Does Greenwich have a beach?
And the Jumble
By Darren Johnson
Journal & Press
No one talks about Greenwich Beach anymore, and I’m not sure it really exists, though I occasionally see a swimmer in the part of the Battenkill that once was deemed a beach.
When I first moved here, from an area that had access to lots of ocean beaches, I mentioned to someone in town that that’s probably the only thing I’d miss from my previous town (along with the bagels and pizza), and he said, “Oh, Greenwich has a beach.”
I was incredulous. How?
I’d always assumed the word beach was synonymous with ocean, or at least lake, neither of which Greenwich genuinely has.
But I guess technically, a spot along the river can be a beach.
Though I knew the Hudson was contaminated with PCBs, I didn’t know that its local tributary, the Battenkill, didn’t have the PCBs.
I guess I didn’t consider the direction the water flows. It goes to the Hudson, not from the Hudson. So the Battenkill wouldn’t have Hudson pollution.
I could use a swim. It’s going to be hot today and tomorrow.
I am going to print with a paper and then will deliver it, driving by there along Route 29.
Maybe I’ll pop by the so-called beach and see if anyone’s there. I will take a photo.
Here’s a photo I took of the playground there one fall day. The town calls it Battenkill Park formally.
But as I was researching Through the Decades for this issue, I found this from 60 years ago…
July 30, 1964
There are not too many people on the streets, but there are hundreds of people at the Greenwich bathing beach these hot days. George Jackson, director of the youth recreation program, estimates that probably 600 to 800 visit the beach during one of these torrid days, and there will likely be more than 250 swimming at one time. The Battenkill, like every other stream, is low, but the water remains clear and good for swimming.
Hundreds? At Greenwich Beach?
Then I also found this related ad from 100 years ago…
Swimming has been a thing here for a while. I think I want to be that guy in the ad.
What probably killed Greenwich Beach are air conditioning and changes in attitudes about car travel — people are more willing today to drive an hour or so for a swim, but when I was a kid I remember my parents would balk at driving anywhere further than 10 minutes.
And beaches elsewhere are obviously better, no matter where you live.
Maybe we should lobby for a town pool?
I certainly can’t afford to buy my own pool — not an in-ground one, anyway — and maintaining them is a grind — but the way our Washington County towns operate is they can’t really be proactive and propose a big spend.
Which is why I wouldn’t run for town board — you can never do anything fun because there’s no real money.
Or if you do propose something new and exciting, everyone freaks out. Ah, politics.
Here’s the Jumble. … Answers at the end of this newsletter…
And Now for the Comics … ‘The Middletons’ by Dana Summers
I guess that’s it for today. I have to get The Journal & Press to the printer.
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Oh, yeah, the Jumble answers … GOING THYME INDIGO TODDLE -- HOT DIGGITY DOG. Did you get them all?