Main Street Mountaindale Businesses

Frances Black was Tillie Trustman's Grandaughter and her vivid recollections of the Main Street business district in Mountaindale totally cracks me up every time I read it. Enjoy & see if you remember the same things!

So many people have mentioned the Bakery in Mountaindale. My memory is just a scrumptious as others. My grandmother would make the most wonderful sugar cookies and always have them there when I visited, but she would also give me quarter to go to the bakery. I loved the butter cookies with colored sprinkles. I think I could buy about 4 of them. And it smelled so WONDERFUL. Not such a wonderful smell was Katz's Fish store. I remember very well Benny Katz. He scared me. Maybe because he told me (and my family played right along) that he was going to take me to live with him in New York or maybe because he just smelled like a giant fish of some sort. 1980 Painting by local artist Shelley Blum

Then there was Jake Berkowitz. Anyone remember him. He owned a variety/junk store that had shelves upon shelves stocked with all kind of junk, practically falling off of the shelves. Stuff that hadn't been touched in years. He dressed like a homeless person, but I hear he had lots of money stashed away. Not to insult any living family members, but Jake used to go in the alley by his store and fart. My brothers and I had many laughs over this one and when we went by the store, they would always make farting noises. I had been to Woodstock and was eagerly awaiting the Rockfest to come to the area. My grandmother, Tillie Trustman, owned a fruit and vegetable store in Mountaindale and I planned to live with her and help her in the store for the summer (since I was having difficulty living at home at the time.) The fest was cancelled and I was very dissapointed. Went to work in Manhatten for a temporary agency, instead.