Artists, athletes and autos headline Greenwood Lake Centennial

In the coming months residents and visitors to the area will be treated to three exciting events that commemorate Greenwood Lake’s Centennial and the renowned residents who made a name for themselves while expanding the reputation of Orange County’s largest fresh water lake throughout the world.

Artists

19th century painter Jasper Cropsey fell in love with Greenwood Lake in 1843. He ended up marrying Maria Cooley, the daughter of his landlord, and made his home in the area until 1884. In that time he produced over 100 works, from rough sketches to large, museum-purchased oils of Greenwood Lake’s beautiful glacial body of water and its surrounding mountains and woods.

From April 1 to May 20, permission is granted for artists to set up easels and sketching materials at several locations around the lake. A champagne reception will close the show, and a special drawing will be announced. The results of the work will be exhibited at the Greenwood Lake Community Center on June 2 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and may be offered for sale. The size of art work cannot exceed 20-by-24 inches and a list of available locations will be sent with registration acceptance.

Register at gwlcentennial.org/art-show.

Athletes

The First Annual Greenwood Lake Centennial Boxing Match will be held on Saturday, May 11 from 4 to 6:30 p.m. at the Greenwood Lake Middle School (1247 Lakes Road, Monroe). Weigh-in will commence at 1 p.m. and doors will open at 2 p.m. This event is sanctioned by USA Boxing, together with Floyd Patterson Boxing Club. Food and beverages will be available for sale during this event. Each of the 10 bouts will be three rounds each, from pee-wee categories (8 years old) to masters (over 40).

Joe Murchio opened a boxing training camp at Greenwood Lake in 1939. Many famous boxers trained there, including Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, and Floyd Patterson. Murchio’s was a training camp for boxers of all races and ethnicities, and as such, it helped erase boxing’s “color line.” The Murchio camp was sold to Eddie McDonald and renamed “The Long Pond.”

On December 9, 1956, the Steve Allen show televised Sugar Ray Robinson from Greenwood Lake, then a middleweight champion, sparring at the Long Pond Training Camp, in preparation for his upcoming title bout against Gene Fulmer.

Ticket prices vary by type. A VIP Group rate, which includes a table of eight, costs $500 (includes dinner, beverages, dessert); VIP/single tickets (includes dinner, beverages, dessert) cost $100; regular adult tickets are $25, kids are $15; kids with a boxing passport are $10; kids 5 and under are free.

Autos

To get from New York City to Greenwood Lake required a reliable car that could make the journey and return home. Fortunately, Greenwood Lake was filled with automobile service, repair, and maintenance stations that could guarantee that you could make the trip at 14 miles per gallon in the 1920s. When the U.S. developed a better system of roads after WWI, drivers needed longer-range vehicles that could go the 50-mile distance. New sources of crude oil helped to reduce the price of gasoline, making both car ownership and car maintenance more affordable to the average consumer.

The Greenwood Lake Centennial Car Meet and Artisan Fair will be held on Saturday, July 6, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Church of The Good Shepherd, at Waterstone Road and Windermere Ave. In addition to the offerings of vendors, the car show has attracted auto clubs from throughout the Hudson Valley and is limited to 115 cars. Entertainment and other activities to engage guests will likely attract a large audience to the event. There is no entry fee and attendance is free.

To register for any of the above events and to learn more about the Greenwood Lake, visit GWLCenteniaol.org.