“socially progressive, with thriving racially diverse and LGBT communities.”
Put Valley? Really? No it’s not. Stop Sam.
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My grandparent bought a summer cottage on Lake Oscawanna in the late 30's so grandpa could play golf up at James Baird and my grandma could garden. Grandma lived at the lake in the summer and grandpa commuted up from the city every weekend. Grandma was in an informal competition for best garden with a lady down the road and she invested a small fortune in rock-lined planting beds. As grandkids were added the house grew fairly continuously. During the day, we went to the beach without sunscreen, searched for the "lost river", swam and ran all over the place and waited for the ice-cream truck to show. At night we watched the "twilight zone" and played ping-pong while the grown-ups played bridge. An idyllic time for me and everyone of my kids as put their toes in Lake Oscawanna, even after the house was sold when Grandma passed.
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What a beautiful, peaceful haven! A perfect escape from “the din of towns and cities.” We should all be so lucky as to have this little piece, and peace, of heaven to go home to. Very nice article.
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Boy,
Talk about ruining a photograph with overhead wires. Is anyone editing photos these days? If the intent of the photo was to wring a drop of nostalgia, the implied intrusion of modern life exemplified by those wires killed it.
Poor...
Most areas in the NYC suburbs and rural surroundings have overhead spaces power lines. Very few downtown areas in the small towns have buried utilities.
In the early 60's or so there was a rumor that Dr Kildare, Richard Chamberlain, lived on the back roads near my house at Lake Oscawanna. He was a heart throb for all teen age girls at the time. We hiked down there weekly that summer hoping to spot him but never did.
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Those stone chambers were probably for holding bodies over the winter until the ground unfroze enough to dig graves. They are common in New England.
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I thought the same thing. At least several of them in Green-Wood Cemetery here in Brooklyn.
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Did anyone mention Judge Judy?
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@Kate
You just did.
@kate That ruined the place for me!
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Having just finished reading Jane Leavey's fine Babe Ruth bio, "The Big Fella", with its mention of Christy Walsh's summer home, I'd sure like to see that Babe Ruth photo. It does not appear on the PV Historical Society's web site.
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It didn't take long, courtesy of Google, to find some images of the Babe playing ball with PV kids:
https://www.lohud.com/picture-gallery/news/local/2014/07/09/babe-ruths-lower-hudson-playground/12422483/
https://www.hrvh.org/cdm/ref/collection/pchc/id/270
https://www.hrvh.org/cdm/ref/collection/pchc/id/271
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Great to see this...brought back memories! I grew up in Putnam Valley and spent years the 60's and 70's there. It was a wonderful place to be a child and to experience the outdoors. Adirondack trail runs nearby; lakes (Peekskill and Oscawana) were great. Summer people made their homes around these lakes, and it was all private property. So you had to either know someone or sneak across people's property to swim (which we did a lot). PV Central School was headed by Mr. and Mrs. Calitri. He was the principle, and she taught at least two languages (french and german). They set a very high standard for the students which I benefited from. It was VERY rural back in those days. Had neighbors that had never gone to NYC. During Civil War, it was supposed to be where draft dodgers would hide out. Would be interesting to know if there is truth to that rumor.
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@Steve
Hi Steve, do I know you? I also grew up the same years although the 50's is when I started growing up. We lived in Lookout Manor and our association had a beach on Lake Oscawanna and friends in Hilltop and also across the lake. So if you know me let me know...Sandy and Ed my brother.
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@Steve
Junius Calitri was one of the finest educators I have ever known.
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Pretty good. Though, no mention of car chase from Die Hard With A Vengeance being filmed on the PV-section of the Taconic is quite a glaring omission.
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@PV Guy - Not to mention the Sopranos, one episode of which was shot on Lake Oscawana
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If you want to see Putnam Valley in action, Celtic style, come to our annual St.Patrick's Day concert on Saturday, March 16, at 7:30, at Tompkins Corners Cultural Center, on Peekskill Hollow Road!
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