Jay, I think you, David and I all agree. But it’s fun to reminisce. For a minute I thought I was going to go on a time machine ride but the reality hit me, it is very late in 2021 and not 2008. lol. But it’s all good. I’m thrilled that David is back and I do accept the reality of the way things are today.
Its great to reminisce...I do it all the time. Mike, you will most likely enjoy this. As you know I was born an raised in "the catskills" for those that don't know what the catskills are, you can google it. My hometown was called Monticello, NY in Sullivan County...I was born and raised there. What made my town very, very unique was it was the vacation spot for many Jews that lived in New York City and Long Island.
My town was the getaway vacation spot for Jews and after WW2- Anti-Semitism was a problem, but my hometown with all the resort hotels that catered to the Jews was a huge hit. The heyday of the area and the resorts hotels was after WW2 and flourish in the late 40's and into the 50's. Back then TV was just starting out and most of the singers, entertainers and comedians got there start in my hometown "the catskills". The entertainers that started out in my area become Hollywood legends, Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, Sid Ceaser, Buddy Hacket, Carl Reiner, Jerry Lewis and George Burns and the list goes on. Even in the 80's that is where Jerry Seinfeld got his start...from Joan Rivers and the list goes on and on.
Then in 1969, another event happen in my county...just down the street from my hometown in the same county of Sullivan County was a small farm town called Bethel, NY. This was part of the county that had a lot of farm land and the diary farmer named Max Yeasger own acres and acres of land and he was our local dairy milkman but in 1969 he rented out his farm and that farm was the site for the Summer of 69 WoodStock Festival.
My hometown as also the place for Harness track racing, the harness track was called, Monticello Raceway and it is and to this date, the only 1/2 mile track with the fastest times. If any here knows anything about Harness Horse Racing, Monticello Racetrack had the top horses and drivers in the world.
But that was then...I was born in November 1967, and in the 70's the decline of my town and the resort area started to go downhill but still very much popular. We still had the entertainers arriving. Sammy Davis, Jr.. Dean Martin, Bill Cosby, The temptations, The four Seasons, Tony Orlando and Dawn, the Monkeys, the doors, Janis Joplin, The carpenters, Johnny Cash, we had all sorts of sports stars that trained in the catskills like Mohamand Ali, Joe Lewis, Mike Tyson...all of the Yankees came there for summer season, Reggie Jackson would practice....there....we had so many sports legends Wayne Gretsky (Hockey) Wilt Chambelin even worked in the hotels as a car hop before becoming a top basketball player. The list goes on and on.
By the 80's my town was in decline, the older Jews started dying off, they moved to Florida and were to old to travel. The younger Jews, went on cruises, went to Disney World, travelled to Europe and the old resort area of my time died off. By the 90's the town was dead, the hotels gone, no more entertainers, no more visitors, the town declined so bad, it became one of the poorest area's to live in New York State,
It got even worse, in 2000 and now ever more, worse then ever. When I go back to visit my town...I cry, I cry because of all the wonderful memories I had, all the stores that I remember now closed, the restaurants now closed and boarded up. Going back to my hometown is no longer the same, even the townspeople that I knew passed away or have moved away. The town is so depressing, its very sad.
Those are now just memories, a time that is forgotten.. the people that live there only heard stories, the younger generation that live there, had no clue what is was like in the past, growing I had some great times, I wouldn't change it for anything, I don't regret anything and I have fond memories of my hometown. But as many of my friends and family tell me, you can't go back home anymore, I had to move forward with life and all I have are my memories of years past.
This is life, we get older, times change, a new thought process, new generation...we have to morph and be with the times. The past is in the past and we have to move forward but its great to reminisce of what once was.
