Rhode Ann Jones: Memories of my hometown and the Sharmans – always entwined together in my memory! Notebook 2024-5 — Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough Historical Society

Bill Sharman in his Fire Department Uniform - the uniform may be viewed in the Eileen O’Conner Weber Historical Center (the home of the Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough Historical Society.

When my parents and I moved into our home at 79 Larch Road in 1945 the very first people we met were Bill Sharman’s parents, William and Margaret , and then Bill and Audrey and, of course, later on Karen and Leslie who all became dear, dear friends of ours. When I took my weekly piano lesson at Mrs. Wilde’s I would often see Bill and Audrey & the girls who were then living on the other side of their double house on Oak Road. Throughout my school years I happily joined Audrey and Bill & so many other wonderful folks singing in the choir at the Briarcliff Congregational Church. After I graduated from Northwestern and began my teaching career at Scarborough School I happily rejoined the choir and a special joy was having the privilege of getting to know Audrey and Bill in their leadership roles at the church and their totally delightful talents entertaining groups small and large with their musical presentations. As well as being active in the church, Bill and Audrey’s talents, enthusiasms and energies were vital to the entire village – they were active in all aspects of life in Briarcliff and were very much respected and honored throughout their decades of service.

During the years when I was married to Stuart Rapp, the senior minister at the church, we treasured the many friendships we enjoyed and Audrey and Bill were always amongst the closest friends who were there to share the joys and challenges of life in a small town.

Even after our marriage ended, I returned, numerous times to 20 Oak Road - at least one or two overnite visits in the summers and, as often as possible attending their gloriously happy and beautiful holiday party each December. In fact, on July 15, 1989, I was on my summer visit with them when I received a call letting me know that my oldest son, Danny, and his wife had just welcomed their newborn son, Nathan! Bill & Audrey and I were jubilant hearing the news and even though he didn’t partake Bill did instantly dash downstairs to the cellar vowing to find a bottle of champagne so that Audrey and I could enjoy a happy toasting of my first grandchild!

I have so very many memories of Audrey and Bill – a most special and poignant one was that every single year throughout my entire life they would send me the greatest birthday cards & even after Audrey’s far-too-early death, Bill carried on that tradition, sending me a card each year – he who had known me since I was a young child and then throughout my adult life.

As I think about Audrey and Bill and my growing up years near them on the Tree Streets I have such happy memories……I picture the big house on the corner where my best friend, Hope Kelly, lived across from the Sharmans……and then I start remembering all of the folks in our greater neighborhood…..what a wonderful place to grow up – even my quite strict and protective mother would smilingly send me out the door after school saying only ‘be home in time for dinner” knowing that our neighborhood was safe and full of friends. Neighbors knew you and cared for you – indeed, if my mother happened to be delayed coming home from a trip to the city and I came home from school to an ‘empty’ house, at least one neighbor would call me and invite me to come over for cookies and milk while waiting for my mom to return!

The Tree Street neighbors……..here, all those decades later, the names come instantly to mind – Grace Hersey, the village librarian, who hired me each summer to ‘take care of’ the library while she had her annual summer vacation with her son, the author John Hersey….so many names rush to mind…..Bowers, Corneille, Bethke, Schuman, Rose, Kaufman, Addis, Cadman, Prewitt,

McGailey, Grinager, Burns, Adams, Sichel, Borho, Johnson, Borchers, Holmes, Plumb, ….and countless others who waved hello as you walked to school or joined in games outside after school…..and were always there to help neighbors when needed and to enjoy impromptu gatherings together.

In addition to all of the church and shared community connections Bill and I also shared the fact that we had both graduated from Briarcliff High School, 10 years apart but loyal to BHS always. When I was in 6th grade my class elected me class secretary and now, age 87. I am still actively engaged in that role – having helped my class stay connected through all the years and also bringing many of my classmates back for a huge multi-class reunion in 1987 which Tom Vincent, Joy Ozello and I organized…..we had hundreds of alums in classes from the ‘40’s to the ‘60’s. Bill not only helped contact his own class members but was actively involved in the weekend event plans as well. And my BHS ’54 class held our 50th reunion in Briarcliff in 2008 along with the five classes before us and the five ones after – our classes were all quite small so you grew up knowing the students in all the ‘neighboring’ classes.

And, always, the ‘glue’ that held me closely tied to my beloved Briarcliff Manor – Audrey and Bill Sharman – they were just the best possible friends anyone could ever hope to know and the outpouring of love and praise for each of them and for them as a beloved couple, was evident in each word and every piece of music shared at their memorial services – they were loved by the entire village and their lives were a beacon of love for all of us!

Bill was indeed known, and rightly so, as Mr. Briarcliff – his love for his hometown was evident throughout the years and in every aspect of life in the village – his service in the fire department from his teens until his passing, sharing his incredible energy on behalf of so many activities in the village and his dedication to keeping the village a place of beauty as well as a welcoming and friendly hometown for all.

One of my most special interactions with Bill came many decades and many miles away from my hometown – by chance I was in a meeting in Freeport, Maine, with several couples and while doing a presentation I could not help noticing that one of the gentlemen there looked so very, very familiar – I didn’t think we had met before but I just knew I had seen his face countless times. When I had a follow-up call and asked him his name, I was astounded – Walter William Law, III – he was the great-grandson of the founder of Briarcliff whose photograph I had seen prominently displayed in the church and town. But, amazingly, Walter W. Law III had never visited Briarcliff and had very little knowledge of the history of his great-grandfather’s role in founding the village!

After that brief conversation I instantly called Bill Sharman with my amazing discovery and he was equally excited! He told me that in just a few weeks there was going to be a gala celebration in honor of Walter W. Law’s 171st birthday and Bill immediately said how exciting it would be if WW Law III could attend that event! Bill called Tom Vincent and plans were immediately made to welcome the Maine WW Law’s – Walter & Linda – to Briarcliff Manor for that gala weekend. Walter and Linda regaled me with stories about their marvelous visit and in particular praised Bill for welcoming them to town, for escorting them through the elementary school (where each class lined the hallways outside their rooms with signs praising Walter W. Law I and there, looking just like his great grandfather they met Walter W. Law III!

Walter & Linda said they felt like a King and Queen when the children thanked him for founding the village! Copies of the gala celebratory weekend celebrations are I’m sure to be found at the BMSHS along with many photographs highlighting the various places the Law’s lived during their years in Briarcliff as well as the homes of many of the early residents of the village.

In a newspaper interview at the time of the gala celebration, Walter Law III said how very remarkable it was that out of the million or so residents of Maine, he had met me, Rhode Ann Jones, a long-time former resident of the village. If we had not met, none of this incredible magic, discovering the great-grandson of the founder, would have happened and a vital link to the history of the village would not have been forged! For me, the most delightful part of my discovery was that first sight of Walter – I just knew I had seen him before & when he said his name I realized that I ‘knew’ him from the photographs which were hanging in a number of places around town including the Congregational Church and in various books & articles through the years…..and here was Walter W Law III looking exactly like him - – it was indeed one of the most exciting discoveries of my life – and the first person I had shared it with was dear friend Bill Sharman who was as thrilled as I was! I know that Walter and Linda were so very happy to have Bill as their host and so appreciated the village tours and introductions Bill arranged.

Ever since my earliest childhood there has been a constant thread holding close the love and friendship my family shared with the Sharmans. We were never ‘out of touch’ for long – letters and phone calls and visits continued throughout all the years – and as the next generations came along we shared even more special family times….indeed, Danny, Rich and Ann were as fond of Bill and Audrey as we were – although to our trio they were always called ‘Dad Bull and Shar Shar!’ As Karen and Leslie grew and followed the same path their Dad and I had – graduating from BHS and then after college returning to their hometown and becoming such active leaders in their home church – in the choir, the Sunday School, and various boards, they carried on the tradition of service and leadership that Bill and Audrey modeled and lived. The Sharman family so beautifully exemplified the very best of citizenship for their hometown and all who live there now reap the many results of many years of their service and leadership.

My memories of Briarcliff are long and extensive and heartwarming – it was just the perfect place to grow up and to return to – as an adult starting my teaching career, as a choir member enjoying the music, meeting & later marrying the assistant minister who became the senior pastor and then living in the Manse where we welcomed our three beloved children. Even after we moved away and followed our own individual paths I know we both visited the church when we were in the area and stayed close to the Sharmans throughout the years.

The very saddest reflections, of course, are those of attending the memorial services honoring Audrey and Bill – the church overflowing with love for them and for their family. Their lives full of inspiring service to others, the laughter and magic they brought to all with their fantastic musical presentations, the support and wise guidance & leadership they shared with all who knew them remains a constant inspiration and comfort. Their presence was felt deeply at the more recent memorial service for their daughter Leslie who died far too young, leaving adult children and young grandchildren and so many family & friends missing her greatly.

As I wind down this memory trail, highlighting how very central to the history of the village of Briarcliff the Sharman’s were, I would share just a few observations about my growing up years in the village……..first and foremost is the fact that it truly felt as if you ‘knew everyone’ in town….when you were at the park or shopping in the village it was a given that you recognized almost everyone you saw – you knew the store owners and the people who worked with them, you knew the police and the firemen – they all lived in town and you knew them as neighbors and friends, you knew the teachers and students of all the grades since the school was still small and all K-12 classes were in the same building. And, in addition to knowing all your neighbors, up and down the streets in town, you knew the various neighborhoods throughout the village and had friends in all of them.

The former Putnam Line Station. Now part of the Briarcliff Manor Library

Sleepy Hollow Country Club - formerly the Colonel Elliot Fitch Shephard mansion, Woodlea

There were differences in family incomes throughout the village, some people lived in huge homes with lots of land and some people lived in small homes, but we knew each other as fellow village residents and friends. Some people were members of the Sleepy Hollow Country Club while many weren’t but it didn’t feel as if there was a social hierarchy in town but rather that people just acknowledged and respected the differences and treated each other with respect. We had the famous – like Red Barber whose home overlooked the Hudson, there were the famous artists Joe Bowler and Coby Whitmore, musicians like Tom Glazer, author John Cheever….they were all part of the community. The village had its share of wealthy and well known families including Mrs. Astor, the Rockefellers ‘right next door’ in Pocantico, the Vanderlips and the Swopes in Scarborough…….while not all actively involved in village life neither were they ‘remote and removed’.

As the years after the war moved along there were more newcomers to town, new neighborhoods were built but they merged into village life quite smoothly & the neighborhoods were welcoming to the newest folks. While I was growing up there weren’t as many commuter fathers like mine who went into NYC each day but that gradually changed and even a few folks who took the old Putnam line towards the city began taking either the Hudson Line from Scarborough or the Harlem division line from Pleasantville and thus began the gradual change from a purely local village to a commuter community. It was still definitely an era when women stayed at home and the men went off to work, most all of the children had the summer free and clear to spend their days at the pool or playing tennis or just ‘hanging out.’ with friends, riding bikes, playing games like kick ball on the neighborhood streets, etc. It was still the era when each week would bring neighborhood ‘visits’ from the bread and milk company trucks selling their goods, an annual knife grinder bringing his services to the neighborhood, the daily visits of the Good Humor truck…..etc. It was definitely a small-town life and a comforting one.

Yes, I do have many more memories of Briarcliff Manor – I remain ‘class secretary’ for the BHS Class of ’54 and will add on to my personal memories of my hometown at some point in the future but the very most important memory of all is this one honoring Audrey and Bill and the entire Sharman family. How sad it is to have lost Leslie at her far too young an age but how grateful we all are that Karen has indeed remained close and active in the church in so many ways, including her authorship of the beautiful book about the incredible stained glass windows, a number of them Tiffany windows and some of them donated by Walter William Law I who had founded both the village and the Briarcliff Congregational Church.

Rhode Ann Jones

March 12, 2024

Title Page of Karen Sharman’s wonderful book: “Glory in Glass”

Note: Before his passing Bill Sharman also shared some memories of growing up in Briarcliff Manor. See: Bill Sharman, Memories of Briarcliff Manor. Notebook 2024-2.