My Dad, George Tenore, moved our family north, out of Westchester County to Pine Plains in 1954, after having visited his best friend, Ted Near. He thought this would be a good place to raise three kids. I was just shy of my third birthday, brother Ted just a year old and our big sister Barbara was 5.
Being a veteran of World War II, Dad joined the local American Legion post. I fondly remember spending fall Sundays there watching our beloved New York Giants: Y. A. Tittle, Frank Gifford and Sam Huff, to name a few. There was a huge shuffleboard table there to keep us amused when our interest in the game waned. We also would be given a dime each and allowed to go unsupervised to the corner drug store for penny candy.
Memorial Day was the holiday that meant the most to Dad. He marched in the parade and was part of the ceremonies at each of the three stops on the parade route. I marched a few years with my Cub Scout pack and other years rode my decorated bike. I also remember we kids scrambling after the spent cartridges after the rifle salute at Evergreen Cemetery. The parade concluded back at the Legion Hall with all young participants rewarded with a can of soda and a baloney sandwich.
Credit: R. A. Hermans
Sometime in the early ‘60s the Legion erected a pavilion on the back of their property and started having a chicken barbecue every August. The morning of the barbecue, my brother and I, along with the Blakney, Blackmar and Keeler boys, were loaded into the back of a pickup truck and taken out to Bill George’s farm, where we were each given a burlap bag and assigned a row of sweet corn to pick. Afterwards, we returned to the Legion and proceeded to husk the corn under the supervision of George Keeler, Sr., who had a fire going under a large vat of water. Our duties didn’t end there. Once all the paying customers were seated, the youthful labor force proceeded to serve them. Our reward at the end of the day was getting fed. The barbecue was phased out sometime in the ‘70s.
The pavilion is no longer behind the Legion Hall. It was bought by the Lions Club and moved to their pavilion at Stissing Lake. My memories of those days around Shekomeko American Legion Post 426 are stirred every time I see that pavilion when I walk around the town ball fields.
Bart Tenore, Stissing Mountain High School Class of 1969
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As we commemorate the 200th anniversary of the town we all call home, the New Pine Plains Herald wants to hear from you!
Maybe you have a family story that stretches back through generations. Maybe you remember a favorite walk, friendship or pet. It could be the winning run in a baseball game, the birth of a calf or the crunch of autumn leaves. There’s simply no limit to what Pine Plains represents to each of the people who live here.
Throughout the Bicentennial year, the Herald will be publishing your stories, creating a portrait of the town through your memories and images. If you’ve got a story you’d like to share, please send 200 to 500 words (ideally) and 1-2 photographs to editor@newpineplainsherald.
Please include your name, brief biographical details and contact information so we can reach you with any questions or edits.
We look forward to hearing from you!