A version of this article appeared in the July 2009 edition of Hemlock News...

What’s Up at the Lords Valley Country Club?

By Cathe Morrow and Tod Shapiro

Ever wonder what goes on at the Lords Valley Country Club? Who we are and what we do? Our 270 families are a diverse and friendly group of whom almost all are long-time residents and homeowners in Hemlock Farms. All of us value and appreciate the natural beauty and environment and the many wonderful attributes and facilities in the wider Hemlock Farms community and the Poconos. We want to do our part as good neighbors, and be involved in and help out in the community. Besides participating in various events, many of our members serve on HFCA committees as well as the HFCA Board. It has come to our attention that many of our neighbors aren’t even aware that a club with many historic buildings and a world class 18-hole golf course even exists within the community. We want everyone in Hemlock Farms to know who we are, and about our historical connection to the wider community. We hope this article helps.

LVCC is categorized as a private, non-profit recreational and social club whose membership is subject to review by our membership committee and approval by our Board of Governors. However, we welcome all those in the community who are interested in the very substantial legacy of our club as an historic site and who value camaraderie as well as good golf, tennis, and dining to learn as much as possible about the club and submit an application. We’ve added some new members recently from as far away as Michigan and as close as next door. Our most recent additions actually found Hemlock Farms and Lords Valley Country Club through an internet search. They didn’t know anything about us before hand, but the websites enticed them enough to come take a look and fall in love just like the rest of us did when we came to Hemlock Farms.

Recent Public and Charitable Events at the Lords Valley Country Club

It’s no secret what we have been up to, so let us fill you in on some of the recent events here. Many of these events have enjoyed the participation of our Hemlock Farms neighbors and others in our local area. You may already know that in May we opened our doors to the public for PGA Play Golf America day. This event was a target for all golf lovers and aficionados of the sport. It was a great success and we expect to repeat the event in the future.

The club often hosts charitable and fund raising events that benefit many of the community services and groups that all of us in Hemlock Farms depend upon. While we are enjoying ourselves on the golf course, tennis courts, by the pool, or dining and dancing, we take seriously our obligation to do our part for the wider community. Our efforts include a major Play for Pink initiative, which donates to breast cancer research, along with a Prostate Cancer fundraiser. Our Men’s Association recently awarded their annual scholarship to a deserving individual from within Hemlock Farms. For many years, we have held a major annual fundraiser for the HFVF&R squad.

The History of the Lords Valley Country Club

Did you know that Hemlock Farms as we now know it began as the Brewster estate? As the history buffs among us may know, William Brewster was a noted builder and civic figure, as well as a real estate developer who played a major role in building the George Washington Bridge, among many other projects. A small section of our club house, still preserved today, was his summer estate and lodge, which included a private swimming pool (still used!) and even a bowling alley (now our Gamehouse and “19th Hole” snack bar). Mr. Brewster and his family valued Hemlock Farms, or ‘Camp Hemlock” as they called it, as a great place to do business and entertain business associates and friends. It is even rumored that FDR and Churchill met on the grounds here during the war years as part of a secret meeting, although nobody knows for sure. Did you know that Hemlock Lake was created by the Brewsters so that they had a place to land their seaplane? Many of the buildings you see in the area, especially the stone ones, date back to those days, including the magnificent signature stone tower and walls at our entrance, and the impressive stone work present around the pool. We will be opening the doors again for some history tours of the grounds in the next few months. Give the office a call and sign up to spend some time with us and learn about our shared history.

Public Information, Pictures, and History Online

If you are interested in what we’re doing with our website these days, take a look at wwwLordsValleyCountryClub.org. We’re constantly expanding the site and hope to link it more and more to HFCA events and information. We have made portions of our site, including news stories of interest to the wider community, digital pictures of our club and scenery, historical information, as well as a schedule of our public events, available on the public side of our website. You can review the club’s online newsletter, the News-Link, by selecting the “Newslink On-Line” choice at the top of our home page – we often publish articles and information about community-related news that may be of interest to Hemlock community members, as well as a calendar and description of our public events. The public site features some impressive pictures of our lovingly maintained historical structures. We have a wonderful link with a full historical treatment of our club, as well as some fascinating pictures of the historical sites through the years. This can be viewed online or downloaded and printed out – simply select the menu choice under “Welcome” that says “History” and follow the instructions.

We hope that this updates all of our Hemlock neighbors on who we are and what we have been up to. For more information on LVCC call 570-775-7325, email us at newslink@ptd.net, or visit our website at www.lordsvalleycountryclub.org for all this and more.