With a desire to preserve the past for the generations to come, 10 life-long residents of Westbury gathered at the Senior Citizens Center Feb. 4 to give an account of the village as it existed decades ago. Memories of a rural way of life, the effects of World War II on a tight-knit community, and brushes with rich and famous personalities like Gloria Vanderbilt and Charles Lindbergh were all part of Westbury's rich and colorful history, as told by its own citizens.

It was Al Posilico, official photographer for the village, who first conceived of taking an oral account of the Westbury of the past. According to Yetta Waldman, director of the senior center, "Four years ago, Al decided he wanted to capture the true history of the village, to share the warm feelings of the people who were born and raised here."

Due to various setbacks, the project lay dormant for a year, but was revived with the help of Carol Grinfeld, a volunteer from Old Westbury, who arranged for C.W. Post student Crystal Goodbrake to videotape the Westbury residents as part of her senior project. The tape, which Goodbrake plans to artfully edit and set to music, will eventually be offered as a donation to the Village Historical Society.

The seniors began their oral history by reminiscing about their school days. They had all attended either the Post Ave. School, which was eventually torn down, or the school in the Essex Hotel on Grand Blvd. There were no school buses, or cafeterias, they recalled, and no talking back to the teacher. "In those days, when you had teachers, you minded them," said Jean Renison of the Historical Society. "The teachers had rulers, and boy, you got it!"

Carl Lidstrom, Westbury Fire Department historian, told about the fire department's first two original alarms. The first gong was donated by the Long Island Railroad 1897. It was nothing but a huge ring made out of railroad track, and a big sledgehammer to hit it with when there was a fire. Later, the first fire house bell was mounted on the barn of Lussen's Hotel, (now the Piping Rock Restaurant) where equipment was held. That is the bell that today stands in front of the fire house on Maple Ave.

Lidstrom was also able to give an account of Westbury during and after World War II. "Before the war," he began, "Westbury was a nice, quiet community. Then the war broke out, and the population was cut by one fifth. There was a terrific volume of boys and girls in the service." Lidstrom, himself, served until he was discharged because of rheumatic fever. He remembers a scrap metal drive that was held in an empty lot on Post Ave. (where Fleet Bank now stands). "The lot was full of junk," he said. "But one thing stood out. It was the bronze cannon from WWI that used to be up at Winthrop Hall in the Church of the Advent, but was finally donated to the war effort."

Everyone remembered hard times during the war. Gas was rationed, as was butter, meat, sugar, and many other items. "You had to go down to the grocery store with coupons," Lidstrom said, "and if you ran out of coupons, if you ate them up, you went hungry. I used to hang out at the gas station on Wilson and Post Ave., and I would see those cars lined up for miles, waiting for three gallons of gas. Automobile tires were scarce, and you had to register them. I remember marking down the numbers on the tires and turning them into the government.

After the war ended, Lidstrom and others had memories of a growing Westbury. "Levitt came in and built 200 houses behind Holy Rood cemetery, another 100 in New Cassel, and then he started into Carle Place. West of Ellison Ave. was practically vacant farmland, and that soon became populated with houses. Salisbury Park came later."

Many recalled the Levitt homes, split levels and ranches, mass produced, built without basements, and with kitchens in the front of the house, so a mother could presumably wash dishes, while keeping an eye on her children as they played on the front lawn. In the middle 1940s, these homes in Westbury sold for $7,000. "My brother was a carpenter," one senior commented, "and he said they were one of the best buys ever. They were well-built and affordable."

(Millionaires and polo horses, and Charles Lindbergh has an ice cream soda on Post Ave, in the second installment of "Westbury-ites Make History.")