Windsor
Windsor was particularly hit hard when Goodyear and Cone-Blanchard shut their doors. Other Windsor people had jobs at Bryant Grinder or Fellows Gear Shaper. There were once more than 1,200 workers at Joy Manufacturing in Claremont. Not one of those firms exists today.
It has been kind of a scramble to keep Windsor’s John P. Larkin Country Club afloat. In the 1960s, Larking had more than 400 signed-up golfers. Today, even counting the junior members, there are just 126.
Some courses have turned to alternate methods to increase revenue. The Bellows Falls Country Club and Crown Point Country Club in Springfield, Vt., facilities offer dinner options. Claremont Country Club is open on weekends through the winter, offering card games and football with volunteer workers.
However, Mike “Chappy” Harrington, the club manager at the John P. Larkin Club, and others don’t feel those revenue sources are available in Windsor. “We’re just a small town,” Harrington said.
The situation in Windsor is somewhat concerning, and nobody is saying how long the downward trend will continue before the place is shuttered. Club officials are not saying how well the club is doing financially other than, “We’re OK. For now.”
Not that long ago, Larkin had an active kitchen; not anymore. You can still get a cold drink and a snack, but that’s about it.
The junior program has fewer than 10 members and, for the recent member-guest tournament, there were only 17 two-man teams participating.
“We used to have 30, 40 or so,” Harrington said.
On a beautiful Tuesday afternoon, there was just one person in the clubhouse — manager Maxine Griswold. A handful or so would filter in later.
Griswold started working in the clubhouse in 1978 and, except for couple of years, has been on the job ever since.
“I love it here,” she said.
However, she too would like to see more people around. “I wish it was busier,” she added.
What is bothersome and may have an effect on the future is the age of the golfers. “There are no young people playing,” Harrington said.
The nine-hole course, which runs between 2,643 and 2,739 yards in length, is challenging but fair. However, there is the need to have a little mountain goat in you to play the 330-yard par-4 third hole.
Joe Durphey, who has belonged to a number of clubs over the years, likes the Windsor facility the best at the moment, mainly because of the shape it is in.
“(Course superintendent) Bo Taft is really good at what he does,” Durphey said.
But like everyone else, Durphey doesn’t know what the future of the club is.
“I don’t have any answers,” he said. “I just don’t know.”
Bob Hingston, the retired Windsor High School athletic director and former dean of students and a jack-of-all-trades at the Windsor course, is hoping for the best, but like everyone else, he is concerned about the lack of young people.
“Forty is young here,” he said.