A look back

In 1950, the Veterans of Foreign Wars formed a special corporation in order to administer property or erect a memorial within the Town of Highlands, NY. Three years later, the post decided to sponsor a town ambulance corps, with the idea being that the corps would be a "living memorial" through its humanitarian service. Fittingly, the corporation changed its name to the "Town of Highlands Ambulance Corps, Inc.", with all of the directors being members of the V.F.W. and a roster further comprised of volunteer men and women.

A used Packard ambulance was purchased, repaired and equipped for service. About twenty members of both the V.F.W. and its auxiliary, together with other residents of the community, were trained in first aid and qualified to become members of the corps. 

Its first headquarters was established in the basement garage of Feme’s Motors on Route 9W, where it had remained through the cooperation of William Brunelly. Several years later, the corps acquired another ambulance in additon to its many pieces of emergency apparatus. And with membership increasing - along with an increased demand for its services - it was evident that a larger base of operations was needed.

At the same time, however, the V.F.W. had a problem, too. With no official venue of its own, members were forced to hold meetings wherever space was available. It seemed both organizations were in need of adequate facilities.

In 1956, Joseph D. Zint, a past commander of the Town of Highlands Memorial Post V.F.W., donated property jointly to the V.F.W. and the Town of Highlands Ambulance Corps, Inc., which would be used as a building site for both organizations. Zint turned over the deed to a 50 by 100 foot lot near Cragston Lake to Joseph J. Selby, V.F.W. Commander and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Ambulance Corps., at the V.F.W.'s annual installation dinner held at Stroppel’s Restaurant (now Hacienda Restaurant).

Treasurer of the special corporation, Norman Drew, cautioned members that despite Zint’s generousity, fulfilling the idea of a V.F.W. - Ambulance Corps building would still require a lot of work. There were many problems still to be solved - land had to be cleared and funding was needed to erect the building itself.

And so, the fundraising began!

Bake sales were underway and hundreds of dinners were served. In additon to monetary gifts, lumber, stone, cement, concrete blocks, skilled and unskilled labor were also donated. And throughout all of it the women of the Ambulance Corps worked side by side with men from both organizations.

Finally, on the tenth of May, 1958, Ambulance Corps Captain Joseph Zint (who originally donated the land on which the structure now stands) unveiled the cornerstone of the new V.F.W. - Ambulance Corps building. Following, Chairman Joseph Selby of the joint V.F.W. - Ambulance Corps Building Committee, presented the keys to the building to Zint, V.F.W. Commander Elmer Poore, and V.F.W. Auxiliary President Evelyn Volkner. The dedication ceremonies concluded three years of hard work by the two organizations which now called it home.

Today the original building still stands, though the V.F.W. dissolved in June of 2008. The building is now shared by the Ambulance Corps and the Town of Highlands Police and has been renamed “Town of Highlands Emergency Services Building”.