The St Augustine's Parish annual Italian festival will be held at the Parish Grounds Tuesday July 27 through Sunday August 1. There will be children's rides, game booths, lots of food, a white elephant sale, and a $10,000 grand raffle. Last year my kids went bananas on the rides, which were good fun, and Luke's cub scout pack volunteered at the Goldfish booth. We won one of those huge rubber bouncing balls at one of the game booths, which Max bit, and the goldfish didn't quite make it to collect social security. But we had fun, and I recall that the parish raised their goal. It is the largest fundraiser for the church and school they have.
This is as good a time as any to post a few pictures of the church and school grounds, which are utterly beautiful, as the campus overlooks the Hudson River. There are a number of very pretty shrines, the church building is majestic, and there is even an outdoor Station of the Cross. The campus was Mary Immaculate High School, an all -girls institution which closed in 1976, and it re-opened shortly after when St Augustine's old school was destroyed to widen Route 9.
My family were parishioners at St Ann's in Ossining for almost 50 years until I moved in 2007. My brother's children attended St Augustine's when Luke started school and we chose to send him there. It is a beautiful place, and these photos don't really do it justice. I will post some more festival oriented photos soon.
- We Are Westchester County, NY Real Estate. Reach Phil at (914) 723-8900.
- J. Philip Faranda, Broker-owner, J. Philip Real Estate, LLC. 2010 Vice President, Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service.
- I am one of New York's premier short sale REALTORS.
- J. Philip Serves Briarcliff Manor, Ossining, Croton, the River Towns, Westchester County, and the bedroom counties of New York City.
- Free MLS Search! Register for a Free Listingbook account and search the MLS like an agent.
- I am hiring agents.
This is Saint Ann's Church. I was baptized here, confirmed here, eulogized my father here, married here, and had three of my children baptized here as well. I graduated 8th grade from St. Ann's school up the hill in 1981.
This is 32 Linden Avenue. I was here almost every day from the age of 6 months until the 3rd grade. My mother worked as an RN, and my babysitter lived here. She's like a mother to me, and her 5 children are like siblings. I knew every nook and cranny of that old house. It went on the market earlier this year and I walked through for the first time in 33 years. It was a powerful experience. This house is the reason I love old homes, especially homes with porches. Back when that porch was enclosed by screens I read about 1000 Sgt Rock comic books sitting in it as the world went by, with the breeze blowing my cares away. 
This is the infamous Sing Sing Prison, the genesis of the phrase "up the river" from old gangster movies, as it is up the Hudson about 30 miles from Manhattan. It is still in operation, and the Hudson line of Metro-North runs right through it before stopping at the Ossining station. Surrounded by walls, of course- That looks really cool on Google Earth. 
This is Southside Market, on the corner of Spring Street and Lafayette, about a block away from Sing Sing. It used to be a little deli called Pindt's. My friend's Dad bought it in the early 80's, renamed it Southside, and made it a thriving enterprise. I started out as a stockboy there in high school (rotate the stock. New stuff goes behind, older stuff up front) and worked counter in college. I remember the rush of the 11:30pm shift of prison guards coming in after getting off duty. They all seemed to want Italian Combos. 3 meats and 2 cheeses. Those guys were grouchy after a long shift with inmates. And hungry. Ralph, my friend's Dad, was one of the best men I ever knew. We spent hours on end together in there, working and talking about life. I eulogized Ralph too.
This is downtown Ossining on Main Street (creative name huh). When I was a kid the area was derelict and blighted because all the commerce from that once bustling downtown migrated to the Arcadian shopping center. It has taken decades for the downtown to come back, but it is back and getting better.
This is my old home where I grew up. The original house (mostly on the left) was a 3 bedroom baby boom era ranch. My father made 3 additions to it.
