The News Journal from Wilmington, Delaware • Page 73

THURSDAY, DEC. 30, 1993 THE NEWS JOURNAL CROSSROADS 3 In Full Bloom AROUND TOWE3 Do you have news from around your town? Here's how to get your information to us: Street address: 950 W. Basin Road New Castle 19720 Mall: Box 10887 Wilmington 19850 TDD number for the hearing Impaired: 324-2580 Items of interest must be to us 10 days prior to publication date. it I If WilYV i1 i 1 'j-1' "i ntl r- i-f- -1 -r'-l The News JournalSUSAN CREQQ The News JournalQINGER WALL 1: mi SPRUCING UP: Mary Gainor, of Winterbury Circle, rakes leaves in her yard. 1 Pianist Carl Cramner performs at the Methodist Country House in Greenville Dec.

20 (above). Cramner's grandmother, Inez Cole, right, is a resident of the Country House. Cramner, a Wilmington native, is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and is a master's degree student at the Julliard School in New York. In the summer he studied at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. Road Warrior it Winterbury may not be Winterthur, but the surroundings are similar.

By JULIE BENTON JONES Special to Crossroads MILL CREEK Helen Latto-mus bought her Winterbury home over the phone. "I worked at Winterthur when I bought this home, and I told Mr. du Pont my address wasn't Winterthur, it was Winterbury, but I had a Winterthur in my back yard!" After her two children were grown, Lattomus wanted to move from her two-story Colonial home to a ranch house. She called about a house in Sharpley, and the real estate agent insisted on telling her about a house in Winterbury, located off Delaware 41. Lattomus knew exactly what she was looking for, and saw no sense in running all over the county to look at houses.

She told him, "It has to have the things that I want or I'm not interested." Item by item she ran down her list of priorities: ranch house, hot water baseboard heat, privacy, security, room for a garden. Thinking it must be too good to be true, Lattomus said, "All right, what's on either side, in front and behind it?" The agent described the mature trees, custom homes and private yards. She thought to herself, "If it's got all this, it has to be for me." The agent offered to show the house to her, but it was about a week before Christmas, so she declined. Because she was born and raised in Yorklyn, she was familiar with the area, and decided to check out the property herself. "When I got here snow was on the ground.

It was so quiet and beautiful. That was it we bought it on the spot without ever looking at another house." Helen and her husband David moved into their Winterbury home in February 26 years ago. She says their first spring in the house was thrilling. "There were little crocuses coming up all over the front yard. Every window you looked out there was a dogwood tree in blossom looking back at you," she said.

"I couldn't wait to see what would come up next!" Lattomus began to rescue azalea bushes from her brother-in-law's florist business, nursing them back to life and planting them in her back yard. The result is a magnificent garden, where the stone pathways are lined with dozens of robust azalea bushes and scores of feeders for squirrels and wild birds. Her neighbor Jack Gainor says, "If you really want to see something pretty, you should see Sis's yard in the spring. Nothing, except maybe Longwood, can compare to her azaleas." Jack and Mary Gainor and David and Helen Lattomus have been friends since high school. Jack Gainor still calls Helen by her high school nickname "Sis." Their Delaware roots go way back.

David Lattomus' mother was in the first graduating class at Alexis I. du Pont High School in 1904. As a young man, Gainor used to hunt rabbit and pheasant on the land where Winterbury was built. Sixteen years ago, he brought his wife Mary there to see a house for sale. They spotted Dave Lattomus cutting grass in his yard across the street.

Mary Gainor doesn't remember much about her first impression of her house, but can still hear herself excitedly shouting to her husband, "Oh my goodness look who's living right across the street." "The good news in Winterbury is that we have no problems," Jack Gainor says. "Neighbors are all friendly, we have good snow removal and we are very secure. Our only problem might be that 'J jv i ill i OUT FOR SOME AIR: Cathy Welde introduces her newborn son Thomas, to the if swings in their back yard. f'-ifrffiTiff Community Profile FULL OF TREES: Jack Gainor mows the leaves in his yard. Gainor says the only thing the neighborhood lacks is a leaf removal machine in the fall.

Winterbury JITD HockeBsin Greanvf pmlntoiM; -c "WHEN KIDS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD WENT TO THE SAME SCHOOL THERE WAS A LOT OF FEELING FOR THAT SCHOOL YOU WERE PROUD OF YOUR SCHOOL AND EVERYONE PARTICIPATED. EVERYBODY KNEW EVERYBODY AND YOU MADE FRIENDS FOR LIFE" JACK GAINOR, Winterbury resident COMMUNITY: Winterbury. THE HOMES: 44 custom-built homes. Average selling price $189 900 SCHOOL DISTRICT: Red Clay Consolidated. FEEDER PATTERN: Heritage, Shortlidge and Marbrook elementary; A.I.

Middle; McKean High School. CIVIC ASSOCIATION: Yes President, Kenneth Hill, 994-3542. The News Journal 75, Kirkwood wine Creek: Closed through Jan. 1. Detour.

(2) Delaware 7 from Delaware 72 to Pennsylvania line: Lane restrictions 6 a.m. until nightfall through Jan. 14. This listing of road construction and closings in the area is provided by the state Department of Transportation. PIKE CREEK-HOCKES-SIN-CENTREVILLE (1) Rockland Road bridge over Brandy- The News Journal L.

A tant that the house have a large lot and mature trees," as that was what he was used to, coming from Buffalo, N.Y. in 1986. Many of the residents are also Delaware natives. There are, however, a few exceptions, like Tom and Cathy Welde and their three young children. The Weldes moved to Winterbury from Delaware County, Pa.

Cathy Welde says they have always felt welcome, and neighbors are wonderful to her children. Jack Gainor can't resist joking, "Occasionally we let foreigners into the neighborhood!" her own yard, but admits it is a big job. She says neighbors are all proud of their homes, and they will get out there and work even if it is no longer wise for them to do heavy yard work. Civic association president Ken Hill says Winterbury is "largely comprised of elderly residents who have raised their family, and now they're pretty much empty-nesters." Hill says Winterbury appealed to him because he was attracted to the older homes; he believed they were a good quality construction. "It was just as impor jffSk nm ft 4 REASON TO CHIRP: Helen Lattomus adds bird food to the feeder in her back yard.

Lattomus and her husband bought their house 26 years ago. we need to have a leaf removal machine come around in the fall." One of Winterbury's striking features is its huge trees, which measure about 70- to 80-feet tall. Several of the residents' rear yards are occupied entirely by trees. Helen Lattomus says when a neighbor fell and broke her leg trying to rake her leaves, it made her think, "If we have snow removal, why not leaf removal?" Lattomus enjoys taking care of FDIC A Subsidiary of Provident Bank of Maryland HI XT JjH5 ii 3 S3 C) Join Tracy Shy, The Russell Delation, the Johannes Brass, Grace Church and many others as we celebrate New Year's Eve in a First Nisht Gospel Ex-trdvdgdnza in the Grace United Methodist Church sanctuary at 9th West Streets. We'll also have a bilinsual storyteller (Spanish-Enslish) and lots of free refreshments.

You need a First Nisht Button for admission, so call 655-8847 for information about settins one for yourself, friends or family. This New Year's Eve have fun in Grace Church's sanctuary! Striving to live the Gospel as we proclaim Christ through faith, ministry and the arts in the heart Wilmington. Grace Church United Methodist.