Opening of Castleton Thruway Bridge Schodack NY

It was, according to records May 26,1959 that was the official opening of the Castleton Thruway Bridge. This bridge was at the time considered one of the crown jewels of the NYS Thruway System. Deemed a big enough event to have an opening ceremony with the then Governor Nelson Rockefeller in attendance. I have to admit that though a small kid I was in attendance. So this blog is from personal memory. The thruway was blocked off for this section of highway. A grandstand had been built on the side of the highway heading west. The weather a sunny warm day. A beautiful day for a bridge opening. The crowd was appx 250+ in attendance. This was a huge day for the small town of Schodack N.Y. The local high school Maple Hill High School , sent their band. Many politians were in attendance including the then Town Supervisor Lewis Hudson who gave the introductory speech for the Governor. After three or four speeches the ribbon cutting occurred. It was a blue ribbon stretched accross the entire 4 lanes of the highway. The news cameras snapped pictures , the ribbon was cut. Later people took pieces of the ribbon for a personal memory. Rockefeller dove into the crowd and shook hands with the invited guests etc. He still had Presidential ambitions at that point in his career so he was really pressing the flesh. Often saying "hi how are ya." After a period of about 20 minutes the NYS Troopers began to line up cars for exit. Everyone got to drive over the bridge that day in a loop ending on the eastern lane . The last toll free ride for the bridge. Later on that day the span was open to regular thruway users. Many years later I asked Lewis Hudson why the bridge was named for the village Castleton which is a few miles from the bridge. He said he was told that it was felt people would not be able to pronounce Schodack so hence the current name.