The 150th day of school was the perfect day for celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Village of Sleepy Hollow. In an ongoing collaboration between the village and the Public Schools of the Tarrytowns, students at the W.L. Morse School had a special visitor, Sleepy Hollow Mayor Martin Rutyna, on May 14. This celebration was just one of a dozen events organized by the Village of Sleepy Hollow to commemorate its incorporation in 1874.
“It was a great event. We felt very welcome from all the staff and students. We could feel the children’s enthusiasm throughout the short event,” said Mayor Rutyna. “I was very happy to see how many hands went up saying they attended each of our 150th anniversary events.”
During his visit the mayor spoke to the students about the history of Sleepy Hollow, then showed them historical photos of the village. Images of what North Tarrytown used to look like, the first one-room schoolhouse in Sleepy Hollow, and photographs of students and teachers from the 1890s were shown to the children. Their favorite was a white horse named “Snowball,” who was Morse’s school mascot at one point in time.
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Principal Torrance Walley and students from the first and second grades presented the mayor with a birthday card to the village.
“We created a giant card, and the children signed it ahead of time. The mayor accepted it on behalf of the village,” said Principal Walley. “Then all of our students, 420 of them, sang happy 150th birthday to the village accompanied by their music teacher.”
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The card will be displayed at the Village Hall for visitors to see. Mayor Rutyna described the card as being very thoughtful and beautiful and stated that it will be placed prominently in the boardroom for all to see.
“My favorite part about the whole event was watching the kids as they learned about the story of the village and then realizing that they are part of this story,” said Principal Walley. “Sleepy Hollow is this place that people want to visit, they want to learn about it because of its rich history. Being part of this is really exciting.”
