Buddy McCandless

Soon after lunch every day Wilhelmina McCandless began looking out her front window for the mailman. In warmer months she’d wait on the front porch watching for him to turn onto High Avenue off Midland. Maybe today there would be a letter from Buddy, she thought.

It had been a long time since she’d heard from her son and she was worried. His last letter mentioned his squadron was shipping out. She didn’t know where he was or even if he was okay. He was only twenty-three and off fighting a war. Wilhelmina carefully read the war news and dispatches in the Nyack Evening Journal. Reading about the exploits of young Americans all over the world, she hoped she might see his photo or read about his Army Air Force Squadron.

She read every story carefully. She would bring out her scrapbook and reread the stories about Buddy when he was Captain of Nyack High School’s Football team and all his baseball and basketball games. She smiled while rereading the stories of Buddy being awarded his Eagle Scout Badge from Boy Scout Troop No. 7 where his father was an assistant scoutmaster. She would look over at the front of her modest home; a blue star flag, that signifed someone in the house was serving in the war, hung in the window. It brought tears to her eyes. She wondered if Buddy was fighting.

George “Buddy” McCandless had found the war. Flying with 345th Bombing Squadron out of Bening Airfield in Libya, Buddy was the bombardier on a B-24 Liberator, “Aire Lobo,” a heavy bomber, under the command of 1st lieutenant John Thomas. The Squadron had seen action dropping bombs on the German and Italian Armies in Sicily, earning Buddy a Bronze Star for his bravery. The Squadron’s next assignment would be Operation Tidal Wave, an air raid on nine oil refineries around Ploiesti, Romania on August 1, 1943 as part of the “oil campaign” to deny fuel to the Germany Army. Romania was among the largest oil and gasoline producers in Europe and Ploiesti was a major part of that production. We now know this mission was one of the costliest for the Army Air Force, with fifty three aircraft and 660 air crewmen lost. It was the worst loss ever suffered on a single mission, and its date was later referred to as “Black Sunday.” Only eighty-eight B-24s returned to Libya, and fifty-five suffered battle damage. Forty-four planes were lost to air defenses and the additional B-24s ditched in the Mediterranean. One B-24 with 365 bullet holes in it landed in Libya 14 hours after departing.

It was a warm Tuesday, August 10, 1943 when Wilhelmina was again sitting on the front porch waiting for the mail. A brown sedan with the logo of Western Union on the side door pulled up in front of 216 High Avenue and a carrier got out. “Mrs. McCandless?” he asked walking up on the porch. Wilhelmina began to shake. She weakly answered: “Yes.” He handed her the telegram and whispered. “I’m sorry!” Her husband George walked out on the porch as she slowly tore open the envelope. He stood behind her his hand on her shoulder as she read: “I regret to inform you that the commanding general Middle Eastern area reports your son, 2nd Lt George McCandless Jr., missing in action since One August. If further details or other information of his status are received you will be promptly notified.”

She turned to her husband, tears streaming down her face. “Missing in Action? That doesn’t mean he is dead does it?” Wilhelmina refused to believe her son was gone.

During the remainder of the war she kept in contact with the War Department and the Red Cross in hopes she could save him from a prisoner of war camp. She pored over photographs sent to her of unidentified service members in hospitals. She refused to believe he was dead. Even as the war in Europe ended in 1945, Wilhelmina kept hoping. Finally, almost seven agonizing years after Buddy McCandless was reported missing, it was verified that his plane was shot down in the Ploiesti raid. His remains were finally brought home and interred in Oak Hill Cemetery on April 22, 1950 with full Military Honors, the sound of Taps echoing over the playing fields of his youth. Wilhelmina would still sit on her front porch holding Buddy’s Distinguished Flying Cross. Her boy was gone but not forgotten!

You may want to know more about Buddy McCandless. Well you can. 73 years later, you can experience the low altitude bombing of the Ploiesti Oil fields in Romania. You can see what he saw on the last day of his life: Enter the following link in your computer:

The Nyack Villager thanks Jim Leiner for helping us all ‘Remember the Days .’

by James F. Leiner

Nyack’s Rockies

I continue to look for a baseball player from Nyack who played in the major leagues. I know of several guys who played professional baseball but none ever made it to the “Big Show.” I have found two men who played professional baseball in Nyack and made it to play in the majors. They played for the Nyack Rockies, Rockland County’s first professional baseball team.

The local sports pages on February 28, 1946 brought the news: Nyack’s assurance of Class D league baseball this summer was given when three backers of the newly formed Nyack Rocklands, Homer Lydecker Sr., John VanWyck and Albion Volk Sr. announced the acceptance of their application by the National Association of Professional Baseball Clubs.” The Rockies would be members of the North Atlantic League playing against the Peekskill Highlanders, Newburgh Hummingbirds, Bloomington Troopers and four clubs from Pennsyl- vania: Stroudsburg Poconos, Carbondale Pioneer Blues, Nazareth Barons and Mahanoy City Bluebirds. The club was a member of the Philadelphia Athletics farm system run by Earl Mack, Connie Mack’s son.

Emil Schwob, a Phillies scout, was hired as manager and he brought many New Jersey players with him from the Weehawken area. Tryouts were scheduled and three local players were signed to contracts; Gerry D’Auria from Nyack, Johnny Greco from Suffern and Al Baker from Tappan who had been a high school star at Haverstraw High, signed on as a catcher. D’Auria played minor league ball before getting his Army induction notice and spent his wartime service playing baseball with guys like Ewell Blackwell and Warren Spahn. Gerry wanted to get back to the newsstand/candy store on Main Street his family ran, but he was talked into playing and helping Schwob. Playing baseball for the Rockies was not a big money-making venture. The club’s monthly payroll was limited to $2,250 for the 15 member team making average player salaries a $150 a month.

May 8, 1946 was opening night against the Newburgh Hummingbirds at Nyack High School’s field on Midland Avenue. A few years earlier the Nyack Boosters Association purchased the light towers from “Doc” Bernard’s Central Nyack Stadium and paid to have them installed around the field. Nyack’s Mayor Sal Ciancimino threw out the first pitch and pro baseball came to Nyack. However, the Hummingbirds spoiled the party by winning 6 to 5. Interest was high that year as the Rockies drew 37,000 fans at the price of 60¢ for adults and 30¢ for kids.

The club averaged 800 fans per game that season. The Rockies finished fifth in the league with a record of 67/54.

Gerry D’Auria was to figure in a most bizarre episode playing a game in Walden, NY. Lights on their field were the portable type and not too bright or dependable. Gerry was playing left field when a high fly ball was hit in his direction. Just as he settled under the ball to catch it, the lights went out and the ball bashed him between the eyes. Car lights were turned on to get him off the field and he was out of action for several days with a badly bruised nose.

Gerry would go on to hit .287 for his only season with the team. Walden was also the site for the most memorable event in the Rockies’ brief history. A no-hit, no-run gem was hurled by George Raetz, who later settled in Congers, in August, 1946.

A lot of wet weather and a last-place team with a 49/83 record in 1947 caused attendance at Rockies games to drop to 25,000. The three owners suffered financial losses and the next season was in doubt. After quite a bit of controversy the league allowed the team to play in 1948 despite the Nyack Field being regarded as the worst in the league. When the season began none of the original 1946 players were still on the roster. Rollie Sabatini was brought in as a catcher/manager yet the team finished seventh in a eight team league with a record of 46/82. On September 6, 1948 minor league baseball in Nyack came to an end.

Oh yes, who were the players from the Rockies to make it to the big leagues? Alex Garbowski, from Yonkers, hit .390 leading the league with 12 homers and 105 RBIs in 1946 and was the only original Nyack Rockies player to make the major leagues. He played two games for the Detroit Tigers in 1952. Fred Hahn, from Tappan, who played for the Rockies in 1948, pitched two innings for the St. Louis Cardinals 1952
My thanks to long-time Sportswriters George Mueller from Upper Nyack and Dick Yerg from Nyack for lending me their accounts of the Nyack Rockies for this column.

The Nyack Villager thanks Jim Leiner for helping us all ‘Remember the Days .’

Houses & Streets Long Gone

With the pounding of pile drivers ringing in our ears as they signal the beginning the construction of the new TZ Bridge, a number of long-time Nyackers gather in a coffee shop and talk about what the area was like before the Thruway.

We recalled memories of houses torn down or moved out of the super highway’s path.
I enjoy talking about homes coming down Cedar Hill Avenue on their way to a new location in the empty lot further down the road were there was once a small apple orchard. To an 8 year-old boy it was quite a sight to watch huge houses rolling down the block. Many of my friends remember the houses travelling north along Midland Ave and finding new locations between of Sixth and Highmount Avenues, in an area that for a long time was pretty swampy.

The Java imbibers from South Nyack talk about the Bell Memorial Chapel that stood at the corner of Clinton and Hillside Avenue (Rte. 9w). The chapel was built by Louis V. Bell in 1899 in memory of this father, Isaac Bell and his mother, Adelaide Mott Bell. Their home, built a year earlier, was next to the chapel on Clinton Ave. The chapel’s bells were imported from France; the largest bell was 52 inches in diameter and weighed 2,900 pounds. Neighbors came to love the soft tones of the carillon bells chiming at the top of the hour. The clock, also from France, was installed by Brooklyn clock maker Charles Korhage in 1902. When the chapel was torn down in 1953, the clarion bells and clock were moved to the empty bell tower in Grace Episcopal Church on First Avenue.

Sooner or later our coffee conversations get around to streets that are long gone. South Nyack takes the prize for losing the most streets. Completely gone are Willow and Chase Avenues. Also gone are major parts of Hillside Avenue—it was relocated to the west—Cedar Hill, Cornelison, Brookside, Washington, Smith and all of South Nyack’s little village center at the end of Franklin Street. A total of 123 houses were moved or torn down in the village. One street was added—Cooper Drive, named in honor of South Nyack Mayor Louis Cooper.

Nyack lost a total of 33 homes along Depew, Cedar Hill, Crosby, Anna and Highland. The village also had two streets bulldozed into history.

My favorite trivia stumper for longtime residents is to ask where Froze-to-Death road was located. Before I tell you—the other stumper is the location of Cleveland Street. You have to find Cleveland Street to find Froze-to-Death Road.

Okay, the answer: six lanes of Thruway traffic pass over the old roads every day. Back before the Old Nyack Turnpike was turned into Route 59, it was a much-used little road. Travelers had to navigate the West Nyack Swamp and the marshy ground around the Nyack Ice Pond, wending their way over part of Old Greenbush Road to circle past the swamp and zigzag through Central Nyack on what is now DePew Avenue, and then turn slightly north onto Froze-to-Death Lane past the intersection with Cleveland Street and then onto Main Street about 30 yards west of the intersection with Highland Ave, (now Rte. 9w). The village maps of 1873 and 1891 don’t show any houses on Froze-to-Death, but neither do these maps give evidence to the road ever being called Froze-to-Death. Sanborn’s Insurance Map of 1910 labels it “Old Road.” So is the name truth or myth?
I discovered an article written by Virginia Parkhurst in July, 1946 where she wrote: “Mrs. John Kropf of Upper Depew Avenue told us about it. She casually mentioned that sometimes to get to Main Street, she walks down Froze-to-Death Lane.” When Virginia asked her how the name came about, she replied, “A man is said to have frozen to death there in a horse-drawn wagon one winter night in the early 1820s.” So, for me, if Virginia Parkhurst believed Mrs. Kropf and published the story, then Froze-to-Death road it is!

I wonder how many readers can name the two streets Nyack gained with the construction of the Thruway. Kilby Street, a one- way from Rte. 59 up to Depew, is named after James Kilby, prominent in real estate and insurance from the 1920s to the 50s. Polhemus Street was constructed over the filled-in Nyack Ice Pond, and is named in honor of long-time Nyack Village Engineer and South Nyack resident Harvey Polhemus.

The Nyack Villager thanks Jim Leiner for helping us all ‘Remember the Days .’

Remember the days?
by James F. Leiner

131 South Broadway

I wonder how many people who pass the lovely home at 131 South Broadway notice the brown metal historic marker in the front yard. Partially hidden by shrubbery, the marker details the house’s history as the longtime home of one of America’s iconic writers. Carson McCullers lived in the house from 1945 until her untimely passing in 1967. During that time, she gained national recognition when her novel “Member of the Wedding” was adapted to the stage and opened on Broadway in 1950 with Ethel Waters, Julie Harris and a 7 year-old Brandon DeWilde. The play ran for 501 performances; the book was made into a movie in 1952 with the principal actors reprising their roles.

After McCullers died, the 6,000 square-foot house was purchased in 1968 by her long time personal physician and close friend, Dr. Mary E. Mercer. Mercer told the ‘New York Times’ in a 2000 interview she didn’t want to walk by and “discover the hedges cut down and the house painted purple.” Dr. Mercer treated the home as a shrine to McCullers, telling the ‘Times’ she would only rent the home’s five apartments to artists who were able to answer her questions about the author and which of her books they had read. She had the house added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006. Ownership of the house changed again when Dr. Mercer died in April, 2013 at the age of 101. In her estate she bequeathed McCullers’ home to Columbus State University’s Carson McCullers Center.

McCullers, was born Lula Carson Smith on February 19, 1917 in Columbus, Georgia. She dropped the name Lula in 1930 and wed Reeves McCullers in September, 1937.
In addition to the house, where McCullers wrote the body of her work, Dr. Mercer’s estate includes an endowment for operating expenses and the development of a writer-in-residence program. Also included are more than 10,000 pages of McCullers’ personal documents, artifacts, artwork and even furniture.
Among the artifacts are McCullers’ art collection, her book and record album collection, various papers, letters and photographs, furniture, including the sofa where a very ill McCullers wrote her last novel, “Clock Without Hands.” Also the marble table where she lunched with such visitors as Marilyn Monroe, Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, Julie Harris, Helen Hayes, Edward Albee, Isak Dinesen, Henry Varnum Poor, Horton Foote, Bessie Breuer, George Davis and Lotte Lenya.

The collection also includes the book McCullers was reading when she suffered a fatal stroke, recordings McCullers made with Tennessee Williams during a lecture series they presented in 1954, and paintings by Henry Varnum Poor, who was a friend of McCullers.

Columbus State’s Schwob Memorial Library is managing the new McCullers papers, books and related artifacts. With the addition of the Mercer bequest, Columbus State’s McCullers collection is now believed to be the nation’s largest, surpassing in size that of Duke University and the University of Texas.

The collection is very complete as McCullers knew everybody; all the playwrights. Dr. Mercer was meticulous and kept very detailed notes. Things like letters, press clippings, telephone messages, correspondences with lawyers and attorneys about royalties, she kept everything, wrote Archives Assistant Tom Converse of CSU.

The Nyack home will be operated by CSU’s Carson McCullers Center for Writers and Musicians, which is located in the author’s childhood home at 1519 Stark Avenue in Columbus, Georgia. The university’s Assistant Professor of English, Dr. Courtney George, is the director. She recently wrote to say the acquisition moves CSU into the next level of research libraries and the home’s proximity—24 miles from New York City—will offer students a thrilling opportunity to study in a great American city and stay in a famous American author’s home. The library intends to use the house for lodging for ‘study away’ programs in the NYC area, much like CSU’s house in Oxford England.

My thanks to CSU’s Tim Turner, John Lester and Prof. Courtney George for their information for the column.

I count myself among the legions of devoted Carson McCullers fans and with the warm summer days upon us, I think I’ll find a copy of my favorite book by McCullers; have to see if Miss Amelia Evans fares any better in another reading of The Ballad of the Sad Café.

The Nyack Villager thanks Jim Leiner for helping us all ‘Remember the Days .’

Remember the days? by James F. Leiner

Master Detective Nick Carter

Those of you unfamiliar with the awesome Nick Carter can be forgiven for not understanding his place in popular culture, but he is the most published character in American literature, yes, even more than Superman and Batman. He is also the second-most published character in world literature, behind Sherlock Holmes. (Bold words I know, but it’s true).

Nick Carter, who appeared in more than 5,000 different stories, grew up in a little brick home on Washington Avenue in South Nyack. Really? Most of you are saying about now; you can be excused for not having heard of him; he goes back a few years.

Carter first appeared in a dime novel published by The New York Weekly in 1886, a year before Holmes. He was an immediate hit, and over the next 69 years appeared in dime-novel stories, pulp magazines, comic books, and on radio shows. From 1964 to 1990 he appeared in over 250 paperbacks as The Executioner and The Kilmaster.

Carter was not the first recurring detective in American or British literature, nor the first dime novel detective, nor even the first dime novel or story paper detective to be a hit with readers; that would be Cap Collier from 1883, but Carter was far and away the most popular of the dime novel and story paper detectives. For roughly thirty-five years he was the iconic action figure in American popular culture, on a scale scarcely imaginable today. Weekly stories were being churned out about him for years, in multiple magazines both American and International.

Carter is a major figure in the history of American literature. He provided the first significant super-villain, Dr. Jack Quartz, years before Arthur Conan Doyle created Professor Moriarty. Carter was raised by his father to be a physically perfect human and the ultimate crime-fighter. He was the basis of Doc Savage and for Philip Wylie’s Gladiator, the model for Superman. Carter, with his innumerable gadgets, was the model for the later creation of Batman. As the first popular hero designed by his publishers to be permanently ongoing without an end, Nick Carter was the model for later heroes like The Shadow, and for every comic book hero past and present. He was the first detective character to mix the fantastic with the faked;
he has been copied by all manner of genre-busting heroes, across our media.

So wait a second, maybe you’ve never heard or read anything about Nick Carter, and here I am telling you how special he was and how he was created in South Nyack. Well, yes, technically he was created by John R. Coryell for Smith and Smith Publishers in New York City, but he was taken as a kid by Frederick Van Rensselar Dey who educated him, developed him and brought him up. Dey made a man of him, directed his destiny through millions of printed stories about him, and carried Nick’s exploits into a dozen languages all over the globe. In his home on Washington Avenue, Dey would handwrite as many as three or four stories each week on yellow legal pads, most of them from 20,000 to 33,000 words.

Dey was born on February 10, 1861 in Watkins Glen, New York. He attended the Havana Academy in upstate New York and later graduated from Columbia Law School. He practiced law and was a junior partner of William J. Gaynor who served as the 94th mayor of New York City from 1910 to 1913. Dey took up writing while recovering from an illness. His first full length story was written for Beadle and Adams in 1881. Soon afterward Dey and his second wife, Haryot Holt Dey, bought the Washington Avenue house. In 1891, Street & Smith hired him to continue the series and expand the adventures of Nick Carter. Most of Dey’s Nick Carter stories appeared under the pseudonyms A Celebrated Author and The Author of ‘Nick Carter.’

As dime store novels fell from popularity, Dey suffered financially. Penniless and in poor health, threatened with the loss of his home and after writing 40,000,000 words about the indestructible Nick Carter, Frederick Van Rensselaer Dey shot himself to death at the Hotel Broztell, on East Twenty-Seventh Street, in New York City, on the night of April 25, 1922. Dey is long gone, but his life’s work lives on in the stories of Nick Carter Master Detective.

I often wonder, on walks along Washington Avenue, if one might catch a sight of the Master Detective.

The Nyack Villager thanks Jim Leiner for helping us all ‘Remember the Days .

Remember the days? by James F. Leiner: Eagle Hose

When we hear the alarm of FIRE these days the claxon horns blow the numbers of the closest alarm box to the fire, and soon we hear the fire trucks responding with their sirens blaring, lights blazing and air horns blowing. Responding to fires wasn’t always like that. Back in the 1800’s it was quite different. When the call of FIRE was heard in the village, the fire bell in front of Mazeppa’s barn on Burd Street would ring. To quote Alvin E. Simonds from his history of the company, “Old pumping engines were heavy and cumbersome and required every ablebodied man available to drag them through the streets as well as to man the hoses at a fire.” The hoses were made of leather; heavy leather and it was custom to have a hose carriage in the custody of auxiliary groups.

In an 1874 edition of the ‘Nyack Journal’ an account is written about Mazeppa parading followed by its hose company. Not much is written about the auxiliary company. Simonds writes it was called: “Mazeppa Volunteer Hose Company No. 2.” In 1876 Mazeppa acquired a four-wheel hose carriage from Oswego Engine Company for $175. A group of young men, organized as Eagle Hose Company No. 2, asked to have custody of the hose carriage and to “run” with Mazeppa. A formal article of agreement was drawn up between Mazeppa and Eagle stating “the officers of Eagle Hose Carriage Company should be under the command of the Mazeppa Foreman and also Eagle Hose could have use of Mazeppa’s meeting room.”

From 1876 to 1884, Eagle Hose, with its lively and energetic young members, was frequently mentioned in the ‘Nyack Journal.’ In my research for this column I found more than 20 notices about Eagle Hose marching in parades and their hosting an annual ball. Their first fund raising dance was held on New Year’s Eve 1878 at the Smithsonian Hall in Nyack. Tickets to the ball were 50¢ and dinner was included. Their first appearance in a Nyack Fire Department parade took place in October 1876, when their 16 members marched behind Mazeppa. Eagle members seemed to enjoy dancing and parties. The October 26, 1876 edition of the ‘Nyack Journal’ listed the company officers: Foreman: George Kane, Assistant Foreman: Averill Buchan, Secretary: Columbus Bonsall and Treasurer: Charles Seymour. Eagle was the first company to accept the invitation of Waldron Post, G.A.R to participate in Nyack’s “Decoration Day “parade in 1880. This was the first time the Nyack firemen were asked to take part in the Memorial Day program.

All was not well, however, with the ranks, as Simonds writes: “Eagle was interested in buying the hose carriage in 1879, but Mazeppa wanted not only $300 but also a five year guarantee Eagle would ‘run’ with them. The members of Eagle balked.” A disagreement simmered and in 1881 Eagle became perturbed when Mazeppa members took the hose carriage from the firehouse without permission. They lodged a protest with Chief George Dickey, ironically a member of Mazeppa. Dickey advised them to overlook the incident and told them some of the Mazeppa members were hostile to Eagle, but that might change in the next company election.

The February 17, 1883 edition of the ‘Nyack Journal’ listed the company officers: Foreman: James W. Blauvelt, 1st Assistant Foreman: John P. Smith, 2nd Assistant Foreman: Richard Turner, Recording Secretary: John Kane, Financial Secretary: Charles Seymour, Treasurer: Richard King, and Trustees : Peter E. Remsen, James Kilby and Warren Gardener. Later that year Mazeppa met with Eagle to discuss a proposed merger and purchase of a “steamer.” Eagle rejected the offer. Interestingly enough Eagle Hose had accumulated $1,000 in its treasury from their annual balls.

Shortly after the rejection, Orangetown Fire Engine Co No 1, anxious for younger members, invited Eagle to join with them. Orangetown told Eagle they could divide the $1,000 between their members. They were not interested in the money, they only wanted the members. Eagle accepted the offer and soon Eagle Hose Company No 2 disbanded. Orangetown only asked that the members of Eagle retain the name and number 1. The officers of Orangetown resigned the next year allowing the younger Eagle members to run the new company as they pleased.

So, Eagle Hose Company No 2 faded into the history books. Interestingly enough Eagle Hose was never an official member of the Nyack Fire Department but for years after the merger, a mounted bald eagle with wings spread rode in the fire department parades at the front of Orangetown’s Engines.

The Nyack Villager thanks Jim Leiner for helping us all ‘ Remember the Days.’

Camp Merritt

For adventurous folks who travel down Route 303, only 13 miles south of Nyack there is a sixty-six foot tall obelisk that was erected 90 years ago at Madison Avenue and Knickerbocker Road in memory of what was hoped to be The War to End All Wars.

The monument sits in the middle of a traffic circle at what once was the center of Camp Merrit in Cresskill, New Jersey. As European countries mark the 100th anniversary of the start of the first catastrophic modern war, this monument is one of the last symbols for the American army recruits at the beginning of the 20th century.

America’s entry into the fray was marked with George M. Cohan’s, Over There, and for the American doughboys who fought in 1917-18, this obelisk was an everyday reminder of their sacrifice.

Camp Merritt was a temporary military base equipped to house and train 50,000 men at a time with the first troops arriving in November 1917. Costing about $11-million, this embarkation camp swamped the little borough of Cresskill—population 600 at the time—as well as Dumont, Haworth, Demarest and Tenafly. A total of 1,302 buildings were built, including 611 two-story barracks, 165 mess halls, 44 quarters for officers, 27 administration buildings, 29 warehouses, 15 post offices, 4 fire stations 93 hospital buildings and 94 auxiliary buildings including 7 tailor shops, a 24 hour barber shop, refrigerator plant, and a theater capable of seating 2,500 soldiers.

Eventually, a recorded 1,088,081 troops passed through Camp Merritt, the most through any camp in the country’s history. The number of soldiers leaving camp for overseas duty went from 8,190 in November 1917 to more than 50,000 in March 1918.

World War I began in 1914 among European powers; America didn’t enter it until August 1917. The rapidly building U.S. Army needed an embarkation site close to Hoboken, where troops would be shipped to France. Cresskill was chosen, in part, because the location afforded the speedier and less-expensive construction for sewer and water systems.

Site clearing began in August 1917 and it was ready for troops by November, covering 770 acres. During construction, residents were paid $25 to leave their homes, as railroads had to be built directly through them. The government completed the legal work of taking over homes and property in a period of 20 days. For those unwilling to leave their homes, deals were struck to move their dwellings on roller logs, but building the camp and relocating residents were minor events compared with the casualties across the Atlantic.

In what was then the deadliest conflict in human history, more than 116,000 U.S. soldiers died before the guns fell silent on November 11, 1918. Not all of those deaths were in combat: In Europe, half of those Americans fell to the Spanish flu that began in August 1918 in Europe and spread to the U.S. The influenza pandemic in total killed 675,000 Americans among the 20-40 million people worldwide. Longtime residents wrote of vivid memories of the troops marching past their homes day and night. During the summer the soldiers were seen dropping dead of flu while marching in those very streets, and trains passing by with coffins on them. On the evening of Sept. 27, 1918, a large contingent of soldiers left Camp Merritt for Alpine Landing. From there they were to be transported by ferry to Hoboken for embarkation. Shortly after the march started, men started falling by the roadside after suddenly being struck with fevers and symptoms of influenza. A Bergen Evening Record story reported how the camp was “quarantined” in October 1918.

Throughout Camp Merritt’s existence, 558 enlisted men, 15 officers, four nurses, and one civilian died there. The Spanish Flu hit just when the U.S. was transporting 250,000 men per month to the war. The huge camp monument was dedicated by Gen. John J. Black Jack Pershing on Memorial Day 1924. Pershing commanded U.S. ground forces in the war and was the only soldier promoted during his lifetime to General of the Armies, the highest rank ever held in the U.S. Army.

The Nyack area has its own monument to honor the soldiers who served in the Great War. The DePew family deeded a portion of their property to the Tappan Zee Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Association in July, 1920. As landscaping started, the Nyack Garden Club planted 10 Memorial trees along Piermont and DePew Avenues as a tribute to the ten fallen men of the area. Henry Emery designed the memorial stairs down to the lower level and bronze plaques were installed to honor the 423 men who served during the war.

The Nyack Villager thanks Jim Leiner for helping us all ‘Remember the Days .’

The Toys of my Youth

Toys—do you remember the toys you received as Christmas presents? Maybe your toys were given in celebration of another holiday, but I’m sure each of us can remember a special present we cherished during the holidays.

The stores along Main Street and Broadway were all decorated with trees, lights, garland and displays of the perfect gift for everyone. As I grew up I would tag along with my parents and look over the toys hoping that I would receive a sack full from Santa. Today, holiday shopping has changed. First it was shopping centers and malls, then catalogs, shopping using the mail. Now, it’s over the internet. All one has to do is click on an icon or an app and bingo! shopping is done.

A few days ago I noticed my youngest grand-son deep in concentration, studying a little plastic box with a video screen. His fingers nimbly flew across the controls while earplugs dangled down. He seemed a world away. “What’s that?” I asked, “It’s an I-phone,” he smiled at me. “I’m on the internet Christmas shopping. Don’t you have one?” He showed me all the details and complicated movements on this contraption not much bigger than a pack of cigarettes. Now I wouldn’t admit it to him, but I could barely make out what he was doing. “You’re shopping for toys?” I asked. “Sure, I pick out what I want and then text Mom with my list.” Ah, modern conveniences! What happened to the simple toys of my childhood? Good thing I have this column to relive a few memories.

I can still remember my first treasured toy: a Jack Knife. With a natural bone handle the knife fit perfectly in my jeans and with a blade sharp enough to carve my initials into a tree behind Mrs. Bollinger’s house on Elysian Ave. I wonder if a kid today has ever carved his initials into the under shell of a box turtle and then had fun the next spring trying to find him. I’m not sure kids today can tell a box turtle from a snapper.

Another toy I remember was my first sling shot. It was a simple forked stick with rubber bands and a leather pouch called a bean-shooter.
A pea-shooter was different; that was usually a paper straw or hollowed out willow reed and used like a blow gun. Of course these lethal weapons were always confiscated at Liberty Street School, and a few times I can also recall the paddling that followed when I got home.

Another toy I spent a lot of time with was my spinning top. It took skill and just the right flip of the wrist to toss a top wound with a whipcord and keep it spinning for a full minute or two. My wooden top was a prized possession. I wonder if there is a National Top Spinning Society I can join?

Another game seemingly lost to time is marbles. I couldn’t wait for spring to arrive and challenge the neighborhood guys to a game of marbles using the bag of “steelies” I got for Christmas. Any kid in Nyack or South Nyack worth having for a friend has several great Shooters or Boulders in his cloth bag. We would draw about a foot wide circle in the dirt and put in four or five marbles we felt we could risk. The object was to shoot your opponents’ marbles from the circle to win.

I also remember sitting in front of my cousin Jane’s house on Washington Street (she had the only level sidewalk) and playing Jacks for hours. I was pretty good at the games up till about “fourzies” and then my hands couldn’t scoop enough of the little metal jacks to keep playing.

Oh, all the games we played as kids: Hop-Scotch, Stick Ball, Stoop Ball, Tag, Hide-and-Seek and of course Kick-the-Can. Yes, the toys of today’s kids have changed. Children are lured by more sophisticated and manufactured toys; electronic and battery-operated toys that fit in your hand and pocket. I watch the kids today walking along the street, their eyes glued to their cellphone, I-pad or computer.

I wonder if a kid today has any idea what Tiddly-Winks or Mumbley-Peg is all about. Ah, what I wouldn’t give for a good game of Tony-the-Pony or King-of-the-Mountain. That is of course with my doctor’s permission.

Hey, I know I’m getting old, and whatever toys you remember from your youth, I hope my thoughts have brought you a holiday smile.

I wish each of you all of the Joys of the Holiday Season, and thank you so much for allowing me to “Remember the Days”

The Nyack Villager thanks Jim Leiner for another lovely column

Fire Patrol turns 100 years old

In the early 1890s, the newly incorporated Village of Nyack experienced a number of disastrous fires in the barns and livery stables scattered throughout the downtown. On the night of January 17, 1893 Van Houten stables on Liberty Street went up in flames causing the death of eighteen horses. In the days before automobiles the loss was devastating and led directly to the formation of the first Nyack Fire Patrol.

On February 2, 1893 a fire patrol was formed to act as a special police force. Forty-three firemen from the other seven Nyack fire companies formed the ranks. The village board granted permission for their incorporation and approved the purchase of a suitable wagon for patrol’s use. However, by the early 1900s, this patrol disbanded; salvage and protection of property was carried out by a group of members from each company.

With the coming of the automobile, the idea for a fire patrol was suggested again by Chief of the Nyack Fire Department William Charters. Rather than use members of existing fire companies Charters felt it would be better to organize a separate group. On January 15, 1915 Chief Charters gathered with seventeen members of the fire department in the back room of Frank Motto’s Barber Shop on South Franklin Street to organize the Nyack Fire and Police Patrol. Charles Sherwood a sergeant in the Nyack Police volunteered to be the liaison with the village board. The Nyack Police was not an organized police department at this time. The village did have a police chief along with several constables and officers, most of them working part time. The Nyack Police Department would not be officially formed until April 21, 1930.

The primary duty of the Fire Patrol was to act as Fire Police to carry out special duty police work. The company was supported by members’ dues, payment of members for traffic duty, and the operation of a parking lot located behind the Broadway movie and vaudeville theater. Nyack Fire Patrol’s charter of incorporation was received from NYS on June 12, 1916. The Commissioners of the Fire Department amended the department’s rules in November 1916 to authorize any property removed from fires to be put in charge of the Fire Patrol. The Fire Patrol was, however, to stay away from the grounds where a fire was in progress until other fireman had put it out. By late 1916 with training from members of the New York City Fire Department, the Patrol took on the duty of property salvage at fires. Captain Albert Sidney Johnson, the officer in charge of Fire Patrol No.1 in NYC, began training Patrol members. At the Patrol’s first annual dinner on December 16, 1916, Captain Johnson told those gathered the Nyack Fire Patrol is the first volunteer salvage corps in New York State as well as the first volunteer corps in the United States. The Nyack Village Board authorized $200 toward the cost of an apparatus for Patrol planning to use the wagon for transporting prisoners to the New City Jail. The first little Vim truck, with an open cab, was purchased in 1918 for $800. With the Patrol’s work at fire scenes Nyack firefighters soon began calling the patrol’s members the Forty Thieves.

The Patrol continued to operate as a separate fire company and in the early 1920s, the members purchased an Army surplus building from the former Camp Merritt in New Jersey and relocated it to the old fire bell site at 11 Jackson Avenue. In 1924 they purchased a Larrabee fire truck complete with salvage covers and lanterns for rescue searches. On March 7, 1927 Fire Patrol became the eighth company in the Nyack Fire Department. President Morris Koblin worked to change the position of the fire commissioners, and after a payment of $1,200, the Patrol placed itself under the department’s jurisdiction. Dr. E. Hall Kline joined the Patrol and was soon elected company president. Under his direction on July 1, 1931 The Fire Patrol formed the area’s first rescue squad providing rescue and first aid to Nyack area residents. Patrol members placed the area’s first Hudson River rescue boat, a 14-foot rowboat nicknamed Noah’s Ark, in service on May 23, 1945.

From a small group of volunteer firemen, responsible for property and traffic control at fire scenes, the Nyack Fire Patrol has grown over the last 100 years into a first class rescue, emergency and salvage company responding to every department alarm. Over the 100 years, more than 400 men and women have served in the Fire Patrol, volunteering their time, efforts and energy to serve the people of the Nyacks. Happy 100th Anniversary!

The Nyack Villager thanks Jim Leiner for helping us all ‘Remember the Days .’

How the Bridge Got its Name

Just in case you haven’t noticed, or heard, there is a new bridge under construction off the shores of South Nyack.

The New York Star Thruway Authority is replacing the aging Tappan Zee Bridge (correctly called The Governor Malcolm Wilson Tappan Zee Bridge, its official name.) Most people just call it the bridge, or the Tappan Zee or the TZ.

There is quite a controversy about how the new bridge will be paid for and what will be the new tolls. Also in question is, what will be the name of the new bridge? I can’t answer those questions, but as a self-appointed Nyack historian I would like to explore how the existing bridge got its name.

New York Governor W. Averell Harriman signed a bill on February 28, 1956 naming the structure officially the Tappan Zee Bridge. (Incidentally, I think that’s Old Dutch for traffic-jam.) In 1994, the name Malcolm Wilson was added to the bridge’s name upon the 20th anniversary of his leaving the governor’s office in December 1974. So, the name was changed and with an elaborate ceremony Governor Mario Cuomo renamed the bridge, with state legislature’s approval, The Malcolm Wilson Tappan Zee Bridge.

Now some readers might ask, “Who?”
Charles Malcolm Wilson (February 26, 1914—March 13, 2000) was the 50th Governor of New York from December 18, 1973 to December 13, 1974. He was a member of the NYS State Assembly from 1939 to 1958 where he introduced 432 bills that were signed into law.

Wilson served in the Navy during World War II. In 1958, he was elected Lieutenant Governor of NYS on a gubernatorial ticket with Nelson Rockefeller.

Wilson served at Lt. Governor from 1959 to 1973, when Rockefeller resigned. Wilson was defeated by Hugh Carey the following year in his attempt to win the governorship in his own right. Wilson returned to his law firm in White Plains. Between 1977 and 1988 he was chairman and CEO of the Manhattan Savings Bank. He later served New York on the committee of Judicial Nominations in 1991 where he assisted in vetting nominees for the NYS Court of Appeals and the Constitution Revision. So, Wilson was a long-time public servant—but a bridge in his name?

Reading old newspapers I found that Malcolm Wilson had his fans starting with the current governor’s father, Mario Cuomo. I read a story in a Westchester Newspaper; I assume is true, as it came from a long-time Cuomo advisor. It seems the senior Cuomo personally consulted with him about naming something after Wilson like a vast tract of Adirondack parkland or a college scholarship. During their conversation, the subject turned to brick and mortar, something you can reach out and touch was suggested. “That’s interesting, Cuomo supposedly said. “You mean something like the Tappan Zee Bridge?” “Yeah, that’s a great idea!” his advisor answered.

Did Wilson have anything to do with placing his name on the bridge? From a Journal News article of July 22, 1993 it appears he didn’t. Wilson told the reporter, “Cuomo’s phone call to his White Plains office about the idea came as a complete surprise to me.” Cuomo told him, “I’m not going to ask permission, I’m going to tell you what I’m about to do.”

There was a big dedication ceremony on January 11, 1994. The bridge authority had a huge green and white sign, about 10 feet wide and 12 feet high. It was inscribed: The Malcom Wilson Tappan Zee Bridge. It was covered with a green velvet drape. Both governors from New York and New Jersey were there along with maybe 300 dignitaries. I happened to be one of those invited. A platform was set up on the Tarrytown side with folding chairs and a podium for the governors, state labor leaders and the high school band from Tarrytown. After the speeches Governor Mario ripped the cord to unveil the new sign and some in the crowd gasped. It seems the sign makers misspelled Malcolm; the second L was left out. The slightly red-faced Governor Cuomo managed to turn the mistake in a point of humor as he called Malcolm Wilson “by far the most helpful person and so generous with his time and insight as
I assumed the governor’s chair. The TZ is named after Malcolm Wilson, honoring his long service to the people of New York.”

Now you know how the bridge was named. The question remains what to call the new structure? Well, believe me and rest assured, the powers that be will cross that bridge when they get to it!

The Nyack Villager thanks Jim Leiner for helping us all ‘Remember the Days .’

Eddie Sauter’s Music

Benny Goodman went down in history as the King of Swing. His place in history was secured when he brought Jazz to Carnegie Hall in 1938 playing Sing, Sing, Sing, The Angels Sing and Stompin’ at the Savoy.

He rose to the top of the Jazz music world, but would he have gotten there without the help of a tall, skinny kid who graduated from Nyack High School?

Edward Ernest Sauter came to the Nyack area in the early 20s when his dad, August Sauter, found work in one of Nyack’s many hotels. Living in West Nyack, he was sent to the Nyack Schools for his education. (Back then there were only six public schools in Rockland County).

Eddie started to learn music from Gertrude Goldstein and played the drums and trumpet under bandmaster Arthur Christman. When the Jr-Sr. High School opened in 1929, Eddie played
b-flat trumpet in the school orchestra. While he studied, he started experimenting with the new big band jazz sound emerging all around America. Playing drums and trumpet in small groups wasn’t enough of a challenge for his imaginative mind so he started his own dance band, performing at prom and club dates. His dance band provided a great starting point for future drummers Sonny Oliver and Buddy Christian.

After graduating from NHS in 1932, Eddie attended Columbia University and studied music theory at the Juilliard School while supporting himself with trumpet stints in Archie Bleyer’s orchestra in 1932-33 and Charlie Barnett’s in 1934.

Red Norvo, Barnett’s piano player, split off to form his own band with his singer/wife Mildred Bailey, and Sauter joined him. Playing with Norvo, Eddie began arranging the band’s sound in a soft, subtle swing style that greatly impressed the critics and soon brought him into national prominence. His musical arrangements were sung by popular vocalists, including Peggy Lee, Terry Allen and Nancy Flake.

John Hammond, then scouting for Benny Goodman, recruited Sauter for that band. Eddie’s distinctive swing arrangements and original compositions such as Superman, Benny Rides Again, Moonlight on the Ganges, and Clarinet à la King, helped lead Goodman’s band to its commanding position in the late 1930s and ‘40s.

Eddie’s music career included writing for Ray McKinley, Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey, Woody Herman, Bob Crosby and Glenn Miller. Sauter became known for his intricate, complex and carefully crafted works such as Hang Square, Sandstorm and Borderline, now considered landmarks in the evolution of Swing Jazz compositions.

In 1952 Sauter teamed up with fellow arranger Bill Finegan to form the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra. Their concert jazz compositions were among the most original heard anywhere after World War Two. While this was a most satisfying period of Eddie’s music career,
allowing his creative mind its versatility and full range, the economics of supporting such a large orchestra forced it to disband after five years.

In his later years Eddie spent more time in his West Nyack home. Among his original compositions was a unique album called Focus combining a string orchestra with a Stan Getz solo on tenor saxophone. The piece was widely acclaimed for approaching new frontiers in the history of Jazz.

Sauter and Getz collaborated again, composing the score for the 1965 movie Mickey One, starring Warren Beatty. His television compositions include the third season theme to Rod Serling’s Night Gallery. Sauter developed an interest in classical music and his Tanglewood Concerto, also featuring Stan Getz, was performed by the Boston Pops Orchestra at their summer home in the Berkshires. His orchestral arrangements of Christmas carols for another album, The Joy of Christmas, brought together the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Leonard Bernstein.

Although best known for jazz, he also orchestrated a number of Broadway musicals, most notably 1776, and also The Apple Tree, and It’s a Bird…It’s a Plane… It’s Superman.
Edward Ernest Sauter was known in the fifty-year golden age of jazz as a musician’s musician and guy who was ten years ahead of his time. He spent most of his life near Nyack where many of his innovative compositions and arrangements were created. He brought a unique point of view to his music and was influenced by his love of the natural beauty and rich history of Nyack.

In 2003, twenty-two years after his death, Eddie Sauter, a tall skinny kid who played the trumpet in Nyack High’s 1932 Orchestra, was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame.

The Nyack Villager thanks Jim Leiner for helping us all ‘Remember the Days .’

Nyack’s Post Office

It seems to me whenever I pick up a newspaper the United States Postal Service is making headlines. It seems the USPS has billions of dollars in operation deficits and is proposing a series of various cuts in our mail delivery services. I don’t know a thing about running the post office so I don’t think I can help them but I would like to take a look back in their history for a solution.

Official USPS historians note that William O’Blenis was appointed on April 3, 1833 as the first Nyack Postmaster. However, my research shows Mr. O’Blenis lived in what is now West Nyack and was appointed Nyack Turnpike Postmaster on June 25, 1834.

Rockland Historians Dr. Green and Judge Tompkins both say the first Postmaster in the Nyack area was John Van Houten, who opened the first post office in 1835 in his store at the landing in Upper Nyack about where Petersen’s Boatyard is located. Mail would arrive and be sent out by steamboats. There were not a lot of rush hours or priority delivery, and in those primitive days the local mail was kept in a cigar box. When someone came into the store and inquired about a letter Van Houten would hand them the cigar box and allow them to do their own sorting.

In 1836 Samuel Canfield was appointed Postmaster and the post office was moved to his Dry Dock Hotel located at the corner of Main and Canfield (now Gedney) Streets. Moved is a bit of a misnomer, as Canfield simply carried Van Houten’s cigar box to his office in the hotel. Charles Humphrey was the next Postmaster in 1844. He was succeeded by William B. Collins from 1849 and served to 1853. Daniel Demarest took the job from 1853 to 1861 and moved the Post Office to his Dry Goods store at the corner of Broadway and Burd Street.

President Lincoln appointed Aaron L. Christie Postmaster in 1861. He held the job until his death in July, 1880. His daughter, Sarah L. Christie, who was very familiar with the job, kept the position until Orlando Humphrey was appointed by President Cleveland in July 1886. After President Harrison was elected, Miss Christie was again appointed. With Cleveland’s second term he appointed Philip Doersch Postmaster. George B. Helmke took over the job when he was appointed by President McKinley on January 13, 1899. Helmke began work immediately to establish free delivery of the mail. Postal authorities approved his request and free mail delivery to the homes and businesses in Nyack and South Nyack area began on May 1, 1899. Helmke also had the post office refitted, at considerable expense, with all the latest fixtures and appliances.

The Upper Nyack Post Office was established on August 31, 1885 under Postmaster George C. Stephens. It was discontinued on November 11, 1886. Andrew Jersey was Postmaster when the office reopened on January 5, 1887. With the extension of free delivery from the Nyack Post Office in 1899 the Upper Nyack Post Office was closed forever.

On July 14, 1901, free delivery was established in Grand View, and the post office that operated there for more than twenty years by William H. Platt was abolished. In 1901 the Nyack Post Office was using six mail carriers with annual receipts in excess of $15,000. In July of 1902 free delivery was extended to Central Nyack when Medal of Honor recipient John Auer was hired and given a horse to deliver the mail. In 1902 The Nyack Post office was the first and only Post Office in Rockland County with free mail delivery.

In 1901 the Nyack Post Office operated out of a small store on the northeast corner of Remsen St. and South Broadway. In 1909 it occupied a building across the street next to the Broadway Theater. The volume of business continued to grow and the Christmas Holiday rush periods were a nightmare in the two buildings. In 1933, our current post office, built under the direction of President Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration (WPA), opened under Postmasters James Kilby and W. Frank McNichols.

Now the USPS tells us, thanks to computers and the Internet, that their business is declining. I have an idea. Does anyone have a few old cigar boxes they can lend the Post Office? John Van Houten and Samuel Canfield seemed to get the mail out pretty well using them!

The Nyack Villager thanks Jim Leiner for another good column

Remember the days?
by James F. Leiner

Nyack’s Memorial Park

I’ll wager a guess just about everyone who lives in the area spends time down along the Hudson River’s edge in Nyack’s Memorial Park. It’s a beautiful and often busy, place where one can sit and enjoy the majestic river for no admission fee.
The area has drawn people for hundreds of years as local historians write about Native Americans who came to the river’s shore collecting and eating oysters.

The land comprising today’s park was originally purchased by the Depew family in 1732 as part of a seven acre farm. They constructed a long dock at the north end of their property about 1795. The dock was used to load sailing vessels with stone quarried along the Nyack Brook from the river up to Broadway. Historians claim stone from Nyack was used for the back wall of City Hall in New York.

On the south end of the present park a grist mill was built about 1800 of red sandstone taken from the same quarry. The mill was operated by Ralph Thurston. In 1847, a brick building was erected and used as a tobacco snuff factory by Charles Louis Dumpple. From 1852 to 1880, the building was rented to the Storms brothers, Abram and Henry. They manufactured cedar pails and tubs. After a spectacular fire destroyed the Storms pail business in 1854 they converted the building to a paper box and silk mill.

The upper plateau of the present park was used by the Depew family as a very large and lovely garden. A walk bordered by flowers led from the large colonial house down to a rustic summer cottage overlooking the river. (Their colonial home is still standing at 50 Piermont Ave). They grew berries of all kinds and part of the garden was a fine vineyard. Their grapes were shipped to markets in NYC and as far west as Texas. Three large greenhouses were constructed where roses, carnations and many other varieties of flowers were grown mostly for the wholesale markets in New York. By the early 1900s the Depew greenhouses and property had fallen on hard times. Locals called the once proud sandstone building Shoddy Mill due to the inferior materials used in making its garments.

A group of veterans and businessmen from Nyack, Grand View and Piermont formed the Tappan Zee Soldiers and Sailors Association in 1919. One of their objectives was to find a suitable site for a memorial park. The association formed a separate committee: the Tappan Zee Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Association for the purpose of finding a park site. The committee proposed to secure a portion of the Depew property. The Depew family: Peter and his wife Katherine, Anna Depew Blauvelt and Ira Blauvelt, and by the last will and testament of Tunis Depew conveyed five acres of their property to the Soldiers and Sailors Association by a deed dated July 26, 1920. The association formulated plans and began raising funds to develop their park. They tore down the Shoddy Mill and cleared the land. Work went on for months. The Nyack Garden Club planted trees along Piermont and Depew Avenues in tribute to the ten fallen Nyack men who perished in World War I. Local architect Henry Emory designed the stone monument with stairs leading down to the shoreline. Large brass plaques were placed on the stones bearing the names of the men who perished in the war along with the names of the 423 residents who served in the war. On June 22, 1927 the Soldiers and Sailors Association granted permission to the C.R. & R.O. Blauvelt American Legion to build their post building on the south west portion of the park.

As years passed the membership of the Soldiers and Sailors Association dwindled and they found it increasingly difficult to maintain their park. An agreement was made on January 29, 1935 transferring the park property to the Village of Nyack. The agreement is subject to the rights of the Legion Post, and a stipulation that the park shall be used exclusively as a public park for recreation, athletic and entertainment purposed also as a perpetual memorial to the Soldiers and Sailors from our community who served in the wars of the United States.

1955 saw the expansion of Memorial Park when fill from the construction of the NYS thruway was dumped into the Hudson River after a series of water break barges were placed. The lower level was expanded to the current boundaries. Our Veterans Memorial Park continues to be changed and updated as the years roll by always with the community and those who gave their lives in service to our country in mind.

Remember the days?
by James F. Leiner

Sitting on the front porch

I recently took an evening tour of my old neighborhoods in Nyack and South Nyack and you know what I noticed? Folks don’t seem to sit on their front porches any more. The porches are still there—some even with furniture, but I didn’t see anyone sitting outside and enjoying a lovely summer evening. I passed a few inviting old porch swings, but nary a person swinging to enjoy a light breeze. I wondered if the privacy of rear patios or an air-conditioned family rooms has taken over.

I grew up in the days before air conditioning in the three-story house on the corner of Washington and Cedar Hill Avenues with its huge screened in porch. It was my grandparents’ home. My family’s favorite summer pastime was to spend evenings on our porch. There was both a wooden swing on the end of the porch as well as one of those padded metal gliders and a few assorted rocking chairs. We would gather after supper to catch up on the neighborhood news as folks often stopped by to chat. Mrs. Fenton, taking her evening walk, would stop to say hello. It seemed almost weekly Mrs. Cranston came over to tell my grandmother about her latest cat. If I remember correctly the Cranston family were some of the early founders of the old S.P.C.A, and their house across the street always had plenty of animals around it to watch. Many of the neighbors, Mrs. Wirtensen, Mrs. Hoffee or Mrs. Roseoff would stop to swap recipes or just sit and chat. Aunt Jean and Uncle Ray, who had a great sitting porch on their house at 65 Washington, would stop for a glass of the ever-present ice tea. If Pop or Uncle Harry came down to sit; they always had an extra can of beer for visitors. I used to like sneaking down late in the evening to sleep on that old glider. Nana removed the plastic covers and replaced them with padded cushions; all I needed was a light blanket and I was camping on the front porch.

When Judy and I went looking for a home of our own we knew we needed one with a front porch where we could add a swing. With the help of Clint Foster, and the folks at the Lydecker Agency, we found the perfect house with the porch we dreamed of; a small village home on a quiet street with sufficient room for our swing. We purchased the house in 1973 and then came the problem: I couldn’t find a wooden porch swing no matter how many antiques or junk shops I visited. On a trip out to visit some relatives in Ohio in 1977 I finally found the antique porch swing I’d been seeking. It was tucked in the attic of my Aunt and Uncle’s garage. After a few repairs and a new coat of yellow paint it was perfect! Hooks were already there in the porch roof; maybe someone in the old house had a porch swing before we got there?

My front porch swing was a great place to relax. The best place to think about my day or sit and talk with the family. With a roof above I could even enjoy the porch in a light rain storm. There is nothing quite as dramatic as watching the lightning and hearing the rumble of a thunderstorm rolling down the Hudson River from my front porch swing. It seems so long ago now when I would come home and sit on the porch for a while relaxing before supper. I enjoyed an up-close view of all the walkers and the vehicles going down toward the Nyack Boat club or the West Shore Apartments along the river. During the street fairs I would see the same cars making the round-robin from one end of town to the other seeking a parking spot. Sometimes as I looked out at the cars, someone would wave, either because I knew them or just because
I was there. As I think back on those days now summers seemed so special.

In Fall it was a dream to watch the colorful transformations of the trees along the block. I could almost see the leaves turning from bright green to orange and then brown. Warm fall days soon turned cloudy and cold and evenings turned busier preparing for the holidays, meetings or appointments. I always hoped for a short winter. I looked forward to the coming of Spring when I could once again sit on my front porch swing and watch the world pass by; you’d be surprised what you can see swinging on a front porch.

The Nyack Villager thanks Jim Leiner for helping us all ‘Remember the Days .’

Remember the Days? by James F. Leiner

Nyack’s Charlie Sing(s)

You might recall when I asked if any of our readers recalled a Chinese Restaurant on South Broadway across the street from the YMCA. I remember my parents taking me there back in the late 50s, but cannot recall the name. It was located on the second floor. I also can’t recall what was on the street level. Funny how memories come and go, but I remember an older Chinese gentleman sitting in his easy chair in the back of the restaurant enjoying a cigarette watching television while playing with his cat. The building was just south of the Helen Hayes Theater and was torn down during the Urban Renewal Project in the late 60s to make way for Tallman Towers.

Most folks I ask confuse my mystery Chinese Restaurant with Chin’s Garden that was also on Broadway, but that was later. Han Chin opened his Chinese Restaurant in the 50s at the corner of North Broadway and New Street. I recall having dinner there with my parents as both Mr. Chin and my dad were members of the Nyack American Legion and would often swap “war-stories” over dinner. No, I trust my memory that Chin’s Garden was not the place I was thinking about on South Broadway, maybe my memory is a little fuzzy; it has been about 60 years.

I was sure that the answer to my mystery Chinese Restaurant was lost forever when a few months ago I was going thought the files in the Nyack Library’s Local History room and came across a copy of a news story from August 22, 1956. The story was about Charlie Sing, the owner of the Chinese Restaurant on South Broadway above the Ethlas Press across from the YMCA. My memory was saved. From the old news story I learned that Ma Chong took the name Charlie Sing when he first came to the United States in 1921. After traveling the world working on all kinds of ships and having two torpedoed out from under him in World War 1, he decided it was time to settle down and heard about an opening for a chef at the Clarkstown Country Club. He came to Nyack on July 4, 1922 and the job was his at $150 a month—the highest paid man on the club’s staff. Well, another tie-in was settled in my memory;
I know why my parents liked eating at Mr. Sing’s restaurant. My father also worked at the CCC as one of “Doc” Bernard’s chauffeurs and driver of the famous Clarkstown Country Club’s Elephants. The news story told me something that I didn’t know. Earlier, Charlie Sing had another Chinese Restaurant at 112 Main Street, again on the second floor, over the dry cleaning store of Ida and Mark Gubinsky; (Max the Taylor). That restaurant was back in the 1930s so I am wondering if it was Nyack’s first of many Chinese Restaurants. Just to confuse our readers who now might recall the name of Charlie Sing, it might be because there was ANOTHER Charlie Sing in town. He was named Charles Sing and along with his two sisters ran a jewelry story at 801/2 Main Street across from Ferrera & Boasi’s Fruit and Vegetable Store.
I vaguely recall this Mr. Sing as he passed on in 1952, but I do remember his sisters continuing to run the jewelry store well into the 1960s.

One of my first jobs was selling shoes at Endicott & Johnson Shoes also across the street and the Sing sisters would pay me $2 a week to take out their trash and sweep up the store. I recall them both being quite elderly and couldn’t make the trips into New York City for new merchandise. Salesmen were often bringing jewelry to this somewhat dilapidated store, and I know Ken Doersch, who then owned Halliday Jewelers up the block also supplied the sisters with merchandise. Still as a teenager, I continued to wonder how they made a living in that old store. Does anyone recall shopping there?

Two Charlie Sings…..who seemed worlds apart in their business endeavors share a place in the business history of Nyack, and I now know that my memory was correct: there was a Chinese Restaurant where I thought it was, well almost…one thing the old news story left out…the name of the Charlie Sing’s Restaurant.

So the mystery goes on!

Remember the days?
by Jim Leiner

Missing Pop

A steady rain is falling on the black, empty street as I sit on the front porch swing. Quiet and alone, another cool, rainy night is like so many others in Nyack as a parade of long ago memories march through my mind. I can hear raindrops falling on the porch roof. They’re rhythmic and purposeful, almost like Morse code sent down from the clouds. The wet sounds, the cold smell, and the goose bumps rising from the skin on my arms, remind me of the many times my father and I went fishing in stormy weather. He was always a little surprised when it began to rain, as if Mother Nature wasn’t following the forecast he had decreed in his mind. He would assure me the clouds would go away once we got the boat in the Hudson River off Memorial Park. I believed him, no matter how dark the sky looked. He would tell me the rain didn’t have to stop us, and fish always bite a little better if the fishermen were soaked and miserable.

Sometimes, while he was trying to thread fish hooks, rain would splash against his rain jacket, sending droplets of water spattering across his eyeglasses. No matter how hard it rained, no matter how cold and numb the tips of his fingers were, he never failed to thread a hook for me. I remember his smile as he opened our lunch box and passed me some the chicken soup or a sandwich mom fixed. He was sure the fish would be biting soon. The sandwich and warm soup hit the spot, even though the bread might have gotten a little damp.

I can hear thunder rumbling up river in the distance. It doesn’t frighten me as much as it once did. No, not since the day my father and I were out in Uncle Henry’s small rowboat about a hundred yards off Upper Nyack fishing for Strippers, and a mighty thunderstorm blew in and caught us off guard. The lightening danced across the water like yellow cobwebs and the thunder echoed off the steep rock walls of Hook Mountain. My father was unafraid. He handed me a pole with a wriggly blood-worm attached to the end, presenting it to me as a knight might bestow a sword upon his squire, and we fished on. He really, really liked to fish. I thought his cool demeanor and steady hand was more than a match for any bit of thunder, and no lightning bolt could flicker brighter than the sparkle in his eye when he hooked a huge stripped-bass and it bent over the tip of his fishing rod.

I got up from the porch and walked up the wet street. I stood under a streetlight at the end of the block, imagining the light was my father shining down on me. As I stared into the light, my tears began to mix with the raindrops sliding down my face, and I whispered, “It’s been 30 years Pop, I don’t know if I can sit in our little rowboat and thread fish hooks and be happy to be fishing without you?”

I imagined what he might tell me. I felt comforted. I decided to walk down 3rd for a while longer. I saw Mrs. Owen’s cat under her front steps. It was unimpressed with the weather and lay there like a sleepless sentry of the night. I looked at it and it looked back at me; somewhere in our eyes there was acceptance. I noticed a robin fly down from a tree branch and catch an earthworm crawling out of the moist dirt in Joe Hoffee’s front lawn. I envied the littler bird. His devotion to life was distinct and limitless. My father lived his life with a similar purpose and I admired him for it. I thought those types of traits would be handed down to me as easily as he handed me a fishing pole. I often wonder if anything went wrong during the passing of our baton. Was I running too fast or too slow? At this point in my life would Pop be proud me, of my accomplishments, my family, but more than his blessings I wished we could go fishing once again. When I returned home and walked back on the front porch the rain began to slow until there was several seconds in between raindrops. I returned to my place on the swing and listened intently, as if I might hear the last drop fall, or hear Pop saying hello. I wrote this story years ago when I lived on 3rd Ave. Thought it might bring you memories of your father.

The Nyack Villager thanks Jim Leiner for helping us all ‘Remember the Days .’

Remember the days? by James F. Leiner

Paul Peabody and his Marionettes

“Paul Peabody was one of the most extraordinary people I have ever known,” a long-time friend told me. “He was a master working with wood and made all of his furniture as well as a scale model of Shakespeare’s home all with treadle-powered machinery. He believed electric powered tools did violence to the wood, and he was the epitome of non-violence. He once told me if he came home and discovered someone taking his home-made furniture, he’d help them carry it out. We first met when he did an annual Christmas time puppet show at First Baptist Church of Nyack. He featured his hand-made marionettes all dressed with hand-sewn clothing most of the material salvaged from thrown away items. I remember his Russian Ballerinas who had escaped from Russia by ship hidden in blocks of cheese. Alexander Mouseyev, Mariana Mouserova and Tasha Tiptova were my favorite marionettes. It was such a pleasure to watch Paul engage the children in the audience as he had them interacting with the puppets.”

Another friend of mine told me she grew up next to the Peabody’s and was their first audience member when there was only one marionette. She would watch as his characters grew, and enjoyed going to their apartment on cold winter days where Paul would make stories come to life. “The marionettes all hung around the big bay window and I could see their silhouettes at night. He and his wife Jo were the most important adult relationships in my young life. They gave me lists of books to read when I first started reading fiction. My bedroom walls were covered with pastel drawings Paul gave me after he would tell a story. I loved when he played his banjo and Jo played the fiddle.”

Peabody was born in New York City on July 3, 1931, and graduated from Princeton University. During his undergraduate years, he spent summers in Quaker projects around the country, working with American Indians, migrant workers and the mentally disabled. He went to work as an assistant news editor of Fellowship Magazine, the publication of the Fellowship of Reconciliation in Upper Nyack, a national peace organization. He retired in 1993 after 36 years.

“It was always a huge joy, working with Paul,” said a former editor of the FOR magazine. “He was a fanciful person who lived in another century and kept us in another world.” People at FOR could hardly wait for their birthdays, knowing they would get a handmade card from Paul. She said Peabody’s life philosophy was summed up in one of his cards: “The power to lift up is stronger than all that holds us down.” The current editor of Fellowship Magazine, called Peabody “the gentlest person I ever knew, with a love of kids and a delight and wonder in life.”

After retiring from the FOR Paul pursued his passion and created the Old Fashioned Marionette Theatre. For two decades he entertained thousands of children and adults at schools, museums and festivals throughout the Northeast and raised money for charitable causes. His company was a pantheon of fairy tale characters he hand crafted, using old-fashioned tools and 18th Century woodworking methods. He told me, “I’ve tried to realize the dreams that stayed with me and haven’t lost their glimmer—to bring to life the old-world culture of the storybook fairy tale.” Besides the Ballerina dancers he created trolls, witches, elves and munchkins, Dr. Jellydome, Professor Popplemeyer, the March Hare, Sugar Plum Fairy, Captain Barnacles, Dog Toby, Abigail Weed, Coco the Clown, Parnassus the Acrobatic Bear. Peabody explained how characters evolved during the woodworking process. “There’s a mystical thing about making them,” he explained. “They seem to assert their own personalities, beyond the ideas you intended for them.” Not only was he a marionette master, he was a talented artist, calligrapher and children’s book author and illustrator. He played the dulcimer, banjo and guitar, sang folksongs and taught folk dancing.

I vividly remember the day he passed away. My heart sank. A glorious, magical light went out, and the world would never be the same. The world needs people like Paul Peabody, but now, in this time of war and fear, we need him more than ever to nurture our souls, and to show us that there is beauty, light, love and laughter. How many hearts he must have touched in those twenty years her performed! I feel blessed to have encountered his presence in this world.

What he so freely gave to those around him was something that will never die. I talked to about a dozen people in researching this column. When I asked them about their memories of Paul Peabody each one of them smiled. Imagine that!

The Nyack Villager thanks Jim Leiner for helping us all ‘Remember the Days .’

Nyack’s Mystery Veteran

Nyack’s Civil War memorial dedicated to the area’s veterans sits about in the center of Oak Hill Cemetery. A stone replica of a Union Soldier stands atop, high on the hill, a prominent and fitting place to remember the men who went off to war to save the union and rid our nation of the curse of slavery. About one hundred feet west, along Lilac Loop, there are two tall stones, one a memorial to Nyack’s mystery veteran. His stone is inscribed:

In Memory of Major D. Colden Ruggles
Additional Paymaster U.S. Army
Captured by Mosby’s Guerrillas
October 14, 1864
Died a prisoner of war at the hands of the enemy at the military prison
Danville, VA. Feb 10, 1865 Aged 46 years

The adjacent stone is for his wife, Julia Elvira Canfield who died on March 2, 1857, Age 31 years; the daughter of H.J. & S.R. Canfield.

I’ve often stood in front of these two stones and wondered who where these people, and wasn’t it amazing that there was a memorial stone to Major Ruggles erected eight years after his wife’s death. Who placed the stones? it was time for some research.

David Colden Ruggles was the son of David and Sarah Colden Ruggles from Montgomery, New York; a village a few miles west of Newburgh. He was born in 1818 and was the older brother of General George David Ruggles. David Ruggles married the former Julia E. Canfield on January 17, 1856 in Mahoning County, Ohio. Mahoning is located southwest of Youngstown, Ohio. So, David and Julia were married just over a year before she passed away.

The information on the stone is correct about Major Ruggles. My research found that on October 14, 1864 he was taken prisoner by Mosby’s Guerillas as they attacked a military train two miles east of Kearneysville, West Virginia. Ruggles was carrying a payroll of $173,000 for General Phillip Sheridan’s troops. Major Ruggles, along with nineteen other union soldiers, was taken prisoner and sent to the Confederate Military Prison at Danville, Virginia, where he died of dysentery on February 10, 1865.

Okay, that part of the mystery is not much of a mystery after all, but I couldn’t help but wonder—how did they come to Nyack? Why are they resting in Oak Hill? More research was needed. How did a guy from Montgomery meet and marry a woman from so far away in Ohio? It turns out the two were related. Mabel Ruggles, a sister to David’s father, married Judson Canfield and their first born son, Henry J. Canfield was born in 1780. Henry J. Canfield was Julia Elvira Canfield’s father. So now I know who the H.J is on the stone; her mother was Sarah Rose (S.R). The Canfields were successful farmers in Ohio. It appears from research that Julia Canfield and David Ruggles were second cousins. Hmmm—unmarried at thirty—was this an arranged marriage?

The census of 1870 shows that there was a Canfield family that lived in Piermont: Samuel and Catherine Canfield and their eight children. Samuel is listed as the president of the Nyack National Bank. Here is where my research becomes weak and cloudy. Judson Canfield and Mabel Ruggles, (remember them, Julia Canfield Ruggles parents?) had a son Samuel Canfield. Was their son the Samuel of Piermont? It is interesting to note that one of the daughters of Samuel and Catherine Canfield listed on the 1870 census was thirteen year-old Julia E. Their daughter born the same year Julia Elvira wife of David Ruggles dies. Hmmmm—sounds like the same lady to me! I haven’t found a link between Judson and Samuel Canfield, but it sure seems possible they were related! And here is another stretch of my imagination. David Colden Ruggles was an Army paymaster, given the rank of most of the paymasters: Major. He was also the brother of a West Point Graduate and a General. Can I suppose that David C. Ruggles was a banker who came to Nyack to work for Samuel Canfield at the Nyack Bank, and when the war broke out, the army figuring he had some experience with money, made him a paymaster? And who better to afford the expense of the two large stones than the prominent banker whose brother was a prominent farmer?

So, did you follow all of this? Do you think I have solved some of the mysteries that surround the Ruggles and Canfields? If you happen to be related to David Ruggles or Julia Canfield let me know how I did!

The Nyack Villager thanks Jim Leiner for helping us all ‘Remember the Days .’

Nyack comes to an end!

A long time merchant on Main Street used to be fond of saying: “You spend enough time here and the entire world will walk past.” I agree with him as I’ve spent the better part of 70 years along Main Street and have certainly seen my share of strange events and people. Probably one of Nyack’s most colorful characters came along a few years before my time. Few are around who remember Leo J. Spangler today, but back in the winter of 1908 he was all the rage around town.

Leo came to Nyack from York, Pennsylvania where he owned a grocery store with his wife. Leo walked along Main and Broadway wearing a white ribbon around his soft black hat announcing in one-inch letters he was “King of Kings and Lord of Lords!” He claimed to have direct communication with God. He then predicted the end of the World was near. He even knew the exact date: Sunday, December 18, 1908. I’m sure residents approached Spangler’s prophecy with speculation, and most of them didn’t pay much heed to the well-dressed gentleman from out-of-town, but Spangler was not without believers and followers in Nyack.

Weeks before the end was scheduled, the devoted group met at the home of John Phillips and in the house at 88 Depew Avenue occupied by Mr. & Mrs. George Yeoman.

Each day Spangler and some of his disciples made a house to house canvass of Nyack, leaving his prophecy in bold type on a handbill. In part it read: “I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending. I am the God which is. Thrust in your sickle and reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe. This world will come to an end in winter, in the end of the month of December. I command that you come to Nyack, NY. I am here gathering the saints. The bridegroom is coming and the bride must be ready.”

Two days before the world was to come to an end, the doctors of the village took action. They told Chief of Police, Michael Furey, they had a dozen or more patients who were on the verge of a nervous breakdown because of the hysteria that was nightly fomented behind closed doors around Nyack. The chief swore out a warrant for Spangler’s arrest as a nuisance and sent Officer Michael McNichol to serve the order. Spangler, who heard about the warrant told Henrietta Murdock, the high priestess of saints who gathered at Nyack, ‘to await the rolling of the sky as a scroll on the morrow. The Lord had called him and Spangler was going up to heaven in advance of the general cataclysm.’

Mrs. Murdock was to marshal the band of saints on the morrow, and lead them to the Oak Hill Cemetery there to await the blast of obliteration. He meanwhile, would be looking down from Abraham’s bosom ready to welcome the faithful to the heavenly host; then Spangler flew out the back door, hopped over the fence and was never seen again.

On the pronounced day of doom, a half an hour before the arrival of the 10:03 train, residents of the village strolled to the station. Seated in the waiting room were Mrs. John Phillips, Mrs. Carrie Smith and Henrietta Murdock, all wearing white with Tam-o-shams on their heads. Surprisingly, there were no saints on the train. Not to be dismayed, the three women walked slowly to the cemetery. Along the way, they were joined by a crowd of about 300 curious or believing village residents. Reaching the cemetery the High Priestess placed her hands on a monument with the name of Abrams engraved on the face. She proclaimed; “Here lie two prophets. We are now in the Holy Land.” She then sank to the ground. A few moments later (it was a cold day to sit on the ground) she stood and proclaimed the event was indefinitely postponed because of the unexpected transition of Spangler to another sphere. She also announced, “If the earth did not come to an end, or if the prophet Spangler in the flesh did not return to Nyack he was going to become an infidel and remain such to the end of his days!” There was no further word of Leo Spangler; I wonder if he became an Infidel?

I hope you have a smile on your face now…I am sure the world, while often in turmoil, is safe for the day. Happy Holidays to all good folks of Nyack and also a healthy year ahead!

The Nyack Villager thanks Jim Leiner for helping us all ‘Remember the Days .’

Historical Nyack tidbits

I spend quite a few hours searching the history files at the Nyack Library seeking information for stories and often come across little tidbits of history I find interesting yet are not sufficient to fill an entire column. I thought I would start out 2016 with some of this information I’m sure you will find indispensable.

• The Nyack Turnpike opened in 1828 between Suffern’s Iron factories and Nyack’s waterfront. It cost a rider and his horse 6 cents; a wagon with two horses, 12 and half cents to use the new road.

• The Rockland Female Institute opened in September 1856 under the direction of Reverend B. Van Zandt. A young lady could receive a fine formal education for the fee of $53 for a thirteen week term, or $165 for a year; a tidy sum in those days.

• In order to identify the Mont Moor railroad station with the port of Nyack, the hamlet officially adopted the name of West Nyack on April 11, 1891. The residents, who live in the old designation of West Nyack became residents of Central Nyack.

• William Voohris brought electric & gas to Nyack in 1893. He would later build an electric power plant on the Nyack Brook on Jackson Ave. A few years later he founded the Nyack Water Company. In the same year Pipe Organs were built in South Nyack at the shop of Donald McDonald on Brookside Avenue by Michael Clark an engineer from Bristol, England.

• In The Nyack Journal for December, 1914 my great-grandfather, William Hegner advertised a New Year’s dinner of Turkey and all the trimmings for $3.50 at his Hegner’s Cafe at 87 Main Street. He and my great grandmother, Margaret, also owned the Nyack Hotel on Burd St.

• In the days just before World War I, Edward J. Maurer constructed what is possibly the only airplane ever built in the village at his shop on lower Main Street. He took his hydroplane to South America where it provided passenger service along the Magdalena River in Columbia.
• At the height of troops heading the Europe 1918 from Camp Merritt, in nearby New Jersey, Nyack Police Justice Gedney reduced the population of the village by two when he ordered two damsels to leave. It seems the “ladies,” residing at a home on the corner of Main and Mill Street, showed a fondness for entertaining soldiers who were training nearby. After a police raid by Chief Michael Furey and Officer Burdick spoiled the revel, the ladies were arrested, fined $10 each and directed to leave the village in two days.

• In 1927, the Standard Steam Motor Car Company was located on Eagle’s Nest, South Highland Avenue in Nyack. They were agents for all makes of steam cars that offered fuel economy (could we use that today), low upkeep and unlimited power. Also in 1927 Raymond Bohr Sr. had a funeral parlor at 17 Remsen Street located where the little parking lot is behind the YMCA.

• In 1931 the Nyack ferry made eleven trips a day crossing the Hudson to Tarrytown and back starting at 5:30 in the morning and ending with the last train north from NYC arrived at 8:30 pm. The round trip ticket cost twenty-five cents.

• From the 1943 phone directory I found out that Nyack’s last Feed & Grain store, Pye & Towt, was located on Depew Avenue, and that Ira Hartwick ran the Rockland Farm Agency in South Nyack.

• Wilcox & Gibbs made custom sewing machines at their factories on Cedar Hill and Railroad Avenues. During World War Two they made a special sewing machine that would stitch together parachutes with a one inch wide woven seam. The plant closed in June, 1972

• After World War II Catherine Raso was a model for Milton Caniff. Kay was the original April in his famous cartoon Terry & the Pirates.

• Eyebrows rose a bit in the early 70s when Victor Jurist, the owner of Vintage Cars, brought to his Nyack showroom on Broadway the specially-built Mercedes that was designed to protect Adolf Hitler. The 20-foot long car carried an inch and a half of armor plate weighing more that 10,000 pounds It got only four miles per gallon yet was clocked at speeds over 135 mph. The car didn’t stay long and was sold to a private collector.

These are but a few of the little interesting facts that I have discovered in my research please keep reading future columns and I am sure you will be ready for those winter trivia contests on Social Media or in one of our local watering-holes.

The Nyack Villager thanks Jim Leiner for helping us all ‘Remember the Days .’