Search This Blog

Thursday, April 27, 2006

1950: The Hurricane Strikes Kuser Farm

Back in November, 1950, a massive hurricane decimated the Central Jersey area. Our power was out for nearly two weeks. The photo accompanying this post was taken by Fritz Kuser after the storm had passed. Don Slabicki and I were on the scene when this, and numerous other photos were taken of the incredible destruction of the many trees at Kuser Farm. Looking back, I recall how the cleanup was done. Emanual Laurent was visiting the Kusers at the time. "Manual," as he was known to us, was an Abenaki Indian and close friend of the Kusers, Along with "Manual," Don Slabicki and I spent hours of back-breaking labor sawing the trees into 18 inch logs for the Kuser fireplace. The saw? A two man crosscut. The chain saw was an unknown quantity at the time and not in the vast Kuser farm tool collection. By the time we finished some 4 weeks or so later, we had filled two Kuser garages up to the rafters with 18 inch logs.

No comments: