Van Wyck Gazette Winter Issue 2014

Holiday Issue Winter 2014

Van Wyck Gazette

Daryl Hall Interview Mike Jurkovic

The Oblong Peter Rae

Gary Lewis & The Playboys Susan M. Bourret Rhinebeck • Poughkeepsie • Wappingers Falls • Fishkill • Beacon • Newburgh

Contents Editor in Chief Joseph H. Caplan

This is our Holiday Issue Winter 2014. We strive to celebrate the Hudson Valley lifestyle and promote the finest local artists and business entrepreneurs.

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Having A Stress Free Holiday Diane Lang M.A.

Tips to ensure your enjoyment of the hectic Holiday Season.

Gary Lewis And The Playboys

Susan M. Bourret

Their 1965 smash hit soared to #1 on Billboard’s Top 100.

What Kind of a Name is “Oblong”

Peter Rae

Much ado about to strip of land and a pair of bookstores.

Live From Daryl’s House Mike Jurkovic

Interview with the 2014 Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame Inductee.

Holiday Gift Guide

Joseph Caplan

Our choice picks from the best local writers and inventors.

Cover Photo courtesy of Wolfson Entertainment, Inc. Woodland Hills, CA 91364 www.darylshouseclub.com/ Official website of Daryl’s House Club Live music and great food in Pawling.

130 Route 22, Pawling, NY 12564 (845) 289-0185

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Page 3

Van Wyck Gazette

Having A Stress Free Holiday

Wellness

by Diane Lang

Everyone knows that the holidays can be a stressful time of the year.

There’s a lot of planning that goes on for family gettogethers, h o l i d a y parties, dinners, and even traveling. The conflicts that are bound to arise bring up mixed feelings and can lead to stress and anxiety. However, the holidays can also be a time to reflect on all of the good things you have in your life and enjoy spending time with your close friends and loved ones.

If you’re prone to holiday stress once November comes around, try following these eight tips!

1. Start early One of the best ways to avoid holiday stress is to start planning early! This means making to-do lists, grocery lists, getting a head start on your gift shopping and more.

When you wait until the last minute to do these things, that’s when the stress really gets to you. You can avoid all of that by just making a few lists early on and taking time to complete them a few tasks at a time instead of all at once.

2. Take care of you When you’re starting to feel overwhelmed by all of the tasks you have to do and by the idea that you will soon have to spend time entertaining your large, extended family, create some personal time to relax.

Make time in your schedule to do whatever it is that makes you happy, whether it’s a

6. Gratitude day at the spa, snuggling under the covers The holidays are really about spending and reading a good book, or enjoying a glass of wine before bed. Some solitary quality time with your friends and family. time is important and it’s good to indulge It’s not about the presents, or the food, or the parties. We should feel grateful and every once in a while. happy for our health and for being 3. Be up front financially surrounded by loved ones. These are Money is another big factor in holiday lessons to pass on to your children and stress since most people plan to buy teach them to appreciate all of the little presents for the family, cook dinner for a things in life that make us happy. group, and even host big parties. The 7. Watch the signs holidays are always a tough time financially Listen to your body. If you are noticing and you shouldn’t spend money that you don’t have and can’t afford to be spending. any of the following signs then it’s time to If money is tight, create a strict budget for make changes: yourself and make sure to stick to it.

• Change in sleeping habits Consider buying presents only for the kids, • Change in eating habits doing a Secret Santa/Yankee Swap for the adults, or even use your creativity to make • Feeling irritable, moody and some homemade gifts. unhappy 4. Get some exercise Getting active and doing some form of exercise does wonders for relieving stress.

Even going for a brisk walk for 30 minutes a day can be extremely beneficial. Grab a neighbor or a friend to accompany you so you can talk while you’re on the move and you won’t even realize that what you’re doing is exercising. If possible, get the whole family involved in a family walk so they can all benefit from lower levels of stress.

5. Ask for help If you’re the person in the family who is doing all of the planning, all of the cooking, and all of the shopping, you really should consider asking for help. No one can be expected to do so many things at once so learn to delegate tasks to others. Ask family members to each bring a different dish to dinner to relieve some of your cooking duties. Everyone should be doing his or her part to help out, even during clean up.

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Exhaustion and fatigue

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Panic attack symptoms like dizziness, heavy chest, heart racing, headache, feeling nauseous, hot and cold flashes

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Physical signs such as headaches, stomachaches, joint pain and low immune system - catching frequent colds and illnesses.

•

These symptoms are all warning signs of too much stress and anxiety in our lives. This is a sign to slow down and take a time out.

8. Pay it forward For the holidays join a local charity and help with serving dinners, dropping off presents and giving hugs. Every time we do a random act of kindness we help others while helping ourselves. Random acts of kindness give a boost of happiness that lasts 24-72 hours. Spread the joy!

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Page 4

Winter 2014 Issue

Entertainment

GARY LEWIS AND THE PLAYBOYS

by Susan M. Bourret

A PERFORMER, A TALENTED ARTIST AND THE MAN WHO BEAT OUT ELVIS PRESLEY AND FRANK SINATRA FOR MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR SAY HELLO TO THE EVER POPULAR …..GARY LEWIS

For many of us music plays such a major part of our lives. Whether we just enjoy listening, dancing or singing along or we use music as an everyday source of therapy, music serves to present us all with hours of relaxation and pleasure. With the genres of music so vast nowadays, we baby boomers can’t help but find ourselves lost in the sounds and music of the 60’s and 70’s with an array of artists that brought us endless hours of entertainment and yes, even relaxation. Though style, lyrics and melodies are abundant today, there is just something so magical about the music and artists of the 60’s and 70’s.

Gary Lewis & the Playboys was indeed one of the many bands that charmed their way into the hearts of their audiences and fans and still have a presence in the music industry today. The group’s name came into being when Gary Lewis, group leader and

son of celebrity dad, Jerry Lewis, recognizing the late hours that his band members needed in order to practice, jokingly referred to the band members as “playboys” and accordingly chose the name “Gary and the Playboys” when they first began performing.

They introduced themselves to the world when the newly formed band auditioned and landed a spot in Disneyland. The enthusiasm and excitement the band created for its audiences found them playing night after night for their sold out audiences.

Together they wooed the hearts and souls of their Disney fans with their pop rock sound and style. With a voice as heartwarming and smooth as a summer’s eve, Gary was able to capture his audiences in a way that surpassed so many other artists at that time.

While performing at Disneyland, Les Brown, a dear and close friend of Gary’s dad, Jerry, reached out to his producer friend, Snuff Garrett, and introduced Garrett to the “playful” Playboys. Garrett decided to attend an evening performance and truthfully found himself intrigued and fascinated by the band’s style, sound and overall presentation. He talked with band leader Gary and suggested, since his father was so well known and liked by audiences everywhere, that he add the “Lewis” name to the band’s identity and thus the name “Gary Lewis and the Playboys” evolved.

Certainly Garrett knew what he was talking about with his marketing strategy of using the family name to make the band’s presence known in the music industry, since the Playboys’ popularity consistently grew

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Van Wyck Ga ze tte thereafter. With a name change in place, Garrett took the group into the recording studio. Recording a soon to be smash hit “This Diamond Ring” confirmed what Garrett had seen in the group and was the first of many exciting and successful adventures that lie in wait for the group. Once they had perfected the song, Garrett marketed the song to the NYC radio stations and, with all the hours of radio time the song was given, the Playboys, a truly overnight success story, built a radio audience and a name that would be recognized in the music industry for always.

Shortly after their amazing debut into the national music industry, Jerry Lewis introduced his rising star son to Ed Sullivan who happily agreed to have the band perform live on his show in January of 1965 followed by appearances on an array of other shows including American Bandstand, Shindig, the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, the Michael Douglas Show, Hullabaloo, The Wolfman Jack Show and even Nashville Now. By April of 1965 their smash hit “This Diamond Ring” had sold over a million copies and from there the rest is history. The band had six other top 10 releases on the Hot 100 Chart including such foot stomping, heart throbbing songs as “Count Me In”, “Save Your Heart For Me”, “Everybody Loves a Clown”, “Sure Gonna Miss Her”, “Green Grass”, and “She’s Just My Style”.

Considered both a pop and rock group, the Playboys’ music hit the charts over and over again and their fan base grew year after year. With their numerous successful hits and donning a very playful “Boys to Men” image of the 60’s, the group performed with not only incredible poise but a sexy playfulness that melted the hearts of their female audiences. No matter where they appeared or what they sang, Gary Lewis and the Playboys kept their audiences happy and satisfied and their sales of hit

singles consistent. And to think, they managed to do all this and be an overnight success in the presence of a variety of multiple headlining groups, like Herman’s Hermits, Gary Puckett and the Union Gap, The Turtles and many others that were sharing the charts with them at the time.

The Playboys built a style all their own and maintained a presence as their music and their performances were shared on television and radio throughout the world.

As if all the successful hits of the 60’s was not enough for Gary Lewis, the vibrant ever pleasant gentleman with the near to crooning voice was also named “Male Vocalist of the Year”

by Cash Box Magazine and to think, he won that nomination over conominees Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra. This baby boomer, for one, finds that to be a remarkable and overwhelming accomplishment to “brag” about and be proud of since this writer personally places Elvis as number one in my male vocal book and Frank Sinatra a wandering second. Quite an accomplishment indeed and a recognition that, I believe, no one else has ever been awarded to this day.

The band was hit with a massive blow and their momentum halted when Gary was drafted into the Army in January of 1967.

When discharged in 1968 Gary immediately returned to making music and recordings but sadly the group never regained their prior momentum or formula for success and so Gary, wanting to continue making music,

decided to start marketing his band as a nostalgic 60’s band; a band that continues to tour today and find themselves playing more often than not for the benefit of our veterans and for many charitable organizations.

It was with pure delight that this writer was able to talk to and interview Gary and ask him to please answer only one awe inspiring interview question: Tell us all Gary, what did it feel like then, and indeed how does it touch your heart today, to have won the nomination in 1965 for Male Vocalist of the Year over not only Mr. Crooner himself, Frank Sinatra, but the “King of Rock and Roll” himself, Elvis Presley. Please take a moment and share your feelings about that monumental “win”.

“Back in 1965 I was quite a cocky kid, so when I won Best Male singer that year, I thought, “I really deserve this”. I had 4 top 10’s at the time, and I was on a great high from that. As time went on, I never thought I was a better singer than Frank or Elvis, but I still won!“ And there you have, in his own words, exactly what it felt like to be voted in as the Male Vocalist of the Year over not only Frank Sinatra but the King of Rock and Roll himself, Elvis Presley. You are gifted my friend, and ever so blessed with that amazingly magnetic voice of yours Gary, and we will all look forward to enjoying that voice as you continue to tour and entertain your audiences still today; decades after your very well deserved overnight success.

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Winter 2014 Issue

Humor

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Van Wyck Ga ze tte

What Kind of a Name is “Oblong”

by Peter Rae

With its many fine restaurants and shops and its overall charm, Rhinebeck is primary target for weekend daytrippers from all over the New York Metropolitan area. One of its busiest shops is Oblong Books and Music, an independent bookstore that never seems to lack for customers.

Occasionally some of the more curious customers are prompted to ask, “What kind of a name is ‘Oblong’”?

What they learn is that the Rhinebeck facility is the second and newer of two Oblong bookstores. The first and older is in Millerton, in the Dutchess County Town of North East.

Once a major commercial center where no less than five different railroads intersected, Millerton’s last remaining railroad, the Harlem Division of the Metro North Railroad, has long since been converted into part of the Harlem Valley Rail Trail.

Nevertheless, in 2007, Millerton was named “One of the Ten Coolest Small Towns in America” by Frommer’s Budget Travel Magazine. The town features several fine antiques and specialty stores, some interesting restaurants, a good independent movie theater, and of course the original Oblong Books and Music. But again, why Oblong?

The answer is because Millerton is located within a geographic area of New York State known as the “Oblong.”

This is a map showing the Connecticut, New Haven, and Saybrook colonies from 1636-1776. It includes the territorial disputes between Connecticut and its neighbors during that time period.

(Image Courtesy of Creative Commons) The Oblong is a strip of land approximately 50 miles long and about 1.8 miles wide extending from the northern border of the Connecticut Panhandle (that area of Connecticut that juts into New York along the Long Island Sound and contains the towns of Greenwich and New Canaan, among others) north along the New York-Connecticut border Continued on page 12

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Winter 2014 Issue

Music

Live From Daryl’s House

by Mike Jurkovic

In concept, in theory, it’s not that different.

You get a team of people together who know and understand their craft and you work to create something out of nothing.

That’s really what it is. It’s seeing the big picture and paying attention to detail. It’s very similar to recording a song.

You’ve been skeptical about the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame. Are you still since you and John were inducted this year?

I feel exactly the same as I always have.

I feel there’s too much significance put on it. I know the people who created it. It was created as sort of a joke and it was a joke that turned into too serious a thing too All the old wood, furniture, artifacts . . . quickly.

Yea, of course. Old ideas, new ideas. It’s all the same: you’re bringing them together to make something new.

In an apartment on Quince Ave, Daryl Hall practiced his scales and found the groove early. How could he not? Philadelphia in the 60’s was erupting with talent: Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, Thom Bell, The Delfonics, producer Jimmy Bishop, and of course, John Oates.

‘Daryl’s Restoration Over-Hall’ on DIY, is still going on?

Well, that’s pretty much finished up, but I’m still working off camera on that project and I’m in the process of putting together a new show with restoration in mind. But I’m not sure if I’m gonna continue with the DIY Thirty years ago, the Recording Industry thing.

When you were singing and Association of America cited Hall and Oates as the best selling duo of all time. They’ve practicing in Philly as a teenager, did sold over seventy million records, still tour, you ever envision yourself in any Hall and remain good friends. In 2004 they were of Fame?

Well, y’know there weren’t any Hall welcomed into the Songwriters Hall of Fame of Fames when I started. (The and ten slow years later the Rock ’n Roll Songwriters Hall was founded in ’69.

Hall of Fame finally took their blinders off The Rock Hall in ’83.) I’ve been a and let ‘em in. musician since I was old enough to And, as you’ll read, that’s all well and think and so I’ve always made music. good but Daryl Hall is a restlessly creative It was part of my life, my family’s life. (His man. When not making the music a great dad was a professional singer and his mom deal of the world sings, he makes TV. When a vocal coach.) not making TV, he invests and remodels I never really set any specific goals other the old Towne Crier in Pawling and opens than to do the best work I could do and Daryl’s House Club, and he does historic restorations in the Hudson Valley, Maine, express myself and let life happen. Of course saying let life happen I mean I try and England. my best to control it by taking advantage Can you draw any parallels between of the opportunities as they came along. historic restoration and songwriting?

I mean I’m happy to be part of the historical aspect of it. It represents a part of twentieth century music which I certainly came up in and it’s an important thing to have happened in the world, but it’s really not an indicator of excellence or significance.

It’s very arbitrary. The people who vote have an agenda. I don’t really put that much stock in it and I believe people shouldn’t think too much about it.

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Van Wyck Ga ze tte Do you feel Philadelphia is/was an and that’s a joke. It’s not happening. unsung musical region?

great bands coming in.

Anybody still trying to fight the internet is Did you do a lot of the work yourself?

Not to the people in Philly. Philadelphia Yea, I designed it. I sourced the materials, in a losing battle. You can’t punch the ocean. created a sound that continues to move the It’s real. It’s what it is. So you have to work I did everything. That’s my construction world. with it. You have to come up with creative business. Actually I was doing that You go to a club in Bangkok or you go to ideas to use this amazingly powerful a club in Munich and you’re gonna hear and new medium to your advantage music that has its origins in Philly dance to do some interesting and creative music. It’s a very important factor in world things. music. I don’t believe the people here in Are the few record companies that the States give the region its due but it exist still putting up a fight? resonates.

Yea, and they’re screwing it up. I still Any stories about working with Gamble, have the same problem with publishers Huff, etc? and record companies this far into the Yea, lots, lots. We were all kids starting game as I had back when. Allowing out. I loved watching Leon Huff play piano. ‘Daryl’s House’ to exist is still a big deal I learned a lot from him: the way he played to them. his bass lines and the rhythms he used. I They’re scared of it because it’s so took a lot from him. I used to watch them new and they’re so conservative. They write music that like I say, still resonates. shoot themselves in the foot, what What was that like? more can I say?

It was a family. We were all interacting.

Did you ever envision ‘Live from In those early days nobody knew what the Daryl’s House’ becoming a full blown Philadelphia sound was or was going to be. restaurant/music club here in the We were just writing songs and listening to Valley? what others were writing.

Hah-hah! I’ve lived in this area for a Kenny Gamble owned a record store and we hung out there. The first record I ever made (the Temptones, ‘Girl, I Love You’) was with Kenny and his band, the Romeos, on a four track. We just banged out a rhythm track and I sang lead. It was all very primitive and exciting. The b-side of my second record was written by Leon.

very long time. I started in Fairfield County then moved to Millbrook for years. I started the show there and my studio is right next to where Daryl’s House conversion while doing the DIY shows. It Club is now. was a pretty busy time.

Unlike many of your peers who remain wary of the internet, you launched ‘Live from Daryl’s House’ in ’07 as a monthly web show. Did you see any risk in doing that?

Well I did do some of that, yeah. But it was really a family thing. My grandfather was a mason and I grew up on construction sites. All my family built their own houses so I’m very hands on. I grew up in old houses. Just outside Philly there were a lot of eighteenth and nineteenth century houses. So all those things come together to form a lifetime interest to recreate and redesign old houses.

I’m the kind of person who embraces risk and I see things for what they are. Many of my generation, musicians, and more importantly, record executives, are living in the past. They think that the power they had in the past continues to support them,

People kept asking me if they could come by the house and watch the show. But there’s no audience other than the web or TV viewers. So I decided to bring the Daryl’s House experience to a live audience and eat good food and pretty much do what we do on the show.

I’d known about the Towne Crier for years and that Phil wanted to move on so I found an investor who saw things the same as I did and we converted the place to pretty much look like my house and, so there it is. Now we have a great restaurant with

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Continued on page 10

Page 10

Winter 2014 Issue

Live From Daryl’s House

Music

by Mike Jurkovic You were hands on building Daryl’s House Club. Are you going to be hands on running like to recollect? I know Nick Lowe and strange interaction that’s never happened Smokey Robinson hooked me in. the place? before that sets off those magical moments.

Aw man, thousands. Every show has its I am One person really has to be in charge of any business and I’ve devoted myself to special moment. It has a time when it all making this work. Some of my recipes are comes together. on the menu so I’ll be in the kitchen. I’ll be Do you have a wish list of artists you’d involved in bringing bands in. like to bring on the show?

A lot of my band members are putting bands together so they’ll be in there. I’ll jump up onstage occasionally when I’m there. I’ll make sure the bar’s happening.

So if you want a great meal and want to hear some great music ‘n maybe see me runnin’ around, c’mon down!

I don’t know. I leave it open to chance. I mean we throw a net out and see who’s around and who’s schedule fits to come on and we run with that. But I don’t have any wish list.

How much time do you spend rehearsing?

Usually how it works is that as soon as

So you are chief, cook, and bottle washer we know who the guest artist is, we let all the players know and get a list together of then?

(Laughs) I am indeed.

Your long time guitarist and producer T-Bone Wolk passed in 2010. Last thoughts?

songs that we’re thinking of playing, but that often changes. We don’t necessarily rehearse together with the guests until everyone is in the room and we just have at it. Sometimes we nail it on the first take.

Those are the special moments of each show.

I’ll never have a last thought on him. He’s still with me in my heart, y’know. I wish he was here to be a part of all this. He was there at the inception of Daryl’s House. He It’s the most fulfilling thing I’ve ever done passed way too soon. I love the guy. musically ‘cos you never know what’s going He was my best friend and I sorely miss to happen. him.

Nick’s a good friend of mine, but a lot of the artists I’ve never met so there’s a lot of Any special moments from the show you’d

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Van Wyck Ga ze tte

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Winter 2014 Issue

Hudson Valley

What Kind of a Name is “Oblong”

by Peter Rae - continued to Massachusetts. It was created as part of the process the provinces, and later So in 1684, the two colonies agreed on new agreement. Some adjustments were states, of New York and Connecticut went a line twenty miles east of the Hudson. But made, the land resurveyed, and the border through to agree on a common border – a it was not that simple. The Long Island was generally accepted. Well, almost process that took nearly 250 years!

Sound towns of Greenwich and Stamford, accepted, as we shall see.

How the Oblong Came to Be which were west of the proposed line, had The Oblong in Westchester and Soon after Hendrick Hudson sailed up been settled by English colonists and Putnam the Hudson River in 1609, the Dutch granted wished to remain part of Connecticut. To There were interesting results up and a charter establishing the colony of Dutch allow for this, the colonies agreed to extend down the new Oblong. At the southern end, New Netherlands and claiming the Connecticut’s jurisdiction west far enough a group of citizens from Norwalk had in Connecticut River as its eastern border. to include these towns, thus creating the 1708 been granted a patent for land north However, after England took New Connecticut “Panhandle”. The Panhandle of Norwalk that was named Ridgefield. But Netherlands from the Dutch for the first time was approximately 61,440 acres in size, as part of the 1731 agreement, the western in 1664, the English King Charles II created and in compensation for it, the colonies also portion of Ridgefield became part of New a Connecticut colony that extended agreed to slice off an equivalent strip of York State. That land, now part of westward not only to the Hudson River, but land from inside Connecticut’s western Westchester County, includes today’s all the way to the Pacific Ocean, as was border and add it to New York. To equal villages of Pound Ridge, South Salem and the very generous custom of the day. 61,440 acres, the strip would be about 50 North Salem, plus part of the community of Clearly, here was fuel for the fire of miles long and 1.8 miles wide. Known Peach Lake. controversy. After 1674, when the Dutch, officially as the “Equivalent Lands”, this strip Pretty much all of the land now comprising who had retaken what was now New York of land, because of its shape, soon became Putnam County belonged to Frederick City, were ousted for the final time, the two known as the “Oblong”.

Philipse, an early patent holder, but the colonies got down to business.

Unfortunately, the dispute continued. The additional land to the east of it was not In an early attempt at settlement, Hudson River, after all, does not flow in a added to it. Instead, it was sold in smaller Connecticut proposed a north-south border straight north-south direction but tends to parcels to farmers and subsequently ten miles east of the Hudson River. This wander a bit. Further, the mapping became part of the communities ofSoutheast, proved unacceptable to New York, especially technologies of the day were somewhat Patterson, and Putnam Lake. because it would have required several less exacting than those of today. So, nearly large land patents in New York to be split fifty years later, in 1731, after the completion Continued on page 14 between the two colonies. of a new survey, the two sides reached a

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Which of the 8 reindeer hid your gift? To purchase the book and receive your free reindeer reveal go to www.reindeergift.com.

Salina’s highly anticipated EP release, New Day Comin’ is available on www.salinasias. com. Win a CD @ www.vanwyckgazette.com.

“Your Were Born to Shine” takes the reader on a journey of self-discovery and personal growth. To inquire about a purchase visit www.bouncebackwomen.com.

Their book is available for $15 at Live Bait Diner, P.O. Box 55, Lake Hill, N.Y. 12448 or livebaitdiner@gmail.com.

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Page 14

Winter 2014 Issue

Hudson Valley

What Kind of a Name is “Oblong”

by Peter Rae - continued

The Oblong and Pawling The same thing happened north of Patterson, in what is now the southern Dutchess County Town of Pawling. One of the smaller Oblong parcels distributed was to a group of Quakers. In 1740 they formed the Oblong Friends Meeting House, which proved to be such a magnet for other Quakers that a larger version was built in 1764. Three years later the Oblong Friends were among the first colonists to discuss an opposition to slavery, and in 1775 announced they would not accept financial contributions or receive services from any Friends holding slaves.

Also in 1775, they announced they would not support either side in the Revolutionary War that was just beginning, and throughout the course of the war they remained neutral. (They did, however, provide medical support to wounded colonial soldiers hospitalized nearby).

The Oblong Friends Meeting House remains standing today. It’s located about two miles east of the village of Pawling, in an area known as Quaker Hill. This past September the Historical Society of Quaker Hill & Pawling hosted a 250th birthday celebration for the meeting house.

Along Route 22 about two miles north of Pawling, the Appalachian Trail crosses that highway as it winds its way from Georgia to Maine. The signage announcing the crossing is easy to miss, so look for the Native Landscapes Garden Center on the west side of Route 22 and you’ll find the “A.T.” Take the trail west from that point and it crosses a marshy area called the Great Swamp by

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Page 15

Van Wyck Ga ze tte means of a long, low wooden bridge. Then it winds its way up a high ridge and continues on, ultimately to Georgia. The entire area is filled with natural wonders preserved by many support groups, including the Oblong Land Conservancy and the Oblong Trail Association.

Amenia and the Oblong Valley Further north on Route 22 are the Town and Village of Amenia.

Here is the Oblong Valley, an area of rolling farmland approximately six miles long that is especially beautiful when seen from the various side roads winding through it. Among the valley’s farms are the Oblong Valley Stables and the Oblong Ridge Farm.

Northeast of Amenia is a hamlet called Hitchcock Corners.

Originally part of Sharon, Connecticut, this crossroads was literally bisected as a result of the 1731 agreement. But even after that, disputes arose on account of the perceived inaccuracy of the survey on which the 1731 agreement was based. In 1855, the two states agreed to resurvey the entire borderline. This took more than two decades, but in 1880, a new agreement was announced that included some adjustments. One of them redrew the border through Hitchcock Corners so that the entire hamlet was now in New York State. That’s where you’ll find it today.

From Hitchcock Corners it’s a short ride north to Millerton, where Oblong Books is open for business. And if you’re with friends visiting either Millerton or Rhinebeck, you can now surprise them with an answer to their question: “What kind of a name is ‘Oblong?’

Peter Rae writes about the history unique to the Hudson Valley region. His research and insights shed new light on personalities such as Madam Brett, Hall of Fame Baseball Legend Big Dan Brouthers, and Revolutionary War Hero Sybil Ludington.

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