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Rouses Point - More Than a Little Village
My parents graduated from Rouses Point High School back in the early 1940s. As a child and into my early teen years we would often spend all day Saturday in Rouses Point, visiting my paternal grandparents, Leo and Alvina Gagnon, who we called "Poppa" and "Miner."
I have always had fond memories of Rouses Point, playing pitch-and-catch with my Dad and brother in the park with the gazebo. And going to Anctil's for ice cream sodas. Spending time in Furman's Department Store, where Miner worked. It was owned by Harry and Dot Furman, who became longtime friends of my grandparents and parents. Buying penny candy at Laundrie's Store on Lake Street. Visiting Mrs. Hill, who lived near my grandparents, who always wrapped a few homemade cookies in a napkin when I'd leave.
The first 45 rpm record that my father outlawed was in Rouses Point. I was nine years old, and we were shopping in that pharmacy on the corner of Lake and something-street when I found the Sun Records hit "Great Balls of Fire" by Jerry Lee Lewis. I had seen Jerry Lee on the Ed Sullivan Show and I loved that song. I asked my Dad if I could buy it. He said a firm, "No!"
I asked why and he just smiled and said, "I don't want you to buy that record." It was probably years later before I realized that my Dad thought that was a dirty song with nasty song lyrics. Goodness gracious!
My grandparents were friends with Bertha and Hank Jillson, who owned the Holland Hotel. Miner would often bring me to visit them, and the big chairs in the lobby and the quiet atmosphere left pleasant memories. The first bar I ever sat at was at the Holland Hotel, sipping a free coke while Bertha and Miner chatted.
In Rouses Point we also visited an old man named Dennis Wells. He had been a friend of my Dad's since my Dad was a kid. He was a nice old man, but he smoked cigarettes constantly. I liked Dennis Wells and when I was old enough to drive I would often borrow my Dad's car and visit him on a Saturday morning in Rouses Point. He would save his copies of The Sporting News for me. I read that publication from cover to cover when I was a teenager. My middle name is Dennis, in honor of Dennis Wells.
Eventually, Miner and Poppa moved to Plattsburgh and the visits to Rouses Point became fewer and fewer. So, indeed, it was quite a coincidence when I dated and fell in love with a girl from Rouses Point. The visits to the little village increased in number and before long I had all kinds of nieces and nephews and in-laws living in that quiet village of my youth. The village of Rouses Point will always have a special place in my heart.
And that's why Al Ryan's book is such a great thing! Al Ryan, who grew up in Rouses Point, has written a book titled A LOOK BACK INTO THE MID-20TH CENTURY AT THE SMALL UPSTATE NY VILLAGE OF ROUSES POINT. It's a history of the village and a walk down memory lane of the places and faces he recalls. The soft-cover 36-page book has many photos from the 1920s up to the present. Anyone who grew up in Rouses Point would love this book.
I read the book from cover-to-cover and passed it on to my Mom, who has read it twice, enjoying Al's stories about the village where she spent her teenage years. The village of Rouses Point today is in many ways the same. Oh, there are many more streets as the population increased and the houses stretched to the edge of town. But, make no mistake about it, the unique feeling of growing up in a small village like Rouses Point, or Ausable Forks or Keeseville or Chazy, for that matter, is something that will never change.
You can contact Al for more information at dod2243@comcast.net.
Comments
Beekmantown was a one of a kind as well.
Posted by: William Phaneuf | October 25, 2007 3:53 PM