Scoutmaster Erwin Miller reflected upon the stir the hermit made when they brought him to a sportsmen’s show at Madison Square Gardens.
The Hermit and Us – Our Adirondack Adventures with Noah John Rondeau
Reflections of a scoutmaster
An excerpt from “The Hermit and Us”, Starting on page 191
As our interview drew to a close, Erwin shook his head in wonder, then looked for a moment as if he had another thought. He then shook his head again confidently, and started a last recollection.
“In the late 1940s my Explorer Post was looking at projects, fund raisers, for a log cabin meeting place we planned to build. Some of our committee had visited Noah at Cold River and thought it would be a hoot to see an old friend at New York City’s Madison Square Garden for the February 1947 Sportsmen’s Show.
“We could not help to notice how Noah’s lifestyle and social status had taken a considerable turn because of that show. Newspapers heralded his airlift from his wilderness hermitage by helicopter. Rondeau was set up in a simulated forest environment at the Garden. He turned out to be the show’s main attraction. Although paid a $100 fee for his appearance, the enterprising hermit placed his large pack basket at the edge of the display into which the crowds could contribute coins and bills toward a poor hermit’s well-being. He also sold pictures of himself (for which he paid one-half cent each) for twenty-five cents apiece, fifty cents if autographed. He loved signing his name. We heard his ire, though, when he talked about the light-fingered gentry who occasionally made off with one of his photos at the show.
“It was then we decided that it would be a great experience for our explorers to run such a show in Burnt Hills. We started organizing the show months in advance. We requested the Conservation Department to make Noah available for our local show. They did so and he stayed at my home for two nights.
Courtesy of Richard J. Smith
Noah autographing a picture for a wide-eyed youth.
We had a great exhibition with all the attractions expected at an outdoor extravaganza. My daughter was about three years old at the time and she sat on Noah’s lap in a rocking chair. His long beard fascinated her and he seemed to enjoy entertaining her. He was soft-spoken and very clean — not a rough and gruff backwoods creature. His language proved he had some education and enjoyed literature. My wife remembers our daughter believing that he was a Santa Claus. He was a salesman and loved to push his photographs, etc. He enjoyed our conventional breakfast.
The following year, 1948, we learned Noah received five hundred dollars for appearing in Boston’s Sportsmen’s and accordingly jumped his picture rates to fifty cents and a dollar.”
And with that last recollection, Erwin H. Miller, former Scoutmaster and Explorer advisor, found himself heading for Cold River Hill in his mind, listening to the soft rushing waters of Cold River, to the crackle of a camp- fire ringed with delighted scouts, and perhaps to the haunting sound of an old hermit’s fiddle.