Memorial Day Dedication to Joe Ashkar

Left to Right- " Greek" Matthews

Joe Ashkar, Jack Fallon. Maui 1944  

My Dad, Jack Fallon, was a private first class in the Marine Corps in the Pacific Theatre during WWII.  He served while his unit was on Roi- Namur and Saipan- Tinian.  After learning of his experiences, I’ve lovingly nick- named my Dad- a very lucky man.  He came home.

It is a very rainy Memorial Day weekend here in the north east this year.  The kind of day you want to curl up under the comforter and close your eyes, listen to the rain pounding on the roof top.  While resting in that in-between stage of consciousness, the name Joe Ashkar came into my mind.  He was a recruit that my dad met at boot camp.  They were in training together at Parris Island, Camp Lejeune and Camp Pendleton.  The two became good friends, in the short time that they spent together.

Dad and Joe had a few escapades together- one Christmas they were invited to a southern family home for Christmas dinner.  Dad was from Kingston New York and Joe was from Watertown New York.  There they were, an Irish Catholic, tall, dark haired and fair skinned and Joe, short of stature and dark of skin.  Dad recalled that he and Joe were worried at first, as they were in North Carolina in the 1940’s. However, their worries were for naught.  Joe was accustomed to explaining that he was dark skinned because he was of Syrian descent.

While at Camp Pendleton, the two friends had many a drunken escapade on leave in Los Angeles. They would hitch-hike into the city and explore all that the exotic neighborhoods in the city of the Angels had to offer.

While at Camp Pendleton, Dad had an offer to join a Transport Quartermaster unit- thus leaving his rifleman infantry unit.   In June of 1944- Dad’s quartermaster unit help combat load supplies on the Navy ship that was also transporting his friends and his former unit to the island of Saipan.

In his memoir- my dad wrote:

“On my first trip around our secure area on Saipan I came upon a Japanese bicycle in good working condition. I took it back to our area near the dump site. Every now and then I would take a ride.   When I heard that my old rifle company, I company, had been pulled back for some rest from the fighting, I road over to see some of my old friends.   It was then that I learned that my good friend, Joe Ashkar, had been killed. During some heavy fighting, Joe took over the manning of a machine gun when the gunner was killed. Joe was a rifle man, not a member of a machines gun crew, but he took the machine gun over anyway, firing continuously until he was shot fatally.  Speedway Tkacs told me that before we left Maui that Ashkar had received a “Dear John” letter from his steady girlfriend back in Watertown, N.Y.   A “ Dear John” letter was one in which a girlfriend or spouse sends a letter to a loved one telling him that she had fallen in love with another man and therefore their relationship was over”.

In memory of Joe Ashkar.  

Exploring Woodstock History

February 18, 2021 Our favorite spot is till our kitchen, filled with sunlight, which fills us with hope. We are planning our one year pandemic anniversary for March 2021. Yes, we will gather with our loved ones- who are in our “ bubble”, to celebrate all things IRISH and to give thanks that we have been spared the pain of death caused by Covid 19 complications. I did a 170 day tour of duty as an essential worker, RN case manager, and then decided to retire. The decision was made partially due to the working conditions during the pandemic. However there was also an underlying dissatisfaction about the role that I had in case management. It was time to jump off the tread mill and see what else floated to the surface. Eventually, the grocery stores regained their abundance of choices. Now, there is more hand sanitizer available than we will ever use. We opened our flea market in July. Amazingly, Woodstock NY had suddenly become a safe haven for people fleeing the pandemic in the metro area. House prices have gone up; home sales in the region are fantastic- a true sellers market. The sidewalks of Woodstock are busier than ever. All we can hope is that store owners are making the sales that they need to in order to cover their rents and other expenses. Our Mid-Hudson region remains in Phase 4 retail. It’s been hard on restaurants, who haven’t been allowed to open to full capacity. We shake our heads when we pass by a restaurant with outside seating- in 30 degree weather- people are out, bundled up, “ enjoying” a meal with friends. I have started a new endeavor. Exploring Woodstock History with Janine Fallon Mower. I have uncovered so many notes and bits and pieces of information not used in all the local history books I have been involved in. Slowly, I am creating sort videos on specific local history topic. The videos can by found on our fleamarket youTube page. Mowers Saturday Sunday fleamarket. Subscribe to the channel and like the video. I will post on the flea blog- woodstockflea.blogspot.com- additional information and photos that pertain to the episode. I have local history books for sale. Contact me at woodstockfleamarket@hvc.rr.com to make a purchase.

Observations during the Covid 19 Pandemic of 2020

April 22, 2020
     We had our pre St. Patrick’s Day meal together on Saturday March 14th, 2020. We weren’t sure, but we all had inkling that something dramatic was going to take place. Sure enough, Woodstock and NY State was put under lock down shortly thereafter. That’s the last time I hugged my daughter, son in law and my three grandchildren.
     My husband and I are considered essential workers.  I am an RN, case manager, working at Health Alliance/ Westchester Medical Center in Kingston. My husband works as an Enrolled Agent, preparing taxes. That first day, driving to work after the shelter in place order, reminded me of driving in to work after hurricane Irene blew through Ulster County, NY. No traffic. Eerily quiet.
      My first trip into Hannaford in West Hurley was a shocker! I think I walked around and left without buying anything. The shelves were empty. When I ventured into Sunflower foods for some fresh veggies, everything was gone. Admittedly, it was a little disconcerting. However, knowing I was going to work in Kingston the next day I figured I would have more luck in ShopRite. Also, I realized that I had to put my prepper head back on and start stocking up on nonperishable items. Every store I went into, and I only went in two, there were shortages of everything. I just wandered around astounded at how grocery shelves could be cleared of all the essentials: like flour, yeast, cake mix and icing, canned vegetables, toilet paper, hand sanitizer, Clorox cleaning products, sanitizing wipes, hamburger, chicken and so much more so quickly. I can say for sure, that shoppers of Ulster County don’t like canned beets!   When this is all over, I hope I will be able look back and laugh.
     The sidewalks in Woodstock are mostly empty. There is the predictable line in front of Bread Alone in the morning when we go to work. However, now people are standing four or five feet apart and wearing masks. All of the parking lots are empty. Someone is still depositing household garbage in the dumpster on Deanies Alley in the Yoga studio parking lot. The animals are having a fun time rummaging thru the garbage. The deer are ravaging our day lilies at the flea market field. It’s quite odd to see the Library parking lot empty. It took me a little while to figure out that the Village Apothecary must be only letting a few people in the shop at a time, while others wait outside.
     I can’t imagine how it must be to be a restaurant owner. To have lost two months of income is unimaginable.
     Our favorite spot is in our kitchen. We can look out our windows and bask in the sunshine, what little there has been of it. I bring out the project of the day and spread it out by my kitchen sink, my spirits bolstered by the warmth of the sun. The dog park continues to be busy. I see people who walk their pets up and down the drive way, back and forth for exercise. Every now and then a family pulls up to the playground, and after wiping down the playground equipment, the kids play for a little while. I watched a neighbor high schooler stand and look at the broken basketball hoop. He was hoping to shoot some hoops, but kind of pointless without the hoop. Every now and then, two or three people will show up at Rick Volz Ball Park, throw a Frisbee or play some catch. One day, my heart broke. I could see a young child- maybe ten or so, dressed in their little league outfit, playing catch and hitting base balls with an adult.
     The after effects of this shelter in place will be far and wide. I don’t even dare let myself think that this was caused by a foreign country’s lack of concern for other members of the human race.
     What’s the point in thinking about what might have been? All I can do now is plan for how my family and I will successfully survive this shelter in place quarantine. And, plan how we are going to manage and prepare for the fall uptick in Covid 19 cases.
      I can only hope that the government won’t be advised to require that we endure another complete shutdown of our communities. I don’t see how another shutdown is sustainable for our mental and economic health.
 Janine Fallon Mower BSN CCM

The Importance of Genealogy to Local History Research

I decided that while I was under the pandemic of 2020 shelter in place, that I would put the time to good use. I've been going through my mountains of notes and photos with the goal to pare down and organize. I've started to utilize FB live to share my process with viewers. The photos in the previous post were examples of how family photos can be used to preserve local history documentation of changes in any size town or city.

Images of Woodstock pictures from March 29 FB Live by author Janine Fallon Mower

Off to a great start for 2020

I was amazed that it had been almost a year since my last post. I was focused on finishing up my latest self published book " He didn't want to work on the railroad." A little local history story about my father and his family, growing up in Kingston NY. It's available thru Amazon. I love writing about people and their everyday lives.

Happy Mothers Day 2019

Meet my earthly mother. Winnie Davis Fallon. After her divorce from my father, she supported herself in a couple of ways- one, she ran the Woodstock Answering Service out of her home. She also worked as a court clerk. The other job mom had was as a dispatcher for the Town of Woodstock Police, Fire and Ambulance department. Mom loved that dispatch job. And, she was good at it too!

Mom worked all shifts, but mostly evenings and nights. Like her co workers, she knew the town like the back of her hands. She was cool as a cucumber during an emergency. Mom especially liked to help people. Don't get me wrong, she wasn't perfect. Mom didn't take to well to people who were stupid or foolish. And yes, she did love to have a good time. Happy Mothers Day, dear earth mother.