Paris Has The Eiffel Tower, London has the Buckingham Palace, But

The hamlet of Pearl River, like all of Rockland County, has experienced accelerated change since the TZ [the Mario Cuomo Bridge - built in 1955] and the PIP [ the Palisades Interstate Parkway - built in 1958] came to being, making it convenient for everyone in the Bronx and a few other Counties/Boroughs to move from their apartments into houses with backyards.

I arrived in 1961, so I am an observer of a lot of the change.

I miss a great deal of places that were and aren’t any more like Mel’s Army & Navy Store and Hadeler’s Hardware Store. Mel Lieberman personally ran his corner store for 60 years before its closing in 2017, during which he outfittered hundreds of Boy/Girl Scouts and Little Leaguers. The Hadeler family ran their corner store for 105 years before it closed in 2013. I was a faithful customer of both.

Thank heavens, we still have the Saloon on Central Avenue, I do not know what year its was built as the “Grand Saloon” but I have been going there for 60 years, starting when it was owned by Harry Zerrena and Rosanne McGuire. Both were legends, especially Harry, who always dressed in a T-shirt with a vest and a cigar in his mouth. Harry had a stuffed buffalo in the front and a tarantula spider in a cage at the end of the bar and peanut shells on the floor, all of which took everyone’s mind off the warm beer and lousy food.

Thank heavens Bridget Killen & Sean Casey bought it about 13 years ago, just in time for the Irene storm in 2011 and the Sandy storm in 2012, both of which flooded the basement to its ceiling. Irene got as high four feet on the first floor. It had also been flooded in 1999 by the Floyd storm. I don’t know what caused the flooding, even if it was the “Pearl River”, but every flood resulted in a better restaurant/pub.

The Saloon could not be drowned. It is not only dry now, but has a mix of comfortable settings on the first floor for folks who enjoy a pub-like bar or whole families who love great American food and a very warm ambience. Now it even boasts of an incredibly wonderful spacious Ball Room on the second floor and a super cool Roof Top Deck, sometimes with music, for the best all-around out-door fresh air socializing venue in Rockland. Plus the beer is cold and the food great.

Yes I know there are many wonderful restaurants and pubs in Pearl River that meet everyone’s taste, but few have a history like the Saloon and a Hostess like Lynda Haubner, who has welcomed thousands of patrons during her 29 year watch at the door. It is a treasure to be enjoyed anytime by every one and all.