Tonight I was visiting my Mom and we got talking about genealogy and family history. Somehow the conversation turned to her friend Maxine Howell who lived in the big house across Haring Ave from her parents house. We talked about several families that lived in that house (I remember when the Morrison’s lived there.) and that Maxine’s family rented it along with her extended family. In any case she indicated that Maxine and her whole family worked on Handwerks Farms both in Blauvelt, NY and in Florida in the winter. It was through this friendship with Maxine that my mother met my father who also worked on Handwerks farms. My Dad had a car so he came to visit Maxine and her family. My Mom indicated that her and my Dad double dated with Maxine (she didn’t say who Maxine went with) to at least the Auto races in Patterson, NJ.
I always wondered how my Mom and Dad met each other. I remember my mother talking about going to the Hess farm in Old Tappan NJ for strawberries and eggs, but that was when she was young.
I didn’t know that Handwerks had a farm in Florida and that my Dad had been down there before he met my Mom. When they got married they moved to Florida and farmed. Now I know why.
Mom mentioned Maxine’s aunt in Florida that she kept in touch with and I said “Is that the one who would send us Christmas gifts that were either the wrong size or something we would never use?” and she replied “Yes, at least she was thinking of you.”
Does anyone else have more to add to this story?
If you are interested in where Handwerks farm was, the old farmhouse is on the corner of Blauvelt Rd and Van Wyck Rd in Blauvelt, NY right next to the South Orangetown Middle School. A large part of the area surrounding the farmhouse was part of the farm. The school was built on part of the farm. My sister Karen was in the first class to go through that school for all 3 grades, sixth, seventh and eighth. My cousin Debbie and I were in the second class to go there for three years.
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