This is my favorite picture of Cummings Beach. It was named for G.G. because in the Town records, he found that individuals were using shoreland that belonged to the Town of Bristol. He got them legally removed by claiming the beach property rightfully for the Town of Bristol. He placed the stone marker there at his own expense because he wanted people to know for which Cummings of Bristol it was named. He told me that, anyway.
— Mary Elizabeth Nordstrom
Gaylord George Cummings, known as G.G., served as a Bristol selectman for 15 years after previously serving in that capacity for two years in Bradford. He served twice as a state legislator — representing Bradford as a Democrat in 1921-22, and Bristol as a Republican in 1975-76.
After moving to Bristol from Newport in 1927, he purchased the G.W. Coolidge general store and renamed it G.G. Cummings. It later became Joe’s Market, located where today’s Purple Pit exists, and was next to a smaller store that, in later years, was known as the Clover Farm Stores, then Bristol Market, and currently is Pizza Béne.
He also enjoyed collecting antiques.
G.G. owned a farmhouse on what is now known as Profile Falls Road in south Bristol, as well as a residence on School Street in downtown Bristol.
My family’s acquaintance with “Mr. Cummings” began when he took on the role of legal guardian for my mother when she was orphaned at age 16. She recalled him being a tough overseer, demanding a strict accounting of the meager funds allotted to her.
That reputation for being strict with money served him well as a selectman, where he would pore over the budget details to make sure not one dime more was spent than needed to get the job done. In his later years, and my early years of reporting on town meetings, there were audible groans from voters when he stood to discuss every warrant article and to question whether the budgeted amount could be lowered. That was during the transition from the years when residents demanded a discussion of each item in the budget to today’s attitude of “let our elected officials do their jobs” and “let’s get this meeting over with.”
Because my parents loved to buy and sell antiques, they often had visits from Mr. Cummings, or they visited him, to see what bargains might be available. I recall one time, when my sister and I were small, that G.G. stopped by to look at a chest of drawers my parents had picked up. He arrived wearing a nice, fashionable hat which he set on the sofa before going into the side room where the bureau was located. He brought out each drawer and set it down, not realizing until putting them back that he had set them on top of his hat. He sadly picked up the flattened hat and uttered a slow, “Oh, my!” I think that’s the closest he ever came to using foul language.
After my parents divorced, G.G. carved a one-acre lot from his Profile Falls property for my father to establish a home. Of course, my father used it for a perpetual yard sale so he could continue buying and selling antiques and “junk” for people like Gaylord who would do anything to find a bargain.
This story has been updated to correct information about G.G. Cummings’ store.
Free Child Care at TTCC
The staff of the Tapply-Thompson Community Center, along with the Teen Council, will be offering free child care during the Newfound Area School District’s deliberative session on Saturday, January 30. Offered for children age 4 and up, the child care will be available beginning at 9:30 a.m. The TTCC will provide supervision and entertainment until the meeting is over.
Parents are asked to register by calling 603-744-2713 or emailing ttcc@metrocast.net, and they should send their children with mask, indoor/outdoor gear, snacks, lunch, and a water bottle.
Insurance Liability For COVID-19
Gerry Kennedy of Observatory Strategic Management has been warning for years about the coming “cyber storm” — a situation where hackers have infiltrated computer networks and have the capability of bringing the systems down or holding services hostage. It can happen to business networks or automobiles with computer systems, he said. His warnings were aimed at insurance providers offering all-risk general insurance products. They needed to build reserves to handle a cyber attack or rewrite policies to exclude those losses, he warned — but insurers were not listening.
Now federal agencies are looking into the impact of the apparent Russian hack into government and business systems. We are not yet hearing about the impact on businesses or the insurance claims that will follow, but Gerry is in a position of saying, “I told you so.”
Gerry also has warned that biological viruses can result in the same sorts of business interruption or loss claims as computer viruses and that insurers have to be prepared as the coronavirus pandemic continues.
Now comes word that state officials in Oregon are requiring insurers who provide workers’ compensation insurance to conduct a “reasonable investigation” before denying a claim related to COVID-19 exposure on the job. The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services, Workers’ Compensation Division, issued the new rules on Wednesday. Originally introduced on September 23, 2020, the new rules were formally adopted Tuesday and take effect on February 1.
Oregon also will require insurers with five or more claims to report them to state regulators who will audit how the claims are handled.
Watch for more on this in the coming weeks.
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