blackie parlin

The Friendship Trail was a product of World War II.  During the war all families south of Arcady would walk to the Sunday service at the Silver Bay Association.  Gas was severely rationed, so the walk was a conservation measure.  Parents were nervous about their young children walking on Route 9N, so a path through the woods leading to the Silver Bay Road was envisioned.  Families collectively would clear the path through the woods.

 

At the time, my mother had the help of two young Japanese girls who helped Camilla with the housework.  Yuki and Yoshi were the children of Mr. and Mrs. Takagi who were members of the Methodist Church in Englewood, NJ and well-known to my parents.  During the war on more than one occasion Mr. Takagi was arrested by the police, and my father would go to the station to vouch for Mr. Takagi’s loyalty.

 

When the path for the Friendship Trail was being cleared, a neighbor came to my father and said he didn’t want “Japs working on the trail.”  Camilla saw the confrontation.  My father said, “The girls are members of my family.  If they cannot work on the trail, I don’t want the trail on my property.”