Looking for Dance Teacher, Frances Fields

Linda Marks is trying to find info about her aunt and uncle, Frances and Monte Felder, who went by the name Fields professionally, and taught dance at one of the small Sullivan County hotels back in the late 50's and early 60's. Linda says, "I've asked my cousins if they know the name of the hotel or where it was located, but they don't know and no one else is around for me to ask. If any of you have any knowledge of them, Aunt Frances was my very favorite aunt and was a great dancer." So I tried to do a little research, thinking that if Frances Fields was well known in her day, then she might have been pals with Jackie Horner who is thought to be the prototype for the Penny Johnson character in the hit movie, "Dirty Dancing," which was set locally in the Catskills resort area. Of course, Jackie Horner is also known as the wife of Lou Goldstein, the famous Social Director & Simon Says guy of Grossinger's. Here's an interesting ancecdote that I came across from "It Happened in the Catskills," written by the husband and wife team of Myrna and Harvey Frommer as described in a very detailed Dartmouth.edu web review:

We hear from and learn about Neil Sedaka, who showed up at Esther Manor at the age of 19 with his band, the Nordanelles (for Norman, David and Neil), and ended up marrying Esther's daughter, much to the chagrin of her family; and of Eddie Fisher, who came up to Grossinger's in 1946 at 19, got "discovered" by Eddie Cantor on Labor Day 1949 and married Debbie Reynolds there in 1955.

Lou Goldstein, legendary social director at the hotel for many years, remembers the kid singer very well. "Eddie Fisher and I were roommates for a while -- the Playhouse at Grossinger's, Room 5. We were both single and looking. We made up a signal between us. If one of us was in the room with a girl, we would wrap a towel around the outside door knob so the other guy wouldn't barge in ... I had a lot of trouble getting into that room. It seemed like there was always a towel there."

Shelley Karpilow Farm

Here is a re-post from Shelley Karpilow of Berkeley, CA who had very sweet recollections of her family's summer "Farm" in Mountaindale.

My grandparents bought a "farm" with 50 acres, about 2.5 miles out of town. This was in 1925. (Unfortuntely I could not find a map, otherwise I would show everyone where it was.) It was on an obscure road, very rocky and up-hill, on the left, skirting Anderson's farm. There was one other farm on the road, which belonged to Mr. Pechter. He had chickens and cows, and his stepson was Paddy the cop. (I have this wrong somehow, but there was a relationship.) Our "farm" was about a quarter of a mile down the road. He took in boarders for the summer, as did my grandparents.

On the eave of the porch was a sign "Forest Hill Farm" which was there when they bought it, and never changed. There was also an apple orchard, a cherry tree, and wild strawberries across the road. As our family went there only for the summer, so there was not much farming done; besides we were all city people.

A few times my mother went up early and the kids went to school there. I attended the one-room school house for about a month, and another year, my brother went to the high school in town. That would have been about 1945, ( for by then, I was too old.)

Sometime in the 40s, the place was sold for a paltry sum, one thousand dollars, I believe. My brothers loved going there, and would drive up to visit from time to time. The last time I was there was in 1974 or thereabouts. The house had fallen and just left as nature took its toll. The forest was encroaching, but we could still see the baseball fields, and the gooseberry bushes, and other landmarks from our childhood.

Of course I am very excited to see Mtdale revived. There had been artists there in my time too. The Foner brothers , amateur violinists , would play with my uncle Philip Bass, who was a professional. And Nell Blaine married another uncle, Robert.

If you want to know more, just write.

shelley karpilow

berkeley, ca usa -

How to Post

I am hearing that some of you would really like to post Comments to this site but aren't completely sure how to go about it. It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it and I am sure everyone would enjoy reading your thoughts and recollections as much as they did on the original Mountaindale Living History site. Thanks to all of you, we now have visitors from all around the world again! Here's how you Post. If you wish to comment on a particular story, scroll down to the word "Comments" at the bottom of each entry. When you click it, a 'Post a Comment' box opens. Log in and then type your Comments inside the box. Then, all you have to do is click the Post a Comment button & we do the rest. If you'd like to create an entirely new story, please email it to me at news@mountaindaleproject.org and then I will post all suitable material along with any additional photos you care to submit. And that's all there is to it! I look forward to hearing from you soon!

O&W Unstoppable Moment

In 2000, Bert Basner posted a great O&W story about when his dad, Harry Basner of Majestic Road in Mountaindale, was the creamery manager and an O&W 'Unstoppable Moment' was anticipated.
It was about the year 1926, on a Saturday in the summer time as two passenger trains of the O & W were going north through Mountaindale when the dispatcher got an urgent call. The message said that on a northbound freight train heading towards South Fallsburg, two coal hopper cars loaded with coal had broken loose from their coupling and were rolling backward on the north bound track. It was imperative that they be diverted from the northbound track. A quick check of the area showed that there was a short spur running to the Woodridge creamery. They called the creamery manager, Harry Basner, and told him to evacuate the building as the two freight cars would be shunted to the tracks of his building. A switchman rushed down and diverted the northbound tracks to the creamery siding. Many of the residents went to sit on the grass opposite the creamery. I think these were the Sussmans, Monroe Davis, the Langers, the Gordans, the Beckers, and lots of us kids. The two runaway cars roared down the tracks, hit the switched rails at high speed and turned over. We kids got our pails and began to load free coal.

Half & Half Cookies

Phil Padrid remembers the black & white cookies that were just like the ones on Seinfeld once upon a time. Not a story so much as a memory of the black and white, also known as half and half, cookies. They were sold in the bakery in town. We had a summer house in Community Park on the main road between Mountaindale and Woodridge. I remember vividly being so excited about going "into town to play pinball and get a half and half cookie. I also remember the pizza at crossways, so I guess my memories are all food based. Anyone else remember these things?

G&S & Crystal Bungalows

Gina Groia remembers G & S and Crystal Bungalows and all the favorite kids' hang outs of yesteryear.

There were two bungalow i was lucky to be a part of. Crystal and G & S..........first Crystal, i remember that creepy gut that no one ever know who lived outside the bungalow colony. We used to walk down the road & only go so far and turn around, remember the little grocery store by the pool, recently went by how sad & run down, but the phone booth is still there....lol Remember when Uncle Billy would get all the kids together & march thru the cemetery. Also at G & S, Paula I lived in Monroe projects too......and have lots of memories of the bungalow colony. Remember Sarah....who could forget the fun. the pool, casino, movie nite, Sat nite for the "grown-ups" the kids tried to sneek in, bingo nite. How about going to Sol's in Woodridge for ice cream, or Poppins in South Fallsburg for breakfast. And who can forget "The Falls" by Crossroads....thanks for the memories

Rosenblums in Spring Glen

Jerry Jacobs came to re-visit his childhood in 2005. From my Main Street office, I often see visitors slowly cruising, trying to find a bit of their sweet past & we frequently chat about the "good old days" they remember.

yes i too remember rosenblums in spring glen. my family had a bungalow there from 1963-66. i have many fond memories. just yesterday i headed up to utica to drop my son off at camp. on the way home i saw a sign, ellenville, so i got off and 30 min later i'm in spring glen looking for something i have not seen in 40 years, or since i was 6. but when i passed the homowack hotel i knew i was close. i turned around pulled in to a colony and started placing all the buildings/people in my mind. when i was 80% sure this was the place i turned the car around to go home this woman seemed to appear out of thin air (sounds like bull, right?) i stop the car and tell her what i'm looking for, she asks my name pauses then smiles and says "you're home." remembers me and my family asks who i remember. we start going over who's alive and who's not. she tells me she's the only one left from that era. they went co-op in the 70s. she's putting me on a list to buy one. running out of room now. if you want please comment with thoughts, answers etc. it was great being in the place i spent my childhood. the place looks the same.

Adelmans Grocery

Here is a short re-post from Sybil Adelman In the early 50's, I spent a summer in Mountaindale with my parents, who rented and ran a grocery store for the summer months. There was someone I remember being identified as "the hermit" across the street. I wonder if anyone remembers the store or the Adelmans.