NICE JOB: For a while this summer, it’s seemed like traffic was
snarled in downtown Bradford no matter which way you turned. All
that construction is beginning to pay off.

The portion of the Bradford Bypass which has been reconstructed
over two summers is nearing completion, and has become a pleasure
to drive – especially after months of driving through concrete
chutes that left little room for error. The road is now so smooth
and wide, it’s hard not to drive faster than the speed limit.

Meanwhile, construction on a beautification of Boylston Street
continues but, as the project comes to fruition, it’s becoming
evident how attractive the new streets and walkways will be when
completed.

Our hat is off to the various government officials responsible
for these two jobs. These civic leaders are the first ones we
single out for complaints so it seems some congratulations are in
order.

JACK WELLS: We may have sent friends of Jack Wells to the wrong
place. He is in Bradford Manor on Langmaid Lane – not Bradford
Nursing Pavilion as we reported the other day.

BIG COVE: Aldene Anderson of Dunkirk, N.Y., whose
great-grandfather was the first white male child born in the
Bradford valley, phoned with a little research she’s done on the
origin of the name, Tunungwant Creek.

She has an old tattered book from 1901 which claims the name
comes from the Indian, “Ichunuawant,” which, translated, means “big
cove with large mouth.”

What fascinated us, though, was that her great-grandfather’s
name was Henry Bradford Dolloff. Since he was the first white
child, could the town perhaps have been named “Bradford” in his
honor? We have always assumed the name came from a former
Pennsylvania governor, but maybe not.

GAS PAIN: Chris Mackowski of Limestone, N.Y., tells us he
recently returned from Hanover, Pa., where he had paid ,3.36/gallon
for gas. “In most places on the way home gas prices lingered around
,3.55/gallon,” he reports.

PHONE CALL: Don Watkins of Centreville, Va., writes: “An
interesting note about the old FO exchange. Regardless of your
exchange, Fo2 or Fo8, you could still call the hospital four-digit
number without the exchange prefix.”

TODAY’S QUOTE: “Necessity is the plea for every infringement of
human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of
slaves,” said William Pitt, British statesman, 1783.