Haskell descendants from Maine to California gathered in Saratoga Springs, NY on the weekend of September 16, 2017 for a Haskell Family Reunion. The free beer, wine and hors d’oeuvres, served every late afternoon at the Embassy Suites, made it a perfect venue for the reunion. Family members trickled in Friday afternoon, picked up their folders from Edie Haskell at the reunion registration desk behind the grand fireplace in the lobby, and then made their way to the Skidmore Room behind the bar area where, beginning at five-thirty, we enjoyed the free drinks and snacks. At seven o’clock, we all moved into the Congress Room for our Friday night banquet. It was Louisa Stone’s eighty-sixth birthday, and following the main buffet course, the waitress brought Louisa a special birthday cake that the chef had prepared for her. Merv Stevens had visited Carroll Haskell on Deer Isle, Maine in July and had obtained an autographed copy of Carroll’s book, Growing Up on an Island Off the Coast of Maine. We gave the copy to Louisa for her birthday.

Following dinner on Friday night, Charlie Kuenzel, a Saratoga Springs native, who would be our guide on Saturday, gave a PowerPoint presentation about Saratoga Springs. He told us that Saratoga Springs was about the three H’s: Health, History, and Horses. Long before Gideon Putnam settled in Saratoga Springs in 1789, the Native Americans knew about the medicinal benefits of the natural spring waters found in the region. Charlie showed us old photos of the grand hotels that used to line Broadway, the main street through the town. The first hotel was built by Gideon Putnam in 1802, and these hotels would attract summer visitors from the hot cities to “take the waters.” When Gideon Putnam laid out the town of Saratoga Springs, he made Broadway 120 feet wide. The reason was that this was the minimum distance he needed to turn around his horse-drawn cart carrying lumber from his saw mill.

At nine o’clock on Saturday morning we boarded our bus and headed to the Saratoga National Historical Park for our history lesson on the Battle of Saratoga. Charlie had recruited one of his friends, Jamie Parillo, to be our special guide for the morning tour of the battlefield. Jamie is on the board of the Saratoga Springs History Museum and had been a Park Ranger at the Saratoga National Historical Park for a number of years. Jamie came dressed in his British colonial uniform and told us that there would be a special reenactment going on at the park to celebrate the 140th anniversary of the first battle of Saratoga that took place on September 19, 1777.

Upon entering the park, we stopped at the Visitor’s Center, which had a large display of the battlefield, many other displays, and a good book section. The bus then took us along the nine miles of road that winds around the battlefield. Our first stop on the battlefield was at the Neilson House, a restoration of the original home of John and Lydia Neilson, whose farmland was taken over by the American Army in mid-September 1777. The group photo on the cover of this issue was taken at this site.

The bus ride around the battlefield goes backward in time, stopping at Bemis Heights, the site of the second battle on October 7, 1777, where Burgoyne’s army was defeated, before going on to the site of the first battle at Freeman’s Farm on September 19, 1777, where Burgoyne held off the American attack in spite of Arnold’s aggressive action. Some of us climbed up the hill to the site of the Benedict Arnold monument, including the sculpture of his boot, in recognition of the wound to his leg. Because of his later treason, the name of Benedict Arnold is nowhere on the monument, and the cannon under his boot is upside down as a sign of disgrace.

Following the tour of the battlefield, we stopped for a buffet lunch of soup and salad at the Gideon Putnam Resort, located on the grounds of the Saratoga Spa State Park. The public park includes a golf course, a Museum of Dance, and an Automobile Museum.

After lunch, Charlie Kuenzel led us on a bus tour of Saratoga Springs, stopping at the High Rock Park where we tasted water from the Governor Spring and the Peerless Spring. The park is also the home of a large 9/11 memorial sculpture, created from steel recovered from the ruins of the Twin Towers. Our busy day ended with a farewell buffet dinner at the Bravo Restaurant in Saratoga Springs.