By Lisa Capobianco Staff Writer For 133 years now, a multitude of individuals have gathered at Lake Compounce to put aside their political differences over a traditional dinner of lamb and corn with all the trimmings. Last Friday, local and state officials did just that in the amusement park’s ballroom to celebrate the history of the Crocodile Club, which originated in 1875 when former legislator Gad Norton decided to thank his colleagues in the State Legislature for helping pass a law that changed the town line between Bristol and Southington to put his farmhouse in Bristol, according to a press release from the New England Carousel Museum, which sponsored the event. Norton, who started Lake Compounce in 1846, made that request so he could vote in Bristol where he traded, knew more people, and had a shorter travel distance, the release stated. The reunion dinner began with a social hour at noon, followed by dinner and a lively program with guest speakers who made one-liners and jokes without making serious political speeches. When Norton served as the host of the dinner, he dictated to guests that “there will be no serious politics allowed, no post-mortems from the last legislative session—just […]
By Lisa Capobianco Staff Writer For 133 years now, a multitude of individuals have gathered at Lake Compounce to put aside their political differences over a traditional dinner of lamb and corn with all the trimmings. Last Friday, local and state officials did just that in the amusement park’s ballroom to celebrate the history of the Crocodile Club, which originated in 1875 when former legislator Gad Norton decided to thank his colleagues in the State Legislature for helping pass a law that changed the town line between Bristol and Southington to put his farmhouse in Bristol, according to a press release from the New England Carousel Museum, which sponsored the event. Norton, who started Lake Compounce in 1846, made that request so he could vote in Bristol where he traded, knew more people, and had a shorter travel distance, the release stated. The reunion dinner began with a social hour at noon, followed by dinner and a lively program with guest speakers who made one-liners and jokes without making serious political speeches. When Norton served as the host of the dinner, he dictated to guests that “there will be no serious politics allowed, no post-mortems from the last legislative session—just […]