"OUR WOMEN OF SANDWICH"
(2020 Summer Exhibit)
SYLBERT A. FORBES
1922-2005
When I was a little girl I asked a lot of questions! One person in Sandwich that always answered all of my questions was Sylbert Forbes. She spoke to me like a young adult even when I was only 7 or 8 years old! I think I amused her! She invited me to come spend Saturday mornings with her at the library, checking library materials out or back in for the three hours the library was open. Thus, my Mom had three hours free from her inquisitive youngest child and Sylbert had some free library help!
What I learned from Sylbert during those Saturday mornings was vast! I learned about library skills, but more I learned about Sandwich because Sylbert “knew everything that was happening, sometimes before it happened” and “if Sylbert didn’t know, it didn’t happen!” Part of this was because Sylbert liked to chat (polite speak for gossip, but with a kind heart!), she was very involved in the community, and she had had some interesting experiences in her life!
For those who never had the good fortune to have known her, Sylbert Una (Ainger) Forbes was born in Sandwich in 1922 and was the daughter of Grace F. (Wallace) and Ryvers F., who had been the town’s first Fire Chief. She attended a one-room schoolhouse, graduated from the Quimby High School, and studied nursing at Children's Hospital in Norwich, CT and Laconia Hospital School of Nursing. Eventually, Sylbert married and raised one son, Keith, who still lives in town. She became a librarian at Samuel H. Wentworth Library in Sandwich, a job she enjoyed from 1946 to 1990. It was during this time that she became quite ill with MS, was bed-ridden and unable to speak for a time. She worked her way back, re-learning how to walk and talk, and would tell me she had worked to make up for the time she couldn’t speak. Those of us who knew her are laughing and saying that she more than made up for it! This was a testament to the force of will that Sylbert possessed! She was a doer and not at all afraid of taking the bull by the horns!
Sylbert was a life-long supporter of the Sandwich Fire Department, beginning by supporting her father, continuing as her husband, Walt, joined. But in her own right, Sylbert and a small handful of Sandwich women created a Ladies auxillery, the Sandwich Sirens, to formally support the department. She held organizational meetings at her home next to the Red Hill River, the group’s first fundraiser was to create a cookbook to sell. Many of us still dust off our 40 year old copies to refer to recipes including her By-Cracky bars! It was a hit and would be followed by similar efforts on behalf of other community groups. The Sandwich Siren’s also helped the fire department take over the chicken BBQ’s when Judy Coolidge stopped having them. These early BBQ’s would mean more meetings at Sylbert’s house to roll silverware to ensure efficient flow of the food line, but were also time for the Siren’s to talk about what else they could do to help raise the money the department needed for needed equipment. Some of that BBQ money helped the department start the rescue squad. From her nurse’s training and her contact with so many people at the library Sylbert understood the need was great.
Sylbert was involved in many other groups in town. She was a fifty year member of the Mt. Israel Grange where she helped oversee many bean suppers and rummage sales. She was a lifelong member of the Order of the Eastern Star, an honorary member of the Sandwich Woman’s Club, a member of the Kenyon Club, a volunteer nurse at the Sandwich Fair, and a member of the Sandwich Ladies Aid Society. Back in the day, all of these involvements were not unusual and in fact were more the norm. Sylbert spoke quickly, loudly and often, and her laugh could be heard from a distance. She was a quintessential Sandwich character, and I miss her!
Abby Hambrook
June 2020
What I learned from Sylbert during those Saturday mornings was vast! I learned about library skills, but more I learned about Sandwich because Sylbert “knew everything that was happening, sometimes before it happened” and “if Sylbert didn’t know, it didn’t happen!” Part of this was because Sylbert liked to chat (polite speak for gossip, but with a kind heart!), she was very involved in the community, and she had had some interesting experiences in her life!
For those who never had the good fortune to have known her, Sylbert Una (Ainger) Forbes was born in Sandwich in 1922 and was the daughter of Grace F. (Wallace) and Ryvers F., who had been the town’s first Fire Chief. She attended a one-room schoolhouse, graduated from the Quimby High School, and studied nursing at Children's Hospital in Norwich, CT and Laconia Hospital School of Nursing. Eventually, Sylbert married and raised one son, Keith, who still lives in town. She became a librarian at Samuel H. Wentworth Library in Sandwich, a job she enjoyed from 1946 to 1990. It was during this time that she became quite ill with MS, was bed-ridden and unable to speak for a time. She worked her way back, re-learning how to walk and talk, and would tell me she had worked to make up for the time she couldn’t speak. Those of us who knew her are laughing and saying that she more than made up for it! This was a testament to the force of will that Sylbert possessed! She was a doer and not at all afraid of taking the bull by the horns!
Sylbert was a life-long supporter of the Sandwich Fire Department, beginning by supporting her father, continuing as her husband, Walt, joined. But in her own right, Sylbert and a small handful of Sandwich women created a Ladies auxillery, the Sandwich Sirens, to formally support the department. She held organizational meetings at her home next to the Red Hill River, the group’s first fundraiser was to create a cookbook to sell. Many of us still dust off our 40 year old copies to refer to recipes including her By-Cracky bars! It was a hit and would be followed by similar efforts on behalf of other community groups. The Sandwich Siren’s also helped the fire department take over the chicken BBQ’s when Judy Coolidge stopped having them. These early BBQ’s would mean more meetings at Sylbert’s house to roll silverware to ensure efficient flow of the food line, but were also time for the Siren’s to talk about what else they could do to help raise the money the department needed for needed equipment. Some of that BBQ money helped the department start the rescue squad. From her nurse’s training and her contact with so many people at the library Sylbert understood the need was great.
Sylbert was involved in many other groups in town. She was a fifty year member of the Mt. Israel Grange where she helped oversee many bean suppers and rummage sales. She was a lifelong member of the Order of the Eastern Star, an honorary member of the Sandwich Woman’s Club, a member of the Kenyon Club, a volunteer nurse at the Sandwich Fair, and a member of the Sandwich Ladies Aid Society. Back in the day, all of these involvements were not unusual and in fact were more the norm. Sylbert spoke quickly, loudly and often, and her laugh could be heard from a distance. She was a quintessential Sandwich character, and I miss her!
Abby Hambrook
June 2020
Nursing student c. 1941
