'Croton Falls Gang' Eager For Reunion

Once upon a time, there was a group of kids who all lived in a small North Salem neighborhood where they called themselves the "Croton Falls Gang," and played outside until dark before running home for dinner.

Waiting for the bus: (from left) Karen McLaughlin, Roger McLaughlin, Billy Patterson, Charlie Bobbins, Michael Bobbins, John Fenyo and Carol Anne Velarde.
Photo Credit: *Contributed*

K Reakes

07/18/2017 6:30 a.m.

Today, those same "kids" are in their 50s and 60s, and some have stayed in touch, but most haven't seen each other in years.

But one of them, Jeffery Bobbins of New Fairfield, Conn., always loved those days and decided to start a Facebook page to try and get some of the "old gang" together again.

"We had so much fun and it was a time when we all played outside and in the woods in our little horseshoe neighborhood," Bobbins said. "Of course, it was before cell phones and computers so we were all looking for something to do and everyone knew everyone else."

This weekend, Saturday, July 21 and Sunday, July 22, about 50 members of the gang are getting together at a home in their "old neighborhood," to visit and catch up with each other.

"When we moved in all the homes were new because a local man was selling off lots of land, and our little neighborhood sprung up," he said. "That made it easier to get to know everyone because everyone was new."

But, like most neighborhoods, jobs and marriages and life took over, and one by one the old friends moved away, although a few "originals" remain, he said.

"It will be great to see what everyone is up to and what's happened to them," Bobbins said. "A few are coming from Florida and Idaho and from all over the place."

It took Bobbins about a year-and-a-half to get the whole thing organized, but he figures once they all sit down together, it will be worth the trouble.

"I can't wait to see everyone," he added.

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