- Name:
Ray Baumann
- Mailing address:
Hazelwood Mo
- When and where were you born?
Newark NJ in 1938
- When did you come to Mountain Lakes?
1951
- Tell us something about your family. Did your parents also live here?
Our family of 6 moved there in 1951 and lived there until 1964
- Where have you lived in the Borough? In which houses?
My parents bought 150 Morris ave in 1951 but sold it to my uncle the same year and purchased 3 Barton Rd where we all grew up. When the family was grown they moved to 40 Hillcrest rd until moving to Georgia in 1964
- What do you remember particularly about the houses and properties where you lived?
3 Barton Rd was a wonderful home and I know has since been redone as has 40 Hillcrest.
- What are some of your special memories growing up in Mountain Lakes?
This is the most unique town in all the USA in my opinion.
- Where did you go to school? What particular memories do you have from your school years? Are there any special stories you associate with that time of your life?
I graduated from MLHS in 1956. that “senior door” was sacred!!
- Where did you and your family shop?
Dell’s village Acme in Boonton
- What were the roads and the lakes like?
- Are there any special people you remember who contributed to the life of the town?
- Why do they stand out in your mind?
- What did you do for fun formal recreation, sports and entertainment in general?
Skating on Wildwood Lake across from my home was great.
- Are there any special events that stand out in your mind?
- Did your parents and the parents of your friends work nearby? In New York or elsewhere? How did they get to work? How did commuting change over your time here?
My dad commuted on the train to NYC every day.
- How did various laws affect the way people lived?
- Did you have a sense of Mountain Lakes as a unique place in its lifestyle, its homes, as a community?
Yes it is very special to me and I do wax nostalgic over it from time to time looking at the old houses on the web site and driving thru when visiting.
- How did the world’s events — World War I, the Depression, World War II, the Korean War, the assassination of JFK, Viet Nam, Watergate, etc. — affect you and fellow Mountain Lakes residents when you were growing up?
- What made living in Mountain Lakes special to you, as you think back over your life here?
I still have 5 or 6 lifetime friends from there now living all over the country and there is that common bond.