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Where in the Valley…?
In our March issue, we tasked readers with identifying the Marian Shrine at the Don Bosco Retreat Center in Stony Point. The 48-foot bronze Rosary Madonna statue was first cast in Pistoia, Italy, in 1959. The Center serves as a retreat for Catholics to pray, reflect, and find peace, accommodating 20,000 children and adults alike. Hats off to Paula Willsie of Delmar for being the first to name this iconic sculpture. This month, try your hand at a cool clock tower query.
I have many joyous memories of the Shrine. I grew up in Garnerville and spent many hours there. It is a beautiful location, and you can see the Hudson River when you are by the statue. When I was younger, the Rockland County Irish Feis was held there.
The Van Der Meulens
Chester
Such a peaceful and beautiful spot for meditating on the problems life throws each person’s way.
Anthony Bellov
New York City
Amazing art that was cast in Italy; now New York has her watching over us.
Deb Toscano
Warwick
A Solved Mystery?
I read your story on Unsolved Mysteries (March 2015). I remember the summer of 1984 when I was down at a dock on the Rondout and I looked up and saw the infamous V-shaped lights. Later that month, the paper ran an article about hundreds of people seeing a UFO. The article’s description matched what I had seen, but I, for one, never really believed in visitors from another planet. Fast forward 20 years. I started chatting with my daughter’s friend’s dad at an air show at the Rhinebeck Aerodrome. I learned he was a pilot. He relayed a story from the 1980s. He and some friends had a club named the Stormville Flyers. They owned small engine planes that had been equipped with oversized mufflers, and at night they would fly around the Hudson Valley in a “V” formation. Their typical flight would take a path towards the local cities, increasing in altitude as they got closer. This would give the illusion of an object hovering in place. He stated they would also, on cue, turn off all lights together to make it seem like they had vanished. The local police were aware of the club, and at times would wait at the airport for them to land. While the group was never arrested, since technically they never did anything wrong, law enforcement was not too happy with the volume of calls received after a flight.
Greg Herd
Marlboro
What about the disappearance of Audrey May Herron? That’s a big one to leave off this list. Last seen Aug. 29, 2002, leaving work at the end of her shift at the former Greene County Long-Term Health Care Center in Catskill.
Mary Fairchild
via www.hvmag.com
Look at this Trove
This article (Hidden Hudson Valley, February 2015) is a treasure of unfamiliar places. I can’t wait to visit many on this list this summer. And I’m coming from New Jersey. Thank you, Hudson Valley Magazine!
@CatchTheBeat
via www.hvmag.com
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