When my family first moved to Centerport in March 1955 I was in the 7th Grade at the Little Neck School on Little Neck Road in Centerport.  This building now houses the Centerport Methodist Church and Pre School.  This school consisted of two classes for each grade level.  The classes were split up in two different groups of kids….  The kids that lived on the Huntington Beach Side… (across the Mill Dam, not known as “the Presidents Streets” or the Little Neck Peninsula side (or the Vanderbilt area — otherwise known in Real Estate as “the other side”)  …  People have actually called and said “We live in The President’s Streets and just wondering if you have any listings coming up in Centerport on The Other Side)  …  Basically, these two classes remained “segregated” until the new district was formed.

The classes together made up the grades for the school.  It wasn’t until we entered the new school district that was formed when Huntington School District declared that no more would they take kids from Centerport and Greenlawn to enter their school did these two classes mix together along with the kids from Greenlawn which is now known as Harborfields School District.  At the time we started school in then what was called the Taylor Avenue School, (which is the furthest south area closest to Pulaski).

There was only a 9th grade and an 8th grade coming together in Greenlawn.  It was at the beginning in September 1956  when we all got together and the first BIG assignment was to name the school district.  There were many different names chosen by the social studies classes, but the one that was chosen was Harborfields….  Harbor from Cow Harbor (Centerport Harbor) and Fields from the potato fields in Greenlawn where the school was located.  It was our job to decide many things… the school colors (green and white), the mascot (Tornado – then was the “Taylor Tornadoes” the school ring design, the school alma mater, all the cheers, and every other important thing that makes up a school district!

Here was the Harborfields beginning….

THOSE WERE THE GOOD OLE DAYS…… (I used to cringe when my parents used this expression)

I grew up on Northport Harbor but on the beautiful shores of the Centerport side.  My Mom and Dad found a little enclave of pilots in Centerport in the late 50’s.  (My Dad was a pilot for Pan American Airlines)….  Beautiful, rural, tranquil, and sitting on a beautiful harbor which was mudflats at low tide…  Yes, back then low tide was mud all across the harbor.  You couldn’t walk on it  (believe me we tried but you would start to sink as if you were in quicksand)…you, of course, couldn’t swim or boat in it, you could just observe it!  But two times a day when the tide was high it was a beautiful paradise with beautiful birds like ducks and geese and it was a great fishing spot.  There were many Mallard Ducks which swam on the harbor (thus the name of our street,  Mallard Cove)…  Sometimes men with “duck blinds” located right where Sea Spray Drive is now….  They would sit with their loaded shotguns till the timing was just right and hunt ducks.  Duck was a food delicacy and these guys at it every night during the duck hunting season.

Beautiful Northport Harbor and beyond – bird island to the bottom left…

BIRD ISLAND RIGHT BEYOND THE DOCK

Growing up there gave me the opportunity of learning to water ski daily (when it was high tide) from the early spring after school, weekends, and the whole summer long, into those warm days of fall.  What a wonderful life to live this carefree style.  Waterskiing was my passion …  As soon as I heard the roar of a boat engine starting I threw on my bathing suit, water skis under my arm and off I went.  Oh, by the way, there were no speed limit restrictions for running a boat on the harbor.  It was fair game, and as fast as you wanted to, you could do it.  We water skied traversing the harbor from Northport to Centerport and back and forth…. it was pure bliss and a great way for a kid to spend the afternoons and weekends… carefree like a kid should be, and having fun!!!

In around 1959 one morning we woke to the sounds of roaring engines in the harbor, it was loud and woke us all up that morning… we had no idea what it was…  It was the engines of a dredge that was clearing out the harbor.  They decided to make deep waterways so that boats could come in and out of the harbor even at low tide.

Have you heard of BIRD ISLAND in Northport Harbor?  Bird Island at that moment was being created!   The dredges worked day in and day out digging out and piling all the mud in the middle of the harbor creating what then became BIRD ISLAND.  During the transition my dog Rex was banned from the beach… Why you ask?  Because as soon as he heard the sound of the engines starting to roar, he would run right down to the beach and swim out to see what was going on.  That was fine but it was distracting to the captain and mates of the dredge boat.  One day they thought, “let’s teach this dog a lesson.  Let’s get him in the bucket and drop him out over the water!  He’ll never come back and bother us again”…  Their plan failed because Rex loved this little game and kept swimming back for more each time!!!  Af first the guys on the boat Loved the fun of this, but realizing that this just wasn’t going to get their job done, a few days later they walked up to my house carrying Rex and handing him to my Mom and said she would have to keep the dog hostage until the job was done!

Ahh, these were the days!! Here is where my story begins…

The year was 1954…………  Bill and Rita Asher decided that their Cape Cod home in Mineola was too small for their growing family.  Rita had been campaigning for years to move and when she found the perfect house in the perfect location, husband Bill had to agree that it was a good idea.  She found a development in Huntington (it always felt more like Greenlawn) called Salem Ridge which was being developed by a builder named Boris Gertzen.  Gertzen built two styles of homes, split levels and ranches.  Brian’s family bought a split level home which was modified from the standard three bedroom model to a five bedroom model to accommodate Brian, his parents, older brother, younger sister, younger brother and grandmother.  Below is a copy of the Newsday ad for Salem Ridge that Brian’s mother saw to find out about their soon-to-be built home.

They moved right in and the siblings, 4 of them, all attended the Broadway School (now Harborfields Public Library) …   Brian and Jerry were the oldest two boys who lived in the house in the upstairs and largest bedroom, and the other two siblings are Andrea and Randy.  This soon became the “hub” for the kids from Salem Ridge Drive … soon to be referred to as “The Salem Ridge Gang”.  The family thrived with friends and sports and fun on Salem Ridge.  When you stood at the end of Salem Ridge Drive you could see all the way down the street because there were no tall trees yet and you were able to see the swimming pools being built up and down the street.  At the time there were no fences around the pools so one of the big things at night was to go “Pool Hopping”… that is sneaking into your neighbor’s pools and see just how many you could “hit” in one night!  Another mischievous thing that would happen as they got older and stronger was “borrowing” a small dingy from one neighbor and putting it in their friend’s pool….  I remember hearing about the morning that Bill Asher woke to get ready for work and peeked out the window only to see someone’s dingy floating in his pool…..  Wasn’t happy!

Brian’s best friend, Tom Kubicki, lived at 8 Cherry Lane….  He and Tom soon became inseparable.  They played basketball for the Huntington YMCA Bobcats coached by Mickey Norton and then both went on to star on the Harborfields High School football, basketball and baseball teams.  BUT how did Brian and Tom go between each other’s houses?  There was no Buttercup Lane or Windmill Drive….  On that property was a working farm called Miller’s Farm.  The man who ran the farm was Rolf Walters.  There one could see cows being milked, chicken eggs being gathered, horses being ridden, and cattle being slaughtered!  Playing hide and seek in the barn in the haystacks was a fun activity.  Brian would play basketball at Tom’s house or vice versa and when they walked back home across the farm fields after dark they had to be careful not to step in a “cow pie“… 

Driving down Salem Ridge Drive from Greenlawn Road the “development” ended  at 23 Topsfield Lane and at 41 Salem Ridge Drive.  The next Salem Ridge development was called “Crown Estates” and began at 43 Salem Ridge Drive.  That development started around 1961 and extended all the way around to Renwick Avenue.  The majority of houses built in Crown Estates were very popular spacious ranches or farm ranches with a few colonials here and there.   

The year, 1954, the Asher family moved out to Huntington with great excitement as their four children would have an acre of property and lots of land to play sports…. they built a pool and Asher’s house was soon the hub of the neighborhood kids…

This gave Brian and Jerry, the two oldest Asher siblings,a great opportunity to explode their Athletic talents in their new schools and play sports together!  Well, not so fast!!! 

Is it possible for two brothers to live in the exact same house, share the same bedroom, and attend two different public high schools????  read on……

Brian Asher (the other half of Brian & Suzanne Asher, The Winning Team in Real Estate) has an older brother Jerry, who is two years older.

As it turned out, the Asher family moved to Salem Ridge Drive in Huntington in the mid ’50’s.  They built a beautiful new house on an acre with a pool.  Bill Asher (their Dad) moved the family out from Mineola where he owned two businesses, Asher’s Pharmacy and Asher’s Liquor store across the street.

Brian and Jerry were superb athletes who excelled in every sport they tried!  Both were captains of their football, basketball and baseball teams.

Jerry went to Huntington High School to pave the way for younger brother Brian.  Well, during that time, Huntington School District said that they were getting too crowded and so a new school was formed encompassing Centerport, Greenlawn, and parts of Huntington and a tiny bit of Northport.

Brian had to go to the NEW school, Harborfields.  As years went on, both boys continued to excel not only in their sports but also academically.

During Jerry’s Senior year, and Brian’s Sophomore year, both boys were Captains of their Basketball teams, and they played each other in a game on February 19th, 1959.  Imagine the Ref’s surprise when he introduced Brian Asher to Jerry Asher at half court before the game!!!  Here were two boys from two different Public High Schools, Huntington and Harborfields, competing in the same sports and playing in the same game… AGAINST each other!!!  And living not only in the same house but sharing the same bedroom!!!  How amazing is that!!!

Both brothers went on to attend competing Ivy League Colleges as well, Jerry attending Princeton and Cornell for his Law Degree and Brian attending Harvard then Cornell for his MBA!

Here are the brothers in their football Jerseys… OK it isn’t their basketball digs, but hey, you get the idea!!!!