Wilfred F. Blain, of Enfield, N.H., likes to whittle, even if there's no practical use for what he makes. Here Blain shows off one of his gadgets on April 21, 1973, a fine example of his sense of humor. Although Blain is modest (he won first prize for his whittling at the Canaan Fair once because, he says, "There were no others entered.") his knack is considerable. (Valley News - Peter Selkowe) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.
Wilfred F. Blain, of Enfield, N.H., likes to whittle, even if there's no practical use for what he makes. Here Blain shows off one of his gadgets on April 21, 1973, a fine example of his sense of humor. Although Blain is modest (he won first prize for his whittling at the Canaan Fair once because, he says, "There were no others entered.") his knack is considerable. (Valley News - Peter Selkowe) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. Credit: Peter Selkowe

WEST LEBANON — Forty-eight years ago this month, some Upper Valley residents joined in a national, weeklong meat boycott to protest fast-rising prices due in part to growing demand for pork overseas and weather impacts on animal feed.

Or, as an unreconstructed national wire service story that ran in the Valley News in April 1973 read, “Increased meat prices are anything but a joke with housewives across the nation who proved their point by launching a nonhumorous revolt on April Fools’ Day.”

Here in the Valley, West Lebanon resident Floyd Lackey said, “We don’t plan to buy any meat,” but he also said he might still eat a liverwurst sandwich for lunch.

And the manager of the Route 12A McDonald’s in West Lebanon said there hadn’t been any noticeable decrease in demand for Big Macs and other hamburgers most of that week.

A&P that month advertised pork chops for 89 cents a pound, a hefty $5.27 in today’s dollar. Similarly, T-bone steaks were on sale for $1.69 a pound which would be $10.01 today.

Valley residents that month weren’t just worried about meat prices. The fate of two bridges were also being discussed, including the Bedell Bridge connecting Haverhill to South Newbury downstream from the oxbow in the river. At the time it was one of the two remaining covered bridges crossing the Connecticut River, but it was not to survive.

The Burr Truss bridge was destroyed by a wind storm six years later and removed. Today, the site is home to the 74-acre Bedell Bridge State Park, which includes a Fish and Game boat launch.

Downriver between Lyme and North Thetford in April 1973, workers hauled out debris from a bridge that had been closed since 1959 and had collapsed in December. That 380-foot steel bridge, which was never replaced, had been constructed as a toll bridge in 1896 by the North Thetford Bridge Co. and purchased a few years later by the towns of Thetford and Lyme.

Bridgework never ends, of course, and it’s not simple. Crews are now at work near the Interstate 89 spans crossing the Connecticut between Hartford and West Lebanon, for a five-year, $43.8 million project to rebuild both bridges.

That’s within eyesight of supermarkets and fast-food stores that still sell lots of meat. Here’s a prediction that those construction crews are going to buy their fair share of hamburgers over the coming years.

John P. Gregg can be reached at jgregg@vnews.com.