Clarinda Morin was born in Winchendon on February 24, 1900, the daughter of Maxime and Zenaide (Pelletier) Morin. They married in Quebec in 1884. It was Maxime's second marriage, having previously been married to Exilda Rheaume, with whom he had at least four children. Maxime and Zenaide came to Winchendon about 1892. He had been a farmer, but he went to work as a dyer in one of the White cotton mills. In 1900, the family had seven children living with them, three from the second marriage, Clarinda being the youngest.

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Edited interview with Lawrence LaRochelle (LL), son of Clarinda Morin. Interview conducted by Joe Manning (JM) on April 22, 2009.

JM: What did you think of the photos of your mother?

LL: I was glad to get them. I never had any pictures of her at that age.

JM: Did you know that your mother worked at the Glenallan Mill when she was a little girl?

LL: No, but it sounds familiar. She might have mentioned it at some point. It didn't surprise me.

JM: Did you know that your mother was married to William Gamache before she was married to your father?

LL: Yes. He died, I think of cancer. They didn't have any children.

JM: When were you born?

LL: 1939. My mother was 39 then.

JM: How many brothers and sisters do you have?

LL: I only had one half-brother and one half-sister. My father was married before. I don't even know if they are still alive. My half-brother was 15 years older than me.

JM: Did your mother work while you were growing up?

LL: She owned and ran a bar and roadside café, her and her sister Mary Boucher, in Spring Village. It was on 446 Maple Street. There was no liquor served, just beer and wine, and they had food. It was called the Pine Grove Café. There were some large pine trees there at that time, so that's how it got the name. They had bought the building. Aunt Mary and her husband, Uncle Louis, and my mother and I lived in the upstairs apartment.

JM: When did she open up the café?

LL: When I was about one year old, so about 1940 or 1941. They had it for 15 years. And then she went to work in the mill. We lived in Ayer (Mass.) for a while. My father was a railroad engineer, not driving the trains, but maintaining the tracks. That was about 1942 to 1945. So maybe my aunt was running the café by herself then, I don't know.

JM: Why did you come back to Winchendon?

LL: She split up with my father. I don't think he came back with us. They divorced and she didn't marry again. I don't have any recollections of my father at all. My mother went back to running the café.

JM: Did you help your mother in the café?

LL: No. But sometimes I would go down on Saturday at midnight and shut off the juke box. And then I'd go in Sunday mornings, turn it back on, and crawl underneath the booths to look for change. They sold the café and the liquor license when I was 15 years old, but they kept the building, and my mother continued to live upstairs. She got a job at Ray Plastics, which was in the Springs Mill. She also worked at the hospital as a ward maid.