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Having saved up every penny I could get my hands on, we decided that Love could conquer all - And eloped to Raleigh, North Carolina..
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 Debbie is in front of our Apartment Building in New York City in 1956 (above) |
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And in 2011 (below)
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The #1 song on the Lehrbaum Hit Parade in 1961 "What is your name" - "my name is Debbie Lehrbaum" - "Where do you live"- "on west 111 street" - "Do you know the number?" - "535" "Come now and I'll take you home" No one ever got lost so they never had to try it! Oh well... |
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In the door...
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 ...and down the hall... the elevator is just around the corner in the background to the right. |
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Our Apartment Living Room Windows
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This was Riverside Park in the '50s. Only a two
block walk from "City" to "Country" ... For Mom it was a beautiful cool destination - for the kids an exciting daily adventure! Debbie re-visited it in 2011 |
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Below - final destination - reserved for special days. It was a long distance from our starting point
This was actually visible from the roof of our building, and on the 4th of July each year, the City of New York would hire a tug boat which would tow a barge filled with fireworks from just below the Washington Bridge around 179th St. to around 72nd Street. This slow trip began at Sunset and by the time it reached 111th St, our anxious and exited family - teased by the spectacle of the heavenly glow appearing over rooftops to the north of us, and hearts thumping in rhythm with the boom boom of exploding munitions were suddenly awed as the floating display would draw opposite the end of our block and we had a view of the river! One year Mom and I were surprised by what seemed to be the Grand Finale as continual explosions and fireworks of every description erupted in the most exiting display ever seen - 'though this all occurred opposite 111th St. - and not at the end of the run! We later heard on the news that one of the fireworks had landed back on the barge where it ignited all the others and crewmen were desperately diving into the dark waters of the Hudson River to escape the conflagration - and it was a miracle that only one life was lost that night! But what an exiting 4th of July Celebration for those of us who did not know what actually happened!
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Below is PS 165 on 109th St. Debbie, David & Vicky walked there each School Day To cross the very busy 110th St. intersection, they went underground! They took the stairs down into the subway station on the North side of 110th St. and then back up the stairs on the South Side... Debbie re-visited it in 2011
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Below is Riverside Cathedral at 121st St. &
Riverside Drive Mom & all the kids walked about 11 blocks each way! (over a mile round trip) (Dad took the occasion to drive out of the city & ride his woods bike) |
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Enjoying a day of fun stuff...
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This is the first Honda that I ever bought - a 1962 Honda Dream (CA77). It was the first Honda sold in New York City by the dealership I became a partner in a few years later. Above the headlight is a "street sign" plaque of the "Madison Ave. Motorcycle Club". We were a group of business guys that achieved fame and publicity - being the antithesis of the "bad guy" bike gangs. We were featured in a Life Magazine Picture spread and were also in a number of bike magazines including "Cycle World" (below left) and "East Coast Cycle Sport" (See Below)
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I'm in the right foreground
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In September 1965 we packed up and moved to Red Bank New Jersey
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