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'You hear quite a lot about guilt in regard to development of the atomic bomb,' Bachelder said. 'One cannot pull that activity out of that time, set it down in the 1980s and pass judgement.' The war was on, the Germans and the Japanese knew a bomb was possible, and the Manhattan Project, the U.S. effort to produce the A-bomb, was scurrying to be first with the terrible weapon. Since retirement, Bachelder has become involved in the American Association of Retired Persons, a volunteer group that promotes legislation to reduce health care costs. She sits on the AARP National Legislative Council." The article had a photograph, by Bob Ringham, of Aunt Myrtle resting beneath a bronze sculpture dedicated to atomic research at the University of Chicago. She also had an obituary in June of 1997 that recognized her place in the Manhattan Project. She had more than her 15 minutes of Andy Warhol time. Frances Helen Bachelder was born on February 20, 1922 in South Hadley Falls, Mass.. She studied piano for many years, going gracefully through many years' subscriptions to Etude Magazine. Grandpa insisted that she stay with the classics. The only popular songs that I recall her playing was the Hutsut Song, and Kitten on the Keys. When she played she would bounce on the piano bench until you were afraid she might fall off. My father's favorite was the Parade of the Wooden Soldiers. He'd request it every time that she was playing for us. Years later in San Diego, I became aware of how Aunt Fran felt about the classics. She had to be coaxed to play for us, and she did so only after telling us how she couldn't play some of the songs she wanted to when she was young because they were not classical in nature. Tin pan alley was not allowed. Aunt Fran agreed only after I agreed to no Parade of the Wooden Soldiers. Now she plays Cole Porter and the like. Since she was only ten years older than I, she was my favorite aunt. She taught me how to make whistles out of grass blades, and how to act in church, she took me swimming at Lake Mattawa, and corrected my fish handshake. I have passed her cautionary on to many other youngsters- "Oh don't offer a dead fish for a handshake, give a firm response.". One time on the train from Washington, D. C. to Orange, Aunt Fran sent me to freshen up before we got into Orange. There was no water in the rest room. When I got back to our seats I told her that I had improvised by spitting on my comb for moisture to comb my hair. She reacted differently than I expected. She took me to the water bubbler, and got a cup of water, which I then used to do the job right. Even though she was unhappy with me, I knew she loved me. She and Aunt Myrtle also tried to get me to do the jelly fish, so that I could learn to swim. I learned but from an instructor other than them. Aunt Fran used to take me to the Ranch, a 'country club' for the towns of Orange and Athol, where I seemed to have an affinity for injury. One time I decided to dive off the boardwalk into water that looked deep enough, only to find out it wasn't. I scraped the length of my body on the gravel bottom of the dammed up stream bed. Another time we were getting in the taxi to go home. This taxi's rear doors were hinged on the back of the doorway, instead of the front as in cars of today. I had grabbed the center post and was sitting down when someone closed the door. The three middle fingers on my right hand were crushed to the bone, and required another trip to the dreaded first aid shack and a choice of either iodine or merthiolate, they wouldn't hear of innocent mercurichrome. Other than those times the ranch was always an enjoyable experience. She also would take me to the movies and we always stopped at the snack bar. She had a mischievous side also, as demonstrated when she would sneak up behind Grandpa at the kitchen sink to blow the five hairs covering the top of his head down into his eyes. Aunt Fran married Stanley Francis Salwak on June 3, 1944. They had two sons, Dale Francis Salwak born 2/7/1947 in Greenfield, Mass., and Glenn Francis Salwak born 2/10/1952 in Northampton, Mass.. Dale earned his doctorate and is a proffesor of a course entitled 'Literature of the Bible', he has published several works, and has appeared on several national television shows with his magic. Glenn is an accomplished golfer and once played in a pro-am tournament with Tom Weiskopf as his partner. Uncle Stan graduated from -15-
