Staying Active

John made a set of friends of his own in Closter. He dated a few girls. John loved racing cars; he would buy old cars and in his spare time he would work on them and turn them into racing cars. John had a friend who drove the cars in the races. Sometimes he won and sometimes the car got all smashed up. John put many hours of hard work on the smashed car. He would get it all back in shape again, and put it back in the race. At one time his sister Ann climbed on the top of the car and painted a red rose on the top of the car, and wrote John Lupardi alongside the rose.

Ann was very good in art. She loved dogs, so she pencil sketched many dogs in different positions. The pictures were so good we put them in frames and hung them on the wall. When she got married she took them with her and hung them on her walls. Her children are proud of her artwork.

Ann was a sophomore in high school. She got along with all her teachers and friends. She was one of the smartest in her class. She was very active in school and belonged to many clubs.

My husband and I were active in PTA; we both joined the Mr. and Mrs. Club. My husband joined the Knights of Columbus and was active in the Lions Club. He also belonged to the Unico Club. I joined the American Legion Auxiliary, because my son had joined the American Legion. We got to meet many new people.

Coming to Closter from Florham Park was quite a jump. We had to learn a new way of living. It wasn't always easy. We had many hardships and hard times to go through. The family was close knit, so we all pitched in and bailed ourselves out.