March 20, 1998

Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to a man who, like me, called East Haddam, Connecticut home and who demonstrated a great passion and love for this little town along the Connecticut River: Raymond Schmitt, who recently died at his home in Florida.

Raymond Schmitt was a successful businessman who owned several companies that manufactured components for the aircraft industry. He was very generous with his wealth, donating money to the school system, the local historical society and many other organizations.

He will be best remembered for his association with a Victorian-era mill village in Connecticut known as Johnsonville. In 1965, he purchased the mill village and restored the old schoolhouse, general store, and carriage house. In the windows of the buildings, there were whimsical mechanized scenes that delighted all visitors. Johnsonville would open during Christmas and other special occasions, and thousands of people delighted in visiting the village. It became part of the holiday tradition for many Connecticut families.

Johnsonville has been closed for almost a decade, but Mr. Schmitt would still open it for certain events such as a fund-raiser for music students at an area high school.

Mr. Schmitt was known not only for his commitment to his community, but also to his ideas for making it better. In recent years, he came to believe that the town's selectman style of government, which has been in place since the town's inception, was too antiquated and in need of reform. As a result, he wrote his own town charter, which called for a 7-member town council and town government.

His charter was never adopted. But no one doubted that Raymond Schmitt loved the town of East Haddam. And it is this passion for his hometown for which Raymond Schmitt should and will be remembered.