Keep Moodus/East Haddam green!

As a former Moodus resident now living in South Carolina, I was surprised to see your article on the Internet. I was one of the minority who spoke against the renewal and was told that I didn't know what I was talking about. It was like archaeology, once you dig it up there is no putting it back the way it was. Moodus has nothing on what is going on in this county with development. Keep Moodus/East Haddam green. Thank you for the article.

--Gaspar J Ingui, Murrells Inlet, SC

Thanks for the greetings from Moodus

I checked out the website today for the first time and I'm really impressed. Reading your story on "redevelopment" transported me instantly back to old main street during my growing up years in town. I can still identify every store from Bernstein's to the Cabin Grill, and can visualize the interiors of those that I visited often. Man, the hours I spent hanging in Weinstein's reading comic books!

I remember while in high school I was president of FFA (Future Farmers of America) and our chapter voted to raise and plant flowers for the new shopping center as part of the beautification process. I remember we made plans to help beautify the park that was supposed to replace the old stores. Anyway, thanks for the "Greetings from Moodus" and keep up the good work, Ken.

-Bruce Sievers

A sentimental journey

I was just in Moodus today after close to 40 years away! It was a sentimental journey that proved you couldn’t go home again. I used to go to the Weiner's Hotel when I was in elementary school. I was trying to locate it. Judy, your village librarian told me that it had burned up and was now subdivided for private homes. I couldn't find anything there that even suggested that Weiner's was ever there.

Is there anything you can tell me about Weiner's from the early 1960s to its end? All I can remember was that it was owned by Milton and Pearl Weiner. They died within a year of each other, in the 1960s, and the kids tried to make a go of the place. That's pretty much when I aged out of it (it was a hotel and day camp.) And I remember we were always in color wars with Orchard Mansion or Banner Lodge.

The librarian gave me a brief rendition of the razing of Moodus story. Your article sure had the details. You know, the only thing I remember about Moodus itself was a post office and a Soda Shop. Judy said it must have been Weinstein's. I can't say that I remember the name, but it jogged something in my deep subconscious. Hey, I'm 40+ now, and the memory is fading.

--Steven Leifer, Albany, NY

Rest Farm

I want to bring to your attention a resort missing from your list: Rest Farm. Rest Farm was located on Bashan Lake Road and consisted of a large main house and 8 bungalows. A few of the rooms in the main house and all the bungalows were rented by the week, month, or summer. My parents took me there every summer as a child, starting, I believe, in the late 1950s.

My parents, The Kaplans, and another couple, the Ondriseks, purchased Rest Farm from a Mrs. Karas sometime in the 1960s. A few years later my parents sold their share to the other couple who continued to operate this small resort until sometime in the 1980s. At some point after my parents sold their share its name was changed to, I think, Four Seasons.

During the 1960s and until it closed, Rest Farm was rented to Czech families from New York City (by the way you misidentify bohemians as Hungarians; in fact, Bohemia is part of what is now the Czech Republic (the western half of the former Czechoslavakia). It is likely that Czech families had been going to Rest Farm even before this period, as I suspect it was the presence of Czechs that initially lured my parents to Moodus. I also believe that the previous owner, Mrs. Karas, was of Czech descent. You may also be interested to know that many of the Czechs, families, retiring couples, and their adult children eventually moved to Moodus and the surrounding area after spending their summers at Rest Farm.

Rest Farm was once of those resorts that, as you mention on your web site, had once been a farm. There were a number of chicken coops and sheds of all sorts, a barn on the property, which I as a child from the city, loved to explore. I hope you will consider adding Rest Farm to your list. If there is any additional information you'd like about Rest Farm, please feel free to email me.

--Sincerely, Jerry Kaplan