Farm team on Dalmeny Road

No, not aspiring professional baseball players, but a team and wagon from the first decade of the 20th century.



I found this is a book about my home town. The photo shows the street where I grew up, long before my arrival. Back when we moved in, the address was RFD #1, Box 31. It was some years later when we got a house number (106) and years later still when we got a zip code.

The book was written by by Mary Cheever, noble wife of the prize-winning author -- The Changing Landscape: A History of Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough

It's a good book. Though lots of "distinguished residents" are identified and pictured, it's not all millionaires' estates and their contents. She celebrates many ordinary folk along with the upper crust, for example, Bill Bowers, who was my drive's- and phys-ed teacher, under whom I served as manager of the basketball team (when I was a 9th grader), and whom I played for on JC and Varsity teams. He's been in the school system for quite a few decades before he came into my life. When he retired, my father, member of the school board, saw to it that a ball field was named after him.

A chapter called "Briarcliff Arts and Letters" singles out painters, including Brice Marden (with photo) as well as writers, not dwelling excessively on hubby (others named include James Barrett Swain, Barret Harper Clark, John Hersey, E J Kahn, and Carroll B. Colby). It also lists architects, publishers, and musicians. There's a nice tribute to Henry and Flora Krinsky who made a success of Briarcliff's Books and Things store.

One anecdote in this section of the book discusses the house that was at the end of myt long and hilly paper route: "Ely Jacques Kahn (Senior) designed the house at the west corner of Ridgecrest and Long Hill Roads for Red Barber, a pioneer in playu-by-plauy sports broadcasting, who was known as the voice of the Brooklyn Dodgers."