Plenty of stories in “Memories of Belleville”

UPDATE: The book launch for Memories of Belleville has been changed to a virtual event. The Facebook Live event begins at 2 p.m. Saturday December 18.

A local woman born and raised in Belleville has so many stories about the city to tell that she’s written a book.

Connie Carson has written a book called “Memories of Belleville” featuring a collection of stories spanning seven decades in the Friendly City.

The book evolved from a Facebook page she started about a year ago.

“I thought, well, I should start to write some of this stuff down and, although I had never written anything more than a grocery list in my life, I started writing. And I kept coming up with all these crazy little stories. And I picked, I think, about 27 or 28 stories out and put this little book together.”

Having spent most of her life in and around Belleville’s downtown, she started off writing some stories for the Downtown District.

“And then it just kinda moved into some of my friends that I remembered, like Max Haggarty and Maurice Rollins and people like that. And I thought, well, jeez, I should write stories about these guys too. So, it just kinda snowballed.”

She says the book, which features more than two dozen stories, also includes tales of what she calls the Sawdust Flats Trilogy.

“Sawdust Flats was an area way back in the late 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s where the courthouse now is, the new courthouse. I wrote a story about Harry and the Hamburger Stand. There was another crazy couple, Jeaner and Old Elmer. And another one about the Royals. They’re called the Royal Family.”

There is a free launch party for the book this Saturday starting at 2 p.m. at the Empire Theatre which will feature readings from some familiar local faces including Quinte Broadcasting’s Jack Miller.

Click here to order the book.