According to the 2000 Census, there were about 17,500 people living in Wallingford at that time. Let’s figure that’s closer to 21,000 now.
By my math, that means 20,920 totally missed out last night because they weren’t among the 80 or so folks listening to Paul Dorpat show slides and talk about Wallingford history at the Good Shepherd Center.
He presents a fast-paced, fun and homey talk, and the slides, dating back to the 1860’s, were gleefully fun watch. There’s just something about seeing the a trolley running down 40th past the old Durn Good (where Irwin’s is now), the old Latona bridge crossing where I-5 stands now, or the wooded hillside in the background, knowing somebody Wallingford will rise there, that’s just…happy.
Paul followed it up with a viewing of some of the photos he’s been taking of Wallingford over the past few years (previously described here), taking the exact same shot of several dozen locations every day. It was interesting to see when spring comes by comparing the cherry blossoms on the same day of consecutive years.
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Last night’s talk was definitely fun! I look forward to more from Paul!
I’m SO sorry to have missed that. It dawned on me today that I hadn’t seen Paul and his camera in my driveway lately, so, with some concern, I logged onto Wallyhood to see if there might be a news item. Good news that there’s no bad news; bad news that I missed his talk–and I’m even looking at the Good Shepherd Center out the window!
Paul said he’s cut about half his photo spots (East Wallingford, I think) because he needs to free up more time to work on his book, “Keep Clam”, a biography of Ivar Haglund, founder of Ivar’s.