Visiting downtown Moodus

As an 80 year old who used to spend summers visiting my grandparents who lived at the top of Methodist Hill and visiting the "downtown" area of Moodus I enjoyed reading your web site.

The entrance to my grandparents house was between the old St. Bridgets and the Jewish Community center opposite the Methodist cemetery.

Jack Banner and Lanny Ross used to stop by and visit with my Uncle Raymond Harris.

I played on the dam behind the house with the Smith boys. Barney, Tom and Henry. The Turczeks lived between the Smiths and the Harries and there was an old man, retarded I think, who sat on their porch all day long.

The mills were standing in those days and the mill next to the Smiths was still operating as the Cone Mill.

My grandparents and great grandparents are buried in the Methodist cemetery at the top of the hill along with a lot of familiar names. We used to collect walnuts from the trees that grew on the south side and dry them over the winter.

I have fond memories of it all.

--Richard Harris, Avon, CT

The amazing Izzy and Dizzy

I was the only kid guest at Banner Lodge in 1945-49. My parents were regulars.

The wait staff had twin brothers, Izzy and Dizzy, who befuddled guests at the weekly lakefront competition in retrieving dessert plates from underwater. The best a guest might do was 15-20 plates. Izzy would dive in and stay under for the longest time, absolutely amazing guests on shore. When he finally came up, with 50 plates in hand, everyone was astounded. What they didn't know was that when he ran out of air he would surface UNDER the raft, where Dizzy would take over, and they'd work as a relay team and win every time.

My parents were Morris (Skee) Batalsky and Evelyn. Their best friends at Banner were George and Eva Mandell, from Hartford. Skee and George are pictured on the web site with a 1947 beauty queen on stage, Skee on the far right, George on the far left.

Those were as happy days as I have ever experienced.

Gary Gilson, Minneapolis