact that relates back to New Bern’s boat building industry.”

Barbour, founded by Herbert W. Barbour in 1933, built a wide variety of ships, including minesweepers and rescue ships during World War II and other military ships during the Vietnam era. It also constructed fishing vessels, barges, ferry boats and harbor tugs before it closed its doors in 2001.

Swiss Bear finally received $21,000 from Mary Ann Harrison. The money was used to sandblast and prepare the machine, as well as to cover the cost of a storyboard.

Moffat-Thomas obtained permission from the New Bern Board of Aldermen to have the winch set up in Lawson Creek Park and said ownership will be taken over by the city once it is complete.

“This has been on Swiss Bear’s radar for a long time,” she said. “I’m thrilled to death that this is coming to completion.”

Sun Journal article - January 11, 2014

Swiss Bear reminiscences...Mike's Jewelry

Bruce and Cindy Price opened the doors of Mike's Jewelry
Store on Dec.1, 1992

It wasn’t business as usual when Bruce and Cindy Price opened the doors of Mike’s Jewelry Store on Dec. 1, 1992. After 34 years, the family business established by Mike Crary was in a new and much larger location. Until they moved to the adjacent building, this small family business had grown and prospered over the years in a 50-inch by 50-foot space nestled between two buildings.

The relocation into the adjacent Windley Building at 222 Middle St. reflects the passage of a business to the next generation — a shop that prospered as business increased every year, even during the “doom and gloom” years in the ‘70s when the downtown reached its lowest point.

In my conversation with Crary, in the spring of 1993, he reflected on his long career. Here is Crary’s story:

I must have done something right. In addition to working hard, my philosophy has always been to treat people as I would like to be treated.

I’m just about a native. Although I grew up in Kinston, I had family in New Bern so I spent a lot of time here. I served in the Navy in WWII and have campaign ribbons from every theater from the North Atlantic to the South Pacific.

After the war, like everyone else, I needed a job. When I heard the Jewel Box had an opening I applied. Murray Fitterman owned the business and after the interview, the man put me to work. I went in on the GI bill since it paid for training on the job. We made a deal: If I would work on the floor as a salesman for a year he would train me in watch repair.

Fitterman was one of the toughest and fairest bosses I ever worked for. He was a man of his word. If he promised you something you could put it in the bank. I worked for Mr. Fitterman for seven years and learned the trade of watch repair, among other things. Jimmy Simpkins owned Stanley Jewelers … it was just down the street … he wooed me away from the Jewel Box. Unfortunately Mr. Simpkins’ interest in politics took its toll on the business. First he ran for Alderman and won hands down. Next he ran and was elected to the State Senate. When he ran for a seat in the U.S. Congress, he was defeated by David Henderson of Burgaw. It wasn’t long after that the IRS closed the store.

That left me without a job. As I was walking along Middle Street wondering what I was going to do, I saw a little recessed area … like a hole between two buildings. It was originally an alleyway between the old hotel and the Windley building. Years before Ellis Zaytoun had converted an area of the alley to house a newsstand. He was there for more than 50 years, in fact, he raised three kids and put them through college with that business. He had closed the newsstand several years before.

I knew right then that’s where I needed to set up my shop, even though it was in bad shape. Leo Brody owned the property and he said he would rent it to me but I would have to pay for all of the repairs and would rent me the space for $50 a month and would never raise the rent as long as I stayed there. Mr. Brody was a fine gentleman and a man of his word. Up until we moved, I was still only paying $50 a month.

I put on a new roof, fixed up the interior and hung out my shingle. The shop was small, 50-inches wide and 20-feet deep at that time. I didn’t need any more room since all I had was a watch workbench and my tools. They were the only things the IRS didn’t confiscate.

Since I had worked downtown for so many years, I was well known. Today, it is cheaper to buy a new watch than to get on fixed, but years ago it wasn’t that way. People had their watches repaired frequently. I had a lot of repeat customers … some who couldn’t read. So to let people know where I was, I would run ads with my picture … when people would see my face and that haircut they knew where to find me. I’ve had the same brush cut for 50 years.

I worked late into the night repairing watches and put every dollar I could into merchandise. I knew money wasn’t only to be made with my hands … a large inventory and different lines of merchandise were the answer and my business prospered. Even during downtown’s low point in the late 1979’s, his business increased. He attributed this to his store being a destination … one that provided a service and had many return customers or “friends.”

Crary retired when Bruce and Cindy Price opened the new store. His wife, Mabel worked in the new store until she passed away in 2006. Mike, now 95, resides at the Sterling House.

Current owners Bruce and Cindy’s biggest problem has been adjusting to and compensating for the growth of business.

Reflections on Mitchell Hardware

Mitchell Hardware as seen today.

Snapshot: October 1987 — a typical Saturday morning at the Corner Grill (now the Chelsea), the restaurant filled with people enjoying a leisure breakfast while catching up on the week’s news.

At one particular table the conversation of three locals, Paul Johnson, Stewart Smith and Harold Talton turned to the fate of Mitchell’s Hardware located in the Old City Hall Building on Craven Street.

The original location of Mitchell Hardware at
220 Craven St. is occupied today by
Ballantynes Framing & Art.

Paul Johnson, Buzz Mitchell’s health is so poor I hear they are going to sell Mitchell’s Hardware. Stewart’s response, Harold, let’s buy it!

On the following Wednesday, October 7, Harold Talton had “closed the deal” and he and his wife Pat were the sole owners of an old-timey hardware store that had been in the Mitchell family for over 90 years.

In a conversation with Harold (Swiss Bear Chairman) I raised the obvious question. Why did a successful businessman, community leader, a regional vice president for First Citizens Bank, recently recognized for 40 years of service, buy, relocate and expand an old-timey store?

Here’s Harold’s reply beginning with a brief history lesson. Mitchell Hardware started out as a livery stable in 1898, which sold in addition to mules and horses, wagons and harnesses. In the early 1900’s they went out of the livery business and got into hardware. To put it more colorfully, they opened the gate, ran the horses and mules off and brought in the hardware.

Within a year’s time, change was in the wind. My original intention was to stay at the location on 220 Craven Street but the space, only 17 feet wide, just wasn’t big enough. The Parker Building just across the street was on the market and I saw the potential.

Harold continued, even before I heard the hardware store was for sale on that Saturday morning over coffee, I knew Greg Smith, a Boy Scout executive for 10 years, was looking to change his life style. Before I made the offer on the building, I talked with Greg. Within a two-week period, Greg was married, had a new job and was in a new town to run and manage the hardware store.

When I turn in my key and Master Card at First Citizens Bank, I hope to spend some time there.

What they attempted to do was recreate a turn-of-the-century hardware store. The fact that Mitchell’s was old-timey is the main reason Harold bought it. He enjoyed going to auctions and estate sales to look for and buy items that would have been sold at the turn-of-the-century. They are used as decorations in the store, but most items are for sale.

When they purchased the S.B. Parker Building, the tin-pressed ceilings were still in-tact. Although many people recommended lowering the ceilings to retain all the fluorescent fixtures that had been hung over the years, he removed and replaced them with lights from that era and three old ceiling paddle fans that were made the same year the building was constructed.

He put in wooden floors and built additional shelving to match the original shelving that was still in the building. The counter is the original counter from the old Mitchell Hardware.

Over the years he continued to add “old” items and merchandise to “add to the customer’s experience”.

The hardware carries a full range of nails, paints, tools, etc., and specialty food items - jams, smoked hams in season, even honey from his own bees.

As a result of a casual conversation one Saturday morning, Mitchell Hardware incorporated as “Hams, Jams, Hardware and Stuff, Inc.” is and continues to be a place where people browse, visit, and explore for no better reason than they just like being there for the pure pleasure of being there.

*Harold Talton was chairman of Swiss Bear for a total of eight years. He passed away in 2008 and Greg bought the business from the Talton family several years later. It was a wise decision on Harold’s part to bring Greg into the business. Greg is an ambassador for downtown and Mitchell Hardware is a destination for visitors and area citizens alike.

November a good month for local man to give thanks

Bear Bucks Raffle 

November has been a good month for Maury Barg to give thanks. It was during a Thanksgiving holiday trip to Eastern North Carolina a dozen years ago that Barg and his wife Rita visited New Bern and then made it their home the next year.

Now, the River Bend homeowner has another November moment to remember — winning the $10,000 drawing in the Bear Bucks Raffle fundraiser for Swiss Bear Downtown Development Corp.

Barg will do the gentlemanly thing and split the prize with his wife.

Not generally a gambling man, Barg said he bought some tickets after getting an email request from his friend Tom McGraw, a Swiss Bear board member.

After the recent drawing at the Holiday Gift Show, Barg got a telephone call from the Raffle Committee Chairwoman Judy Avery, telling him his ticket had been drawn from several thousand that were sold.

“That was very nice, but I thought she was joking,” Barg said. “I bought the tickets because of Tom and he said the money would be used for good things.”

The raffle was to aid Swiss Bear, which has been the ramrod behind the revitalization of downtown since the 1980s.

Barg said he and his wife first came to New Bern on a day trip while visiting their daughter, who had accepted a new job as an attorney in Greenville.

The Bargs had lunch downtown, took in the sights and rode the trolley.

When they returned to their Connecticut home of 40 years, they thought about making a move to New Bern.

They lived in a house on a big lake, so waterfront was important, he said.

They visited several coastal towns, including Bath and Washington, but decided New Bern was the right fit.

“We wanted the river, not a canal,” he said.

The Bear Bucks Raffle kicked off in August with a goal to raise funding and awareness for Swiss Bear. The campaign is expected to raise more than $14,000.

A campaign committee included Avery, along with Linda Mattocks, Susan Braaten, Mike Neill, Michelle Lynn, Christy Rollins, Chad Sittig and Gilbert Stroud.

The Swiss Bear board was divided into five teams, with nine board members each. Team leaders were Bob Mattocks, Bill Fentress, Cindy Turco, Dell Ipock and Ernie Richardson. 

Turco’s team had the most overall sales, while Mattock’s group had the most individual sales, with more than $1,000. McGraw, who sold Barg the winning ticket, came in a close second. 

Flag company owner Bill Rust provided a flag for highest sales to Mattocks.

The Unforgettable first Coastal Christmas Celebration

In the Spirit of the Season, reflecting on memories from 1984.

Santa is shown arriving in 1984 at the intersection of
Pollock and Middle streets downtown.

My recent conversation with Linda Morris was filled with hearty laughter as she reminisced about the pitfalls and foibles of the first Coastal Carolina Celebration Tree Lighting Ceremony in 1984, and its unforgettable ending.

Susan, it was awful, just awful! I was never so embarrassed in my entire life. I wanted to crawl in a hole and die!

Linda served on the Swiss Bear Board in the mid-1980’s and among other contributions, initiated and served as chairman of the Coastal Christmas Celebration during her tenure as a director.

Linda recalled, As a New Bern native, I had many vivid happy memories of a downtown that celebrated the holidays; the Molly Heath tree in the Christ Episcopal Church yard was always decorated with Christmas lights. Christmas music filled the air. Santa had a little house on Middle Street and there was always , a Christmas parade- all of those kinds of things—but the decline of the downtown in the ‘70’s put an end to all of that. The whole idea was to create an event that would bring people back downtown, one that would get families involved.

A Swiss Bear Christmas Committee was organized in September 1984 and members met with East Carolina Yacht Club members to discuss a flotilla parade of decorated boats on the waterfront. Since it was so late in the year and construction of the new Sheraton Hotel and marina was underway in the urban renewal area on the Trent River waterfront, the decision was made to pursue organizing a flotilla in 1985.

In the meantime, when permission was received from the Christ Episcopal Church to decorate the Molly Hearth tree, the committee decided to have a Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on the evening of December 5, the first Saturday of the month to kick-off the holiday season. Three electrical supply companies contributed the strings of colored lights and the city agreed to put them on the tree.

Harold Talton (Swiss Bear Chairman) agreed to be Santa and would be in a small roller sleigh that, then executive director Marvin Davis brought from Elizabeth City. The program was to begin at 5:30 p.m. (scheduled to last an hour) in front of the old post office (New at Middle Street) with performances by the New Bern High School band and the drill team, the Centenary Church Children’s Bell Choir, and a Christmas Cheer.   

Centenary Church Children's Bell Choir also performed
at the Christmas celebration.

Pro-Musica would lead everyone in parade form down Middle to the intersection of Pollock Street, singing “Here Comes Santa Claus “while two drill team members would pull Santa on the sleigh. When Santa arrived at the intersection, he would make some cheery comments, ask  Reverend Ed Sharp, Rector of Christ Church to give a Christmas blessing and then with a flick of his finger, turn on the lights on the Molly Heath Tree.  

So what went wrong, why was it an awful experience?

Linda continued, on the same day of the celebration, we learned the city had just finished hanging wreaths on the light poles, and had not turned on any of the lights in the decorations.

We came up with the idea we would tie the lighting of the Christmas wreath decorations with the Tree Lighting Ceremony. All of the lights would be tied to a timer so Santa could turn everything on with a flick of his finger. We all know about the best laid plans.

Around noon on December 5, the temperature started to drop and began to rain. Light sleet began to fall and had intensified to the point, by 5 p.m. we knew we were in trouble. Everyone was freezing, children were crying, musicians could barely perform. We managed to cut that portion short and everyone paraded to the Pollock/Middle Street intersection.

As Christmas Cheer was performed at the 1984
Coastal Carolina Celebration Tree Lighting Ceremony.

After a quick blessing and a few ho, ho, ho’s, everyone watched in great anticipation for the moment the lights would all come on. Media cameramen stood poised as Santa flicked the switch. Nothing happened. He flicked it again and again nothing happened. He walked over to me, Linda what went wrong? I don’t know, try again. He flicked it again-still no lights.

Finally we realized the lights weren’t going to come on –the timer had been set for 6:30 p.m. according to the scheduled program. By cutting it short, we were 15 to20 minutes ahead of schedule.

While someone tried to get into City Hall to move the timer ahead, we stood there humiliated, watching everyone leave in total disappointment. When the lights finally did come on, no more than five people were there to see it. It was awful. It’s funny now, but it certainly wasn’t then.

The December 20 Swiss Bear board minutes have a brief entry…Christmas Committee - Agenda item #8... Linda Morris reported, our committee learned from our mistakes this year and will meet in January to plan for next year.

Susan Moffat Thomas, Executive Director

Swiss Bear Downtown Development Corp.