As one enters the John Curtis Library and ponders its past and looks hopefully to an addition in the future, one considers the role of the citizen today and that of the public library. John Curtis made a great gift to the town and its people. In a letter to the selectmen of the town in1887 offering his collection of books he wrote ” Born and reared in this town, I enjoyed the advantages of its public schools in my boyhood, and have never ceased to feel an interest in the welfare of its people…. I desire to repay, in part my obligation for my early educational training… with a purpose to afford better opportunities for coming generations of boys and girls of my native town….”John Curtis was the fifth generation to hold the name of John Curtis. Born in 1817 in the house at 702 Main St. built by his great grandfather, he always considered Hanover his home. Jedediah Dwelley in a speech at the dedication of the Library in Curtis’ name said, “though he sought his life work in the city of Boston….we would make a great mistake if we belittle the period of his life spend on the farm—for here his character was established.” He attended the district school, was a bright pupil and impressed a young teacher who persuaded his parents to let their son go to Wesleyan Academy for one year. Returning he attended Hanover Academy, walking both ways as was the custom in those days. Upon leaving the Academy he sought his fortune in Boston, and obtained a contract with a clothing firm agreeing to stay with them until twenty one years of age for $50 a year and his board. In his twenty first year the firm helped him set up his own business and there in he made his fortune in the forty years that followed.

He married and had one daughter and a busy life but he never forgot his hometown , and often visited his nephew who lived in the ancestral homestead.

“An old lane, an old gate, an old house by a tree,
A wild wood, a wild brook–they will not let me be:
In boyhood I knew them, and still they call to me.”

John Curtis left more that his personal library to his hometown. He gave the land on which stands the Curtis School Building, and in his will read after his death in 1900 he gave $15,000 for “the erection of a Public Library Building” , the bequest payable upon the death of his daughter Alice Marion Curtis But during the year 1906, Miss Curtis waved her right, desiring to see the building constructed in her lifetime, and it was. Another Hanover citizen, Edmund Q. Sylvester, who was to give much to the town was the architect to the new building.

In 1964 the growning town of Hanover voted $175,000 to build a much needed addition. The Library is a focal point in the center of the town. Together with the Town Hall, the founding Church, the old Stetson House and the Sylvester School it ties the bonds of the town together. It is the Free Public Library for all Hanover people, and John Curtis saw the need.

Mr. Dwelley wrote of his friend, “Mr. Curtis enjoyed in his later years the leisure and delights which wealth properly used can give, and yet he lived the simple life. He was educated in the school of sympathy for the oppressed, in the school of service for others….”

One could repeat the poem which describes those such as John Curtis:

“Here lived the men who gave us
The purpose that holds fast,
The dream that nerves endeavor,
The glory that shall last.
Here, strong as pines in winter
And free as ripening corn,
Our faith in fair ideals—
Our fathers’ faith–was born.”

Citizens of Hanover today strive to make our town a good place to live. Each has something to contribute to the future.

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by Barbara BarkerAlthough this hasn’t been a snowy winter or a very cold one, it seems to have been a long gray winter, and everyone is anxious for signs of spring. I’m not sure what poet said, “If winter comes, can spring be far behind”, but I take great solace in that observation. The ground hog told us that it was going to be an early spring. I hope he was right. I haven’t seen my ground hog yet, but I hope he has moved and is welcoming in spring elsewhere as I write.

In Hanover in the middle of February you may have noticed two great splashes of yellow along the west wall of the Carriage Shed at the Stetson House. “What could be blooming so early?” you ask. “Surely not forsythia.” Witch Hazel is the answer; it is one of the earliest signs of spring in New England. In fact it blooms as early as December, but I first noticed it at the end of January. A lotion or potion made from the bark and flowers can be used as an astringent to relieve itching. I prefer to merely consider it an early sign of spring.

The Hanover Garden Club planted the attractive area between the Library and to the rear of the Stetson House and barn with native shrubs and wildflowers. They welcome you to discover the bloom of the witch hazel and other treats along the paths as the season progresses.

If you haven’t gathered your pussy willows yet, you’d better hurry. It’s almost too late. Put them in water and they’ll grow roots; plant them in a damp place, and you’ll have your own pussy willow bush in a few years.

My snow drops have been blooming since January. Their little white bells open up on sunny days, then curl up when winter asserts itself. But they are persistent and keep blooming through March.

The sap is rising and the buds begin to swell. The weeping willow takes on a chartreuse tone, and the swamp maples show pink. The skunk cabbage begins to break through the mud.

The snow crocus, a well know harbinger of spring, will bloom through spring snows and promises sunny days ahead. Snow crocus have been blooming by the back walk at the Stetson House for several weeks. For most Hanover people the early crocus at the old post office announced to the town, “Spring is here!”Do you think they still bloom even though they no longer have spectators I think they do. I checked and they were blooming their little hearts out. They love that south brick wall which holds the heat and draws them out of the winter depths like magic.

The brick wall on the south side of the Sylvester School has a similar exposure. In 1983 my fifth grade class planted crocus and daffodils in their own “secret garden, and I introduced my classes to the magic of spring. I think that garden still welcomes spring to children.

Following the bloom of the crocus is the dwarf iris, chionodoxas and squills. Finally as April approaches, my favorite, daffodils, raise their golden trumpets and herald the true spring. The daffodils will bloom at the schools, along the roadway, and in the yards all over Hanover. Some are the result of the “Trash for Bulbs Trade” sponsored by the Hanover Garden Club in the fall, when individuals, groups, and business people cleaned up the roadsides of litter and traded the collected trash for daffodil bulbs which they planted, and we all are rewarded with their bloom in the spring. The spring bulbs are not only beautiful but rugged, and we cannot help but admire their optimism.

Of course we mustn’t forget the forsythia. Everyone should have a bush from which to pick early to force their golden blossoms into early bloom in the house, and later to enjoy their wonderful mid-April flowering. In Hanover one of the prettiest shows of forsythia is on the corner of Oakland Avenue and Broadway

Late spring brings tulips, and the flowering shrubs and trees. Along route 139 in 1976 during the bicentennial year some businesses and individuals planted flowering cherry trees. Quite a few survived. Watch for them

The lengthening of the daylight hours signals to some birds to move further north. The winter residents begin their mating songs. Some robins have remained for the winter and get a jump start on spring. Others have just arrived and think they have discovered spring. The cry of the red-wing black bird is heard near the wetlands. The woodpecker taps out his signal to all that this is his territory; females welcome; males should move on. To some people one sure sign of spring is the first warm evening when the noise of the peeper frogs is heard from the swamps.

Overnight it seems the grass turns green, and the dandelions bloom. The alewives swim up the brooks to spawn in the fresh water. The shad follow a few weeks later and draw fishermen from all over the state to the Indian Head River. Other fish become active and fishermen dot the edges of the streams to try their luck. Optimism runs high.

Baseball players young and old feel the desire to get out and hit a few. Spring practice begins. Of course the return of the Red Sox to Fenway is a sure sign of spring for many. Hope springs eternal.

The March winds may blow; the April showers will bring May flowers. Life is pushing out of its winter sheath and all the world welcomes spring. Life renews itself and the cycle begins again.