The-Helm_1971-04-15; Lynbrook Helm Independent Review

              E LM . LORETTA mBmiCAm 2 street
rNBROOK. NEW YOR^.
LYNBROOK MALVERNE EAST ROCKAWAY
VOL. iONO. 47 Entsrad • • Second—Class Matter
Post Office, Lynbrook, N.Y. LY 3-1300 THE FAMILY NEWSPAPER Thursday, April 15, 1971 10<
1921 - Malverne - 1971
Malverne Village Hall
LYNBROOK RECREATION COMMISSION CELEBRATED THEIR20th ANNUAL
EASTER EGG HUNT — Prizes were awarded. Pictured above are the 1st,
2nd, 3rd and 4th prize winners. Behind the children are the nnembers of the
Commission: (L to R) Pat Mazza; August Ulam; Ed Larsen; Chairman and
Babe DeLuca, Director. Names of the winners are: Laura Collana, John
Krause, Eugene Gallagher, Mary Ann Montuori, Drew Pratt, Debbie Combs,
David Wetchler, Robert Wisniewski, Robbin Wittich, Ann Espinosa, George
Weggler, Frank Trotta, Joseph Thompson, Chris Kearon and Elyse Tepper.
Progress And Growth
In 50 Years
by Francis E. Ulicny
"Oaks From Acorns"..,50 years have
passed and a great deal of Oaks have
grown from Acorns since that April
13th day in 1921 when the Secretary
of New York State issued the certi-ficate
of incorporation to the Village
of Malverne...Tuesday evening, April
13th, at a meetingof the Village Board
in the Malverne Village Hall, repre-sentatives
of Village organizations
and honored guests commemorated
the 50th Anniversary of the incorpora-tion
of the Village of Malverne...To
a standing room crowd of residents,
Town of Hempstead Presiding Super-visor,
and former Mayor of Malverne
Francis T, Purcell, assisted Mayor
Thomas L. Driscoll J r . in the tradi-tional
ceremony of cutting the birthday cake...Howard T. Levitt,
Town of Hempstead Attorney and chairman of the Anniversary Com-mittee,
presented highlights of the events that will mark the celebra-tion
throughout the year...Mayor Thomas L. DriscollJr. said; "Much
of our energies this year will be devoted to the celebration of the 50th
Anniversary of Malverne's incorporation as a village, which took place
on April 13, 1921," he also said; "Various segments of our An-niversary
Committee, chaired by Howard T.Levitt, have been working
quietly behind the scenes in an effort to develop appropriate activities
many of which will be scheduled for Memorial Day Weekend".,.One of
the highlights of the Memorial Day Weekend will be the Westwood
Park dedication ceremonies to the memory of former Mayor, Hamil-ton
S. Gaddis,..The Mayor remarked that one of the strengths in the
development of the Village has been the long record of dedicated
volunteers who have devoted their unselfish efforts to the welfare of
the Village, their neighbors, religious congregations, and organiza-tions
of the community ...Mayor Thomas L. Driscoll Jr. was very
pleased with the letter that was received from the President of the
United States, Richard M. Nixon, extending his most sincere con-gratulations
to the people of Malverne on the occasion of the 50th
Anniversary of the incorporation of the Village...
In celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the incorporation of the
Village of Malverne, one has to bear in mind that the history of the
area of Malverne dates back many years prior to 1921...Historians
tell us the Rockaway Indians were the first local residents. Indian
relics were discovered on Ocean Avenue, before it was paved, and on
the surrounding properties. In 1790 the first farmers came to this
region and slowly and gradually a very small community came into
being. The first battle of the Revolutionary War on Long Island took
place in the Hempstead Swamps, the site now occupied by the Mal-verne
High School. The oldest street in Malverne i s Ocean Avenue
which existed before the Revolutionary War and was then Rockaway
Road, which followed an old Indian Trail and connected Hempstead
with the South Shore. The early settlers went to Pearsall's Corner,
present day Lynbrook, for shopping; to Valley Stream for schooling
and to Hempstead for Church. For the next Century the area con-tinued
as a rural region containing scattered farms interspersed
with numerous brooks, ponds, lakes and dense woodland.
The next milestone in the history of Malverne was the coming of
the railroad. In 1869 the Hempstead and Rockaway Railroad was
organized and linked Valley Stream with Hempstead, The tracks
of this railroad ran parallel, but westerly, to the present railroad.
At the intersection of today's Franklin Avenue, then designated
Grassy Pond Road, and Cornwell Avenue was the Bridgeport Station,
There was also a siding at this station which served as the center
for the distribution of manure to the local farmers. On a steamy
August day the presence of this business in the neighborhood could
not be ignored and Bridgeport was duly dubbed Skunk's Misery by the
local wits.
The next stop on the line was the Norwood Station located north of
the present Village boundary near the site of the Southern State
Parkway on the East side of Hempstead Avenue. The station in-cluded
a general store operated by Valentine Wood, In 1875 a fatal
accident occurred on the railroad somewhat north of Norwood Sta-tion
and, in the same year, the railroad passed out of existence.
With its demise, so fortunately did Skunk's Misery cease to be.
In the 1870's the area now occupied by the Village of Malverne,
was a part of a larger general area called Norwood, Norwood ex-tended
from Pearsall's Corner (Lynbrook) on the south to Hempstead
on the north and included the present day West Hempstead and Lake-view.
To the southeast lay Near Rockaway, now Rockville Centre. The
town grew slowly but steadily and Hempstead Avenue gradually began
to take on the aspects of an important artery. A steam mill and
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