History Alive

| 28 Sep 2011 | 02:16

    Let's go back to the real estate office so we can get our directions right. As you leave the office to go down Vista Lane, the second house on the right was the home of Fred Mills. Mills had quite a business in a small shed by the garage. His business was making caramel popcorn for theaters and stores in the tri-state area. He had big ovens in which the corn was popped and a big round tub for heating the caramel. The popcorn would be dumped in the vats. Donning gloves, a young worker would then soak his gloved hands in cold water and place handfuls of the hot popcorn from the vats into a press. After each hole was filled, a top piece of metal would be brought down to compress the caramel corn into a shape about three inches round and one and a half-inch thick, after they cooled over night they would be wrapped for delivery. also round balls were made. It was a very hot place to work, but he had a few young people working quite steadily. Mills was also a movie critic for the tri-state area and once in a while he would take some of the young people who worked for him to see a movie for free. My Sister Edna and her boy friend Jimmy Finn went quite often. As we come out of the Pinecliff entrance to our left is the town hall, when this building was built, I believe about 1868 it was a Methodist church, what ever happened to the congregation no one seems to know, but it was turned over to the town for public use only. Behind the building was the all famous stables for the horse and carriage of the big wigs, the town later on closed it in for the garage for repairing their cars and trucks. The next home, at 1489 Union Valley Road, was the residence of Terboss and Inslee, I don't believe either one of those are spelled right, they owned quite a bit of land both sides of the house, plus the seven acres that the town bought for the present town hall. Just past their house there was a big home that burned down. The remains of the foundation can still be seen there. A well next to the foundation was eventually filled in but for many years it was an open, deep hole. We threw plenty of rocks from around the foundation in it. The people at that house had lilac bushes and every spring they would have loads of flowers. I can remember picking big bunches of lilacs plus other spring flowers, then on Sunday, standing at the corner of Ridge and Union Valley Roads, selling selling them for 25 cents a bunch or bouquet. Whatever, we did all right with them city folk out for their Sunday drive taking advantage of us hillbillies. Around the corner of Union Valley Road and Winetka Lane, we come to a big white house. Whoever owned it before Mrs. Mitchell bought it I don't know. She formerly owned and operated a big tavern over on Greenwood Lake Turnpike overlooking the southern end of the lake. Anyway, they operated this tavern for many years before the Alexander Hamilton Bank bought the property. Now Lakeland Bank is there. From that spot down to Pinecliff Lake ball field there was nothing. Across from the club house where the auto sales is now was the Sly homestead, open fields and swamp land to the brook flowing from the lake. Next time, my recollections of working on a meat truck. Arthur H. Cahill