The Beaverkill Valley community took on a special flavor during the ’50s, which was still evident in the early days of the ’60s. It was a time when the population profile was changing. Whereas at the turn of the century most of the year-round residents had been farmers, by the ’50s many of those who lived in Beaverkill full-time worked in Roscoe or had retired. These people had created a social life for themselves that included bridge and games of golf as well as afternoon scrabble and cribbage.

Liz Hamerstrom remembers playing scrabble with Dottie Benedict and Lucy Ackerly while they waited for the school bus to bring the children home. It also included Blue Plate special lunches at the Antrim, gatherings for cocktails before dinner and even such fun things as elephant hunts. It was a period in America when smoking was glamorous, people had martinis for lunch, and mixed drinks such as Old Fashioneds, Manhattans, or rye with ginger were served at the daily cocktail hour. People joined each other often for dinner and these dinners were carefully prepared and beautifully produced. Women kept boxes full of index cards with prized recipes. If you think of the Mr. and Mrs. North books and movies of the day, or John Cheever’s stories, you get a sense of the times.

There was a great sense of humor and good fun among the valley residents and there were certain traditions that defined the social life.

Saturday morning trips to the dump on Elm Hollow Road, for example, were a social occasion. People would load up their jeep or car, pour a mixed drink to fortify themselves for the trip, then check with the neighbors to see if they had anything for the dump. At the dump the summer pastime was shooting rats. But on official “dump days”, Mrs. Bertie Dewitt, made up with bright red lipstick and white sneakers greeted everyone and asked what people had – trash or something to throw away? Her careful eye knew what to keep and offer for sale. During the winter, people would go into the big garage where a hot stove kept everything warm and look over the mixture of antiques and junk. There were a lot of good things to be had there, from upright pianos to old sofas stuffed with horsehair (one of which was bought, then returned to the dump and bought again) to bags of onions and potatoes which Marshall Dewitt sold in the fall. It was a place of exchange – both goods and conversation.

Another tradition was to go on an “Elephant Hunt.” This was organized by Liz and Dave Hamerstrom, and their friends Jim and Eileen Truesdell. They would hook up a flat bed trailer to Jim’s tractor, affectionately called ‘Mighty Mouse’, put hay bales, cushions or even chairs on the flat bed along with bottles of water and Canadian Rye and head up into the high fields and mountains surrounding the Truesdells’ farm. They knew better than to drink and drive, so Eric Hamerstrom, from the age of twelve, drove the tractor. As Liz explains, “You might not see any elephants on the trip, but you knew they were there!”