Bob Grigg covers Colebrook history

COLEBROOK — Often seen standing behind the camera at local events, Colebrook resident Bob Grigg likes to capture news of historical value. As the town’s first and only official town historian, he keeps current on town happenings while researching and telling stories of days gone by.

Assigned to the job in 1987, Grigg was appointed by former First Selectman George Wilber. He has also gained recognition as a columnist for The Winsted Journal and has spent much of the past two years working on an archaeological dig in the Robertsville section of Colebrook.

The location, a forge used during the Revolutionary War, has produced a great deal of artifacts, explained Grigg, and the project has since been extended.

Documenting such endeavors, along with photographing area happenings and researching their origins, is what brings satisfaction to this Colebrook native.

Born Dec. 8, 1932, Grigg attended grammar school at the two-room Center School in town, before attending The Gilbert School in Winsted.

“I went there for two years and I did miserably,� said Grigg, who felt that living out of town secluded him from the other students and didn’t allow him the opportunity to play sports. “The closest person within four years of my age was about one-and-a-half miles away.�

Becoming bored, Grigg said he started to rebel and his grades suffered. After his second year a decision was made and Grigg was enrolled at the Lyndon Institute, a college preparatory school in Vermont.

“I went out for football and track and skiing,� said Grigg, who lived on campus and befriended local and boarding classmates. After college, Grigg enrolled in the Navy.

“I was afraid that the war would get over before I could get in,� recalled Grigg, who served from 1952 to 1956, primarily in the Pacific region. “I got my wish. Everyone wanted to go to the West Coast.�

But serving in the Pacific wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. “I was there about three minutes or less and realized I made a big mistake. This isn’t what it was like in the movies.�

In addition to Korea and the Phillipines, Grigg saw dozens of small islands in the Central Pacific and met the locals. Shortly before his tour was over, Grigg recalled witnessing a remarkable event. About 100 miles away from the ship, a hydrogen bomb test was taking place.

“I was talking to the helmsmen,� said Grigg. “I was staring straight ahead and all of a sudden about 60 percent of the area I could see was just as bright as a welder’s iron.�

Even at a great distance, the blast could be heard and felt. The men and the ship were all radioactive. “They made us wash the ship down with fresh water,� said Grigg. “They made us throw our clothes away and gave us another set of dungarees, and that was it.� One month later, his tour was over.

Drawing on his experiences reading charts and maps in the Navy, Grigg enrolled at Clark University, majoring in geography and specializing in cartography. After graduating in 1960, he took a job in Vermont making both military and civilian maps. He moved to Maplewood, N.J., and took a job as an information editor for Hammond Map.

Around 1969, Grigg returned home to help out his father, who had fallen ill with heart trouble. One of the first patients to have a successful heart bypass surgery, Grigg’s father defied the odds and returned to work as a carpenter. Grigg helped his father until the time of his death, 10 years after his surgery.

Not infatuated with carpentry work, Grigg took a job at Ovation Guitars after his father’s passing. After 15 years, he retired at the age of 62.

“About a year after I retired from Ovation, my daughter was bartending up at the pub [in Norfolk] and I got a phone call. It had to be a Friday or Saturday night and it’s like 8 o’clock at night and she asked, ‘Do you think that you could see your way clear to come up here and wash dishes?’ I had never been in a kitchen a day in my life.â€� Grigg was up for the challenge.  

“I worked up there until it went out of business in January,� Grigg said. “Anything is only as good as its weakest link and in a restaurant, its weakest link is the dishwasher,� he joked.

In addition to washing dishes, Grigg learned his way around the kitchen over the course of the 18 years he worked at the pub. By the end of his employment he worked in food preparation, but always washed dishes when an extra hand was needed.

“It was a great part-time job,� he said.

Grigg serves on the board of directors for the Colebrook Land Conservancy as well as several other community organizations. He is married to Anna, his bride of 25 years, and enjoys spending time with his and his wife’s children and grandchild.