The Greenlawn Fireman’s Fair…. Do you remember voting for Miss Rheingold????  My recollection of the Greenlawn Fireman’s Fair was in the mid 50’s.

  That Labor Day was the year that Harborfields School Distric was formed and we were days away from “Centerport Kids” meeting “Greenlawn Kids”…..  It was so exciting that we were going to the fair and seeing the kids that we would eventually graduate from High School with….  It was more than a fair for sure….. It was a soial event that was so much a part of our lives….  It was where you went to spend your money on fun rides, cotton candy, fun games, taking chances on live stock (pigs, chickens, goats)  pets (dogs and cats), you always came home with at least a gold fish where you would throw a ping pong ball in a bowl with water and it would land in a bowl with a gold fish and you would take it home!!!  That was just the beginning….  syou would take it home in a plastic bag… so next morning your mom would have to take you to the pet store where you would get a real bowl, sand for the bottom, little cute things to put in the bowl, and fish food.  And many $ later you would have the whole set up in your room…  Usually the fish didn’t make it thru the week!!!  

But more than a four day event, always beginning with a parade on the Thursday evening before Labor Day, the Greenlawn Fireman’s Fair was our big social event of the year.  We would go there to meet friends after not seeing most of them during the sumer… There was a big thing that always happened at the fireman’s fair.  It was seeing the candidates for “Miss Rheingold” … this was huge!  It was like having Angelina Jolie in your home town!!!  This was a nation wide vote for Miss Rheingold!  They were all pretty girls that were running for the Title of Miss Rheingold!!!!

Once graduating High School we always went to the Greenlawn Fireman’s fair.  As we went to college this was always the place you would come back to meet friends…. As the years passed and you married and had kids, even if you had to travel across the country, people would flock back back to Greenlawn and meet a the Beer Booth….  This was the highlight once over age 18….  Then your kids would bring their kids and the tradition would carry on, and on, and on.  Our Grandsoms have gone to the fair every year!!!  

NOW who wouldn’t want to buy a house in this awesome community???

Looking to move to the area?  Make sure you call Suzanne & Brian Asher, The Winning Team in Real Estate…..  no one knows the area better than we do!!!!

Ah, the Mill Pond Inn in Centerport….  (Now known as the Mill Pond House)

Growing up in Centerport was a highlight…. Happy Days, a new High School in Harborfields, new friends, fun things to do!!!!

Back when my parents first moved to Centerport in 1955, they discovered the Mill Pond Inn… When my Dad was home from his trips they would go here at least 2 times a week and of course always “dragged” me along.  When my Dad would return from a trip (he was a Pan Am Pilot) he couldn’t wait to get back home and have some cocktails and a nice steak dinner at the Mill Pond Inn.  The owner, Jerry Griffin and his wife Irene, lived in an apartment upstairs.  My parents soon became great friends with them… my Dad would always bring him “trinkets” from his overseas travels which he would proudly display in the restaurant.  My parents would “drag” me there and I would eat dinner with them and get driven back home to “study” while they would sit at the Piano Bar and sing the old tunes well into the night…. “Down by the Old Mill Stream”….. “If you knew Susie”… songs like that!

The Mill Pond was our “Home away from Home” … The nicotine was thick on the walls and the dark and cozy atmosphere was inviting to the people who wanted a place to hang out and socialize…

Back in the late 50’s the Mill Dam in Centerport would freeze, allowing a place for us to meet with our friends and drink hot chocolate and skate on the pond.  Mill Pond Inn owner Jerry Griffin set up a spot light on the pond and shovel a little spot for us and light the skating area.  They would build a little fire and provide Hot Chocolate for all the kids.  There we would meet our friends and skate and have a blast!!!  Oh what fun this was!!!  We are so lucky that we grew up here!!!  The memories are unforgetable!!!

This was the BEST place to grow up!!!  How lucky are we!!!!

In the Spring of 1988, there was a lot of talk in the New York Sports press about a potential Subway Series in baseball that year since both New York Teams were potentially awesome …

This inspired Huntington Resident and baseball fan Brian Asher to create and develop the one and only Subway Series batting helmet.  The helmet consisted of a basic Mets or Yankees souvenir batting helmet to show your team allegiance to which was added railroad tracks, a stadium which was half Shea Stadium and half Yankee Stadium which houses a wind up toy motor.  The toy motor had a “driveshaft” sticking out of the top of the stadium to which was attached a plastic rod with a number 4 Subway car on one end and a number 7 car on the other.  

When the rod was wound up, the cars would revolve around the stadium on the track.  A little apple symbolic of the BIG APPLE was secured to the top of the stadium.  The helmet was finished off with decals of the words “Subway Series” in graffiti style writing on either side of the helmet and the names of the Shea and Yankee Stadium stops on their respective sides.  There were also decals on the stadium to show details as well as on the subway cars.

Brian’s brother Jerry, a Huntington attorney and licensed Professional Baseball Player Agent enlisted the help of two of his clients, Buddy Harrelson (Mets coach at the time) and Rafael Santana (Yankees shortstop at the time)  to make a 30 second commercial which aired on Yankees and Mets games on Cablevision in October of 1988.  After a considerable investment in plastic injection molding tools,  consulting fees, materials, advertising and office space, “THE ASHER BOYS” were in business!!!

The hats are currently a “collectors Item” !  You can e-mail for information about these hats if interested.  sasher@signaturepremier.com

Below is a photo of Buddy Harrelson, Brian Asher, and Raphael Santana………….