Meet Carol from New York’s Capital Region

At 95 years young, she is the eldest returning guest that Betsy has been privileged to interview in our Humanity & Connections series. She has five of her own children and six great-great-grandchildren. During WWII, from 1942-1946, Carol’s mother moved her to the Schoharie Valley. She said, “The farm I grew up on was near Stony Brook Road. My grandmother and mother grew up there and a lot of our family lived here in the valley. During that time there were no homes available out here in the country. We lived in half of the farm house. When my grandmother was young there was just a smokehouse, icehouse, outhouse and a pump for water. The smokehouse had a fireplace with steps inside the chimney. At night, they would climb the steps into a loft and that’s where they slept until they could get the house built. When we moved here my brother and I would walk a mile every day just to catch the school bus. My grandmother told me that when she went to school she would hop a ride on the local milk truck. I don’t know how she got back home after school. When she was really little, everyone on the farm was so busy with chores, they would tie a rope to her waist and tie the other end to the bed frame so that she wouldn’t take off and get hurt. Could you imagine that today?! When she got older she spent most of her days in the kitchen. There was a big beautiful wood stove that she and the other women would cook every meal on. They didn’t just cook for family. They also fed all of the farm hands. There was no running water. Just a pump, which still stands today, and a bucket with a ladle. At lunchtime, all of the farm hands would come to that bucket and take turns drinking from that one ladle. Then they would go inside and have a huge meal together, which she and the other women had prepared. Even my great-grandmother would help in the kitchen. Her job was to sit at the kitchen table and cut all the vegetables for the meals. She couldn’t do much more than that. Can you imagine all the work that must have been to feed so many people three meals a day? The land on the farm was rocky. As a little girl I remember that there was always bushels of potatoes out by the road for sale. We lived on that farm for years until housing became available.” Carol devoted her life to education and was a primary school teacher for twenty years. She said, “The cave has always been a magical place for our community. During the 1940’s the railroad industry hit a sharp decline. There wasn’t a lot to do out here. Transportation was minimal and there were no amusement parks to travel to like the world has today. Howe Caverns was really the place to be! I have so many fond memories of being here. I remember the boat ride and the winding way. I remember the stalactites and the stalagmites. We came here often and it filled my childhood with magical memories. When my brother Bob was 16 years old, he became a tour guide here and at one point in time, my cousin, Rodney Schaefer, was the general manager. It has always been a proud source of employment for our local community. Carol was not able to take a full tour but she was able to make it down into the cave for a visit to The Vesitbule and to feel the 52°F cave air on her face one more time. When she walked into the cave, her eyes lit up as if she was a little girl all over again. We were honored to host her and her beautiful daughter Kathie! Thank you so much for visiting. We were so honored to meet you. May God continue to bless you with continued good health, Carol. We hope to see you & Kathie again next year