Bethel’s Nonagenarians Feel
‘There’s No Place Like Home’
By Mary Anderson

Six notable nonagenarians make their homes in Bethel. Pictured here, from left, are Marion Whitcomb, Connie Stearns, and Kaye Perkins. (Herald / Mary Anderson)

For nonagenarian Connie Stearns, Bethel is exactly "where I need to be." And all but one of the other five Bethel residents over the age of 90 interviewed for this article agreed.

These town elders are as diverse as the years making up their lives have been. The five women and one man have a combined total of 553 years on earth. All are quite capable and active and live alone.

Edith Maynard has the claim of being the oldest interviewee. At 95 years of age she squeaks past Marion Whitcomb by just a few months. Kaye Perkins is 93 and Norm Case, D’Ann Fago and Connie Stearns all come in as "youngsters" at a mere 90 years of age. Whitcomb has the widest age span in her family with a one year-old great-grandchild, giving a 94-year age spread for her clan. Three of the nonagenarians live in the Depot apartments and three live in their own homes.

The way these individuals ended up in Bethel varies. Stearns moved to Bethel from Rochester in 1937. Perkins came from Newport and Maynard from Hardwick, both in 1938. Whitcomb didn’t move to Bethel until 1986, but she was born in Hancock, lived in Stockbridge, and attended high school in Bethel. She recalls traveling via the Peavine railroad from Stockbridge to Bethel every Monday morning. There she boarded during the school week with the family who would later become Maynard’s in-laws. Her father would pick her up on Fridays in his Model T Ford.

Case was actually born in Bethel at today’s Greenhurst Inn. Back then it was Doctor Green’s sanatorium. At age four, when his father returned from war in France, Case moved with his family to Rhode Island. He lost most of his sight at age eight, and a few years later, began studies at the Perkins Institute, went on to Brown University and finally to Yale Law School. He told his wife that he wanted his children born in Bethel. One day she informed him that if he really wanted his children born in Vermont, it was time to go. He has lived in Bethel ever since.

Fago arrived in Bethel in 1968. She was living with her husband in Rockland County, N.Y. when she saw a job advertisement for a director of arts and crafts in Montpelier. When she arrived for the interview and saw that there were 20 other applicants, she left and began driving home. She reached Woodstock, when she had second thoughts and called Montpelier. She was informed they were waiting for her. She landed the job and while she and her husband had no intention of purchasing a large plot of land, they found a rundown old house in Bethel on 168 acres that was being sold at an emergency sale. She has been in the same house, "built the year Thomas Jefferson died," ever since.

As can be expected, the way these folks spend their days also varies. Fago, who has authored two books, still tries to paint every day, although she claims she "doesn’t have the same energy and can’t stay up all night anymore."

Whitcomb enjoys going to the senior centers and misses playing Bingo and going on the trips that happened when folks in her apartment building were more active. She also enjoys talking about her grandchildren, as well as the great and great-great-grandchildren.

Perkins also misses the "cookouts and activities" that no longer happen at the Depot apartments. She is an avid reader and reads everything she can get her hands on, although she finds "paperbacks don’t hurt my hands to hold the way hardback books do." She crochets when her hands let her.

Stearns, whose "husband was a real sports fanatic," still attends school sporting events on a regular basis and especially enjoys getting to see her grandchildren play.

Case retired from practicing law at age 86 and keeps busy with numerous activities, including Rotary. He is the last remaining charter member of the Bethel Rotary Club and has been a member for its full 60 years. Fago was the first woman to join that club.

Maynard misses the social scene that used to happen in downtown Bethel but still keeps active and especially enjoys cooking. She has a freezer full of zucchini bread, banana bread and zucchini chocolate cake which she likes to give away. She muses that "zucchini isn’t even listed in the 1936 cookbook that I received for a wedding shower gift."

Despite their differences, there are some things these seniors have in common. While Case and Fago use computers, the others have never tried them and doubt they ever will. All agree that computers are easier for young kids to learn. They also share the sadness that comes with the loss of friends and family as one outlives them all.

There is consensus that Bethel’s Main Street, sporting up to five bars at one time, was indeed a much rowdier place than it is today. Perkins and Maynard especially miss the wide variety of stores, the movie theater, barber shop and more that once lined the street. Maynard reminisced how at one time people "could get everything they needed in town. They would walk up and down Main Street on a Friday night just to visit with people."

All have fond memories of events held at the old town hall. Maynard remembers the "beautiful curtain as well as the great acoustics and dance floor."

Case and Perkins recalled shows such as "The Pirates of Penzance," "Haw Hee," basketball and minstrel shows. Case adds that he "bought skates from Rochester for kids to use roller skating at the hall." Whitcomb reminisces about graduating in the town hall in 1932. She believes her class size was 12 and recalls that "the nine dollars for the class ring was hard to come by."

Fago believes that getting the town hall up and running again "is great and will do so much for coherence. Bethel is so spread out with river dividing it. The hall brings it together."

Most emphatically, many agree that the Stagecoach is a vital part of their lives.

Fago says, "You wouldn’t believe how important the Stagecoach is… It’s like a new world opened up. Having family here is great but you can’t just lean on them. I go twice a week to Randolph for strength training. It keeps me on my feet. I don’t want to kick up my heels all the time but I do want to get out."

Stearns agrees, adding," It is wonderful to try to be independent. The Stagecoach is absolutely good for my needs. I can go to Randolph or West Lebanon, and can call if I have a special need."

Whitcomb uses the Stagecoach to go shopping as well as to get to senior centers in both Hancock and South Royalton. For eight years, she was on the Stagecoach board of directors, and Stagecoach manager David Palmer stressed how important that was, saying she "brought vital community contact to the board." (He added that they can always use more volunteer drivers, who do get reimbursed for mileage.)

Perkins summed up the general feeling about aging, saying, "I am happy to think I can live this long and be as well as I am. It’s important to take life the way it comes."

Fago added an interesting twist about getting old. She said, "Imagine the opposite. It’s not a picnic growing old but it’s not a picnic being young either. Sometimes I feel 190 and sometimes 25."

Stearns says she "never drank or smoked" while Case says he "eschews exercise and has a cocktail every night." Maynard stressed the importance of eating "three good meals a day with lots of fruits and vegetables and no snacking."

No matter how or when they ended up in Bethel, all agree with Sterns that it has been a good place to live in. While Maynard would rather be spending her later years in a place in which it was "easier to get around and there was more happening," the others all state strongly that they are happy to remain in Bethel.

Case describes Bethel as "a friendly town. If somebody is in trouble, somebody else helps out."

Whitcomb concurs, adding, "I like the people." Fago said she loves to get to New York from time to time, but also loves the country and distant views and trees, noting, "I watch the sunrise in the morning and the beautiful skies glow as the colors change through the day. I don’t want to have to get along without that."

Perkins sums it up, saying, " It’s home. It’s a great little town."

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