The Town Clock had its origins in World War II volunteerism.
Where did the Main Street clock come from?
The Town Clock has been around since 1958, but its origins are really in World War II.
The clock, just north of St. Stephen’s Church, was presented to the town in December 1958 by the American Women’s Volunteer Services, using members’ contributions and leftover donations collected during the war.
The wartime home-front women’s organization included a motor transport unit, which provided rides for people in the service and others helping the war effort. The women were also trained to cope with local emergencies, and worked with Civil Defense during air raid drills, at war bond rallies and with the Red Cross.
To join the Motor Corps, women had to pass a course in motor mechanics and a driving test that involved an obstacle course.
They also had to do first aid and recognize various poisonous gases. Margaret Malval, a corps volunteer, remembered that one of the gases was supposed to give off the odor of “new mown hay,” which, of course, was a not uncommon scent in 1940s Ridgefield.
When practice blackouts were held, the women drove around the village, locating “victims” of an air attack, bandaged their wounds (each victim was wearing a list of sustained injuries), loaded them into a car, and drove them to the emergency hospital at St. Stephen’s where two doctors would be on hand.
Twice a month, members went to a military base in New Haven to serve as drivers for personnel and to carry out other errands by car.
Locally, the women also provided car pooling services to help save gasoline, strictly rationed during the war. They eventually raised money, via a dog show, square dances, and other benefits, to buy a $1,400 station wagon.
After the war, they sold the car and invested the income. That was later used to buy the clock, which was presented on the occasion of the town’s 250th Anniversary celebration.
The clock had a special meaning for the late Mary Jane Janick. Her father owned the company that built it.
Mrs. Janick and her husband, WestConn history Professor Herb Janick, came to Ridgefield in 1962, four years after Arthur Bergeron’s company erected the clock on Main Street.
Mrs. Janick’s dad owned the Electric Time Company of Natick, Mass., which made specialty clocks of all sorts — the Madison Square Garden timer, world clocks for airports, and operating room clocks, for instance.
Mr. Bergeron, who died around 1990, had often visited Ridgefield to see his daughter and her family.
“He was always very, very proud of the fact that he built that clock,” Mrs. Janick said in 2006.