(Click image to enlarge)
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
(Click image to enlarge)
See complete list of names, many from the Ballard family, here. With a special note of thanks to Lori Kemp of "Carmel, NY" Facebook! 
11 comments:
What a great find. I last saw this post card when I lived on Nichols St in Lake Carmel. Cummings dairy farm days, 1966. Grandma Cummings had a box of post cards including two of Flossies. I remember little root beer candy barrels, Costa and Hoffmen pop,the soda cooler to the left as you enter store,the old style glass display cases and the stairs up to attic storage space. And of course going down to Flossie's each evening around sunset.
Where exactly was this? On the east side of Rt 52 at the intersection with Milltown Rd? There's still a stone foundation at that spot.
Exactly right, Patrick!
I'm so glad you were finally able to find this! Should have known you could count on George! Wish I could remember more of those days! Cummings Farm...I kind of remember! Going to spend some time looking at this now!
By the time we arrived at Lake Ballard in 1952, the store had changed in appearance from what we see in the picture-postcard. The gas pumps, for example, were no longer there, nor was the store's front porch, which had been taken over by an extension, that is, a modest addition. The front door remained in place, however, giving it the appearance of being recessed. Although the postcard is undated, it appears to be from the 1930's, possibly the early 1940's.
Another curious fact is the Coca-Cola signs - a product that Flossie, a devout Baptist, refused to sell, because she believed it [still] contained "cocaine." In 1952, there were no Coke signs on the store, and no Coke products inside the store. This also gives us a new clue about the history of Flossie's (aka Ballard's), that the store predated Flossie's ownership, and that it had 2 or more proprietors during its history.
There was also an adjacent house that was originally built by the Ballard family in "1776"! The house was continuously occupied by the Ballards until finally, around 1990(?), Flossie moved to Patterson to live with her brother. The house subsequently burned down, apparently by arson. I'm not clear on the property's history much beyond the 1950's - although brother Bill may fill us in. The history of the house came directly from Flossie a few years ago when brother Jim visited her in Pauling.
I remember walking to the store on so many sunny days. Flossie Fewcurls, we called her and she would hold the money really close to her eyes. She could hardly see. It was really fun to have a store we could walk to for soda and candy. Those were important things when we were kids.
Jacki,
The Cummings farm was directly behind Dain and Dill Lumber in Lake Carmel. Flossie's store died around the early seventies. Meaning either burnt or demolished. Flossie's house was built around the same time (1876) as the old road house which was almost directly across from the store. And what we all used to call the Red House just above the grave yard on Milltown Rd was also of that vintage.The Road House ,which was used by travelers on their journeys to Albany, came down around 1977.Myself and others living in the area tried to save it. Our efforts ended when one morning it was discovered that the property owner dropped the building the night before. The Old Red house came down by machine around 2000. Plans were in the works to make an entrance to the Lake from the Red House and build new homes leading through the woods.Something stopped that plan cold and nothing has been done on property since.
Having a small store to walk to is precious. There was a mom and pop one for a while on Shenandoah Road near where I live now in Hopewell Junction, but they retired about 15 years ago and it is closed. I miss it. Now I am near a Dunk'n Donuts and a larger gas station, but it is not the same.
Correction on my Comment to Jacki, made May 12. I meant to write 1776, not 1876.
On another springtime note:
I was driving in the city of Poughkeepsie the other day and came upon a two pound snapping turtle dodging car after car trying to get to a water spot for food and safety. I swung my van to block the road both directions. Then I picked up the soon to be domed mud dweller and first took him to Lori's photo studio for some quick documentation. Then guess what? Off to Ballard for his liberation. I set him free on the banks on Milltown Rd. The spot I picked was perfect for there was another (paint) turtle sun bathing below on an old board that looked like it came from one of the old docks. He sat for a little while looking and wondering if he was in heaven. Then off he dashed into a new world of adventure that hopefully will last another hundred years.
List of names from the Putnam Country Courier:
Wednesday Night Bible Class at Ludingtonville Baptist Church
Putnam County Courier - June 25, 1959
Graduation exercises for the
Wednesday Night Bible Class at
the Ludingtonville Baptist church
in the picture above were held last
night and Dr. William Ward Ayer,
noted radio speaker on Marching
Truth Broadcast was the speaker.
The church was crowded for the
services.
These Wednesday night classes
conducted by the Rev. Wayne E.
Morrison, the pastor, were started
last October and have attracted
members from a wide area. 22 of
the members of the class were
graduated last night.
Members of the' class in the picture
above are:
Front row, left to right: Roger
Ballard, Flossie Ballard, Ophelia
[Ballard]. Marilyn Morrison, Faith
Morrison and Ida Mae Light.
Second row, left to right: Earl
Dakin,' Everett White Sr., Donald
Osborne, Bob Oakley, Haras Snowdon,
Ruth Austin, Ida' Lates, Mary
Titter, Mary White, Elizabeth
Morris, Rev. Morrison, teacher of
the" class; Allen Light, Van Ness
Ballard, Carl Ballard and Norman
Wells .
Third row, left to right: Shirley
Smith, Helen Cunningham, Anns.
White, Elizabeth Oakley, Jeanne
Wright and Hattle Ballard.
Back row, left to right: Leon
Austin, Charles Fields, John Roosa,
Carol Roosa, Betty Lates, Harry
Studwell, Emma Fuchs, • Dorothy
Osborne," Ellen Ballard,. Florence
Fields, Mrs. Wayne Morrison, John
Hahn, Everett White Jr., June
Wells, Clara Kelley, Betty Smith,
Edwin Miller and Gerard Smith.
Clara Kelley was my Aunt.
Post a Comment