Normally, Jane Galu Reilly and Tina Galu Crill may have been a little nervous to sit in front of a large group of people and talk about their family history. But, on October 2 at the American Legion Hall they did just that, and didn’t show a bit of panic. Why? A huge percentage of the audience was made up of their extended family. The rest were friends.

The two life-long Highland Falls residents were featured at the monthly ‘Sit and Chat’, hosted by The Center of Highland Falls. They were billed as the ‘senior members’ of a family tree that has deep roots, but also still has dozens of branches in the community.

“This is probably the largest gathering we’ve ever seen,” hostess Agnes Saffoury (who said she and Crill used to play together as children) said. She thanked the two ladies for taking the time to not only speak, but for their families’ contributions to the Town of Highlands.

Reilly, in turn, thanked the Town of Highlands Historical Society, and Historian Ronnie Coffey, for help in doing some family research. Coffey was in the audience. Also in the audience was Deputy Town Supervisor Rich Sullivan, who videotaped the presentation and shared it on the Town of Highlands History Facebook page.

The two are, as noted by their maiden names, descendants of the Galu family. They explained how their family came to Highland Falls from Italy, after first settling in White Plains, with Reilly noting that the family’s first home was “a little house on O’Neill Court”. Eventually the family expanded up further into Highland Falls, mostly the Center St. and Schneider Ave. area (“an enclave of Italian Americans,” it was said). At one point there was a family farm in that area, Crill recalled. (It burned down in 1958, Crill recalled – “my papa was devastated”). Some members of the family did move out of the community, to Newburgh and more rural areas in the Town of Highlands.

Reilly detailed the work of her family, including with a butcher shop on Main St., as teachers at West Grove School, and working at West Point. She said the family butcher shop “did well until the depression, but that almost bankrupted them, so my father went to work as a carpenter at West Point”.

He also built homes – some forty in Highland Falls, she said. Eventually, he purchased the land that is now known as Satterlee Grove and built houses there – “he was very busy and usually had three at a time going,” she said.
Crill, who was one of the children born to Galu and his second wife, took her part of the presentation back to 1883, when her father was born. He married twice in his life (his first wife died after giving birth to eleven children) and had a total of 16 children.

About those children….

Crill ran through them – Florence (who had a grocery store on Main St.), Dominic (who had a grocery store in Fort Montgomery and a restaurant at Highland Falls’ bus terminal), John (who had a bar on Main St.), Joseph (a baker at West Point), Angie (who did odd jobs but is well remembered for giving West Point girlfriends a place to stay), Philip (Reilly’s father, a home builder), Anthony (who had a store on Lake St. and then owned the IGA), Catherine (who had a beauty shop on Lake St.), William (remembered for his love of football and worked at West Point), Rose (who had a beauty shop on Cooks Lane), Mary (whose husband Ralph Poness was a noted prisoner of war of the Japanese for two years, and the family owned a restaurant in Fort Montgomery), Antonette (who owned the Hilltop Bar), Rocco (who owned Galu’s Bar and whose wife Mabel was a beloved local teacher), Dick (who owned Galu’s Bar and his wife’s family owned Joseph’s Restaurant), Tina (herself – she’s a longtime employee at local schools and previously with Dolly and JoJo Vanzetta, had a catering business), and Anna (whose married family owned the Hilltop and Schades Restaurant).

Crill and Reilly spent a few minutes after speaking answering questions from the audience, as well as listening to some of their recollections of family members (Highland Falls Dolly Vanzetta noted her kitchen cabinets were built by Crill’s father and husband – “they did a great job,” she said.)

They highlighted their presentation with old family photos, newspaper clippings and mementos, which those in attendance looked at after the women spoke for about 45 minutes.

Next month, on Wednesday, Nov. 6 at 6 p.m., the topic of discussion will be the 100th anniversary of the Bear Mountain Bridge, with a historian who has focused on the bridge. The session is open to all, Saffoury reminded all in attendance in October, and will take place at the American Legion Hall on Old State Rd.