PETER'S STORE
If 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. 

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.

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. 

DAIRY 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. 

Another dairy farm was owned by a Mr. Barnes and was located on the southwest corner of Prospect Avenue and Rivervale 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. 

A third farm was still further north up Rivervale 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 Rivervale Road.