The following entry into the Dear Alice series was made by Dorothy G. Fahnestock. The handwriting in this entry appears to be adult handwriting and it was not labeled with the "forget-me-nots" that Alice often put in the corners of the entries. My search for Dorothy G. Fahnestock led in a surprising direction, Although it did not shed any light on the identity of Alice, the search for Fahnestock revealed an intriguing look at the citizen's of  Nanuet and their support efforts in World War II. 

      In The Hand that Rocks the Cradle Can Rock Hitler to his Foundations, I provided a portion of an article fromthe January 22, 1943 edition of the Orangetown Telegram and Pearl River Searchlight.  That part of the article gave insight into the types of questions women were asked as they organized to provide the necessary manpower on the homefront. Another portion of the same article (shown below), mentions many of the local women, including Fahnestock, and their contributions. 

"Drive for Pupils

(Continued from Page 1)

...Here are some typical examples
of the women who respond in the
local patriotic experiment by registering
for immediate training in
the Vocational School. Three young
women who are employed but feel
that their occupations are not essential
to the war effort. Several
school teachers who will study after
school hours so that they can
relieve the labor shortage during
the coming summer. Some women
whose grown sons are in the armed
forces and who feel that they,
too, must have a share in victory.
One special case was tha t of a
young woman who could neither
read nor write but such was her
eagerness to do her part to the
production battle that the instructors
representing the school declared
they would try to train her in
the machine shop just the same .
Observed by the Federal Office
of Education and the State Educa -
tion Department a t Albany, the stations
throughout the county will remain
open through January 30. The
committee contributing its services
in Spring Valley consists, in addition
to Mrs. Freedman, chairman,
of the following women: Mrs.
Jame s Barclay, Mrs. Joseph Becker,
Mrs Mary Levine, Mrs, J. Parr,
Mrs. Sablna Hillman, Miss Edith
Haerle, Mrs. Ruth Weisberg, Mrs.
Dorothy Fahnestock, Miss Liscum,
Mrs. Martin Nochimson, Misa Jennie
Cornwall, Mrs, Gladys Kobre,
Mrs. Dorothy Burke, Mrs, Louise
Ball, Mrs. Sophie Pomeranz, Mrs.
Edith Fisher, Mrs. Fanny Berg,
Mrs. G. Ferguson, Mrs. Palmenberg,
Mrs. Rose Goldstein, Mrs.
John Dodd and Mrs. Meda Sleight.
Mrs. Leonard B. Morgan of
Grand View, chairman of women In
industry of the Rockland War
Council, Is in charge of the enterprise."

    Fahnestock remained active in the Nanuet Community for her name appears yet again. In the January 20, 19[49] edition of the Orangetown Telegram, Pearl River, N.Y. is the following entry, 

"NANUET F. Avila has rented the house of Alphonse Schroeder on Pacific avenue. Miss Rose Leo is improving after a severe fall she received while skating over a week ago. The joint birthdays of Mrs. Samuel T. Hughes of Nanuet, and her two granddaughters, Cathryn and Ann, daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Adelbert Hughes, was celebrated on Sunday with a dinger at*he home of the latter in Naurauahaun. A minstrel show, sponsored by the Nanuet Parent Teacher Associatlon will be held in the school auditorium February 15 and 18. Cortland Mosler will be the coach and Mrs. Dorothy Fahnestock chairman. She will be assisted by Mrs- Kathryn Colligan, Mrs. Edward Stecher. Mrs. Fred Schmersahl and Mrs. Robert Hyslip. Anyone wishing to take part will please get in touch with Mrs. Fahnestock or Mrs. Colligan. "

      And then, of course, four years before American involvement in World War II and over a decade before the minstrel show, Fahnestock gave her best wishes to Alice. HK, 4 August 2012, Dover, Delaware.

Author HistoryKeeper, currently lives in Dover, Delaware, with family, both two- and four-footed. I am a history enthusiast, who has great regard for the past and is especially proud of the Pennsylvania German culture. In addition to my work here at Passed Time, I am currently working on a project for the German Historical Institute's Immigrant Entrepreneurship: German-American Business Biographies (http://www.ghi-dc.org). I also contribute to various newsletters and am working on another book...or two. Feel free to email me at pcsuter@hotmail.com for questions, comments, information, a shared love of history, an idea, etc. Be aware, Files with Attachments will not be opened, but immediately deleted. 

 Author HistoryKeeper, currently lives in Dover, Delaware, with family, both two- and four-footed. I am a history enthusiast, who has great regard for the past and is especially proud of the Pennsylvania German culture. In addition to my work here at Passed Time, I am currently working on a project for the German Historical Institute's Immigrant Entrepreneurship: German-American Business Biographies (http://www.ghi-dc.org). I also contribute to various newsletters and I am working on another book...or two. Feel free to email me at pcsuter@hotmail.com for questions, comments, information, a shared love of history, an idea, etc. Be aware, Files with Attachments will not be opened, but immediately deleted.

    The next autograph in Alice's autograph book was signed by her principal, Leo M. Smith. Found in American Education, Volume 24 produced by the New York Education Company, 1920 is the following entry is on page 176, " Rockland County. A large and successful meeting of the Rockland County Teachers' Association was held in the Spring Valley High School October 21-22. [1920] In addition to the general sessions there were section meetings for the grades and high school round table discussions for the groups of special teachers in the mathematics, foreign languages, commercial subjects, science, history, physical training, music and drawing. President Charles A. Richmond of Union College delivered a notable address at the final session on "The Higher Aims of Education." the president of the association is Leo M. Smith of Nanuet."

    Bill Wissinger proves more of an enigma. All of the readily found "William" or "Bill" Wissingers were either too old or too young to have been Alice's classmate. Perhaps Bill Wissinger or a family member will shed light on his identity. 

Author HistoryKeeper, currently lives in Dover, Delaware, with family, both two- and four-footed. I am a history enthusiast, who has great regard for the past and is especially proud of the Pennsylvania German culture. In addition to Passed Time, I am currently working on a project for the German Historical Institutes Immigrant Entrepreneurship: German-American Business Biographies (http://www.ghi-dc.org). I also contribute to various newsletters and I am working on another book...or two. Feel free to email me at pcsuter@passedtime.com for questions, comments, information, a shared love of history, an idea, or just because you want to share on Passed Time, but are too shy about getting started. But be aware, Files with Attachments will not be opened, but immediately deleted.

   Fehr's drawing book is a real hit here on Passed Time (click on link The Drawing Book of Verena Fehr to original article). As such, we want to share more of her artistic endeavors. Enjoy! HK 4 July 2015

.

    This entry is a little exciting because I found information about Alice's teacher, Miss Gunhild Swanson, who signed this particular entry. The April 24, 1958 issue of The Orangetown Telegram ran an ad about the retirement of two teachers. 

"Former Pupils to Help With Nanuet Teachers' Dinner An organizational committee met last week to plan the distribution of tickets for the testimonial dinner honoring Nanuet's retiring teachers, Miss Dorothy Prentice and Miss Gunhild Swanson," .

     The organizers were trying to get representatives from as far back as 1923, even though all former  students, parents, and friends, could purchase tickets to attend the retirement ceremony. The two teachers were retiring in 1958 after 35 years of service.The article listed many of Swanson's former students yet, Alice's identity remains a mystery. To read the full article click on the above link, the access to the newspaper is provided by Fultonhistory.com. Best! History Keeper 16 June 2015

PS: For those of you following the "Dear Alice" series, I would like to suggest you take a look at Nanuet: The flawed jewel of the Hudson lowlands. Pictures of the school and her teachers, plus wonderful Nanuet anecdotes are shared on Daniel Silverman's website. HK 30 June 2015

Author History Keeper, currently lives in Dover, Delaware, with family, both two- and four-footed. I am a published author and history enthusiast, who has great regard for the past and is especially proud of the Pennsylvania German culture. In addition to Passed Time, I am currently working on a project for the German Historical Institutes Immigrant Entrepreneurship: German-American Business Biographies (http://www.ghi-dc.org). I also contribute to various newsletters and I am working on another book...or two. Feel free to email me at pcsuter@passedtime.com for questions, comments, information, a shared love of history, an idea, or just because you want to share on Passed Time, but are too shy about getting started. But be aware, Files with Attachments will not be opened, but immediately deleted. 

    Unfortunately, I cannot make out the name on the first entry. If someone out there in cyberspace knows it, please share. The following entry is endorsed by Sam Forshay. After cursory searches on the internet, I found the Forshays can be found in Oakland, NJ. (about 18 miles from Nanuet) and Rockland County areas in New York. I had no luck with Sam, Samantha, Samuel, Forshay, however. Again, if anyone has information about this child-poet, please share with the group. Enjoy, Pat Earnest 16 June 2015. 

        Author Pat Earnest, currently lives in Dover, Delaware, with family, both two- and four-footed. I am a published author and history enthusiast, who has great regard for the past and is especially proud of the Pennsylvania German culture. In addition to Passed Time, I am currently working on a project for the German Historical Institutes Immigrant Entrepreneurship: German-American Business Biographies (http://www.ghi-dc.org). I also contribute to various newsletters and I am working on another book...or two. Feel free to email me at pcsuter@passedtime.com for questions, comments, information, a shared love of history, an idea, or just because you want to share on Passed Time, but are too shy about getting started. But be aware, Files with Attachments will not be opened, but immediately deleted. 

    I photographed this entry in Alice's autograph book both because it is legible in the photo, and I am not sure I can do the signatory's name justice. I suspect the name is Alda Gerret, but I have been unsuccessful in searches for any Alda Gerret, Ferret, or Yerret.  Notice Alice's "For-get-me-not" in pencil notation. She did not treat every entry with the same notation. Although Alda moved, some of the entries marked "forget-me-not" do not indicate the signer moved. One wonders if the "forget me nots" recognize Alice's closer friends. Arnold, the signatory on the following entry (below), did not sign his last name and his poetry leaves a little to be desired. However, Alice applied the "forget-me-not" to his page. 

     For many years, Pennsylvania has been host to events such as book shows, auctions, and antique shows. The York Book and Paper Fair held in York, Pennsylvania has always been a treat. Book dealers display all sorts of items. Anyone interested in history can spend hours perusing many book titles or eyeing old documents. Trade paperbacks are in abundance with any variety of topics. Ephemera is also plentiful, providing memories for those with a melancholy streak. Few collectors leave the show empty-handed.

      A couple of years ago, one vendor displayed three brown paper-wrapped booklets.* An initial guess placed the date of the notebooks around the early 1900's, with a best guess date of 1920. Considering the notebooks were carefully wrapped in the plain protective coverings, they did not look exciting. The three notebooks were labeled with a handwritten name declaring ownership by "Verena Fehr". Each was also labeled with the word "zeichmungsheft"** and numbered.

    Although the outsides revealed nothing remarkable, once opened the three writing books showcased page after page of charming and often whimsical drawings made by the child Verena Fehr. Some offerings are in color, some are simply pencil renderings, and all are captivating. There is a gentleness about the child's pictures which enhances their intrinsic charm.