Page 94: BEING A GOOD CITIZEN
Dad preached to me that wherever I am, it is obligatory to be neighborly and be involved in civic activities.
In North Salem I became president of the North Salem-Salem Center Improvement Society. Its essential purpose was to beautify the Town. Yearly we planted the spring blooming dogwood trees. There was an autumnal supper get-together as a tradition.
I was appointed Justice of the Peace for the Town of North Salem to fill the unexpired term of Justice Clinton Haight who had died. Subsequently I was elected to the full three-year duty. To me this was truly interesting in having a surrogate-type court conducted in the office of my barn as it sheltered Aberdeen angus cattle. The pay was $1,000 a year.
On occasions lawyer up from New York City would try cases before me. They were askance about “holding court” in a barn while cattle were mooing.
Page 95: Newspaper Tribute
In my memoirs is the newspaper account dated July 6, 1958 in the Mount Kisco Patent Trader, the weekly. It had a four column headline with two pictures citing “Carlo M. Paterno to Dispense North Salem Justice.”
A quotation from the lengthy story is this:
“He thinks his wife would have been a better judge, and he tried to persuade town authorities that she should have the job. They agreed that the daughter of the late New York State Supreme Court Justice Salvatore A. Cotillo has the legal background and the innate sense of fair play to make a good Portia for North Salem.”
Skipping rhough the columns of type about the Paterno real estate prowess, the newspaper writer picked up again, to quote:
“His North Salem neighbors agree. Mr. Paterno, they say, lives without ostentation in spite of his wealth. As a case in point, they cite the time he and Thomas L. Purdy, Jr. went to Lansing, Michigan, to fetch a fire engine for Volunteer Fire Company No. 3. They drove it back to Salem Center themselves to save shipping charges.”
Further along, the weekly newspaper continued:
“He spend 25 per cent of his time on the Angus operpation, he says, and divides the other 75 per cent between business affairs and civic activities. A member of the St. James Episcopal Church vestry in North Salem, Mr. Paterno has been president of the North Salem-Salem Center Village Improvement Society for 16 years. He headed the Northern Westchester Hospital Building Fund drive and is now…
Page 96: (photo) Caption: Helen
Page 97: …chairman of the hospital’s building committee. He loves golf and horses and has been master of hounds and joint master with Dan McKeon, a good friend from Ridgebury, Conn., for the Golden’s Bridge Hounds. He collects 17th and 18th century oil painting, particularly hunting scenes and is interested in old firearms.”
“The pair of 16th century cannons he now keeps on his desk in Mount Kisco might serve as props for his new job in North Salem. This would strike a formidable note in a court of justice.”
***
Fire Truck Comes
There was no fire district in the town’s east side so our fire insurance rates were high. A study of the situation cause the North Salem town authorities to establish as second fire district to be known as the North Salem Fire Department #3. Thanks to this, the fire insurance rates came down substantially.
A fog fighter fire truck was needed. A group of us flew to Detroit where the truck was made and had intensive three-day training of how to fight fire. When Tom Purdy and I drove that handsome white customized vehicle into the home base of North Salem the event was so exciting that people thought we were actually racing to a fire. Police sirened us the right-of-way, notwithstanding that our own truck’s siren was not shrieking.
Enroute from Detroit, Purdy and I stopped over in Akron, the rubber and tire capital of the world, …
Page 98: (photo collage) Caption: Marion Parish of Rock Ridge Farm, North Salem, N.Y. (wife of R. L. Parish, donor of the Goldens Bridge Plate) presenting the plate to Helen, Carlo and Patti as we were all excited about ERROLFORD’S win.
Page 99: (photo) Caption: Fox Hunt Opening Meet at Meadow Lane Farm. The Master of Col. George, Dick Lundy, first whipperin, Ben Funk, huntsman and Lew Smith, second whipperin.
Page 100: …as everybody knows. At the Mayflower hotel, where I lived for a year while on special assignment working under Gen. Brehon B. Somervell, I knew all the bellboys personally. Presence of our fire truck in front of the hotel caused panic and fear that it was on fire until the bellboys recognized me! All we wanted to do was be there overnight.
***
Horses Were First
Our horse breeding had its inception during my Air Force stint in Dayton. Helen and I spent many weekends in Lexington, Kentucky, visiting the beautiful horse breed establishments. This so whetted my ambition I decided when the war ended that we would start a horse breeding farm in North Salem.
My groom and good friend, Larry Mallon, who was with me 17 years, helped me get started in selecting the right ones as brood mares. I still think there is nothing more gracious to watch than a lovely green pasture with mares and foals frolicking about. Initially, we bred thoroughbred horses for flat and steeplechase racing.
Among the real pleasures of my life have been fox hunting here in America and in Ireland and England in the sporting tradition.
After we built our house at Meadow Lane Farm, Helen and I decided we should ask the Golden’s Bridge Hunt to meet in our pastures. We invited the field to a hunt breakfast. At that time Dad was raising deer in Armonk and had slaughtered one so we could serve venison stew which was so appropriate for a hunt breakfast as many hunts in Europe hunt the stag.
Page 101: (Photo of Helen and Carlo Paterno) Caption: I was on the Committee of the National Horse Show, the nation’s most prestigious horse show. Here we are entering Madison Square Garden.
Page 102: (Photo of Carlo and daughter Mina Paterno) Close cooperation at the Professional Horsemen’s Show at Meadow Lane Farm on May 30, 1954. Even at an early age Mimi was an excellent rider.
Page 103: (Photo) Jumping with Col. George over 4-foot jump in the Greenwich, Conn. Hunter Trials. I won the class. He was my favorite hunter which I bought in Middleburg, Va. in 1939.
Page 104: That day the hunt met at 9 a.m. and Helen had everything ready for the people to arrive by noon. When it got to be around 1 o’clock, Helen and I were sitting on the front step and wondering if the Hunt had snubbed us because we were newcomers to the area. Finally at 1:20 the guests began to arrive and explained they had such a wonderful run in Connecticut and that was why there were delayed. Naturally, we were relieved and the party turned out to be a huge social success.
Helen had instructed the cook how to make a very delectable sauce for the venison stew and I can remember the ecstatic comments from all the guests. We later learned that the cook had mistakenly used some very old port wine in the sauce. Actually, that bottle had been hoarded by me for medicinal purposes only.
Helen and our three daughters have all fox hunted in varying degrees. I so well remember Mimi on her pony going down the lane in the morning darkness with her two pigtails flopping under her velvet cap as we hacked to the cubbing meeting. This meant we all had to arise at 4 a.m. as we had to leave the barn by 5 a.m. in order to be at the meet by 6 o’clock. Ben Funk was the huntsman and gave us good sport for many years.
At one time our farm had 20 brood mares. But horses were a financial losing cause for breeding and showing.
Our so called “Buy of the Year” prize colt was sold at auction at such a big money loss at Saratoga that Helen and I actually cried over the result.
Page 105: (photo collage) Caption 1: Montage of our Meadow Lane “Black Top Sale” one of the years we had the top Angus auction in the United States, September 11, 1967. Caption 2: This montage, along with all of our Angus advertising, was prepared by Lorraine Meyer of Chappaqua, N.Y.
Page 106: Angus Cattle Come In
The Aberdeen Angus came into the North Salem scene mainly for rotating grazing in pasture with the horses. This was in 1950. The Paterno success in the Angus business achieved a status of top billing when in 1967 and 1968 we had top auction rating for these Scottish black bovines. The pinnacle was, of course, the Grand Champion Blue Ribbon bull at the International Livestock Exposition in Chicago in 1962.
Initially the Angus herd consisted of cows in calf until it grew in number to require a bull. My neighbor and Angus connoisseur, Giff Cochran, and I decided to attend the annual Angus sale at Ankony Farms in Rhinebeck, New York, so that we might buy a bull there because of Ankony’s fine reputation. I studied the pedigrees from the sale catalog, being knowledgeable about pedigreed lineage from selecting brood mares.
The Angus bull calf which I like pedigree-wise turned out to be the same black bull which Cochran’s discriminating judgment liked for conformation. We agreed to pay up to $10,000 joint ownership.
On the preceding Sunday, however, Allan Ryan as owner of Ankony Farms and his manager, Lee Leachman, had arranged a tour of Angus farms int he Rhinebeck area as a preliminary to the auction. This was customary. Cochran as the Runnymeade herd owner was established and therefore included in the visitation.
Aiken Knox, as Cochran’s manager, readied arrangements for the Sunday afternoon arrival of the important Angus buyers. The animals were washed…
Page 107: (Photo) Caption: Bob Bohlen was the manager of Meadow Lane Farm during the heyday of my Angus operations. This picture of Lisa Bohlen and myself, with the sale heifers in the background at North Salem, N.Y., was taken as a publicity shot for one of our “Black Top” Angus auctions.
Page 108: …and groomed; the barns swept clean. But no one appeared.
At 5 o’clock the puzzled Giff Cochran telephoned Allan Ryan with the question: “What happened?” Ryan explained apologetically that the motor bus for transporting prospective buyers was delayed at other areas farms.
Cochran was so indignant that he phoned me not to go to the Ryan sale next day, Monday. His mind was changed because of resentment over the snub by Allan Ryan. So on that Monday I went to my office, as usual, having forgotten about the Ankony Sale. When I got home that evening Cochran called to say that Aiken had gone to the Ankony auction and that he had actually bid the bull calf in at $16,000.
Of course, he was not authorized to exceed the $10,000 previously agreed to. Secondly, it was surprising to me that he event went to the sale because of Cochran’s hurt feelings. When Cochran offered to let me know of out of the participation I asked him to let me think it over for a few days about spending that much money for an Angus bull.
My Interest Was $8,000
My half-interest investment was $8,000. When I arrived to inspect the elite young beast it looked to me like he was about ready to die! It was explained that the calf had clic. My mental reflex at that moment was that maybe Carlo Paterno had tossed $8,000 out the window. I was wrong on that because the young bull which had been named ANKONIAN 3216 was insured for $16,000. Even if it had died the insurance covered the payment.
Page 109: (Photo) The 1962 International Grand Champion Bull. Bronze by June Harrah, noted artist who lived in North Salem at the time.
Page 100: The bull calf was under close care by Aiken Knox. The first year we showed him ANKONIAN 3216 got a stone bruise on a hind foot and therefore was unsound.
The following year events moved better. In 1962 our young Angus bull was selected Grand Champion at the Dutchess County Fair. Soon afterward I had an offer of $75,000 so I suggested to co-owner Cochran that we should take the money. But Cochran said, “No, I want to show this bull all Fall and enter him in the International Livestock Exposition in Chicago in December.”
ANKONIAN 3216 had matured well; his body had dropped and he had grown extraordinarily large. That was important in those days and significantly so because he was to compete against a formidable bull named KINLOCHMERE 23 in the prestigious Angus show at Timonium, Maryland.
At Timonium I was approached before the Show by that interested buyer who raised his offer to $100,000 for ANKONIAN 3216. Again, co-owner Cochran said, “No, we will not sell.” In that exciting competition our prized bull was named GRAND CHAMPION.
As Aiken Knox and I came out of the show ring with the big winning bull, the same eager buyer made still a higher bid. “Now I will offer you $125,000,” he declared.
Again, Cochran said “No” as I deferred to his seniority as an Angus expert.
Page 111: Came the climactic International Livestock Exposition in Chicago, the largest and the finale of the year. Aiken Knox had injured his hand. It was questionable as to who could exhibit the bull to best advantage. But Aiken Knox obstinately declared that he was going to show ANKONIAN 3216 come hell or high water.
In the Champion Class I was in the middle of the ring and was in a suspenseful sweat when it appeared that the judge could not make up his mind. It seemed as if he scrutinized those animals for a half-hour. Finally, I sat on a bench feeling faint.
Then the judge slapped ANKONIAN 3216 on the rump and signaled that HE was the International Grand Champion bull for 1962.
So far as I know, it is extraordinary if not unprecedented in the Angus business, for a first-owned calf to become International Grand Champion on year later. I considered myself to be very lucky.
At the time we were raising Angus cattle for the purebred trade rather than for beef. Actually, many of the bulls were sold to commercial breeders trying to upgrade their marketable cattle.
Angus beef is considered the top quality of beef in the world because of its heavy marbling. When the meat is cooked the marbling makes it very tender and tasty.
Page 112: (Photo) Helen talking to Bob Montgomery at his Angus Sale in New Hope, Penna.
Page 113: The Aberdeen Angus activity occupied Helen and me for twenty years. When I ventured into what is new and unfamiliar, I am motivated to learn how to do things right. Therefore, I went to Cornell University at Ithaca for its famous veterinarian college in order to educate myself about artificial insemination.
Our operation held the top sales average in the United States in 1967 and 1968. I was on the board of the America Angus Association for three years. Helen was prominently busy all along in ex-officio social aspects which attend the breeding of fine purbread Angus cattle.
(Photo of Helen & Carlo Paterno) Caption: We had just purchased this heifer at an Ankony Farm Sale in Montana. Note how straight the back is and how deep she is in the body – important features in those days of Angus breeding.
NEXT: CHAPTER XIV • THEY GROW OLD AND DIE
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