The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-02-04
Porter Young
Great Feats of
Strength, Marvellous
Acrobatic Ability
Recalled By His
Recent Death
BY THE OUT EASTER

Some things of the past life of
Porter Yourg, or Ayotte, who died
last week have been written in the
newspapers, but the memory Of
the man is most dear to those of
us who were present and saw him
at his best in the days of the
Nineties, during the progress of
the annual fair of the Church
OF the Sacred Heart as held in the
Old City Hall. THE strong man."
was what he was called during
this time.
Porter Young was big, tall, OF
large frame, French Canadian
by birth, at the old home over in
Baltic, Conn. He came to Water
bury with his folks at tender
age. Like all of the young men
OF his day, and of his makeup,
ne took to athletics, and soon
Joined class of young acrobats
IN training almost daily in the
saWdust ring Of the old ice houses
located off the Plank road of the
East End. Porter knew how to
balance, just how to carry one
of the performing acrobats on the
fiat of his big right hand, with his
left hand gracefully placed at his
lett hip. He would swing his per-
forming companion right around
like top, for several minutes, and
when he did this at the famous
Sacred Heart Church fairs, we of
the younger lot looked on in
amazement. And chuckled with
glee as the crowd applauded, and
Porter acknowledged the plaudits
with a pleasant bow. And mind YOU.
neither Porter nor any of his team
mates got a penny for their show;
1t was for the good of the church,
and they desired to do their part
10 help In the cost of the con-
structlon of the edifice and the
maintenance of tbs property. A
dozen of these young men tender
ed their services almost every
time Father Treanor held his fair.
They said Porter Young travelled
with some of the circuses; per-
haps he did, but we never saw
MN IN any such act during any
waterbury performance. Porter
was good enough, however, to be
signed up by any circus.
SO athletic was Porter that he
developed into one of the best
swimmers of his day. There was
q time time when Browns falls
In the west end, along the rail-
road tracks near the old lower
Waterville road was a favorite
swimming place for Waterbury's
young. Porter Young was one Of
the large number who made daily
TRIPS to the pond. His swimming
and diving were really marvellous.
and many went there simply to
see him perform.
Inc years vert along and Porter
Young grew old. But he still
Kept around where he was seen.
visiting now and then various
haunts, the owners of which knew
him and welcomed him just like
they used to do in his great hey
day. In past years, he confined
himself mostly to "the woods"
where he did considerable wood
chopping, in spite of his advanced
age. The old time strength was
still in his arms, and he could
slice a tree down, almost as
readily as he could when he was
many years younger.
Poor Porter Young; the money
Of years of labor was pretty well
gore; the friends of yesterday
were missing; he was ON his own,
and few OF the present generation
were aware that in his time he
amused and made young people
happy and chuckle with mirth
at his feats Of strength and agility
In his acrobatic stunts.
But then that is the way of life.
Many Of us may find ourselves
In the same way in a few years.
Friends do not seem or appear as
loyal as they were years back. We
have seen good men and women
i'll places that made us feel sad,
just because they lacked the funds
to live elsewhere.
How many Of us can tell now
what will happen to us during
The next few years.
For our own part, We feel our