Lessons on living life to the fullest

My excitement about starting classes at my new school only heightened after learning that Al and Helen Eisenhauer, two of my mother’s favorite teaching associates at the Malta Avenue Elementary School, had invited our family of 12 to dine with them at Ecobelli’s, a gourmet Italian-American restaurant.

I was a high school sophomore when my parents moved their 10 children — then ranging in age from five to 19 — from the outskirts of Albany, NY to the foothills of the Adirondacks during the Thanksgiving school break in 1968.

Assured by my closest friends that we’d stay in touch, I embraced the transition from a modest Eisenhower-era abode in a modern suburb just off the busy Troy-Schenectady Road in Latham to a splendid Victorian-era residence on Church Avenue in the historic Village of Ballston Spa.

How I welcomed the prospect of being able to walk to and from school rather than riding buses as I had done all of my life! At last I’d be able to join clubs and participate in extracurricular activities knowing that my own two feet could get me there and back.

Educators Albert and Helen Eisenhauer with daughter Dagne Samuelson Sollid

My excitement about starting classes at my new school only heightened after learning that Al and Helen Eisenhauer, two of my mother’s favorite teaching associates at the Malta Avenue Elementary School, had invited our family of 12 to dine with them at Ecobelli’s, a gourmet Italian-American restaurant.

Told Mr. Eisenhauer knew just about every instructor in the district, I looked forward to quizzing him over pasta about those educators I would surely soon encounter at Ballston Spa High. Mr. E’s anecdotes about my future art teacher, Dick Sather, whom I was cautioned might remove his artificial eye and roll it across a table in the classroom, are among those that remain seared in my memory. The subsequent discovery that Mrs. Eisenhauer’s past had included selling Girl Scout cookies to Thomas Edison also made a lasting impression.

The special tribute to Al and Helen Eisenhauer that follows was designed in 2017 by Mary Hauprich Reilly, with deepest gratitude to Dagne Samuelson Sollid for sharing precious photos and captivating captions from her family’s albums.

The video below was created by Mary Hauprich Reilly after attending a book release party on August 4, 2012 for Laurina’s Kitchen by Tom and Lora Lee Ecobelli. The release party was held at the former Ecobelli’s Italian-American restaurant on Route 50 in Ballston Spa.

Ann Hauprich (E)

The literary tapestry Ann has woven over the past five decades includes threads spun from exclusive interviews with such celebrated personalities as Andy Rooney, David Hyde Pierce and Marylou Whitney. In addition, Ann -- who founded Saratoga Living magazine in 1998 and served as its editor and publisher until 2004 -- has drawn readers into the lives of legions of lesser known, but nonetheless fascinating, individuals. “I learned early on in my first job as a general assignment reporter at The Canadian Champion in the 1970s that every person has a story if you just take the time to listen,” says Ann. “I was intrigued to discover that seemingly ordinary people were often doing rather extraordinary things with their lives.”