Remembering Red
Then....
We usually feature older cottages and places on our history page, but this month we were giving a special tribute to someone who was definitely connected to beach history and someone who always brought a smile to my face and maybe yours as well. Red Bolling was our summer milkman when I grew up on Ashton Street. In addition to milk and eggs, Red also brought large pieces of ice from his truck up onto our porch where our icebox (refrigerator for you younger generations!) was located. We probably got special treatment as Red worked for my father at HP Hood.
But Red's connection to the beach went beyond his milk truck. He seemingly always had sideline businesses. One of those was the hot dog stand located at the sea wall at the foot of Morning Street. We have only ever found one or two photos which showed the hot dog stand, so if you have others, please send them along.
And if you never laid eyes on Red or the hot dog stand, then tell me that you have never stopped at Red's Dairy Freeze on Cottage Road in South Portland. Red started that business as a Tastee Freeze franchisee but later dropped the association with Tastee Freeze and ventured off on his own and never looked back.
We are indebted to Red's granddaughter, Sarah-Jane for finding these photos.
This photo is from a Facebook posting
Red wasn't the only mobile vendor on our beach however. If you happen to have photos of the Cushman Bakery Truck or the fish truck, we would love to share them as well.
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