There is Brooklyn in her heart, By Ginny Raue In 1913, when Woodrow Wilson was president and World War I had yet to begin, West Milford resident, Elsie Powers, was born in a cold water flat on Flatbush Ave. in Brooklyn, New York. Powers, who will be 96-years old in October, moved to an Upper Greenwood Lake cottage in 1979, then to Bald Eagle Commons in 1998. She loves West Milford but she’s still a Brooklyn girl at heart. Her parents emigrated from Germany in 1905. They met, married and settled in Brooklyn. Her father opened an ice cream and candy shop and the couple raised their family in the apartment over the store. “We had no heat in the bedrooms, just a coal stove in the kitchen. In the winter we took our baths in a tub in the kitchen,” Powers said. Her father worked in the store, with his wife at his side, until he retired at age 72. Powers said she had ice cream every day, a habit she continues. Powers, her sister and brother had wonderful childhoods. She loved her piano lessons and the siblings played together, using their imaginations to amuse themselves, she said. Summer was the best time. An open-air trolley car ride to Manhattan Beach where the family had a locker was a daily event. When older, the children were allowed to ride on the steps of the trolley to enjoy the breeze. “I think all Brooklyn was wonderful,” she said. Powers attended Erasmus Hall High School, graduating in 1931. She went to business school then worked as a stenographer for an import company until she married. Her teen years were spent with friends and family. They would stroll to Prospect Park and in the winter they would know it was safe to ice skate in the park when the trolley displayed a red ball. They enjoyed going to dances and parties and they could safely take the subway home in the wee hours. The Rainbow Girls, a Masonic youth organization, played a major role in her life. She still wears her Rainbow pin on her bracelet. She had a few boyfriends, but on May 2, 1931, at a Rainbow dance, she spotted David Powers, and the rest, as they say, is history. David and Elsie married in the Zion Lutheran Church in 1935. They rented a $27 per month Brooklyn apartment and in 1950 they began renting a cottage in Upper Greenwood Lake for summer use. They eventually bought the house and moved to West Milford when David retired. She learned to love country life, even the bears roaming freely from the woods behind their home. Now as a Bald Eagle Commons resident, she praises the community she lives in. Powers reminisced about David, who passed away in 1981 after 47 years of marriage. She’s had a good life and a wonderful husband. “It’s so lonely, sometimes. As you get older it gets worse because you’d really like to have someone near you, especially when you’re not up to par,” she said. But Powers is not the type to sit around and fret. She worked as a classroom aide in Upper Greenwood Lake School until she was 93. She gets out every day and takes the bus to town several times a week to shop. She attends Golden Jet Set meetings, she sings with the Bald Eagle Serendipity Singers and entertains her nieces and nephews several times a year. She has a lifetime of knowledge. She knows about wars and depression. She considered herself lucky that David, in the Army during World War II, stayed stateside although he was gone for three years. She believes that her parents struggled through the Depression but they learned to do with less and never felt deprived. “I’m a happy person, happiest when my family visits,” Powers said. She believes she owes her longevity to good genes. She has a few health problems but doesn’t worry about them. “When the good Lord wants me, he’ll come and get me,” she said. At one time she loved to cook. Now - not so much. She graciously sent in a treasured family dessert recipe, served after a heavy meal. Lemon Snow Pudding 1 tbsp. of Knox gelatin 1/4 cup cold water 1 cup boiling water 1/4 cup lemon juice Grated lemon rind Whites of two eggs Pinch of salt Soak gelatin in cold water in large bowl for 5 minutes Dissolve in boiling water Add sugar, lemon juice and grated rind of lemon and stir Refrigerate, stirring occasionally When quite thick beat with wire whisk until frothy Add egg whites beaten stiff Beat until stiff enough to hold its shape, then chill May be served with boiled custard made from leftover egg yolks