Oom the Omnipotent.
To a five year-old growing up in small town South Nyack during the late 1940s, the car seemed huge--long, sleek, black and so shiny. Years later I found out it was a Lincoln Touring car. I got to sit in the front seat of this mammoth auto, on its plush upholstery, to accompany my dad on trips to pick up passengers at Nyack's train station to transport them for a stay at the Clarkstown Country Club, Nyack's most famous address of the day. "Doctor" Pierre Arnold Bernard and his lovely wife Blanche always greeted them graciously in the grand portico of the main clubhouse on South Highland Avenue.

Dr. Bernard frightened me a little--not on purpose. It was the way he looked at people. He was a large man, portly, yet heavily muscled, his large head covered with close-cropped hair. His grayish-green eyes that were so sharp, they seemed to look through me as he handed me a quarter tip for helping with the luggage. My dad made these trips, meeting weekend trains from New York when he was not driving the famous Bernard Elephants up and down the east coast to different circuses.

"Doc" Bernard made history in Nyack from about 1918 to the mid fifties, though most Nyackers knew his elephants better than they knew "Doc." It was not unusual on a summer afternoon to catch a glimpse of three or four elephants plodding across the highway, led by their trainer. Old Mom, the largest and most famous of Bernard's pachyderms was long the lead figure in local parades, carrying the entire Nyack Village Board on her huge back.

Many of the famous folks of the early 20th century came to Nyack to rest and learn yoga from the master. Henry Goldmark, designer of the locks at the Panama Canal, a dashing man who told amazing war stories of years gone by, Francis Yeats Brown, the author of Lives of a Bengal Lancer, were club guests along with August Thomas, often called the Maxwell Anderson of his day. He was a close friend of President Teddy Roosevelt.

Bernard not only brought famous people to Nyack, he also provided entertainment. He created an outdoor sports center for boxing, wrestling and baseball. Its grandstand seated 6,000 and it was brilliantly illuminated at night. It stood on the site in Central Nyack now occupied by the Nyack Housing Authority. Bernard has often been called the Father of Night Baseball.

The Pennsylvania Redcaps, The Cuban Stars and the Bearded Boys from the House of David played late into summer nights against Bernard's semi-pro ball club. In 1939 Lou Nova, on his way up the heavyweight ladder for a fight with champion Joe Louis, became a member of the club and trained at the sports center for his famous fight with Max Baer. Bernard predicted his yoga techniques would end the fight in the seventh round. He was not far from wrong. Baer found the canvas in eleven.

Doc enthusiastically took part in celebrity baseball games. One of my dad's favorite stories was of a game between the 21 Club of New York and the Saints and Sinners of NYC. Elephants led the parade into the stadium, followed by the New York City Police Band with a cheering section from Billy Rose's nightclub. Every fourth ball played was made of magnesium and burst on contact. The bases were filled with famous names like Big Bill Tilden of Tennis fame, George Jessel, and Jimmy Savo. The game was broadcast on radio by one of the greats of the day, Charles MacArthur.

Pierre Arnold Bernard, Oom the Omnipotent, died in1955 at the age of 80. In tribute friends wrote, "Bernard had all the earmarks of genius. He was the greatest authority in this country on yoga teaching and practice," and "His work will be remembered long after the labors of formalist scholars who delve in theories they do not practice for Bernard, although a scholar with the best Sanskritists, possessed also the living tradition as handed down for centuries in India."

Many times I would ask my dad more about the Clarkstown Country Club and what happened there. His answer was always the same: "You don't want to know!" But I guess really I do!

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