tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85418467267378519162024-02-22T08:08:59.538-08:00River Vale - As I Knew ItRemembrances of River Vale, NJ - from 1929 - 1954Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8541846726737851916.post-23454284817338445932012-06-03T15:29:00.000-07:002012-04-23T22:06:32.924-07:00Introduction<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-lkVjOjKVHyahcVk6FMOtyCHaBObtd0dDDHJtvJI_f0nAAtegoy2f7LWowCEHzGOKPKFOSjT_5JiitoyZ53nnLznoTUlCfsE6GTI7ZSy0Nd_otRIXSWvykc0R1FwhZ6hQAPKmps20_Mzq/s1600/photo-sepia-sm.gif" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-lkVjOjKVHyahcVk6FMOtyCHaBObtd0dDDHJtvJI_f0nAAtegoy2f7LWowCEHzGOKPKFOSjT_5JiitoyZ53nnLznoTUlCfsE6GTI7ZSy0Nd_otRIXSWvykc0R1FwhZ6hQAPKmps20_Mzq/s1600/photo-sepia-sm.gif" /></a>I would readily say that most people in the state of New Jersey never
heard of the town of River Vale. Of those that have heard of it, very few
even know where it is. Of those who have heard of River Vale and even know
where it is, there are only a handful of people who knew this quiet little
town as do those of us who grew up there during the 20s, 30s, and 40s,
before the town's population "took off" after World War II. Included in
these three decades are what we refer to as "The Depression Years". This
is the era that I will endeavor to cover in my recollections of River Vale.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I will attempt to break down this writing into two sections. One being
"places" and the other being "people". I might add some personal observations,
also.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>River Valehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02787049368811712002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8541846726737851916.post-38274526620413883072012-06-02T15:24:00.000-07:002012-04-30T12:37:39.811-07:00Why this book?<span style="color: black;">Why am I writing this booklet? To start with,
I am not a writer by any stretch of anyone's imagination. Nor am I a historian
of any kind. To answer my own question: I have found in recent years when
meeting people who now live in River Vale, that they know NOTHING of the
charm and uniqueness of this beautiful little town tucked away in Bergen
County. The generation before mine is almost gone from this earth and if
someone from my generation does not tell what he or she knows, pretty soon
my generation will be gone also.</span><br />
<span style="color: black;"> </span>
<br />
<span style="color: black;">I am not, and will not attempt to write a history
book about River Vale. Anything like that is, I'm sure, a matter of record
somewhere and does not have to be repeated by me. The dates in this are
as I remember them and very possibly off by a year or two. </span><br />
<br />
I will give this booklet to other people that grew up with me so they can verify
or contradict the content before I complete it. By doing this, any errors
will have to slip through the minds of others also.<br />
<br />
For the record: I was born in River Vale in 1929,
with my older brother, Bill, grew up on Echo Glen Road, graduated from River
Vale School Number 1 in 1943 (Westwood Avenue) and Westwood High School
in 1947. I do not intend to write anything unless I remember it personally.
If I vary from this it will be noted in the text.<br />
<br />
Written by one who will be forever grateful for
the experience of growing up in early River Vale...<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht18M40LLupJ4vltSR0ZfYycZa5TCzousHKAdZioOorlTbIRB3qJ0HmLJF1L3k0uJNmgsoMr5zIn2H4z8bwXDUHxEzQ78iwbOClJ01WNpWkYmecUAFou66dnAH0wBoRKoNiJPOIApYljqx/s200/bobsecor.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i>Robert L. Secor, Maywood, NJ 1998</i></b></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht18M40LLupJ4vltSR0ZfYycZa5TCzousHKAdZioOorlTbIRB3qJ0HmLJF1L3k0uJNmgsoMr5zIn2H4z8bwXDUHxEzQ78iwbOClJ01WNpWkYmecUAFou66dnAH0wBoRKoNiJPOIApYljqx/s1600/bobsecor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><i> </i></a></div>
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<br />River Valehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02787049368811712002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8541846726737851916.post-62333193821052060232012-05-30T15:01:00.000-07:002012-04-23T21:33:42.162-07:00The Kessler/Conlin Estate<h3>
"Places" </h3>
For a town that is about three miles from North to South and a mile or a mile and a half from East to West, there were many places that could capture the interest of a young boy with an adventuresome (and snoopy) nature such as myself.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0flp1PyngobbBo3b4MXCQDiCVNLe0lJihmK8oo-7oQ5eESAOaC8lUbrsUBk7-PrtniTaVNJ_k8MzUEwsi5aF1Bk26RjISQfIbn-VKwwE6YqtcL-JB5_ybjAc0j-mki_0xhBaVfD9w86IH/s1600/kessler-sm.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0flp1PyngobbBo3b4MXCQDiCVNLe0lJihmK8oo-7oQ5eESAOaC8lUbrsUBk7-PrtniTaVNJ_k8MzUEwsi5aF1Bk26RjISQfIbn-VKwwE6YqtcL-JB5_ybjAc0j-mki_0xhBaVfD9w86IH/s1600/kessler-sm.gif" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The Kessler/Conlin Estate</b> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h3>
Kessler/Conlin Estate</h3>
There were several estates throughout the town that surely should not go without being recognized. The largest and most impressive of those being The Kessler/Conlin Estate. This was a huge three story wood frame house on the site of the present Edgewood Country Club.<br />
<br />
The house was constructed by Julius Kessler, who was one of the first mayors of River Vale and the owner of the Kessler Whiskey Distillery. The estate covered over 300 acres and at one time had many "wild" non-native animals wandering throughout the fields and wooded areas of the estate.<br />
<br />
Sometime during the 30s the place changed ownership from Kessler to a Mr. and Mrs. Ben Conlin. Mrs. Conlin was Mr. Kesslers niece, Dorothy Brady Conlin. About the year 1944, my friend Bob Castello and I became friendly with Don Conlin, the son of the Conlins and we spent every day of our summer vacations at the estate. For two young fellows who hardly got out of the boundaries of the Pascack Valley, this was something that really had us in awe. The major rooms in the house were huge with ceilings that I would guess were 12 feet high. As you moved through the heavily carpeted rooms, you had the feeling that you could easily have been in the company of New York's finest social set, who also spent many hours being entertained in the very same rooms. There was even a "card room" all done in natural wood, possibly a teakwood or something similar. Each and every room in that house just smacked of elegance. It could have been from a Hollywood movie set like "Gone With The Wind" or something of that sort. There was an indoor swimming pool (unheard of in those days), a pool room, a bowling alley, a separate maid's quarters, a kitchen that could have come from a small New York City hotel, that elegant card room that I mentioned previously, and best of all was the hospitality and charm that Mrs. Conlin offered to these two local urchins.<br />
<br />
As soon as you would turn off River Vale Road and go into that driveway with the huge pines overhanging the driveway and parking areas you would have thought that you were someplace far from River Vale. The outer areas of the estate were maintained by a Mr. Albert Miller from River Vale who worked for the Conlin family. The inside of the house was managed by a very charming and cheerful Japanese lady, who was relocated in the East from California, against her wishes, by the U.S. Government during the early days of the war. As I remember, Irene was born in Japan, but came here as an infant and was considered a "threat" to our country and thus shipped East. Irene was a dear person who always kept us supplied with cookies, wonderful sandwiches and ice tea during the summer months.<br />
<br />
The entire estate was sold to John Handwerg (the golf course builder) in the late 40's and soon became a 27 hole golf course. John Jr. moved into the big frame house and remained there until about 1950 when the beautiful house burned to the ground. A very sad day for all of us who knew the place as we did. One somewhat interesting sidelight of this fire was told to me by John Handwerg himself. On the night of the fire when the Handwerg family was sound asleep they were awakened by a loud clanging bell. This enabled the entire family to get out of the house alive. But what was that bell? It seems as though Julius Kessler had a big fire alarm system installed in the house probably prior to World War I. No one even knew of the system until the firemen went thru the ruins and discovered the thing in the cellar. When the time came the thing did exactly the job that it was supposed to do.<br />
<br />River Valehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02787049368811712002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8541846726737851916.post-36323864511343212182012-05-29T15:01:00.000-07:002012-04-23T21:07:59.994-07:00Sears Roebuck "Pre-Cut" Houses<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrNzm6Rwwn6knPkXDecDpZiAF99MxLhQr9If9xFZynypjDnrylbJJ4A3upFaPFjIhcPr9ZUyXdWtFdvtiwuFK_ry-1rQz_0pB57nv0b1lI3brHlZmZdZw7cELmH1a4Ftb-XZOoy4yt4HC2/s1600/sears.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrNzm6Rwwn6knPkXDecDpZiAF99MxLhQr9If9xFZynypjDnrylbJJ4A3upFaPFjIhcPr9ZUyXdWtFdvtiwuFK_ry-1rQz_0pB57nv0b1lI3brHlZmZdZw7cELmH1a4Ftb-XZOoy4yt4HC2/s400/sears.gif" width="285" /></a></div>
In looking back at our little town, I am reminded that it seems as though every corner in the road, every bridge, every house had a name assigned to it. The corners in the road were usually given the name of the family living closest to the corner. Names such as Leslie's corner, Ford's corner, Fondiller's corner or Lachmund's bridge, Overbrook bridge, Slunski's bridge, Leslie's bridge, Fondiller's bridge were "assigned" to these places. Not necessarily an official name, but one give to the place by the locals to describe or identify a particular place. Almost every house had a name too, most always the name of the family living in that house. Not always, however. Sometimes the name of the original owner stuck with the house regardless of who was living there at the time.<br />
<br />
There were several Sears Roebuck "pre cut" houses throughout the town and it took awhile for them to wear off the name "Sears Roebuck houses." They are still standing. At that time, one could purchase a house right out of the Sears Roebuck catalogue and have them construct it or even - if you wanted - build it yourself.<br />
<br />River Valehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02787049368811712002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8541846726737851916.post-31948685454299430162012-05-28T15:02:00.000-07:002012-04-24T14:50:23.784-07:00The Blakeney EstateThe Blakeney Estate is surely another of the fine properties that stood out in River Vale. It was located on the east side of River Vale Road with the property boundary starting at the easterly end of Cleveland Avenue and running south for several hundred feet, all the way to what was then the Spencer's house. The property ran back to the Hackensack River and was one of the nicest parcels of property in the entire town.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8DnGErPHW7UomzniQm7F2g9mzILASS1OwGs2o7YZFaf9GjpQVMySGKjE4VvBT4y20HMSUT8FlM1JpLtflDT2nOvtdzCNmW8g_AntGczZEIDmMz2A_s2UGRIcj2OzbTXy1qF4r1COHUB5l/s1600/blakeney.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8DnGErPHW7UomzniQm7F2g9mzILASS1OwGs2o7YZFaf9GjpQVMySGKjE4VvBT4y20HMSUT8FlM1JpLtflDT2nOvtdzCNmW8g_AntGczZEIDmMz2A_s2UGRIcj2OzbTXy1qF4r1COHUB5l/s1600/blakeney.gif" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Blakeney Estate</b></span>
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The house was a majestic looking place, always with very well maintained grounds with a big white stone driveway that went back to a couple of well-kept barns or garages. The house itself was a three story place of masonry construction. It was a place that anyone passing by would certainly notice and be impressed. For as many years as I can recall, the place was maintained by a Steve Bickoff, who was a former Russian soldier in World War I. About 1960 the place was razed to make room for "progress"... needless to say, some of us "natives" did not consider this "progress". Was kinda sad to see it being demolished.River Valehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02787049368811712002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8541846726737851916.post-81621628328577943142012-05-27T15:02:00.000-07:002012-04-23T23:38:51.913-07:00The Holdrum EstateThe Holdrum Estate was located at the first turn in River Vale Road about 400 feet north of where the police station now stands. It was an older building than Blakeney's or Kessler's judging by its older architectural style. This place sat on the hill facing south looking toward the present DPW building and firehouse. During it's earlier days, it was facing the same direction, but at that time, overlooking Echo Glen Lake and the Holdrum Ice houses that stood on the south side of the lake. Immediately south of the ice houses was Holdrum's Gas Station and auto repair garage. This building is now the DPW building and the ice houses are long since gone. The main house, which was very visible by anyone traveling north on River Vale Road, had behind it several other buildings. One building years before had been a schoolhouse on Piermont Avenue for the few local youngsters in the township and then was moved and converted into a much needed firehouse for the area. There were other large buildings, also.<br />
<br />
I remember the remains of a stable and another building which was a storage barn of some kind. At the end of these buildings was a most fascinating little building that was the workshop of Abe Holdrum, son of Garrett Holdrum*. Abe was about 15 years older than I was, but for many reasons he was surely "our hero." Abe could fix anything that was ever assembled by anyone. Within that little workshop he had constructed the only short wave radio in the area, at least that we knew of. I don't know who or where he ever spoke to, but we could hear the static and crackling from the outside while snooping around. Abe worked in the Holdrum garage for many years and was considered the foremost Packard mechanic in Pascack Valley. I cannot remember ever seeing Abe get mad or lose his temper although an auto mechanic in those days had every right to do either. The Holdrum garage was the very best place in the entire town where a young fellow could spend his idle time.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>* full name: Garrett Samuel Milton Holdrum.</i></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEO1r3Jv4wDMbQkmdjYkWlGofHgnV8Qx6XUHDR8e8FIU6ooRfY_sheIGIlEodbKBqNmQCNaz8aKFZVbrhMQLmDTIHnZDpmviyrzEn49CoMoxHEgFzZ2BzYIn1p1IuNbH5Nt4cSM6xuKdXX/s1600/holdrum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="123" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEO1r3Jv4wDMbQkmdjYkWlGofHgnV8Qx6XUHDR8e8FIU6ooRfY_sheIGIlEodbKBqNmQCNaz8aKFZVbrhMQLmDTIHnZDpmviyrzEn49CoMoxHEgFzZ2BzYIn1p1IuNbH5Nt4cSM6xuKdXX/s400/holdrum.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Holdrum Estate</b>
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>This is a picture taken about 1927-28 looking at The
Holdrum Estate from it front of our house on Echo Glen Road, looking North.
You can see only the West side of the lake and you can see the bridge on
River Vale Road. At the extreme right, you can just see the edge of one
of the ice houses. To the right of that would be the present DPW building.</i></span></td></tr>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKVVWLPF-HGZoxSkujYrrXjSuoJDB25MPPY4W2giWYDQS-UyXnhVVB889yOleOst8HbSEO6ooFtJXNpWaKVAp0SIKG6TDKVKZPhqaN11PX-RBVzMlp2ri7lc-jkVSWeG_yeeSUvXvy_Edn/s1600/holdrum2.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKVVWLPF-HGZoxSkujYrrXjSuoJDB25MPPY4W2giWYDQS-UyXnhVVB889yOleOst8HbSEO6ooFtJXNpWaKVAp0SIKG6TDKVKZPhqaN11PX-RBVzMlp2ri7lc-jkVSWeG_yeeSUvXvy_Edn/s1600/holdrum2.gif" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Holdrum Estate</b></td></tr>
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<span style="color: black;">The large estate became too much of an upkeep
for the owner, Gary Holdrum, and was torn down and the property sold, probably
sometime in the mid-40's. They didn't have garage sales in those days so
they auctioned off all the excess furnishings as was the usual practice
at that time. I remember the auction and even then I felt kinda sad knowing
that this indeed was the end of an era. I've recently noticed that the
big, old locust trees there were at the end of the footpath leading up
to the big house are still standing in the same cluster that they were
in 1935, and even before that.</span>
<br />
<br />
There were several other large, well-cared for homes in town, but the
three mentioned were the most impressive to me.<br />
<br />River Valehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02787049368811712002noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8541846726737851916.post-65955674158102683532012-05-26T15:02:00.000-07:002012-04-24T00:02:36.670-07:00The FirehouseAbout 75 feet south of Holdrum's Garage, where the present day firehouse now stands, was the only firehouse in town. This building housed whatever fire trucks that River Vale owned. I seem to remember that in the early 30's one of them had solid rubber tires, an oddity even back then.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2-jSF0NdP1ekEpn2EEfUuR4jrPb7qks7Aa1FyItaYkvk3F4j7Q1dvyQBUtiL4TOv8hR1bCZeAUqALJN3Z49UXFcTXQqYbwxEKpElvCH7bk_CIq1aSol8JEwEazlwpSAUK6T4PMfaQM7W_/s1600/firehouse.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2-jSF0NdP1ekEpn2EEfUuR4jrPb7qks7Aa1FyItaYkvk3F4j7Q1dvyQBUtiL4TOv8hR1bCZeAUqALJN3Z49UXFcTXQqYbwxEKpElvCH7bk_CIq1aSol8JEwEazlwpSAUK6T4PMfaQM7W_/s1600/firehouse.gif" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>River Vale Firehouse</b></span>
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This building was a great place to spend a rainy or snowy day or a day that was too cold or too hot. The door was usually unlocked and the couple of kids in the neighborhood would go in and play board games or just sit around and kill time talking or whatever. We were always careful to leave the place exactly as we found it so no one would think that it was necessary to lock the place up. The building was also the town hall and unmanned police station. It was also used for town parties or meetings, so very often it was a busy place. Or at least as busy as sleepy old River Vale ever got. That, too burned down, probably sometime in the mid-70's.River Valehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02787049368811712002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8541846726737851916.post-30644087345216397582012-05-25T15:02:00.000-07:002012-04-23T21:35:40.383-07:00Echo Glen LakeNot many people know that there was a beautiful lake right in the center of River Vale. It was created by the Holdrum family by constructing a dam that blocked the little stream that presently runs under River Vale Road about 200 feet north of the police station. The lake covered the area from the present DPW garage north to the base of the hill where the Holdrum Estate stood. It went eastward about 400 feet to where the broken dam still stands. It went westward for probably 1500 feet or more and on the West side of River Vale Road. It was quite wide in some places. On a weekend you would see a crowd of people fishing off the bridge on both sides of River Vale Road. A crowd in those days meant 8 or 10 people. This lake was directly across Echo Glen Road from my home and I spent many, many hours playing along the grassy shore of this wonderful lake.<br />
<br />
During the winter this place attracted even more people than in the summer. There was no television with which to watch football or things like that on a Sunday afternoon, so people headed out to various ponds in the area to go ice skating. Occasionally, an ice boat would show up on "our" lake as the lake was long enough for an ice boat to get moving. Saturdays and Sundays would bring dozens of people onto the lake and a couple of bonfires would be started so the skaters could take a time out and get warmed up. As I remember, I would spend more time playing with the fire than I would playing on the ice.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJkgrRFNv2Un0WU8tWFYvzQF5nSaehY94QcWKqC0QiP5FLzMvpbzg-Ch1ICRXkZwRolZX4UQ1F_SJmiH_ibTMBafVkyTxycCssxtR256YfW2br-87rOg0L9bxmZjFhhy0fe3yJdru_ssFI/s1600/lake-sm.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJkgrRFNv2Un0WU8tWFYvzQF5nSaehY94QcWKqC0QiP5FLzMvpbzg-Ch1ICRXkZwRolZX4UQ1F_SJmiH_ibTMBafVkyTxycCssxtR256YfW2br-87rOg0L9bxmZjFhhy0fe3yJdru_ssFI/s1600/lake-sm.gif" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Echo Glen Lake</b></span>
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</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
At left is a picture of Echo Glen Lake looking south from the front lawn of the Holdrum Estate. The two buildings are a rear view of the Holdrum ice houses. To the right of this, behind the old car would be the site of the present day police station and DPW garage. The row of trees further to the right would follow the path of River Vale Road going south. I don't know when this picture was taken. My guess is that it was the late 20's. The forward two people in the canoe are my father, Roy Secor, and my uncle, Harold Riedel, the other two I cannot identify.</div>
<br />River Valehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02787049368811712002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8541846726737851916.post-55526867601694783012012-05-24T15:03:00.000-07:002012-04-23T21:35:55.441-07:00Hackensack River / Race TrackAs it is yet today, River Vale has at its' Northern and Eastern boundaries the Hackensack River. There presently seems to be a big lake at the North end of town running from Popular Road to the state border and then some. When I was growing up, this was all woodlands with the Hackensack River winding all through the countryside from Rockland County, south to the Harrington Park section of the Oradell Reservoir.<br />
<br />
This river provided a year round playground for any young fellows who loved the outdoors as much as some of us did. In normal times, it was a great place for swimming and fishing. There were along its' banks several sandy swimming spots that provided free, clean, safe swimming holes for those people that knew of them. Especially on weekends, many families would head through the woods to their favorite swimming hole and spend the day at the "beach". For the most part, the water was clean enough to see the bottom in all but the deepest spots. The kids, like myself, would drink the water from the river with no reservations. I never knew of any one of us getting sick from it.<br />
<br />
There were more exciting times on this normally peaceful river, though. There was no flood control of any kind, because there were no dams in the river all the way up to New York State. In the spring, when the rains would come, the river would flood its' banks and sometimes even come up to the back yards of houses along New Street and River Vale Road by the firehouse. The river would occasionally come up to within feet of the white church at the end of Echo Glen Road. These were great times for us. We would be in the river all day long with its' rushing, muddy, debris filled water. We would always be able to get a free inner tube from Mr. Holdrum at his service station and we would often float from Kessler's bridge down to behind the Blakeney or Artz property. This might have taken a couple of hours with several spills along the way and several harmless encounters with the large black snakes that were also driven out of their homes by the flood. In looking back at this I've often thought how dangerous this was, and wondered why anyone would let little kids do these things. Sure was great fun, though.<br />
<br />
<h3>
The Race Track</h3>
Sometime around the year 1934 or '35, someone brought a large parcel of property on Piermont Avenue and proceeded to start constructing a complex of stables, a race track and a big grandstand for the purpose of having horse races there. I can remember my grandfather pulling a little wagon with my brother and I sitting in the thing and going over there to see the place being built. Never before had we ever seen these huge construction machines and the whole thing was quite a thrilling experience. They had bulldozers and shovels moving dirt all over the place. There was almost too much activity for a four or five year old to watch at one time. The place never really caught on as a race track, probably at a time other than in the middle of "The Great Depression" it would have fared much better. I do remember seeing sulky racing over there once or twice and one time saw an outdoor night boxing match there, also. The big event on those grounds was the yearly River Vale Firemen's fireworks display that was held right in the center of the big oval. The place was sold once or twice and then became a private stable. The stables burned down and then the entire complex was sold to become what is presently the Holiday Farms development.River Valehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02787049368811712002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8541846726737851916.post-36086661546472732112012-05-23T15:23:00.000-07:002012-04-23T21:36:20.099-07:00Fertilizer Plant / The Ice ArenaNot every memory or River Vale is necessarily pleasant! Sometimes in my time frame of memory, probably in the early 40's, it seems as though someone built a plant adjacent to St. Andrews cemetery on Cedar Lane. This thing was an eyesore to begin with, but when they started cooking their vats of manure everyone probably forgot what the thing looked like. The smell that came out of that place was beyond description. They usually cooked the stuff at night, but in the summertime and before air-conditioning everyone slept with their windows wide open, and boy, did that things smell! We lived over by the firehouse and the smell made it directly to our house and came in every window. The town fathers tried to get the thing out of town, but as today, the plant people tied things up legally, so there it stayed. One wonderful night, the place caught fire and pretty much burned to the ground before the firemen arrived. Thus an happy ending for the town residents!<br />
<br />
<h3>
The Ice Arena</h3>
In about the year 1938 or 39, John Handwerg constructed the largest building in River Vale. It was his ice arena on River Vale Road at the intersection of Prospect Avenue, adjacent to the then Public School No. 2. He brought a minor league team into town made up of mostly Canadians, who came down here with the hopes of making it into the "big time" league in New York City. I can remember going to several of these games and this was surely as big time as it ever got for a seven or eight year old River Vale kid like myself. At that time, my father worked for John Handwerg and I had pretty much the run of the arena. I can still remember how scary it was to be in the room with the big compressors running with all the accompanying noise. I was always glad to get out of that room. The sport was starting to catch on and attendance was picking up when Canada became involved in World War II. It seemed as though all the players left immediately and thus, no team. I do remember one night when our mayor, Mr. Blakeney, who had a front row box seat, got hit in the mouth by a wayward hockey puck and it messed him up quite a bit. The arena closed up as a hockey rink and for awhile was just a recreational ice rink. This didn't last for long, and it was then closed down. During World War II it was a warehouse for Lederle from Pearl River. After the war, it became a factory that manufactured canvas sporting goods such as boxing mats and things like that (Premier Athletic). The building still stands as one of the few industrial buildings in town. Was exciting while it lasted! Dick Button, the olympic skater, learned how to skate here.<br />
<br />River Valehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02787049368811712002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8541846726737851916.post-14969747985211519682012-05-22T21:20:00.000-07:002012-04-24T19:45:00.309-07:009 Hole Golf Course / The Gun Club<h3>
The 9 Hole Golf Course</h3>
This golf course was NOT the River Vale CC on North River Vale Road, nor was it the golf course that runs along Piermont Road on the old Kessler estate. It also was NOT the course on the south of town on the water company property. This course was a golf course that ran along Rockland and Cleveland Avenues. The course ran along Cleveland almost to River Vale Road and south on Rockland as far down as Central Avenue. The clubhouse for the place was on Cleveland Avenue about 100 feet east of Rockland. It still stands and was converted into a residential home many years ago, probably during World War II. Golf courses and any place that required automobile transportation were really hit hard during the war because gas was very hard to get and many people did not want to use it for nonessential purposes.<br />
<br />
The place fell into disrepair and eventually just closed up, probably during the very early days of World War II. There was a nice golf course in Old Tappan that closed down about the same time, I suspect for the same reason. It was called Ripple Creek Country Club and ran all along Washington Avenue from Tappan Road into Norwood. One or two fellows who lived along Washington Avenue had airplanes and landed them on the remains of the old course and parked them in their back yards. This must have been in the late 1940's.<br />
<br />
<h3>
The Gun Club</h3>
One of the most exciting days of the year came sometime in the fall of the year when the annual clay bird shooting competition took place at the River Vale Gun Club. The gun club was on what is now Victory Place, about 100 feet in from Rockland Avenue. There was a clubhouse right on the dirt street and firing stations, facing north, all along the north side of the building. There was a little booth about 50 feet out from the house that launched these clay pigeons and the competitors would stand at the firing line and fire at these things to see how many of these lifeless "birds" they could hit. This went on all day and, boy, was that a great day! The day after, or the same evening we would go out in the bushes and find the "birds" that were missed and escaped unharmed. These were great treasures for us and we kept them until they inevitably got broken by some uncaring individual who didn't realize the great value of these things, or the family dog might sit on them and break them into small pieces, as happened to me one time! I remember many of the Westwood, Hillsdale, Old Tappan and River Vale sportsmen, dressed in their finery, coming together for this big event.<br />
<br />River Valehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02787049368811712002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8541846726737851916.post-26337775591457001642012-05-21T21:28:00.000-07:002012-04-24T19:44:22.904-07:00Airplane Landing FieldJust across Rockland Avenue from the 9 hole golf course was a large tract of vacant land. This property was actually a defunct housing development that had for it's boundaries Cleveland Avenue on it's north and Central Avenue on it's south. It went east and west from Rockland Avenue to Cedar Lane. Except for 4 houses on Cleveland and a couple on Cedar Lane the place was just a big field. It did have sidewalks going thru it and unpaved streets could be found if one looked hard enough. <br />
<br />
These long packed dirt streets provided a great place for wandering airplanes to set themselves down on a Sunday afternoon so the occupants could stretch their legs or whatever. When we would hear an airplane buzzing around the sky, usually on a Sunday, we would run as fast as we could to this big field, hoping that this was one of the days that they would land. When they did, our eyes would almost pop out of our heads. Imagine standing next to a real live airplane (fabric covered) and sometimes we would even get to touch it. Almost more than a young boy could stand! We regarded these pilots as men from outer space, which to us they really were. The names of two of these fearless pilots come to mind as being Vince Moore and Bob Sona. Seemingly there were no restrictions as to where or how men flew these planes because they would cruise just over the treetops where they were about to land. Of course, they were landing on residential land, too. But then again, the residential land had no residents till years after this. <br />
<br />
The street that they landed on is now named Roosevelt Avenue, probably was then, too, but no one knew it. This was surely a big thrill to all the local kids, after all, back then there would probably be no more than 3 or 4 planes fly over the town in an entire week.<br />
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This same field, known by us as "Ford's Field", also provided another thrilling experience for us. There was a glider club that I believe came from Hillsdale that also would use this field to test their skills on flying their frame glider. They would pull this with an automobile attached by a long rope and get it up in the air much like you would fly a kite. If the pilot was lucky to get into a draft of some kind he could make a big circle around the neighborhood and hopefully get back to the field. If he did not get the draft the thing would make a very abrupt turn and set down pretty much from where he just took off.<br />
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As soon as World War II came along, all these fellows joined the military as did most of the young men in the entire country. One of these glider pilots from Hillsdale, Frank Hill, became quite an American hero during the war as a fighter pilot. Flying a British Spitfire he shot down several enemy planes in the air war over Europe. I seem to remember that there was a Fritz Snow from Hillsdale and a fellow from Washington Township of the Beuerlein family in this glider club also. There were a few others, but I either never knew their names or have since forgotten them. <br />
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One day the glider didn't make it back to the field and crashed onto Mayor Blakeney's front lawn. I don't think that there were any physical injuries involved. I have also been told that the area where the 9 hole golf course was located was a little airport before it became a golf course. Supposedly this went back to shortly after World War I. This was indeed before my time and I don't know if this was true or not...River Valehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02787049368811712002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8541846726737851916.post-74985329994113026802012-05-20T21:47:00.000-07:002012-04-24T19:54:29.911-07:00Beacon Light / Herrmann's GroveAs far back as I can remember, River Vale had a beacon light. This light was one in a series of lights that would guide airplanes at night that were headed to the Newark or Teterboro airports. As was told to us, there were mail planes that would fly through the night from points north, such as Albany or Boston, and they would use these signals, that could been seen for many miles, to guide them on their flight.<br />
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There was also one in that series on the top of the mountain in Haverstraw, NY. The signal from our light was 3 red flashes and one white. When the pilot got over that, he could see Teterboro and head directly there. I saw that 3 red and 1 white signal flashing on my bedroom wall for many years and went to sleep many times watching it sending out it's constant signal. For years it was mounted on a concrete slab right next to the gun club, about 50 feet off Rockland Avenue. It was then moved to the southeast corner of the property that was know as "Herrmann's Grove". This property is now part of the River Vale Town Hall complex. I think that I remember that this light was originally on the easterly end of the Holdrum complex, but I can't seem to find anyone who can verify this, so that is also a "maybe".<br />
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<h3>
Beacon Light Again</h3>
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This same beacon light became significant on an evening in about 1938 or 1939.. On this particular evening a young fellow was flying a WWI army surplus biplane called a "Jenny" and hopefully heading for the Teterboro airport. The Jenny was the United States' principal plane used for training in the war. It had two wings and was fabric covered and although not spectacular the country had thousands of them. (top speed 55 MPH) As this fellow approached River Vale, following the beacon trail, a sudden fog rapidly formed and the poor fellow was instantly lost. He did locate our beacon though and kept circling around it hoping for a miracle to happen. We could hear this thing going over and over our house at about 500 feet. The "miracle" did indeed happen... One of our residents, living on Rockland Ave, had a radio of some sort and luckily was able to get on the same frequency as this hapless fellow in the plane...Our resident somehow managed to guide the plane to a safe landing on Roosevelt Ave much to his relief. The pilot stayed the night in a local home and was off again on his trip early the next day.<br />
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<h3>
Herrmann's Grove...</h3>
The parcel of property that is now occupied by the town hall, senior citizen's place and the library was all known as "Herrmann's Picnic Grove". This was owned by Leopold Herrmann ("Lep"). This was a great place on weekends as it very often had a picnic going on being run by some Hudson County organization of some kind. There was lots of loud music and often a place where a wily interloper could "con" some unknowing citizen out of a hot dog or something eat-able. Sometimes we could even get a free bottle of Sattley's soda along with it. This would last until some observant person would notice that we didn't belong there at all and suggest that we move on.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyfWxR4EzGOpoW8gHnDPwSChTynbCSQ56JmXeidn8QPPvwpyDflvBYiyXdxwE2dUTJTcYUf0UTHcTl8m3nS6A2C4SX8CmE-MRav1U02T8eMUHKi19WtDE0YHrk-i1eZOyaJ14yQRv9rJAF/s1600/hotdog2.gif" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyfWxR4EzGOpoW8gHnDPwSChTynbCSQ56JmXeidn8QPPvwpyDflvBYiyXdxwE2dUTJTcYUf0UTHcTl8m3nS6A2C4SX8CmE-MRav1U02T8eMUHKi19WtDE0YHrk-i1eZOyaJ14yQRv9rJAF/s1600/hotdog2.gif" /></a>Of course, by far the most important day of the entire summer was the annual River Vale Fireman's picnic at this grove. We counted the days until this great day arrived. Imagine, free soda and hot dogs and even ice cream!!! Also there were contests of all kinds, sack races, potato races and all that wonderful stuff. It surely was a day that we wanted to never end. As the day came near its' end some of the lively adults would move to the dance hall in the grounds and encouraged by some of the beverages they may have ingested during the day they would dance up a storm. The kids like myself were wearing down and would be content to sit and watch these grownups acting crazy... Great day, it was!<br />
<br />River Valehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02787049368811712002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8541846726737851916.post-13312245291757788192012-05-19T21:50:00.000-07:002012-04-23T21:51:44.353-07:00Peter's StoreIf there was a "center of town" in River Vale, it would've had to be the four corners. There was a gas station, owned by William Blauvelt ("Bo"), a tavern named Grummans or Germanns and a general store owned by Ed and Elsie Peters. In the early '30's there was a butcher store somewhere in there that was run by one of the Artz family. Fred, I think. <br />
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Peter's store was the most memorable in town because it was a place where you had to stop every day on the way home from school and if you arranged your lunch money (15 cents) carefully you would have a nickel with which to buy a delightful Mrs. Wagner's cherry pie. It seemed as though Mr. Peters spent his entire life in that store. He was always somewhere behind the counter when you would walk in.<br />
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There was also a soda fountain in the front of the store where you could get an ice cream cone or something nice like that. The Peters family were certainly a pleasant part of our town and well thought of. In that store was the only public phone that I can remember. You would pick up the phone, hear "number, please?" give the operator the number, deposit your nickel and the operator would complete the call for you. <br />
<br />River Valehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02787049368811712002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8541846726737851916.post-19518506313348895052012-05-18T21:51:00.000-07:002012-04-23T21:53:27.834-07:00Dairy Farms...During the '30's there were at least 3 dairy farms in River Vale. The
one that we knew best was Pascack Dairy. It was located on the north
side of Cleveland Avenue almost down to Cedar Lane. It was owned and
operated by a kind and generous man named Harry Sabin. The Sabin family
lived in a house out by Cleveland Avenue. Behind the house was a "milk
house" where the milk would get processed and bottled, for mostly home
delivery, by Harry and his milk truck. Harry usually had one of the
local boys go with him on the route and take the milk from the truck and
put it in the wood or metal box that the customer had on their front or
side porch. The Pascack Dairy cows could almost always be seen grazing
along the north side of Cleveland Avenue or over along Cedar Lane where
they could freely walk. There was also a huge hay barn behind the Sabin
house that provided another place where we could play and romp around. <br />
<br />
Another dairy farm was owned by a Mr. Barnes and was located on the
southwest corner of Prospect Avenue and River Vale Road. Mr. Barnes
apparently did not have as many cows as Pascack Dairy and it seemed as
though he worked very hard on that piece of property to make a living. I
seem to remember that he grew quite a few vegetables on the property
also. <br />
<br />
A third farm was still further north up River Vale Road. It was owned by
the Iten family and was located just across from where the Woodside
School now stands. The Iten cows would wander all through the woods
going even further north on River Vale Road.<br />
<br />
The Iten cows would also go down the back and graze all the way through
to Orangeburg Road. The Iten family eventually sold the farm and moved
to Catskill, NY, where they had more space to raise even more cows.
<br />
<br />
There was a 4th dairy farm but I'm not sure how much of it was on River
Vale land. That was Stockdale's farm on Prospect Avenue. It was a well-kept
place with rather large dairy barns and a pond in the middle of the place.
I know that some of it was on River Vale property so I suppose that it
could be counted as a River Vale farm.
<br />
<br />
Just as most of River Vale has gone, so have these dairy farms. Each
one was sold off and its' property was developed with houses being built
where the cows used to roam.<br />
<br />River Valehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02787049368811712002noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8541846726737851916.post-37329867939071934602012-05-17T21:54:00.000-07:002012-04-23T22:05:31.145-07:00Holdrum's Gas Station<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In the building that is presently the DPW Garage was the best "hangout" in the whole town. This was the gas station and repair shop of Mr. Garrett Holdrum. It was a cement block building with an office on the right side and bays for 3 or 4 cars on the left. As you walked in, there was a candy and cigarette counter on your right and a lift top Coca Cola box on your left, kept cold by blocks of ice. There were fan belts and hoses hanging all over the walls of the "office" that would occasionally find their way into someone's car in the garage section. <br />
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During the depression there were many people out of work so there would always be someone found "hanging around" the place. <br />
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The mechanic in the place was Abe Holdrum, probably the best auto mechanic in the entire Pascack Valley. He was a quiet person, but very kind and friendly to the pesky kids that were often underfoot. <br />
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It was in the office of this garage that I heard the announcement of the attack on Pearl Harbor and that event will remain embedded in my head forever. I'm not sure I completely understood what it meant, but I did know that it was indeed bad news! <br />
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There were about 6 young men in there at the time and Mr. Holdrum was usually in the office ready to pump gas or wait on the rare person who came in to buy something, so I always knew someone who would be willing to tell me stories of old River Vale. My interest in this kind of thing went that far back. I can plainly recall Mr. Holdrum telling me the story of The Baylor Massacre about 20 years before it was uncovered. I was surprised that everyone made a such a big fuss over the thing because I thought that it was common knowledge that no one cared. The most amazing thing was how accurate Mr. Holdrum's description was of the location of the mass grave. The whole thing surely was no secret to him... that garage provided many fine memories for many young people like myself...<br />
<br />River Valehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02787049368811712002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8541846726737851916.post-21776182415886796502012-05-16T23:26:00.000-07:002012-04-23T23:29:15.730-07:00The Automobile Junk YardJust behind Holdrum's garage, setting back about 75 feet, was an automobile junk yard. This ran back toward the river and went from behind the fire house to the shoreline of the then empty lake. This thing probably showed up about 1938 and was there for a few years and for reasons unknown to us it moved to Old Tappan. This junk yard was a great place to spend our constant idle time. We would play in the old Packards, Studebakers, Hudsons, Terraplanes and many other unfamiliar named cars that are now only found in the history books. The place was usually unattended and even when there was someone working there, it was only a hard working guy named Joe. Joe didn't seem to care what we did in the cars. I guess because he knew that they were to be scrapped anyway. It would be a great day when we found a new arrival setting up on a little hill so we could kick it out of gear and then "drive" it down the hill and usually bump into some other wreck...<br />
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The picture at left was taken in the mid 1920's. It was taken of my
grandfather, John Riedel, walking west on Echo Glen Road with two
unidentified friends. The men are about 250 feet west of River Vale
Road. All the property, which ran all the way to Rockland Avenue, became
farmland and was farmed by my uncle, Harold Riedel.<br />
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The picture at right is taken of our favorite swimming hole known as the
"clay hole." It was down behind the fire house at a bend in the river.
On a weekend afternoon, there could be as many as 20 people swimming in
this place, or sitting around on the banks of the cool, clear Hackensack
River...<br />River Valehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02787049368811712002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8541846726737851916.post-30828860081219579612012-05-15T23:30:00.000-07:002012-04-23T23:31:04.020-07:00River Vale RoadsAs one would look at River Vale Roads nowadays, it would be hard to imagine that River Vale had many roads that were not paved until after World War II. Our street, Echo Glen Road was not paved all the time that I was growing up. Many times after a heavy rain we would wake up in the morning and see a car imbedded in the street just past our house. We lived about 250 feet off of River Vale Road and the street would end at our house any time there was bad weather. It would be mud or snow all the way up to Rockland Avenue and those that tried to get through would often get stuck in something. <br />
<br />
There were many other streets that were at least as bad. The ones that come to mind as the worst were Poplar Road, Cooper Lane, Rockland Avenue, the south end of Cedar Lane, all the streets that run from Westwood Avenue through to Central, also Central, Elizabeth, Roosevelt, Hermann, New Street and most other local streets. <br />
<br />
About once a year a truck would come through and pour some kind of oil on the streets to kinda keep the dust down and this would pack the streets for a few weeks, but as soon as any bad weather would come along you would travel these roads never knowing if you would reach the other end or not. We would walk to school on Rockland when it was passable and I can remember more than once seeing a car up to its' running boards in mud and it would sit there possibly for two or three days until somehow someone extracted it. <br />
<br />
New Street at times was so bad that people with cars would park their cars by River Vale Road and walk home. Poplar Road and Cooper Lane were impassable a good part of the winter months. Once a year the county would pour hot tar on the county roads and cover it with small crushed stone. Then for days people would be driving around with tar speckled automobiles and these small stones stuck to every part of the car that you could imagine. It was like undercoating your car while driving. This was really bad news for those of us who traveled around on motorcycles... <br />
<br />
Over a period of time, probably in the '50's, the streets were all gradually paved and the citizens quickly forgot "the good old days"... I remember!River Valehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02787049368811712002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8541846726737851916.post-49154543250422269842012-05-10T23:32:00.000-07:002012-04-23T23:33:59.603-07:00The Mink Farm / Collignon PropertyOn the north side of Cleveland Avenue, about 200 feet from River Vale Road, stands a big white house. Sometime during the early 40's this place was rented out by its owner, Andrew Artz, to two fellows that had a mink farm in their backyard. This place was directly behind our house so we would visit the mink quite often. Was kinda interesting watching these things being raised from little ones to rather good size mink. The partnership was dissolved rather abruptly, shortly after the two partners had a knife fight on the front lawn of the place. I assume that they were settling a partnership issue. Made all the local papers for a short time.<br />
<br />
<h3>
The Collignon Property</h3>
Just north of the four corners, about 400 feet, as you went around a slight bend in the road you would have seen a parcel of property on your right that was owned by the Collignon family. Setting down in a small dwell on the property was an old building that housed the necessary equipment for Mr. Collignon's cider mill. Most of the year there was not much activity on this spot, but when the apples got ripe the place was a hustle and bustle of activity. There would be trucks full of apples coming in to drop off their apples to Mr. Collignon so he could put them into his big presses and squeeze out all that wonderful cider. This became another place where we would stop in and visit on the way home from school and while there sample Mr. Collignon's cider. If he did mind us taking his cider, which I doubt, he never complained a bit.<br />
<br />River Valehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02787049368811712002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8541846726737851916.post-6641746715738618622012-05-09T23:35:00.000-07:002012-04-23T23:37:30.879-07:00Dobroslovich's FarmThe property adjacent to Collignon's was owned by the Dobroslovich family and was an active farm. Mr. Dobroslovich would work on this property from morning to night and raise some of the nicest vegetables that you could find. He had a little stand in front of the house where he would sell his produce to the passersby on River Vale Road. He surely worked very hard and very long for whatever he got out of it.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Other Places</h3>
During the early 30's there was a big baseball field on the southwest corner of the four corners. I can remember baseball being played there on Sunday afternoons with organized teams from the area. First time I ever saw baseball being played with people actually wearing uniforms.<br />
<br />
On the southeast corner there was a big field, probably a couple of acres, that was at times filled with nice, big strawberries. These were grown by a family named Lentz who lived in a big old house on the property facing Westwood Ave. After the strawberry era, someone used the field for growing gladiolus which were then trucked to New York City and sold in a flower market over there.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />River Valehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02787049368811712002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8541846726737851916.post-32321179768317327162012-05-08T23:36:00.000-07:002012-04-23T23:40:44.463-07:00Schusten's HotelOn River Vale Road directly across from the end of Prospect Avenue was a big old hotel building. I went there once or twice with my grandfather probably in 1934 or 1935. I guess the only thing I remember about the place was that it was old and big and had several old men sitting on chairs on a big porch that faced north. It was the kind of place that you would have expected to see Wyatt Earp sitting and rocking back and forth in a old rocking chair. I've been told that this was once a night spot of sorts with music, dancing and whatever. Like other places in town this place had an ignominious end by burning to the ground in about the year 1935.River Valehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02787049368811712002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8541846726737851916.post-60458146533829178832012-05-07T23:40:00.000-07:002012-04-24T20:06:36.105-07:00Westwood AvenueComing into River Vale from Westwood on Westwood Avenue as you cross
Fondiller's bridge was the one and only street light that our town had.
Don't even know why it was there. We thought that it was a mistake or when
they put lights in Westwood they had one left over. <br />
<br />
Continuing east on Westwood Avenue, as you passed the chicken farm on
your right, you would come to Rockland Avenue, same as you would today.
One difference is that back then you could have stopped on your right and
bought gas at Jandris's gas station or you could have gone inside and purchased
some basic canned goods or other odds and ends. If need be, you could have
driven your car around behind the gas station and have it repaired by Al
Jandris who had a nice repair station back there. This also was a frequent
stop for penny candy for the school kids like myself. I believe that the
Jandris house still stands directly across from Rockland Avenue. The gas
station was next door on the west side.
<br />
<br />
Another couple hundred feet and you came to School No. 1, which when
I first went there in 1935, was a wooden school on the left side and an
brick school on the right. About two years later the old wood school was
knocked down and a new school was erected and joined to the existing school
on the right. I can remember walking amongst the construction equipment
and on make shift walkways that were put there by the WPA construction
workers who built the place.
<br />
<br />
On the property immediately next to the school (east) was an old house
that could hardly be seen from the street although it was only set back
about 25 feet. This place was covered with overgrown shrubbery and thick
with trees all around it. There was, what we thought, a very old man and
a very old woman living in there that young school kids were afraid of.
Little did these kids (us) know that this woman had been a secretary to
one of our presidents and was a very accomplished woman. I'm pretty sure
that she was a secretary to Warren Harding, although I'm not positive of
that. Many years later <i>The Bergen Record</i> had a big write-up about this woman,
Mrs. Workman.
<br />
<br />
Continuing east on Westwood Avenue and having passed the four corners
you would pass on your left a small dirt road that led back into the woods.
This went down to a favorite swimming spot on the Hackensack called "Far
Eastwood". This was at a rather large bend in the river and was a nice
clean place for swimming or just "hanging out." Many people from Harrington
Park, Closter and the Dumont area used this spot because you could get
there by car, bike or take the number 12 bus to the four corners and walk
a short distance. This was one of the better spots for river swimming.
<br />
<br />
This particular dirt road received much attention sometime
about 1948 or 1949... Seems like every once in a while when someone no
longer wanted an automobile they would drive it into the woods
someplace, take the plates off it, and just walk away and leave
it....There it would stay until it rusted away or it got stripped of
anything strippable.. One day in the summer this exactly what happened
to someone's unwanted automobile.. It's fate was a bit different though.
A couple of our local young men saw the thing and thought that it would
be great for target practice. They spent the better part of an
afternoon shooting holes in the thing and then walked away. Another
citizen saw this car in the woods suffering from a couple hundred random
bullet holes and called the police. We had police from all over the
place plus a team from the <i>Bergen Record</i> on site ...Thinking this
was a mob execution, at least, the thing got areawide publicity for a
couple of days, with photos. When the authorities determined that this
was just some random activity they seemed to know exactly who to talk
to.....and they did. I have been told recently that the target shooters
spent some time as "state guests" for their participation.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUHK-2z2aHzG6INFncqjwAEd0C9FqkD8Wgq1dU1G25zu6k_duGfbdRHkB2y1vQRcq1VUFNB6fPJ210DhqQV5YuQa99rKcLL_0A2ap0ia0EHAYR0Y00bsmEhVYaf5peQ_mPcBqtjW8XKNiJ/s1600/leslies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUHK-2z2aHzG6INFncqjwAEd0C9FqkD8Wgq1dU1G25zu6k_duGfbdRHkB2y1vQRcq1VUFNB6fPJ210DhqQV5YuQa99rKcLL_0A2ap0ia0EHAYR0Y00bsmEhVYaf5peQ_mPcBqtjW8XKNiJ/s320/leslies.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Leslie's Bridge</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
A bit further, as you reached Cooper Lane, there was a little gas station
and store directly in front of you (long since gone). Westwood Avenue bears
left and heads for Old Tappan. Just after this left turn, you would pass,
on your right, the Huttick chicken farm where you could hear, see and smell
hundreds of chickens trying hard to produce eggs for Mr. Hutticks egg route.
The Hutticks moved to the Blairstown area in the mid-40's.
<br />
<br />
Another couple of hundred feet and there on your right was Van Orden's
tulip farm. Sure was a pretty sight when all the tulips came into bloom
in the spring.
<br />
<br />
A little bit further and you would cross Leslie's bridge, leave River
Vale, and enter Old Tappan.River Valehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02787049368811712002noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8541846726737851916.post-39316561321779013082012-05-06T23:43:00.000-07:002012-04-23T23:43:56.365-07:00More PlacesThere was another gas station located on River Vale Road at the end of
Piermont Ave. Actually if you were traveling east on Piermont and did
not turn when you reached River Vale Road you would have driven right
into the place. It was operated by an old couple named Kastfield. I can
remember having to walk all the way up there to buy a plug of Red Apple
chewing tobacco for my uncle whenever Mr. Holdrum was out of it. I think
I received a nickel for my efforts...
<br />
<br />
Another gas station was on the south west corner of the Demarest
Avenue and Cedar Lane intersection. It was operated by a Mr. Wiedmann.
As I remember he sold Tydol gas and would do minor repairs. The station
is still on the same corner.
<br />
<br />
Traveling north on Cedar Lane you would come to The Pascack Pool
on your left (Hillsdale) and yet another gas station on your right. This
was run by Mr. Ploger and had a repair garage just to the right. For
quite a few years, Bob Winters from Hillsdale was the mechanic that did
all the repair work for Mr. Ploger. If you wanted a Country Club ice
cream cone you would go to Plogers. If you wanted a Breyer's cone you
would go to Peters. You could get any flavor that you wanted as long as
it was vanilla, chocolate or strawberry. Oh yes! 5 cents.
<br />
<br />
On River Vale Road just below Orangeburg Road was a old grocery
store that was run by Mrs. Scarangella. It was in "upper River Vale" and
we didn't go there too often because it was too far to walk when
Peter's was so much closer. If I remember they had gas pumps in front of
the place, so there was one other place that you could buy gas. This
place operates as a country store till this day although the gas pumps
have long since been retired.
<br />
<br />
In those days there were no gas stations open at night. If you
ran out of gas at night you'd better remember where your car stopped
because you would have to go the next morning and retrieve it. Shortly
after the war a station in Westwood, Pete's Esso, would remain open
until 10 PM so that was kinda like an oasis of sorts. Not too long after
that others would stay open in the evenings also, including the one on
the Four Corners in River Vale.River Valehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02787049368811712002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8541846726737851916.post-50967411299769698552012-05-04T23:45:00.000-07:002012-04-23T23:49:42.075-07:00About Some People...<b><span style="color: navy;"></span></b>During the ’30's as I was growing up, it seemed to me that the majority
of people living in River Vale were of German heritage. Many of the people
that we knew actually came from Germany to this country prior to World
War I and then others that came over during the 1920's. At the yearly fireman's
picnics there would be groups of people sitting around speaking in German.
I didn't even know that my grandfather spoke the language until one of
these picnics.<br />
<br />
As World War II started to appear to be inevitable we were aware of
the stress within some families because of those of their family that were
still living in Germany under the fanatical rule of Hitler. I think the
outward use of the German language lessened as the clouds of war came ever
closer.
<br />
<br />
Another thing that I will mention here is that I cannot think of one
house in the entire town that had a fence for the purpose of keeping people
out. There were a few fences for decorative purposes, but none for "protection"
or privacy.
<br />
<br />
Also I never remember anyone telling us to ‘get out of their yard’ or
‘get off their property’. It was not as if they didn't have reason because
when hunting or fishing or just walking to and from school people were
not concerned about property boundaries and we would walk wherever we wanted
to. We had a large tract of land and people would walk across it at any
time or hunt on it and we never cared. Looking back at those years I wonder
why things are different now. I suppose one reason might be that we were
often instructed to respect the possessions of other people and we would
not even think of destroying or damaging another persons belongings whatever
they were.
<br />
<br />
<b>Rudy Shieshank:</b> (possibly Zieshank) In the early ’30’s this fellow
named Shieshank drove around River Vale on a Harley Davidson motorcycle
in a police uniform. I was told that he was a retired Jersey City policeman.
I don’t know what his official capacity was, but he was always there somewhere.
He might have been a marshall or special cop of some kind, but anyone going
through town who saw Rudy and his motorcycle would surely know that we
had the law in town.
<br />
<br />
<b>Alfred Blakeney:</b> Was the mayor for as long as I could remember.
Mr. Blakeney was always well dressed and looked like a mayor. He usually
drove around town in a fairly new Buick with white wall tires. I never
remember seeing his car dirty.
<br />
<br />
<b>Pete Ambrogi:</b> The Ambrogi family lived on Cleveland Ave, next
to Sabin's dairy, for long before I can remember. When Pete got out of
the service, after WWII, it seems as though he was immediately in the construction
(earth moving) business. Pete had a bulldozer, with a tractor trailer to
transport the thing around, a big shovel, a big army surplus truck plus
enough energy to run all of them. As I remember, Pete dug house foundations
by the hundreds and would dig, scrape, move, or build anything else that
needed doing. My most memorable thing of Pete was that no matter how busy
he was, he always had a moment to stop and say a kind word to us younger
fellows when he would see us. Pete was another good "role model" for the
local young people.<br />
<br />
<b>Garrett Holdrum:</b> Was a nice, grandfatherly type person always nice to kids. Probably knew more about River Vale and the surrounding area than anyone.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLhdjfa5X7kgu7DpLNMnPzWUlRGOyZ8GhHFx3gvycYFuZlW41MSHc3thXx0yLvVFxyJ3F744giZu7cjaO__2Ql38-K6VAAwIaZ10CREFnxYyCselM6lPRPtkwt1TCpK3fHjQKUAOCGZgkR/s1600/patch.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLhdjfa5X7kgu7DpLNMnPzWUlRGOyZ8GhHFx3gvycYFuZlW41MSHc3thXx0yLvVFxyJ3F744giZu7cjaO__2Ql38-K6VAAwIaZ10CREFnxYyCselM6lPRPtkwt1TCpK3fHjQKUAOCGZgkR/s200/patch.gif" width="173" /></a></div>
<b>Nelson Roberge Sr.:</b> To the best of my knowledge was our first police chief. Had the appearance of being a stern fellow, but in reality was just the opposite. Was real nice to the young fellows in town, like myself, who needed direction once in awhile.<br />
<br />
<b>Nelson Roberge Jr. :</b> Followed his father as police chief. Was a good fellow and a good chief. Well liked and well respected by anyone in town that I ever came in contact with.<br />
<br />
<b>Charles Blakeney:</b> I have often thought of the many River Vale men that took an interest in the youth of the town and would spend time talking to us or making us feel like people rather than just another annoyance. Charlie was probably number one in this category. He took the job of scoutmaster and spent about two or three years doing this. He spent many, many hours at this task and I’m sure using up time that he really didn’t have to spare. Charlie, and several others from town, were great role models for the local young people in River Vale.<br />
<br />
<b>William “Bo” Blauvelt:</b> Had the 4 corners gas station for years. Would go out of his way to help any young person with a problem if at all possible. He was a good friend.<br />
<br />
<b>The Artz Family:</b> Lived on River Vale Road between New Street and the Blakeney property. The Artz’s owned all the property in this tract of land, which went all the way down to the Hackensack River where it formed a nice, well-protected meadow. At times our horses would be kept in that meadow. We would go there and climb up on the back of the big, slow moving, draft horse and think that we were going to ride him. The horse would calmly walk into the river, which was about 4 feet deep, and rollover and we would jump for our dear lives. The Artz’s had a big white house about 100 feet off River Vale Road and two or three barns behind the house and always kept in good repair as were the barns.<br />
<br />
My aunt was one of the Artz family so the whole place was pretty much open grounds to me. My uncle farmed this place from River Vale Road down to about where River Road is now.<br />
<br />
<b>The Zeller Family:</b> Owned and operated the Blue Hill Tavern on
Orangeburg Road where people came from miles around to feed on “Blue Hill
Pizza”. Was our favorite eating spot.
<br />
<br />
<b>“Lou” Hashagen:</b> lived in the house next to the firehouse. He
was the only roofer in the area. Probably put a roof on most every house
in town at one time or another. The town now owns the house, and, I believe,
uses it for the DPW office.
<br />
<br />
<b>Danny O’ Neill</b> was a radio personality and a great Irish tenor
who lived for a couple of years on Poplar Road. The back of his house backed
up to the River Vale Country Club, where he spent most of his time anyway.
You can still hear some of his records being played on the radio around
St. Patrick's Day. During the mid to late ’30’s many well-known people
would come to Handwerg’s River Vale Country Club and play golf there or
just hang out for the day. It was the best "open" golf course in Northern
New Jersey and people such as Jack Benny, Fred Allen, The Dorsey Brothers,
Benny Goodman, Barry Wood, Rocky Graziano, Joe Louis and many, many more
personalities, whose names I have forgotten, found that place as a great
spot to relax on a weekend. In the days of radio, much of the entertainment
came from New York City.
<br />
<br />
<b>August Quantmeyer:</b> lived two houses east of school number 1.
He was a member of the Board of Education and must have been the paymaster
or whatever it was called. About once a month our door would pop open and
in would come Mr. Quantmeyer. He would walk briskly over to the teacher,
hand her an envelope, do an about face and just as quickly he was out the
door.<br />
<br />
<br />River Valehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02787049368811712002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8541846726737851916.post-16088528187395515142012-05-03T23:59:00.000-07:002012-04-23T23:54:18.210-07:00I Remember...<b><span style="color: navy;"></span></b>I remember standing on the northwest corner of Piermont Avenue and
River Vale Road, looking towards the northwest and seeing about 200 acres
of corn planted on the Kessler property by Bill Handwerg. Now the same
space is the 27 hole golf course.
<br />
<br />
I remember Mrs. Fischer, who owned all the property at the end of New
Street, having her house flooded out almost every spring. It was all the
way down by the river so it was in constant jeopardy. She had the place
moved closer to New Street, which was much safer, but then constructed
another place just at the end of New Street. This area was probably the
best fishing spot along the river. It sure was my favorite.
<br />
<br />
I remember the big gun fight on Beck Place on New Year’s Day 1950. A
friend who grew up with us probably had too much to drink and started shooting
up the neighborhood and then did battle with the many police that came
to quell the action. Our friend, John, was shot and killed by a local policeman.
Many, many shots were fired, but John was the only one that was injured.
It was a very sad thing for the entire town.
<br />
<br />
I remember, during World War II, waiting for the Thursday edition of
the Westwood News to come out so we could see if any of the local military
people were going to be listed on the front page as killed or missing in
action. In such a close knit area as Pascack Valley, most people knew each
other and all were affected by any of these grim announcements.
<br />
<br />
For many years, the River Vale kids went to either Park Ridge or Westwood
High school. I can remember in Westwood High School, as being referred
to as one of the River Vale “hicks”. As far as I can remember, we didn’t
mind that label either, probably had some truth in it…
<br />
<br />
I remember the Hill Bus number 12 that would go through our town coming
in from Harrington Park and travelling all the way up River Vale Road to
Piermont Avenue and then turning left to Westwood. This bus came only once
an hour and if you missed it, you walked to Westwood. For a short time
during the war this service was cut to every two hours, but this didn’t
last for long. This bus was our main connection to the “outside world.”<br />
<br />
Dumps. I remember dumps! Every house had a household dump pile on its
grounds somewhere. In the summer months when suffering from extreme boredom,
we would tour our section of town and see what valuable things that we
could find in other people’s dump pile. A great find would be a certain
baby carriage that had removable wheels. I would take these treasures home
and make a coaster car which would keep me occupied for several days.
<br />
<br />
There was a fellow named Merritt Dean, from Harrington Park, who had
a pretty good size truck. With this truck he would take the job of cleaning
out people’s houses as they were getting ready to sell them, or clean out
a store that was to close. Merritt would then dump the whole thing in the
back yard of Mr. Hashagen to try and fill up the swamp that was there.
This was better than Christmas! We’d be in that dump pile for days until
we had examined each and every box, bag or dresser drawer that found its
way there.
<br />
<br />
During the war there were “scrap drives” where men from town who may
have had a truck would volunteer themselves and their truck to travel around
the town and pick up any metal that people would donate to the “war effort”.
All this metal was heaped into a big pile behind the firehouse. That was
our exclusive territory, at least so we figured. The pile sat there for
a couple of weeks so we had plenty of time to be sure that there was nothing
donated to that pile that would have been badly needed. I remember taking
many things home that I figured would have a better future with me. I used
some of that valuable stuff for trading material for several years after
that. We won the war anyway…
<br />
<br />
About the same time I remember that if we took an aluminum pot or anything
aluminum to the Pascack Movie Theater on Saturday afternoon all we had
to do was toss the aluminum article into a big pile in the lobby and we
got in to the movie for free. That was easy. All we would have to do is
go to one of our favorite dumps and pick up a pot and we had free passage
into the double feature (plus cartoons and a newsreel), saved us 11 cents!
<br />
<br />
I remember crawling through the drainage pile that came from the Pascack
Pool to get into the place at a greatly reduced rate. Saved 25 cents there,
too!<br />
<br />River Valehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02787049368811712002noreply@blogger.com0