Journey to the Centre by Ken Goldstein

The town outside of Boston that I come from is called Newton Centre. That's C-E-N-T-R-E. At least, that's what it used to be called, through the time I left there at age 13.

A few years ago, while back east for a family wedding, I went to visit Newton Centre with my eldest brother. Everything was exactly as we had left it more that a dozen years earlier. That is, everything except the sign above the post office. In foot high letters it said, "Newton Center." "Center!" With a "T-E-R?." Whoever made the sign had misspelled the name of the town - or worse, it had been changed!

We immediately went into "Newton Centre Camera" to ask A.D. about this. We figured he would know - he'd had his shop in the village center for over thirty year by that time, although he hadn't had a camera in it for at least twenty of those years. Newton Centre Camera was a music shop. In the late sixties, A.D. had decided to cash in on Rock 'n' Roll by adding a rack of 45's.

That rack is where my brothers and I each bought our first records (Tommy Roe's Dizzy, on ABC/Dunhill, for me). By the early seventies, A.D. had replaced the cameras with a full line of guitars, song books, and records, and Newton Centre Camera was offering music lessons. The sign never changed. Why bother? Everybody knew what he sold.

After several minutes of pleasantries, and "How's so-and-so?" we got around to asking him about the name of the town. Suddenly A.D. began to look as old as he must have been. "They've changed the spelling? I haven't heard anything about that." He looked truly worried and excused himself, sounding as if his mind was elsewhere - probably trying to decide if he should finally change the name of his shop.

My brother and I went up the block to "Newton Centre Pizza" where we had a large with bacon. Not Canadian bacon, but full strips of real bacon, thicker than the crust that sagged beneath from the weight of the cheese, dripping with oil. At least until that time, you could not order a whole wheat crust in Massachusetts. Bar-b-q duck and eggplant were not to be found in the list of toppings. This was no California pizza - it was the real thing. Leave the cardiologists behind, we were home, and we were enjoying every minute of it.

The girl behind the counter at Newton Centre Pizza was confused when we asked her how she spelled the name of town. She looked to the sign above her head and asked, "C-E-N-T-R-E? Right?" As we ate our pizza, we wondered how the good people of the Village of Newton Centre, in the City of Newton - the Garden City - could be so blind as to not notice such a gross error as had been made on the sign above their post office.

Newton Centre still formed such a large part of how my brother and I defined our lives that we were even attached to the spelling. Oh, to be lucky enough to still live there, and not have to worry about such trivial things! To go through life blindly expecting that your perfect environment will never change.

After the pizza we made our way around the corner to Brigham's Ice Cream Parlor for a Lime Ricky to wash down the lunch. On our way out we bumped into another old friend of the family's. He still lived in the area, as did nearly all the people we used to know.

Other than the sign above the post office, nothing had changed in the fifteen years since our departure. Newton Centre or Center could have been the land that time forgot. We were the traitors who had left. Deserters to this peaceful way of life, returned to cause trouble about a sign above the post office.

Since that time, change has come to Newton Centre. The last I heard A.D. had died, and Newton Centre Camera was closed. I hoped that it had nothing to do with our pointing out the change in the spelling. Like some time traveler, had we unwittingly altered the course of events by bringing news that conflicted with local reality?

But that day we didn't worry about such things. We just learned to accept that while some things will always remain as you remembered them, other events are beyond your control. You simply enjoy what you can, and deal with the rest as it comes.

We didn't bother to ask this last friend we ran into about the spelling of Centre. We just enjoyed the impromptu visit, and breathed the clean fresh air of our youth.

POSTSCRIPT: I first wrote this piece in 1995, based on a visit to Newton in August of 1990. In October 2001, I received the following three emails:

"...I am thinking that the 'A.D.' that you are referring to in the story is my late grandfather Alvin Dangel who passed away in 1990. I enjoyed reading your memoir, but just wanted to send some additional information.

"The store is still alive and well and there after over 60 years. The former 'Newton Centre Camera' is now 'Newton Centre Music' and has been for perhaps thirty years. My father Steve runs the store and it is still located at 839 Beacon as it always was..."

- Jeff Dangel

"...Yes A.D., or Alvin Dangel did die in 1991. His son Steve Dangel, or as the family calls him 'S.D.' runs it now and it is alive and kicking. The store has been in the same location for over 50 years..."

- Rob Dangel

"NOOOOooooooooooooooo, Newton centre Music is still where it has always been (since 1949), Al Dangel passed away quite suddenly in 1991, he was 83. His son Steve (who had been there since 1971) took over. Al's wife is 91 and in VERY good health although she has no part in the running of the business. Another interesting note, the shop has been doing quite well, in fact so much business that it is almost out of control. The place always looks a mess because there is so much going on that there is no time to clean the place up. The only shop older than NCM is Mosher's, clothing store. It has been there over 70 years. Brighams is gone, Garb's is gone, Newton-Waltham bank is gone, Okemo Bakery and the Yum Yum Shop Bakery is gone, the penny parking meters are gone, the big Mason (or was it the Rice) school in the middle of town is gone, Shepards, the Langley, Park Snows department store, Skelltons Hardware... all gone... BUT... NEWTON CENTRE MUSIC LIVES ON !!!"

- "The ghost of Newton Centre"