To the Editor:

Reading this week’s paper brought back many memories between your column on Cindy Pollard [“From the editor: Cindy Pollard kept the home fires burning for all of us,”] and Tom Capuano’s letter [“Can AI save Altamont’s historic buildings?”].

Having lived in Altamont, in the same house, just shy of 80 years, I remember all of what they talked about. One thing I noticed in the Cindy Pollard column, talking about the water shortage, it wasn’t only just the firemen manning the various pumping stations, some of our neighbors and others villagers, non-firefighters, my father included, took four-hour shifts at the various pumping stations between Thompsons Lake and the old reservoir.

About Helen Becker, I remember vividly going there for penny candy. She was always friendly to all of us. She wouldn’t rush you making your selections, putting them in a wax paper bag, her hands stained black from dying shoes.

As we walk around the village on our almost daily walks, I often wonder how many people are still here who remember Ackerman’s Lumber Yard at the end of Park Street and Fairview Avenue, that we had two automobile dealerships (Chevrolet and Dodge/Plymouth), John Armstrong’s Dairy on Brandle Road, Toilish’s Bowling Alley where the rear parking lot of the former Home Front Café is now, that we had two doctors, a barber shop in the little white house just down from the American Legion, grocery stores, and much more. 

George Schiller

Altamont