Week of October 30
October 28, 1876 – 150 YEARS AGO
Rockland County Journal
AROUND HOME
☞ Mrs. Theo. Ames’ house, at Spring Valley was decorated, on Wednesday. A little girl represented the Goddess of Liberty, and a boy a Continental.
☞ Rev. Mr. Tuttle, nephew of Hon. Seth B. Cole, living in a total abstinence county in one of the Western States, has been visiting in our village for several days past.
☞ The Haverstraw Republicans displayed their characteristic hospitality on Thursday evening in the splendid reception they gave the various companies of Boys in Blue who visited them.
☞ Mrs. C. Fannie Allyn will give the first of a series of lectures in Smithsonian Hall on Thursday evening, Nov. 9th, for the benefit of the poor of our village. This is a laudable object.
☞ There was a magnificent Republican demonstration in Haverstraw on Thursday evening.— The Nyack, Piermont, Tarrytown and Sparkill Boys in Blue went up there and joined in the grand parade.
☞ Some young Democratic ruffians threw coal at the Boys in Blue as they moved away from the Nyack dock on Thursday evening, cutting one or two persons quite badly. Is that according to Democratic "reform"?
☞ Campbell’s Star Combination Troupe, a company of talented performers, will give an entertainment at Smithsonian Hall, this (Saturday) evening, which will be worth attending. The low price of 25 cents should be an inducement.
☞ Tunis DePew is going to put up another greenhouse on the east side of his other ones, which will be over fifty feet in length and about eleven feet wide. Tunis is enterprising and is rapidly advancing the interest of his attractive business.
October 30, 1926 – 100 YEARS AGO
Rockland County Times
DAVIES APPLES PRIZE WINNERS
Besides playing politics in Clarkstown and trying to make the Republican party respectable by nominating good candidates particularly for Member of Assembly in which effort he was unsuccessful, Mr. A. David Davies, the Congers orchardist and farmer, has better success in horticulture than he has in politics for his Baldwin apples took fourth prize. He received first prize in Suttan beauties and second in Wealthy at the Syracuse State Fair held in September.
The Davies orchards are carefully sprayed, dusted and pruned according to the recommendations of the Rockland County Farm Bureau. Mr. Davies is now selling these apples to householders and others who want to buy choice, well preserved fruit.
GIRLS ATE THE PASTRY
There was no practice game of the Haverstraw High School basketball athletes Tuesday afternoon. The lineup was supposed to be perfected in the C. P. gymnasium after school but the church authorities cancelled the arrangement because, in preparation for a social event, a number of the Presbyterian Church ladies had provided cakes and pastry that were in the room, with the result that when the girls called for their practice Monday afternoon, they also called the cakes so that when they finished there was no cake for the social.
October 27, 1976 – 50 YEARS AGO
Our Town
IS THIS THE GREAT PUMPKIN?
Halloween is a time for sweet surprises and cut out pumpkins. But for Janos Somogyi and his sister Sabrina of Blauvelt, this year’s Halloween pumpkin will not be cut out with a knife, but will be designed with a paint brush.
Both youngsters decided to make use of a large boulder which has been in their backyard for as long as they could remember. Wielding orange spray paint and black enamel Janos and Sabrina went to work, turning the aged rock into a bright smiling Jack O’Lantern.
“We finally found use for this boulder,” said Janos. “I guess we don’t have to worry about anyone walking away with this year’s Halloween pumpkin.”
When Halloween is over the youngsters will turn their orange friend into a Christmas snow man, adding a smaller boulder on top and changing the color to white.
Come Easter, Janos and Sabrina may have an Easter egg that even Peter Cotton Tail won’t be able to hide.
This Week in Rockland (#FBF Flashback Friday) is prepared by Clare Sheridan for the Historical Society of Rockland County. © 2026 by The Historical Society of Rockland County. #FBF Flashback Friday may be reprinted only with written permission from the HSRC. To learn about the HSRC’s mission, upcoming events or programs, visit www.RocklandHistory.org or call (845) 634-9629.
