The Record-Review

When Pound Ridge was a ‘basket community’

By DOUGLAS MICHAEL

August 18, 2006

            It might be hard to picture it now, but there was a time when Pound Ridge was no more thought of as a bedroom community than it might today be considered an industrial hub. Then again, there was a time when Pound Ridge was deemed such a lascivious party town, the term "bedroom community" was probably tossed around as a euphemism. And finally, going way back, Pound Ridge was once known as a "basket community," literally.

            "During the Depression people in Pound Ridge were very self-sufficient," said Bonni Brodnick, author of the soon-to-be-released "Pound Ridge Past, Remembrances of Our Townsfolk, a collection of some 30 personal recollections of life in Pound Ridge over the course of the last seven decades. "They did what they had to do to survive, and basket weaving was something a lot of people in Pound Ridge were good at. One of the people I interviewed was Pat Marshall Bartram, who described her family as very entrepreneurial. Not only were they selling Marshall Oil but they ran a meat market and a tea house, and in the winter they would harvest ice from their pond."

            According to Ms. Brodnick, that interview and several others recalled life back then, conjuring up memories of an idyllic time before car alarms and bleeping cellphones. "You¹d wake up to roosters and church bells," said Ms. Brodnick. "This was before a lot of people in town had electricity or even running water. Back then, it was all about family and community."

            Ms. Brodnick said that the Depression hit Pound Ridge hard. "Life as we know it was very different then," she said. "In those days, you didn¹t get in your car and drive to Greenwich for a cup of coffee." By the same token, even Mount Kisco was, for many, a drive too far. "The Smilksteins would load their truck with shoes and clothes from their store in Mount Kisco and drive into Pound Ridge. You¹d see a lot of that, peddlers selling their goods along the side of the road." She added, "Back then you had a strong neighborliness to the town. It felt very egalitarian. Everyone had that we’re-all-in-this-together spirit."

            That feeling of living in an agrarian, close-knit community began to shift dramatically in the 1950’s and more so in the 1960’s. "That’s when people from the city discovered Pound Ridge, and so for the first time you had a lot of people who were living here but didn’t work here." Ms. Brodnick described those pioneer commuters as "creative brainiacs," a category that included a lot of people in the arts and entertainment world.

            And that may have lead to what was, for Ms. Brodnick, the most unexpected bit of town lore that she uncovered about Pound Ridge. "In the 70’s, Pound Ridge saw a lot of parties. And I mean wild parties. It was mostly the same people and the same houses, but they were said to be wild."

            Pound Ridge may not have been particularly unique in that regard at that time. The movie "The Ice Storm," set in the 1970’s, concerned itself with swapping couples and suggests that what was fun in New Canaan was fun in Pound Ridge and most likely up and down the Eastern Seaboard.

            And while the elders in Ms. Brodnick’s book have said that much has changed over the years, Ms. Brodnick says one constant seems to echo from nearly everyone she spoke with. "This is and always has been a very beautiful town, and I think we should all want to see it stay that way."

            Thinking about her town and what it meant to be a part of Pound Ridge is what got Ms. Brodnick thinking about writing a book.

            "I’m a writer. It’s what I do all day. So one day I had lunch with Fran Collin, who I met when I was writing the ‘Talk of the Town’ column for The Record-Review. Fran had done some photography for the paper, and I always loved his work, his aesthetic. So I told him my book idea and he said, yes, absolutely."

            Once Ms. Brodnick had Mr. Collin on board, she assured the project’s success by bringing on graphic designer Gina Federico.

            Ms. Brodnick said that the interviews were really the most fun. "All these people invited me into their homes and were very gracious and would spend two or three hours with me." What became work was finding the time to sit down and transcribe countless hours of interviews and then the slow and arduous task of editing it all.

            The result, which can be viewed in part on the group’s Web site, is all that Ms. Brodnick and her two partners had hoped for. Mr. Collin’s crisp black-and-white portraits create a whole other layer of depth and complexity, while the book’s design is clean, readable, and bold. "Pound Ridge Past, Remembrances of Our Townsfolk" is nothing short of a keepsake.

            As Ms. Brodnick explained, the production of the book was paid for in advance by 300 "sponsors" or advance sales and many others who generously helped underwrite the costs. A total print run of a thousand first-edition copies is reportedly on its way from the printing facility in China. "It’s coming by boat, then rail, and finally truck," said Ms. Brodnick.

            A book party is planned for Sunday, Oct. 8, at 3 p.m. at the Hiram Halle Memorial Library in Pound Ridge. "We’ve invited a lot of the people who are in the book, and of course they’ve all said yes," said Ms. Brodnick, who then added, "Unfortunately, a few of the people have died or slipped into the end part of their life. These people will always be very dear to me and I’m grateful that we can still hear their wonderful stories, that they can be savored forever."

            To learn more about "Pound Ridge Past" go to their Web site, www.poundridgepast.com. To order a copy of the book, contact Bonni Brodnick at 763-3218 or e-mail her at bkbrodnick@optonline.net.

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