No matter how far you move physically in life, you never completely leave the place where you grew up.

Having been born and raised in Norwich, I have many fond memories of the Rose City from my formative years. Many of those memories become more vivid when I’m able to re-connect with old friends and acquaintances on Facebook.

Social media isn’t for everyone, but reliving memories from our hometown and engaging with others who have lived and/or worked there is refreshing. It is a means for sharing information — sometimes sad information like the recent passing of classmate and friend, Joe Barbera, a wonderfully friendly, happy, and popular guy, whom I met during our days together in the late 1960s at Kelly Junior High School.

Dozens of my Facebook friends grew up in Norwich. Some still live and/or work there; others have moved to other parts of the country. I thought it was important to share the sad news of Joe’s passing with fellow alumni of Kelly and Norwich Free Academy, where Joe and I were members of the Class of 1972. Like we did a few weeks ago, Joe had moved from Connecticut to Florida.

Here in Florida, we’ve already re-connected with friends from Connecticut, some of whom are on Facebook, others who are not. There are quite a few of us here in Florida who have made this state our primary residence to escape cold winters and high taxes. If we can’t always see our friends in person (which is more difficult in these days of COVID), I find that Facebook interaction is the next-best thing. Over the years, I’ve reconnected with old friends now living in Florida, Texas, California, Minnesota, even Australia.

There are several Norwich-based groups on Facebook. My friend and former Norwich Bulletin colleague Ken Keeley frequently shares old photographs of various sections in Norwich along with information about when the photo was taken and what homes or businesses were located there at the time. Some of the photos go back as far as the 19th century; others are more recent and recognizable with their own stories to be told, and Ken tells them as well as anyone since my father’s Once Upon A Time series that Ken published years ago.

More recently, Ken has published several wonderful books himself that are very popular with past and present Norwich residents.

Like many other cities and towns, Norwich has a page titled “You’re Probably From (insert city or town here).” The page describes and recounts places, events and people who make their community unique.

As you’d expect, there are stories on the Norwich page that discuss everything from Norwich Free Academy to the Rose Arts Festival that enjoyed its prime on a large public parcel called Chelsea Parade back in the 1960s and 70s. There is information about Norwich’s most infamous native, Benedict Arnold, and memories of skating on Ford’s Pond in the city’s East Great Plains section.

The site just announced that it has more than 10,000 members — 10,000!

It’s heartening to read the positive comments about Norwich, a city that has faced challenges over the years. We discuss in large numbers our Norwich favorites: our favorite teachers, favorite memories, favorite candy stores, favorite bars, favorite friends and on and on. It brings back mostly wonderful memories, as the site seeks to accentuate Norwich’s many positive attributes, especially from years gone by.

There are several NFA sites, including a couple for alumni and at least one for reunions. My class’s 50th is coming up next year. My goodness, where did the years go and how did we get so old? LOL! Having been founded back in 1854 and boasting enrollments in excess of 3,000 at its peak, NFA is ripe for discussion on everything from accomplished alumni to highlights from its great yearbooks — The Mirror.

Another one of my favorite sites is Rose City Sports Stories. The beauty of this site, in addition to the great memories, is that it crosses generations and features mutual respect.

Among the most frequent contributors are Cas Grygorcewicz, a former NFA basketball star from the 1960s who would later become an accomplished distance runner and coach basketball at Mitchell College. Another frequent contributor is Marlon Delgado, an enthusiastic Norwich entrepreneur who was an NFA basketball star in the 1990s.

His dad, Ron, and mom, Cassie Fontaine, were schoolmates of mine at NFA in the early 1970s. Ron was an extraordinary football and basketball player in the Class of 1973, so the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

Cas often treats us to old newspaper clippings that feature NFA players from yesteryear, many of whom we either knew or cheered for on the Wildcats’ gridiron, in old Norton Gymnasium or at Dickenman Field. Some photos go back even further, to our Little League days. Seeing them and discussing them is such great fun! There have been stories about cross country, track and field, boxing, and even arm wrestling.

With so much success over the years in girls’ sports, there has, unfortunately, been little input about girls and women’s sports. Norwich has boasted female champions in cross country, track, badminton, twirling and basketball, with former NFA hoop players going on to play at national powers such as UConn, Clemson and Stanford.

Here’s hoping there will be more submittals from and about the ladies.

Bill Stanley grew up in Norwich and recently retired as a vice president at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital.