Blaine A. Cota, Jr.
Milton resident Blaine Cota of Saw Mill Road died on June 28 of a heart attack.  Blaine was 83 and had been in failing health for the past several years.
Those of you who knew Blaine and his late wife Eleanor will certainly remember the wonderful celebrations they held at their old 1740 saltbox, the Deacon Peter Buell house.  Blaine would greet guests with, “Welcome to the 18th century,” and, indeed, one stepped back in time by crossing his threshold.  The only light in the house came from lanterns, candles and the fires in the big hearths;  along with the period furnishings, the smell of the wood smoke, and (in their early decades in Milton), the hosts dressed in period costume and musicians providing colonial-era American and British music, the effect was magical.  Sticklers for authenticity, the Cotas provided an experience rivalling Williamsburg or Sturbridge, to whom they consulted on 18th century colonial living over the years.
Blaine was a complex man. He was born into a working class family from St. Johnsbury, VT, but could be a terrible snob.  He joked that his Yale education provided not only knowledge but entitlement to act this way.  He was a purist about the 18th century but his favorite art was Cubism and Abstract Expressionism.  He loved animals but could be gruff and abrupt with people.  He was at times incredibly fascinating or insufferably boring, depending on his subject and your interest in his “lecture de jour.”  Blaine was one of the people instrumental in getting Milton listed as a state of Connecticut historic district as well as a national historic district, but, as he said, “I meant well, but probably alienated a lot of people along the way.”  Such was Blaine.
When I first met Blaine over 16 years ago I asked him if his name was Coda with a ‘d’ or Cota with a ‘t.’  “Oh, it’s Cota with a ‘t’,” he said. “Coda would be too final a name.”  Blaine might even smile today if he heard me name this notice to his Milton neighbors, “Mr. Cota’s Coda.”
Sincerely,
Frank Kerrigon
99 Saw Mill Road
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