I hail from New Bedford, Mass. I was a newbie with the JW's in the mid 50's, quickly and naively following my parents, and when I graduated high school (New Bedford High) I moved to where the "need was great" in central Iowa.
The following is a composite photo of some of the folks that met on the second floor of an insurance building in New Bedford. I am Leonard Miller in that photo and was barely 16 when I got baptized. Dad is Wesley and Mom is Rita.
It's unlikely that any many will be recognized but just in case, there is a post that follows this one, I call it an index photo, that will provide names of the ones I can remember.
Worthy of mention for the gossip-minded: Kathy Luiz was approx. 13 at the time of this photo. Henry Weber, some 65 years old, was her fiancee at the time. Yes, they married and within a short time both professed inclusion in the "heavenly anointed" club.
Another -- Florence Soares was approx. 35 at the time and Bill Kurcharsky, 65. Bill's invalid wife died shortly after and shortly after that those two married. It wasn't long before they, too, joined the same club with Kathy and Henry.
Was there something in New Bedford's water supply or what?
You may note that we once had a "prominent" visitor from New York at the kingdom hall. You'd think we had the president of the U.S. visiting, people were tripping over others just to get near and grab a close glimpse. The hall was overflowing at both the English-speaking and the Portuguese-speaking meetings. He gave the public talk at both. We were told by the Portuguese natives that he kinda mangled the language but nobody left early despite the fact that he went grossly overtime at both talks.
Fats
