Alumnae Reflections: The 1940s and Highland Falls Today
Verna C. Bryant, class of 1945, describes a senior year with Hudson views from a porch, and Mabel Callahan Galu explains how a gazebo came to Ladycliff Park.
Verna C. Bryant, class of 1945, sent this to the college's alumnae site, and Mabel Callahan Galu, class of 1959, forwarded it with her own reply. Verna recalls her senior year, when her class was housed not in the dorm but in a house on the road up to Rosary Hall, with porches and a small gazebo on the cliff for studying and letters, and a large gazebo on the front campus later torn down for a second road to West Point. Mabel answers with news of the gazebo moved from Roe Park Lake to Ladycliff Park. Undated.
Alumnae Reflections,
The 1940s and Highland Falls Today
Verna C. Bryant '45 sent the following to the LC, which Mabel Callahan Galu '59 has forwarded for this site.
Verna writes--"When our class returned to LC for our Senior year, we learned we would not be living in the dorm. My roomates and I were given the living room, dining room and bathroom in the house on the right side of the road going up to Rosary Hall. The back porch like the small gazebo on the cliff was our quiet spot. We studied, wrote letters and just enjoyed our view of the Hudson River. On the front porch we socialized with our classmates. That was also true of the really large gazebo on the front campus. That gazebo was torn down when they paved a second road to West Point."
Mabel commented in response to Verna--"I was interested in the comments Verna made about the gazebo," Mabel writes, "due to the fact that Ladycliff Park (across the highway from the former college) now once again has its own gazebo. There was an unused gazebo near Roe Park Lake in the Village. Mayor Joseph D'nofrio thought it was a good idea to move this gazebo over to Ladycliff Park. This was quite an undertaking for the village roads and grounds crew of workers. The gazebo was placed (very carefully) in Ladycliff Park near the large memorial rock with the plaque dedicated to the Franciscan Sisters. There are old fashioned street lamps around the whole triangle of the park and more work is being planned for the area. This is truly a "sweet spot" within the village--a great place for picture taking during reunion time!--(take note class of 72 when you get together for your early reunion-and any other former grads) Ladycliff has truly come back home to Highland Falls. Mabel Callahan Galu, class of '59.
A few questions
Where did Verna Bryant live in her senior year?
Her class learned it would not live in the dorm. She and her roommates were given the living room, dining room and bathroom of a house on the right side of the road up to Rosary Hall. The back porch became their quiet study spot overlooking the Hudson.
What happened to the large gazebo on the front campus?
Verna says the really large gazebo on the front campus, a place to socialize, was torn down when a second road to West Point was paved.
How did Ladycliff Park get a gazebo?
Mabel Callahan Galu says an unused gazebo near Roe Park Lake was moved to Ladycliff Park, an idea backed by Mayor Joseph D'nofrio. The village crew placed it near the large memorial rock with the plaque dedicated to the Franciscan Sisters.
More from the archive
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