I REMEMBER
I remember standing on the northwest corner of Piermont Avenue and Rivervale 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.

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.

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.

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.

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...

I remember the Hill Bus number 12 that would go through our town coming in from Harrington Park and travelling all the way up Rivervale 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."