Autumn in the North Cemetery.

Sixty miles west of Boston, Massachusetts there is the small New England town of Sturbridge. Located at the junction of I-90 (The Mass Pike), and I-84 it has become known as the "Crossroads of New England". The town was first settled over 300 years ago, and like other small New England towns it has grown just enough over the years to be in a difficult place today. How do we embrace the future without forgetting how we got to our present? How do we attract the right kind of growth, and maintain who we are? And, what about our culture out here in Central Massachusetts?



These pages will cause one to think about how to protect what we have, our future direction, and how to move on in the very best way.


Those thoughts, and other ramblings, will hopefully inspire more thought, conversation, action, and occasionally a smile...

...seems to be working so far

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Do You Remember Ovide's?

The dining room inside Ovide's on Route 15 in Sturbridge

Ovide's from above.  The sandy area at the top of the
photo is where the Pilot Gas station is now.

Looking down on Ovide's from where the eastbound lane
of I-84 is now. .

Click on images for larger view.
Scribbled by on

15 comments:

  1. AnonymousMonday, July 25, 2011

    In the mid 70's Ovide's was also something else does anyone remember the name? It was a restaurant, bar and night club of some sort.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousFriday, July 29, 2011

    Yankee Dragon run by the Moys in the 70's.

    ReplyDelete
  3. A Fan in FiskdaleFriday, July 29, 2011

    Hi Walley,
    If I'm correct, Ovide's burned in 1969. I think that the Old Howard Johnsons became the Yankee Dragon. Thanks for the quizzes!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. DonaisWednesday, September 16, 2020

      I thought Ovides burned in 69 also. Early October maybe.

      Delete
  4. AnonymousSaturday, July 30, 2011

    Didn't the HoJo's become the Yankee Dragon (or something else) and then become Roy Roy Rogers?

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousTuesday, August 23, 2011

    We stopped at Ovides on our trips from Westchester County, NY to Bridgton, Maine from the late 50's through the 1960's. I have alot of great memories and am so glad it is still there.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wally HerseeTuesday, August 23, 2011

    Ovides burned down many years ago.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Paul MercureTuesday, July 10, 2012

    I remember it well. My grandfather started it with a chicken coop and it grew from there. He later damned up the streem running through the valley and made two ponds. The lower one you can see from the postcards. I grew up in the house behind the restaurant. Summers were the best.. hardly ever got out of the water and when no one was around... hunting and fishing in the upper pond.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousSaturday, February 14, 2015

      Hi Paul,
      I remember it well also. My parents were Bill and Mae Naedler. We would go on a 2 week vacation every year there. My parents were close friend with Ray and Pearl and the other Mercures. Such great memories. I was going to work in the restaurant as a bus boy one summer, but it never worked out.
      Then we went to Ray and Pearl's restaurant in Harwich, then I lost contact with them....oh the Yankee Drummer...in Sturbridge, Forgot who owned that.
      If you would be so kind as to give me an update of all the family I would appreciate that. My email is WAFGN@aol.com

      Always,
      Bill Naedler

      Delete
    2. AnonymousWednesday, July 15, 2015

      Thanks for posting this. Pearl was my grandmother and Ray was the grandfather everyone wishes they had. Ovides was magic when I was small . Wendy

      Delete
  8. AnonymousSunday, January 06, 2013

    The Worcester newspaper ran a piece on Ovide's
    2013-01-06 asking viewers the location.
    see: http://www.telegram.com/article/20130106/NEWS/101069808

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousMonday, January 07, 2013

    The Worcester newspapter ran a follow-up piece on Ovide's which named the location along with a bit of its history.
    see: http://www.telegram.com/article/20130107/THENANDNOW/101079899

    ReplyDelete
  10. AnonymousSaturday, March 30, 2013

    My folks lived in nearby Somers, Connecticut. Traveling from New Hampshire, I'd stop at Ovide's for a beer. I got to know the bartender, an affable guy.
    One day, knowing I was from New Hampshire, the bartender mentioned that the owner of the China Dragon in Hooksett, NH had just bought Ovide's. I replied, "That's nice, when's the fire?"
    The next time I drove by, Ovide's had burned flat. I always wondered if that bartender had thought back to our conversation.

    ReplyDelete
  11. UnknownFriday, February 14, 2014

    Son of Ovide's founder passes away.
    http://sansoucyfuneral.com/book-of-memories/1800542/Mercure-O-Normand/obituary.php

    ReplyDelete
  12. Paul FisherSunday, October 19, 2014

    Ovides was located in Sturbridge Massachusetts close to the Connectcut border on what is now interstate 84 and was back then route 15.

    ReplyDelete



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