The Kelly Place, Holmes, NY

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This is a very exciting find! It's the Kelly house on Holmes Road, about 1/2 mile east of Route 52. This superb, undated photograph by Yvonne Rabdau appears to have been taken just before the house disappeared around the year 2000, although it could just as well have been captured 50 or 100 years ago - as memory tells us there's been no material change in its appearance over these many intervening years. In fact, the only thing missing is the Kelly's themselves, sitting on the porch and waving at every car as it rolled by! Additional photos from the Kelly place may be found in the original Kelly post here. Also, note that the above image was cropped to fit the blog, so be sure to check out the full version posted at our Flickr site (listed under "Links" in the right sidebar).

Flossie's!!!

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The long, arduous search is finally over! Thanks to Ballard Crew member George Paraskeva of Stormville, NY, Flossie's, once the holy grail of Ballard Lake shopping, has been returned to its rightful place on Route 52, and history! Feast your eyes upon her countenance! See the signs beckoning us in! Behold the glory of the world before Wal-Mart! Hers were the carefree days of pennies, nickels and dimes, of boys and girls walking from 1/2 miles around to shop at Flossie's! And get back up the hill before the milk turns sour! Don't forget the bread, careful with the eggs, buy yourself a Pepsi and bring home the change! Now and forever we'll fondly remember Flossie Ballard tending her tiny store, her young son Roger playing in the background - and all the joys of Ballard shopping! Read the comments for additional information, and check out the original Flossie post here.
Added: 1959 photo from Putnam County Courier; first row left, Flossie (black dress) with son Roger:

See complete list of names, many from the Ballard family, here. With a special note of thanks to Lori Kemp of "Carmel, NY" Facebook! 

RIP Flossie Ballard 1921-2012