Adelaide
Frick Blanchard (1915-1956)
by
Peter P. Blanchard III
Many individuals, no longer living, have made their mark on the
landscape of Greenwood Gardens. Just as we acknowledge that
Greenwood persists today only because of a team effort of its
board, staff, volunteers, and friends, so the Gardens were founded
by team efforts both in the Day and Blanchard eras.
I don’t remember m y mother, Adelaide, at all well. She passed away in
1956, when I was five years old. My recollections center on brief
golden moments, when she chased me through a sprinkler system;
guided me in lawn mowing with a miniature mower made of wood and
introduced me to the newly born lambs, frisking under heat lamps in
the barn. But her warmth, support, and love certainly permeated my
earliest years and persist today in the realm of my subconscious.
I certainly remember aspects of Adelaide’s life as relayed to me by
my father, Peter P. Blanchard Jr. A key theme was her independence
and rebelliousness from an early age. Growing up in Roslyn, Long
Island she was a spirited girl who tended to “buck” expectations.
When “coming-out” parties were the norm for young ladies of a
certain background, she steadfastly declined the opportunity. As
depicted in the photographs and home movies (!) from the era of
World War I and the Roaring Twenties, she enjoyed a happy and
active existence as the oldest child of Childs and Frances S. Dixon
Frick with her three siblings: Frances, Marsie and Clay. At her
Roslyn home, Clayton, (now a county park) she took part in
innumerable games and outings with a general outdoor focus. Her
mood appears to have been at times pensive, at times happy, but she
was never far from a smile. My own interpretation of her childhood
is that she was rough and tumble, something of a tomboy.
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