— 1 — OFFICERS PRESIDENT Peter Marcus VICE PRESIDENT Bernhard Preisser TREASURER Peter Marcus SECRETARY Rick Palladino DIRECTORS George F. Calvi Bea Caporale Joann D’Emilio Pierre Fontaine Henry Groth Mary Keehan Robert M. Pellegrino Walter M. Schwartz Steve Wittenberg EDITOR George F. Calvi PHOTO EDITOR Rick Palladino GRAPHICS EDITOR Barbara DeAngelo GUEST CONTRIBUTORS Walter M. Schwartz Matt Arone Gary S. Rappaport Peter A. Baynes Robert M. Pellegrino Ken Stahn Although every attempt is made to maintain accuracy in the newsletter, the editor and the Society assume no responsibility for errors. The editor also reserves the right to edit where necessary. Newsletter P.O. BOX 523, ARDSLEY, NY 10502 ARDSLEYHISTORICALSOCIETY.ORG VOL. 33, NO. 1 SPRING 2020 FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK: T hough delivered decades ago,no truer words were ever spoken,particularly in this age of a thousand channels and streaming options with very little of interest to watch.Someone once told me that nostalgia is the product of a faulty memory. It remains unclear to me whether or not that person was being cynical, but as human beings we tend to remember the good times, and strive to repress the bad times as best we can. History on the other hand is supposed to be based on raw fact. An event either happened or it didn’t.The dilemma though generally revolves around the person charged with putting pen to paper. Some tend to be meticulous with the facts. Some are sloppy. Others embellish, and yet others may intentionally leave facts out either to fit a personal agenda, or simply to improve the flow of a narrative. Molding a story to suit one’s goals and needs is common practice.One has only to flip the cable channels from MSNBC to CNN to FOX during any evening news broadcast to observe how a single event can be portrayed several ways depending on one’s view of the world. Take the origin of the Ardsley Public Library for example. Recently, our Ardsley Historical Society (AHS) President, Peter Marcus asked me to review a timeline of Ardsley’s history that needed some updating on the society’s website. For the most part, the timeline expertly prepared by former Village Historian Walter Schwartz initially looked pretty comprehensive to me. Upon a second reading, however, two entries leaped out at me: “May 10,1923:Ardsley Public Library established on second floor of Municipal Building” “April 27, 1971: First organizational meeting of the Ardsley Public Library” It occurred to me that anyone reading this timeline for the first time with no prior knowledge of Ardsley history might conclude: “Gee, it takes Ardsley’s movers and shakers a long time to get their act together!” Of course, having worked for the village for many years I knew that was rarely the case. Moreover, few have researched Ardsley history as extensively as Walter Schwartz and I highly doubted he had made an error. Yet I sensed something vital was missing, but what? Additionally, gnawing at the back of my brain was a vague recollection that someone told me years ago that the books were given away at some point, but why? And so, I commenced my journey to unravel the mystery of what occurred in the 48 years between the “establishment”and the “first organizational meeting” of the Ardsley Public Library. continued on page 2 “I find television very educational. The minute somebody turns it on, I go into the library and read a good book.” - Groucho Marx, vaudevillian, comedic screen actor, author, radio star, pioneer television game show host (1890 – 1977) , OCR Text: — 1 — OFFICERS PRESIDENT Peter Marcus VICE PRESIDENT Bernhard Preisser TREASURER Peter Marcus SECRETARY Rick Palladino DIRECTORS George F. Calvi Bea Caporale Joann D’Emilio Pierre Fontaine Henry Groth Mary Keehan Robert M. Pellegrino Walter M. Schwartz Steve Wittenberg EDITOR George F. Calvi PHOTO EDITOR Rick Palladino GRAPHICS EDITOR Barbara DeAngelo GUEST CONTRIBUTORS Walter M. Schwartz Matt Arone Gary S. Rappaport Peter A. Baynes Robert M. Pellegrino Ken Stahn Although every attempt is made to maintain accuracy in the newsletter, the editor and the Society assume no responsibility for errors. The editor also reserves the right to edit where necessary. Newsletter P.O. BOX 523, ARDSLEY, NY 10502 ARDSLEYHISTORICALSOCIETY.ORG VOL. 33, NO. 1 SPRING 2020 FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK: T hough delivered decades ago,no truer words were ever spoken,particularly in this age of a thousand channels and streaming options with very little of interest to watch.Someone once told me that nostalgia is the product of a faulty memory. It remains unclear to me whether or not that person was being cynical, but as human beings we tend to remember the good times, and strive to repress the bad times as best we can. History on the other hand is supposed to be based on raw fact. An event either happened or it didn’t.The dilemma though generally revolves around the person charged with putting pen to paper. Some tend to be meticulous with the facts. Some are sloppy. Others embellish, and yet others may intentionally leave facts out either to fit a personal agenda, or simply to improve the flow of a narrative. Molding a story to suit one’s goals and needs is common practice.One has only to flip the cable channels from MSNBC to CNN to FOX during any evening news broadcast to observe how a single event can be portrayed several ways depending on one’s view of the world. Take the origin of the Ardsley Public Library for example. Recently, our Ardsley Historical Society (AHS) President, Peter Marcus asked me to review a timeline of Ardsley’s history that needed some updating on the society’s website. For the most part, the timeline expertly prepared by former Village Historian Walter Schwartz initially looked pretty comprehensive to me. Upon a second reading, however, two entries leaped out at me: “May 10,1923:Ardsley Public Library established on second floor of Municipal Building” “April 27, 1971: First organizational meeting of the Ardsley Public Library” It occurred to me that anyone reading this timeline for the first time with no prior knowledge of Ardsley history might conclude: “Gee, it takes Ardsley’s movers and shakers a long time to get their act together!” Of course, having worked for the village for many years I knew that was rarely the case. Moreover, few have researched Ardsley history as extensively as Walter Schwartz and I highly doubted he had made an error. Yet I sensed something vital was missing, but what? Additionally, gnawing at the back of my brain was a vague recollection that someone told me years ago that the books were given away at some point, but why? And so, I commenced my journey to unravel the mystery of what occurred in the 48 years between the “establishment”and the “first organizational meeting” of the Ardsley Public Library. continued on page 2 “I find television very educational. The minute somebody turns it on, I go into the library and read a good book.” - Groucho Marx, vaudevillian, comedic screen actor, author, radio star, pioneer television game show host (1890 – 1977) , Z ArchiveInABox,Ardsley Historical Society,Archived Issues of The Beacon,Volume 22-33,ArdsleyHistoricalSocietyVol33No1.pdf,ArdsleyHistoricalSocietyVol33No1.pdf Page 1, ArdsleyHistoricalSocietyVol33No1.pdf Page 1