| Carl Breuninger, a member of the Pound Ridge Fire Department died the morning of November 21st, at Northern Westchester Hospital. He was hospitalized for several days after suffering a stroke while at work.
Carl was born in 1928. He was raised and lived his entire life in the same house in Pound Ridge. This past July marked Carl's 65th anniversary as an active member. He was honored for the length of his service during the 75th anniversary of the Fire Department. In recent years he remained active in the role of fire police.
Carl's ties to the Fire Department date back to 1933 when his father served as 2nd Asst Chief and was a founding member of the Pound Ridge Fire Department. Carl also remained active by working for the Town as Superintendent of Cemeteries.
When asked in an interview for the Pound Ridge Historical Society's newsletter, if he was still proud to be a member of the Pound Ridge Fire Department, he answered
"…. you don't get paid, but you do it out of public duty and you get to know and hang out with a great bunch of guys who are giving their time."
Additional mention of Carl:
A Lifetime of Service to Pound Ridge —
Carl Breuninger Interviewed by Stephen O'Brien, Town Historian
In addition to the activities discussed in the interview,Mr.
Breuninger is currently Superintendent of Cemeteries for the
Town of Pound Ridge, a position he has held for many years.
Steve: Hello Carl, as you know, we've had quite a few
chats over the past 6 months, which I always find
enjoyable and interesting.Thanks for
agreeing to let me interview you for
the Pendulum. As you noted, you were
interviewed a number of years ago for
a book about Pound Ridge.That was,
in fact, Bonnie Brodnick's terrific
book, Pound Ridge Past, Remembrances
of our Townsfolk. I encourage anyone
interested in Pound Ridge History to
get it. I'll try not to ask questions that
you addressed then.
Carl, when were you born?
Carl: I was born in 1928.
Steve:Where did you grow up?
Carl: I grew up in Pound Ridge in the
house I still live in.Mom and Dad remodeled it. It was
a one-story cottage and they added a second floor
about five or six years after I was born. I remember the
carpenters working on it, redoing it, and my dad
working on it when he had time like after work.The
carpenter was Orson Bouton, who lived on Lower
Trinity Pass Rd.He had three or four sons.
Steve:What did your father do for a living?
Carl: He did full time work on a large private place, kind
of an estate, and after hours did small contracting jobs.
Steve: So he was a caretaker?
Carl: Yes, he also did that for friends—different things
like cutting lawns, new driveways, things like that.He
also cut down and cleared trees after storms.They took
more care back them to cut it up right for firewood as
everyone had wood-burning stoves, even the big
estates. Also, we lost power even more back then and it
was common to be out for seven days.The town only
had a couple of trucks.
Steve: Did you have electric and telephone service when
you were born?
Carl: Yes, my parents had gotten electrical service
sometime in the '20s, but we had only one outlet in
each room until my parents remodeled the house in
1934, when my brother was born.
Steve:What about phones?
Carl:When my parents moved in, they didn't have phones
and used my grandparents' phone.They lived on the
corner ofWest Lane and the Pound Ridge/Bedford
Road.When I was young, we had a party line.We had
five numbers. I know we were 8133 and my
grandparents 8131. 34 & 35 were on Fancher Road.
You had to be polite, and not
crash in. Sometimes someone
would pick up the phone when
you were on it and say "sorry,"
but then not hang up.That way
people got some gossip.There
was one family known for that
sort of thing.
Steve: There's a story you've told
me about when your father had
appendicitis and I think it gives
a good sense of what it was like
to live in Pound Ridge in the
first quarter of the 20th century.
Carl: This happened in the early
'20s, after he had served inWorldWar I.He lived with
his grandparents, as there were 11 kids and not enough
room in the house.He worked for them and they
needed the help as they ran a real farm.This was
common back then where a boy might go to live with a
family who needed help with the work.
Steve:Where was your grandparents' farm (West Lane
grandparents were other side of family)?
Carl: It was bordering what is now the Pound Ridge
Reservation near Black Brook Road and along the trail
to the Leatherman's Cave.That area was not very
sought out for farmland. In fact the acreage in what is
now the reservation was called the woodlots. It was
called that because the people in the great big houses
down here (The Hamlet, Scotts Corners, etc.) who
only had two or three acres would buy up parcels of
land to use for wood for fuel.
Steve: So, getting back to your dad's appendicitis. . .
Carl: Yes, he was taken to Dr.Touperneal who lived in
Bedford Village in one of the big white houses—two
houses from the Presbyterian Church on the right side
as heading into Bedford Village. Anyway, he (my
father) was taken there at the end of the day as he had
to finish work and the operation was done right in the
doctor's house.He didn't stay overnight but I don't
know how he got home or if he stayed with a family he
had worked for in Bedford Village.
Steve: Now I'm going to change the subject to one inwhich we share an interest and commitment,
namely the Pound Ridge Volunteer Fire
Department.While I'm not the newest member
anymore, you are the oldest at 83, and longest
current serving member at 65 years. I'd like to note
here that you still respond to most calls.
Carl: I try to do the best I can. Yes, I joined in July
1947.
Steve: I believe that your father, also Carl, was a
founding member of the department.
Carl: Yes, they created it in 1933.
Steve:Where was the firehouse when you joined?
Carl: It was located in the back of
Ernest Schelling's store, in what is now Samuel
Parkers store.There were four bays I think, two
were town trucks and we had one truck at first and
then added a second truck. It burned down, you
know, and then again several years later.
Steve: Yes, I understand
Schelling's was an
institution for many years.
I believe Kevin Schelling, a
current Pound Ridge fire
fighter, is a descendent.
Carl: Yes. Also, Ernest was an
original member.
Steve: How were you alerted
to a fire?
Carl: Originally, 75% of the alerts came by phone.That
wasn't so effective as a lot of men would be working
out on their properties. Or you'd see it.There were a
lot less trees back then and you could see long
distances.We did later get a fire whistle—I think 4
rings would signal something like a small grass fire,
8 or 10 rings bigger were when we needed more
men, and then, like 16, it would be a house fire.
Some guys at the department may know or
remember that better. I remember the whistle
burned down with the second firehouse. It just kept
on going and going, but we couldn't do anything
about it.
Steve:What was your most memorable time on the
Department?
Carl : Actually, it was when I was still a kid, 5 or 6 years
old, and they delivered the first fire truck.The one
that's upstairs, the oldest one. I was with my father
and some other guys and I think it was spring or
summer of 1934.
Steve:What are some of the most memorable fires?
Carl:Maybe a couple of the wild fires on the southern
ridges of theWard Pound Ridge Reservation, above
the ravine that you can see from Old Snake Hill
Road. Raven Rocks was one area.The fire was
coming down the hill.We did draft a lot of water
from the pond down there. It lasted a couple of days,
I recall.The worst part, that made the guys holler
the most, everybody was asked to carry one section
of hose at a time—50 feet of 2 1/2" hose with heavy
couplings. Boy, that really got you. You'd say that's
nothing and you'd grab that hose and for the first 15
feet you'd go like crazy. Not to be, because you'd be
going uphill, and then at night, where you couldn't
see where the heck you were going and were getting
smacked in the face all the time.
Steve: Any other good memories?
Carl:We used to have square dance fundraisers in the
1940s, maybe every two weeks or once a month.
They were very popular with people coming from as
far as Ridgefield and
Stamford. Carloads
would come in and
there would be a lot of
hopping and jumping
around. Some of the
guys going around and
around—they may
have had a couple of
beers but it made
people laugh and
nothing bad came out of it.
Steve: Are you happy you stayed in Pound Ridge?
Carl:Well, it sure would have been different if I had
left, but the short answer is yes, I've had a very
happy life here. I had a very different childhood
than my younger brother who was only seven years
behind me. I went to a one-room schoolhouse for
five years, part of the library now, where there was
only a cast iron stove for heat and an outhouse in
back.Then the Pound Ridge Elementary School
opened and I went there until eighth grade (Pound
Ridge Elementary School was 1-8 at the time).We
went to the Katonah High School (pre-Fox Lane
and John Jay).
Steve: Are you still proud to be a member of the Pound
Ridge Fire Department?
Carl:Well yeah, you don't get fed every day and you
don't get paid, but you do it out of public duty and
you get to know and hang out with a great bunch of
guys who are giving their time. |
