Ellenville’s own George Slutsky turns 100 years old on March 17. Celebrating this week, George Slutsky took a few moments to look back over his life with the Shawangunk Journal.

Born in the decade of the Model T Ford, flappers, and prohibition, George recalled the days before air conditioning, when “New York City people… came up to escape the heat and humidity in the summer. They took the train up on Friday and leave after a week or two. The men on the train would throw out lollipops to the kids along the way at the stations.”

The Great Depression meant changes in summer vacationers. His family rented rooms to travelers who couldn’t afford the hotels, an arrangement called a ‘coq au l’ane’ that wasn’t very far off from Airbnbs today. “You rented out rooms for the summer with a communal kitchen,” he explained. “You cooked for yourself.”

“The people with money went to the hotels,” he said. “These were regular working people who stayed with us. It became a great big party on the weekends.”

Slutsky attended first through sixth grade at the Pine Grove school, which still exists and today has a Head Start program.

“Then we had to go to the high school, which was located at the same place that the school is today. It was a great change for me. They called us the ‘cross canal kids’ because we came from the eastern side of the route of the old canal.”

Those days were hard days for Americans. There was hardly any social safety net, no social security, and by the time Franklin Delano Roosevelt was inaugurated, the banking system had collapsed and a quarter of the work force was unemployed.

“My parents worked at anything they could to make ends meet,” he said. “We had chickens and we grew vegetables. My father worked as a carpenter. It was a struggle.”

More struggles were coming, and Slutsky knew it. “The Hitler regime was going strong. I knew reasonably well that I would enter the armed forces. Eventually, I enlisted in the Air Force. I was going from being a kid who had never been beyond twenty-five miles from Ellenville, to being called up, and I found myself going into training for World War Two.”

The Air Force sent him to train at Jefferson Barracks, outside of St. Louis. “To get there, I was on a train for three days and two nights.”

Slutsky became a B-24 navigator, plotting courses for the huge Liberator bombers flying over Germany. About 75% of B-24 crews were killed, too injured to complete their tours, or captured. For Americans, it was the most dangerous job in the war.

“I flew 24 combat missions over Germany. My first combat mission was to Hamburg. After that my crew bombed Magdeburg and then Nuremberg.” Slutsky believes he and his crew were somewhat fortunate. “We were flying about six months after the intense air battles were fought that destroyed the German air force. We were also accompanied by the P-51s, the Mustangs. I thought they were angels, sent to keep us safe.”

Looking back on this strange experience he says, “I consider myself very fortunate to have come through without injury and to be okay.”

The war over, George was among the men who took advantage of the G.I. Bill, a groundbreaking federal program that opened up college education to returning soldiers.

“I went to University of Michigan College of Engineering,” he explained, “and then transferred to Syracuse University College of Forestry for a four-year course, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree. I could not have done this without the help of the U.S. Government.”

After college, back in Ellenville, Slutsky started a lumber mill. At the time, three businesses were competing. “There was Ellenville Lumber, Deal Lumber, and my company. I stocked and sold higher quality, more expensive items. Because of the quality of our products, I was able to compete successfully later on with the Home Depots. The other local lumber yards shut down and I was the last man standing.”

Looking back on the 1950s, George says, “There was astonishing prosperity in our area. There was a diversified group of businesses, and there was Eastern Correctional. The hotels were all in business, too. Ellenville was a good area to do business in. If you were honest and fair and knew what you were doing, you could make money.”

Today he sees a more difficult economic landscape.

“I realize things are much more difficult now for young people. It has to be difficult to plan ahead and to start something like I did. All I can say to them is you have to be honest and fair with people and treat others as you would want to be treated. I was fortunate, but always, I say, ‘Give it a go!’”

Happy Birthday, George Slutsky.