New well: Cleaning up
The new well is in and today was devoted to decommissioning the old well. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources has guidelines on this but the goal seems to be preventing contamination.
This involved pouring twenty bags of something called Envrioplug down the well. Moisture (and a little time) turns this into a hard clay-like substance that plugs the well until the end of time. After that it was Bobcat work, filling in the trench that held the pipes feeding water from the new well to a pressure tank in our basement…
…and tidying up the surrounding area.
Invisible Fence
For many years we’ve had an Invisible Fence surrounding our yard (and a bit more). We managed to cut that wire while digging the new well. Today Edward came out to repair the fence so it was a good time to reposition a little to avoid similar issues in the future. Edward’s trenching gizmo made quick work of it.
Sol Astrachan 1929-2022
Sol Astrachan, long time business owner and resident of Kennett, Missouri, passed away this morning at his home in Kennett. Sol Astrachan was born in Poland in 1929, and later moved with his family to Russia. When he was nine his family immigrated to the United States. After a short stay in St. Louis, Mr. Astrachan went to Kennett, Missouri, where he has lived ever since. Mr. Astrachan served a term on the Kennett city council (1961-1963) and two terms as mayor (1963-1971) of Kennett. (Obituary)
Sol was a good friend to my father and a good (and courageous) mayor. Sol graduated from Kennett High School in 1947. Photo below of senior class. Sol was interviewed by Will Sarvis for the Missouri State Historical Society on October 28, 1998 at his home in Kennett.
Broseley, Missouri High School Senior Class (1943)
Broseley, Missouri High School Senior Class of 1943. My mom (not in this photo) would have been 18 in 1945. She had a sweater like the one the young man on the left is wearing. I had (and wore) it for a while. Major news events of 1943:
- Allied forces take back North Africa
- Italy Surrenders to Allied Forces
- Dambuster Raids on German dams
- Warsaw Jewish Ghetto Uprising
- Due to shortages America sees it’s first rationing
- The Glenn Miller Orchestra provided the most popular music of the time.
- The Pentagon, considered to be the world’s largest office building is completed