by Jean Barber and Luella Osterhout
Arlie Greene, 95, has lived in Berlin his entire life. This Saturday, he will be honored as grand marshal in the Berlin July 4th Parade. Arlie will enjoy the parade from his seat in a 1950 Willys Jeepster Convertible, owned and driven by local resident, John Kellar. The annual parade is set for July 4th at 11 am.
Greene was born in 1919 on the family farm, [private]
Mapledale Farm in Center Berlin (started 1853), he was the second of three children of Carlton and Belle Greene. Arlie and his two brothers, Erwin and Clifford (both deceased), were raised on the farm where they lived with their parents, great-aunt and grandmother. That same farmhouse is Arlie’s home to this day.
At five years old, Arlie started school at the schoolhouse which then stood next to the First Baptist Church on Main Street. The building was eventually turned into rental property and was ultimately destroyed in the 1962 Berlin Disaster. He recalls riding to school in a “rickety old bus” driven by Harold Ford. He spent the majority of his school years there until the new school on School Street opened in February 1937 (the current Berlin Elementary School). His class of thirteen was the first to graduate from the new school. Ironically, Arlie’s oldest grandson, John Greene, was among the last class to graduate from that same school. Even though John’s class attended their senior year at the new (current) high school in Cherry Plain, they chose to hold their commencement ceremony on the front steps of the school where they spent the majority of their high school years.
Arlie met his wife, Irene Brownell, in June 1945, at a Grange meeting in Hoosick, at what is now Seifert’s Auction House. She was a graduate of Hoosick Falls School and grew up in Groveside, NY. They were wed on March 2, 1946 in a ceremony held at her parents’ home, after which Irene joined Arlie on the family farm. They were married for over sixty-six years, had three children, Althea, Paul and Wesley, eight grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren.
In addition to working on the farm, Greene worked as a carpenter and a bus driver, and he served the community as Town Councilman for sixteen years during the eighties and nineties.
Berlin Seventh Day Baptist Church has been an integral part of Arlie’s life. He served as clerk and trustee for forty and forty-three years, respectively. He was ordained as a deacon in 1947 and continues to serve in that position. He is proud of his family’s continued dedication to church and community.
Since retirement, Arlie manages to keep himself busy. He enjoys making latch hook rugs and wall hangings, jigsaw puzzles and word search.
Family, church and community are clearly the mainstays of Arlie’s life. “That’s how it should be,” he says. Recalling the time, in 1992, when a tornado damaged much of the farm, Arlie spoke of how many people came, bringing food or to help in whatever way they could. “Thankfully, we didn’t lose any animals and no one was hurt,” he said. “When something happens, you find that there is some good in everybody. People always come together”.
Arlie says it’s tough losing his independence and he tries not to ask for any more than he needs. Even though he no longer drives, he still rarely misses the opportunity to ride along with the farm crew. His daughter-in-law, Gerri, says, “When the truck goes, he goes.” [/private]