Daddy's Got a Brand New Ride !!

 

My dad (Richard P. Seavey, 1930-2010) went into the Navy right out of high school, but soon realized that he was desperately homesick. After his discharge in 1953, he returned by bus to South Portland, Maine. Without even a driver's license, he went right over to Forest City Chevrolet and paid cold hard cash for this 1950 Chevy Bel Air. How he drove it back to Bay View Avenue no one remembers! 

He also walked down to the RED & WHITE and bought a case of G.I. quarts of beer, which he hauled all the way back up the hill! Guess he was glad to be back in the Great State o' Maine.

Dad was never mechanically inclined. Luckily, his soon-to-be in-laws would take care of his cars very well over the years. But he WAS very protective of his car, constantly checking to make sure all the doors were locked before leaving it anywhere. He was even questioned once in my memory by a cop about his circling his own car, because he suspected Dad was trying to figure out how to break into it!

Those Places Thursday - Aunt Beck and Van on Deer Island, New Brunswick

On July 25th, 1932, Flora Vesta Bustin, always known as Beck, the oldest child and only daughter of Fred and Melvina Bustin, married Vanstone Tewksbury in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.  A reception was held a week later at her parents' home, in what was then known as the Woodfords District of Portland:

They soon made plans to start their married life down east on Deer Island (Van's birthplace), at the entrance to Passamaquoddy Bay, between Maine and New Brunswick, Canada.  It is a ferry boat ride from Eastport, Maine out to the Islands.

Mr. and Mrs. Vanstone R. Tewksbury

 " Mr. and Mrs. Tewksbury (Miss Vesta Bustin) whose marriage took place July 25th, at Portsmouth, N.H., left this morning for their new home at Deer Island, New Brunswick.  They have been the guests for the past week of Mrs. Tewksbury's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Frederick P. Bustin, 815 Stevens Avenue, and have been pleasantly entertained at several attractive affairs."

Deer Island, just north of the "bump" in the yellow border line

A couple of picture postcards that Beck sent to her mother 

on the way back to Deer Island,

 after trips to Portland (1951 and 1952)

Later in their marriage, the couple moved to Portland, where, over the years, their marriage slowly deteriorated.  My grandfather, Beck's brother Ross, frequently had to retrieve Van from The Brass Rail Tavern in Morrills Corner. They divorced, leaving no children, after nearly 30 years.  Shortly thereafter, Beck succumbed to cancer in 1964, at the age of 56.

Beck and Van early in their marriage