Published on: Thursday, February 02, 2012

By Peggy Dee

Thank you!

Many thanks to the Department of Public Works for salting and sanding the city streets in a timely fashion in preparation of the Jan. 21 ice and snow storm. It is great to live in an incorporated area where the services are so well organized.

May she rest in peace

My deepest sympathy to the family of Stephanie Chapman who passed away from cancer on Dec. 11. Stephanie had been a reading specialist at Hyattsville Elementary School since 2006. A large memorial service was conduced for her at the school on Dec. 20. At the memorial service, people remembered her love of books, teaching tennis, the outdoors, and her dog Twyla. May she rest in peace, she will be deeply missed.

Calico cat found in dumpster

While at the Safeway on Hamilton Street on Wednesday, Jan. 25, I had occasion to talk to two older gentlemen who went through the large trash dumpster outside the store looking for scrap metal. In the dumpster they found a full-grown, beautiful calico cat inside a trap cage. The cat seemed healthy and alert. We came to the conclusion that someone put a trap out on their property, captured the cat and just dumped the entire parcel in the dumpster. One of the gentlemen said the cage was covered up. This was such an inhumane way to treat an animal. If you know anyone in Hyattsville who has lost a calico cat (black/white/orange), please have them give me a call.

Memories of Safeway

Thank you for the many calls I received concerning memories of the Safeway stores in Hyattsville. Unfortunately, when the Hamilton Street store closes on Feb. 4, this may be the end of the Safeway connection to Hyattsville.

Safeway was formerly known as the Sanitary Grocery Company. Earlier generations in our city remember back to the original Sanitary which was located at 42nd and Gallatin, where Yoga Space is now located. This opened in 1909. From this location, the Safeway would open up two new stores: one on Hamilton Street at Queens Chapel Road and one on Route 1, where Sudsville is now located. In February 1982 the smaller store at Hamilton and Queens Chapel was closed giving way to a larger store at 3511 Hamilton. So many families said they had as many as three generations raised on Safeway products and were just heartbroken to see Safeway affiliation with Hyattsville coming to an end. Thank you to everyone for sharing those sad memories with me, as I, too, was raised on Safeway products.

Hyattsville history: 1955

Hurricane Connie ripped through the area in August 1955. The Hyattsville Fire Department took part in rescuing citizens stranded in the flooded areas. On one such trip the helmsman was having trouble keeping his boat on course. Forward look-out, Warren Creech, stood up in the boat with a pike pole to divert the boat from a collision with a telephone pole. The pike pole lodged in the telephone pole and eventually snapped.