Charles Green was named Citizen of the Year in June 1977 at the annual Chamber of Commerce dinner held at the Hotel Saranac. The Enterprise carried a long story by Susan Doolittle, which we will excerpt after this formal citation.

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Citation

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The two big houses shown here were located on Route 86 where the yellow house and barns are now, originally the Shanty family’s house farm. We moved into the house on the left when lightning burned down our barns and part of the house at Split Rock farm in 1936. The house was an empty former tourist home and so big that our nine-person family used only about a third of the house. Our cows and horses were all moved to the barns then located at the rear of those houses. Connie Prickett of the Adirondack Land Trust, owners of 238 acres thereabouts, sent me this information received from the Trevor family about the name “Glenview Farm,” now Glenview Preserve: “Yes, my Dad, John B. Trevor, Jr., named the property ‘Glenview Farm’ for a very specific reason. His grandfather, John B. Trevor, built a ‘country’ place in Yonkers, New York, that he named ‘Glenview.’ In his youth (1910-1920) my dad visited Glenview often. They had enough land to ride their horses and tend to a garden and greenhouse. Today the Glenview Mansion is part of the Hudson River Museum.” (Photo courtesy of Jeff Wood)

“Our Citizen of the Year is a native of England. He moved to Saranac Lake during the roaring ’20s for health reasons and has been here ever since.

“Our Citizen of the Year became associated with Whiteface Mountain Lodge No. 789 of the Free and Accepted Masons in 1928, becoming master in 1935. He was also a member of the Royal Arch Masons, serving as high priest of the fraternal organization in 1960. This man has been a member of the St. Luke’s Episcopal Church and the Oriental Shrine of Troy.

“He has been a member of the Saranac Lake Lions Club since 1939, serving as president of that organization in 1954.

“Our Citizen of the Year has received several honors in addition to the one he is about to receive tonight. He received the Good Neighbor Award in 1969 and was the recipient of the Dedicated Service Award from the New York State Masonic Grand Lodge.

“However, it is more the personality of this man, more than community involvement that makes him one of the most beloved people in Saranac Lake today. For instance, Mr. Green was presented with the Good Neighbor Award, and we quote, ‘his kindly good natured manner which has brought a smile and a friendly feeling of warmth to all kinds of people,’ unquote. This man has been responsible for many acts of kindness to the young and old, the sick and needy of the area.

“He recently celebrated his 50th wedding anniversary with his wife, the former Nita Parsons. His grocery store which is also 50 years old this year was recently featured in the winter issue of Adirondack Life Magazine. Ladies and Gentlemen, one of the nicest people you will ever meet — our 1977 Citizen of the Year, Mr. Charlie Green.”

[Howard Munn, chamber president, after announcing the award waited for Mr. Green to come to the head table to receive his citation.] “At first Mr. Green would not leave his table to accept the award, but calls of ‘speak a few words’ drew him to the microphone at the head table where he reminisced about his early days in Saranac Lake.

“He told the crowd of more than 160 guests, ‘I came here for a month, but my mother told me to stay for two if I had to.’

“His tales of wooden bridges and parties at the Masonic Temple brought appreciative comment from Mayor Charles Keough who shared many of the same memories.

“Executive Director of the Chamber, Sue Dyer, presented a plaque to Munn in appreciation of his services as president of the Chamber over the last year.

“Copies of the chamber’s annual report and financial statement prepared by Ms. Dyer and staff member, Laurie Beatty, were made available to all those attending the dinner.

“A large contingent from Tupper Lake as well as representatives from the Lake Placid Chamber of Commerce and the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce contributed to the outstanding turnout.”

I fondly remember that the village was filled with “the nicest people you’ll ever meet.” Of course, I knew Charlie Green quite well because I delivered groceries for him. He always had kids delivering groceries to nearby cottages on Main Street and Riverside Drive. We would walk with two bags of groceries and deliver them to the door. All others were delivered by truck by Eddie Norman or Arthur Pratt.

Charlie never had a cash register. He would write down in a straight line, in pencil, on a brown paper bag, the price of every item purchased. He then added up the long list and the customer paid without a blink.

Mayor Charles Keough was another of “the nicest people you will ever meet.” He was village trustee when I was mayor and he helped me and taught me so much about so many things. He was also WWII combat veteran.

I was so proud to have served on the chamber board back in the day. My big event was co-chairing with Howard Munn the first dogsled race then held on Lower Saranac. That race was a 20-mile “unlimited” race, roughly the diameter of the lake shore, and meaning the teams could run as many dogs as they wanted, in certain races.

Howard Munn was “one of the nicest people you will ever meet” and so were Ms. Dyer and Ms. Beatty. I also remember that Nancy Pandolfo, Dorothy Ratigan, Phil Feinberg and Harry Purchase were also on the chamber board at that time.