REMEMBERING TOPSMEAD:

Conversations with Bob Orintas

The Topsmead Staff

My memories of Topsmead include the many people who played a variety of roles on the estate. Because my father, John Orintas, had the longest tenure of any of the Topsmead employees – our family had the opportunity to get to know most of the other people who worked there over the years. My dad started working for Miss Edith on May 25, 1925, as a handyman and later as a chauffeur. He was given every other Sunday off, and his duties included working for Miss Edith in Waterbury and at Topsmead.  Dad drove and maintained the cars as well as all the farm equipment. He mowed the lawn around the houses in both locations and ran errands daily, picking up the newspaper, any needed groceries, and the mail.
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Topsmead Events & Activities
by Margaret Hunt


TOPSMEAD TREES: BRING ON THE RAIN! | September 2022 
photos by Margaret Hunt
September lurked in and advertised its arrival with some very pleasant temperatures and sunny days but noticeably shortening daylight, cooler nights, and that unmistakable earthy smell of fall.  Besides heralding the Goshen Fair, the long Labor Day Weekend brought a bevy of families and children taking advantage of the last weekend oasis at Topsmead before school started in earnest.  Yes, of course, they were all happy for school to restart—children to see their friends and favorite teachers and parents to find more time to get their jobs and chores finished between the bus pick ups and drop offs.  Without the bustling energy of family visitors, school mornings will be noticeably quieter at Topsmead.  Once again, the landscape will be the domain of retired folks, dog walkers, and the occasional visitor enjoying morning coffee in a chair on the cottage’s west veranda.
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Early summer panorama of the meadow at Topsmead by Tom Holzel

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