The Putnam Sportsman

Can't remember now what I did on the majority of my Fourth of July Birthdays, but my 72nd was one I will never forget. Usually, I spend a noisy day in the neighborhood at home, sometimes with family, maybe a few friends, but this time it was an early afternoon ride out Route 301 to Cold Spring, not to watch the "Happy Birthday America" parade, but to make a special appearance in it. I had been invited by Beth Ailes, Publisher of the Putnam County News and Recorder and the Putnam County Courier, to ride in one of the PCN&R jeeps. Having been born on the 4th, I could have rented an "Uncle Sam" suit, but I may have come up with a better, perhaps more appropriate idea for the likes of me.

I packed my costume in the back of the car, along with some other stuff, and Mama and I headed off to Cold Spring. We got to the parade staging area near the now-closed Butterfield Hospital, parked the car and I got out looking at the posted position markers designating parade participants grouping areas. Fire trucks and ambulances started to arrive, and a bunch of kids on decorated bikes gathered near our car.

One young girl was setting in a decorated pull-along "Radio Flyer" wagon, and she was all decked out in red, white, and blue. I decided to put on my fur fisher hat and don my wolverine fur coat, grab my toy musket (a kid's toy from the 20s or 30s, but looks real), and go over and pose with her, letting her parents get a picture. The PCN&R cars arrived, with Beth Ailes driving one, my Editor, Joe Lindsley, driving the other. The PCN&R's Annie Chesnut and Margaret O'Sullivan, vice president for advertising, were with them, along with Beth's son, Zac, and visiting cousins Hans and Fritz, and friends. I tied an Indian chief head dress on Beth's head, but having to drive the car she gave it to a friend to wear, something I didn't realize until the parade was well underway.

There were a number of folks gathered along the short ride to the left turn going down the Main Street hill towards the Hudson, but then, as we turned on to Main Street, we were greeted by sidewalks full of spectators on both sides of the road.

I was standing in the rear bed of the open Jeep, waving to folks as we passed by with one hand, musket raised over my head with the other, yelling "Happy Birthday" on occasion. It seemed like everyone had a camera in hand, taking our picture as the car passed by. A lady named Mercedes Quispe was in a seat behind me with her feathered head dress on, looking like a Peruvian Incan princess, and she should have been out with me. Zac was tossing out Tootsie Rolls to everyone along the way. I think the parade was enjoyed by all, and Beth said I, and my Indian maiden, would be on our own float in next year's 4th of July parade at Cold Spring-on-the- Hudson. I didn't get to take pictures of the parade, but I did have someone take a picture of me in my "Mountain Man" outfit, with Beth wearing my Indian chief head dress and with a couple of dyed fox tails.

My son, Carl, his wife, Karen, and the grandkids, Kevin and Kyle, drove over to watch the parade and I waved to them as we passed them sitting on the sidewalk. Kevin thought I was wearing a monkey suit—maybe that's what everyone thought.

I'll be in another parade this week, this time marching with the Carmel Fire Department in Mahopac's annual Fire Department parade on Thursday night. No "monkey suit' to be the center of attention this time, but I'll still do my best to keep in step to the beat of our marching band. Hopefully these tired old legs will let me make it until the end of the parade and the waiting Bull Pen, and I won't be forced to drop out of line and hop in one of our fire trucks--that would be a first for me.

There's an Oasis Sportsmen Club monthly meeting tonight, and we will be talking about the upcoming Annual 4-H Fair the last weekend in July. Club members will be helping out at the Kid's Fishing Contest at the Putnam Veteran's Memorial Park pond, sponsored by the Putnam Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs, and 4-H, on Sunday, morning, July 26th, the last day of the fair. The contest is open to all kids under age 16 and prizes are given to those with the largest fish in three age groups. Registration starts at 8am, with the actual contest running from 9am to 12 noon. The park pond has a population of panfish, bullheads, pickerel, and largemouth bass. But a 40-to-50-pound snapping turtle was the heaviest catch last year. The young angler was lucky enough to get it close enough to shore and grab it. It was definitely a threat to swimmers and children playing in the water off the beach and it was given a ride to West Branch Reservoir by a Park Ranger and released. Mama and the grandkids saw another huge snapper off the Park Pond fishing pier a few weeks back. Maybe it was another one, or the same one from last year who found his way back.