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This from Shirley O'Brien Leinweber, provides a touching glimpse of downtown Warwick in the forties.
WHEN LEON AND I WERE IN WARWICK LAST AUGUST, WOULD YOU BELIEVE THAT BOB TOMS WAS THE ONLY ONE ON MAIN ST. THAT I KNEW. BOB AND I BOTH WORKED FOR ADAM DUGHI. I STARTED WHEN I WAS 15 YRS. OLD WHEN IN HIGH SCHOOL, LONG BEFORE ROBERT CAME UPON THE SCENE.
THE ONLY TIME THAT ADAM EVER CLOSED THAT STORE WAS THE DAY THAT LEON AND I GOT MARRIED, BECAUSE HE CAME TO THE WEDDING. ANOTHER BIT OF OLD WARWICK INFO, MY FATHER AND ADAM DUGHI USED TO PLAY BASKET BALL, AT THE ORIGINAL AMERICAN LEGION HALL, IN WARWICK. THEY WERE YOUNGSTERS, WAY BEFORE I WAS BORN. DO YOU KNOW WHERE THE LEGION HALL WAS? IN THE BEGINNING , THAT IS.Yes I think so, my gang played there also, Ned Strong would let us in sometimes. Being inside, on a real BB court on cold days was heaven.
THE SONS OF THE LEGION, BACK IN THE LATE THIRTIES AND VERY EARLY FORTIES, PRACTICED THEIR DRUM AND FIFE. THEY HAD THE VERY BEST DRUM CORPS IN ALL OF ORANGE CO. SULLIVAN CO. & SUSSEX CO. ERWIN SWINSON, BOB KIMBELL, JACK " SOUPY" MARTIN, AND SO VERY MANY MORE, I CAN'T REMBEMBER. BUT ERWIN WOULD KNOW. THIS WAS THE PRELUDE TO THE VILLAGE QUEENS. WHAT A TOWN! !!
MILLIE (Littell Stewart) HAS WRITTEN TO ME, AND KNOWS THAT I WAS IN WARWICK A LONG TIME BEFORE SHE WAS, SHE DID'NT COME UNTIL HIGH SCHOOL. THE GREENWOOD LAKE KIDS HAD THEIR OWN GRADE AND JR. HIGH SCHOOL AT THE LAKE. THIS IS WHEN I MET ALL THE GREENWOOD LAKE CROWD AND BOY DID WE EVER HAVE FUN.
LONG POND INN WAS THE PLACE, WHICH LATER BECAME BINGLER'S, BUT IN THE BEGINNING , DURING THE TWENTYS IT WAS A SPEAKEASY AND GAMBLING SPOT, MERCHIO'S, LATER DURING THE LATE THIRTYS AND EARLY FORTIES THIS IS WHERE JOE LEWIS TRAINED.
SUGAR RAY ROBINSON TRAINED HALF WAY UP MOUNT PETER, AT THE CABIN IN THE SKY. SUGAR, A REAL GENTLEMAN, WAS DUGHI'S BEST CUSTOMER. EVERY EVENING, HE AND HIS TRAINERS, SPARING PARTNERS AND MANY FRIENDS WOULD COME TO WARWICK AND PIG OUT ON THAT GREAT REED'S ICE CREAM. DUGHIS OF COURSE! AKINS ICE CREAM WAS FULL OF AIR! ! ! BIG TIME RIVALRY THERE. ENOUGH FOR TONIGHT AND MY RAMBLINGS. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU GET OLD YOUNG. GOD BLESS AND HUGS. SHIRLEY O'B LEINWEBER
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