Summer crowds in Moodus

I have just spent at least two hours going through page after page of your website, reliving old memories of Moodus.

I am now 79 years old and remember the frequent visits to my grand-parents home located across the street from the Methodist Hill Cemetery and next to the Old St. Bridgets Church. They and my great grand-parents are buried in the southwest corner of the cemetery.

I remember the 1930s and the stream of people who walked back and forth from the camps to the center of town, all summer long. How they mamaged the steep hilll is beyond me. They never walked in the dirt path but chose to walk on the pavement.

My uncle, Raymond Harris, was a good friend of Jack Banner so I remember stopping at the Lodge several times. There was a famous singer named Lanny Ross who would visit us from time to time when he was at the Lodge.

I too am deeply saddened by the destruction of Moodus as I can vividly picture the Town as it was. My great-grandfather, Asa Harris, was a Dancing Master who gave lessons at the Music Hall and the Machamoodus House in the late 1800's. There was an article about him in the Deep River paper back in the 30's, which I gave to the Amasa Day Museum.

Thank you for your fine efforts.

--Richard D. Harris, Avon, CT

Zero Mostel and the Banner family

I just stumbled across the web pages on Banner Lodge. I found it very interesting since Claire and Lou Goldblatt are my great aunt and uncle. Lou's brother Morris Goldblatt is my mother's (Myra) father. My mother spent time there when she was a child.

I spent a few summers at Banner Lodge with my parents and brother when I was a preteen. If I recall family lore correctly, Pop Banner bought the farm from the Mostel family, as in Zero, who were related to the Banners. I recall seeing an old man sweeping the parking lot every morning as we went to breakfast -- I think I was told it was Zero's father, but perhaps it was Pop Banner.

Claire and Lou returned to New York in the off season (Claire ran a dress shop) and remained good friends with Zero -- they would have Zero and his family over for dinner. After Claire and Lou retired to North Miami Beach (where I would visit them as I was in and out of Miami several times in the 1970s and 1980s), I believe Zero would stay with them there.

Just thought you'd like to know that you touched some lives today.

--Bruce Steinberg, Alexandria, VA

Loss of Moodus Center heartbreaking

Your Web site on East Haddam is very interesting.

Having grown up in East Haddam, I remember talk of "redevelopment" in Moodus. It's nice to read a history on what took place. The lost of the Moodus village was a tragedy. I suppose if it had worked out properly the players would be considered visionaries instead of dupes.

Whenever I visit the town and drive through Moodus, I try not to think about what was once there. It's too heartbreaking.

School kids would go to Sam Pear's dry goods store to buy their gym clothes. It was just a short walk from school to the dentist. There was something there and it had character, and the buildings housed characters!

-- Sharon Havranek

Loved working at Banner

I can't believe I am looking at all the pictures and stories on the net. I worked at Banner when I was a kid as a hostess. I have always said it was the most rewarding and growing up experience of my life. I loved it.

--Joan Schur Sommers

Orchard Mansion memories

I was just taking a break at my work station here amidst a row of Herman Miller cubicles in a building leased by the state of Oregon when, reminiscing of summers past, decided to take a stab in the dark to see if the web contained any references to Orchard Mansion, where my Fall River, MA-based family spent a week or two every summer during the early to mid-60's, and ran across your website.

While some memories are truly distinct (lox and bagels; Janice Peck from Longmeadow MA, whom I met when I was 13, and she was probably 10, and whose parents, several years later, would not let her come to my high school prom; the pool; Mark, our college-aged busboy whom my dad graciously tipped as we left for home), others fade with time. After all, we're talking 40 years ago now.

You've brought chills to my spine, a tear to my eye, and a curiosity about whatever happened to Janice Peck. I'm heading back "home" in the Fall - dropping my son off at Princeton where he'll be a junior, and attending my niece's wedding in Newport. I'll try to peruse the family photo album to see if I can find any pictures of the Mansion, where we spent may a happy time during the summers of my youth. Thanks.

--Kenneth Ryder

See also "What I Learned at Orchard Mansion."

Pleasurable summers spent in Moodus

It was a result of a late-at-night whim that I entered a search into Google for Moodus. And boy was I surprised to have located your site!

Moodus was a family affair for us. I spent most of my childhood summers at various resorts in town from 1948 to approximately 1959, but my parents vacationed there slightly longer. As my parents were both teachers, we were able to spend the full ten weeks of vacations away, and we did so each year. We stayed for many years at Karas Rest Farm (unmentioned in your site), Klar Crest Resort and Willow Manor. As I got into my teen years, I spent more time away at camps and teen travel tours, but even then I would still spend several weeks in Moodus.

After spending at least one summer at Karas, my grandparents and my uncle rented a bungalow at Elkin’s and subsequently at Richard’s bungalows. As I recall, they vacationed in Moodus for at least a year or two more than my parents, and this brought me back to town as well as I frequently visited with them for a period of time. Another aunt and uncle took their annual two-week vacations at Orchard Mansion. In summary, our years in Moodus probably spanned from 1948 to 1961.

My days in Moodus were pleasurable, and I was lucky to be able to spend them away from the hot streets in Brooklyn. I was always impressed by the rural character of the area, and the vast differences there compared to back in the city. I can still remember our first arrival day in town with utmost clarity and I believe I still retain a tremendous wealth of information about the area during all of those years. My parents were quite knowledgeable about the affairs of the village, and they knew many of the merchants in town. My father would like to spend some of his spare time analyzing the personalities of each of the different proprietors of Levine’s and Weinstein’s soda shops, and had a number of actual incidents and original jokes to share about each one.

Even though my folks were only summer residents, they held a library card and were quite friendly with one or two librarians whose mutual friendship they enjoyed on their weekly visits for all of those years. In various ways, we also became friendly with a number of local families, and even though we were only summer visitors, we very much felt a part of Moodus ourselves.

Moodus was a part of our lives, and as a child I thought it would go on forever the way it was. I recall the decline of most of the hotels and bungalow colonies, and everyone knew that the demise of the area as a vacation area was soon at hand. A number of years later, I read an article about the destruction of the commercial district, and was even more shocked a few years later; whereupon, I made my first return to the area to have driven by the original location of the village without even being able to spot any vestiges of the past at all. It was just like An Outer Limits TV show. That former main street, an eclectic mixture of a tourist spot with a unique small farm-town flavor, was the basis for making that entire area a community, and what a loss it must have been.

My last visit to the area, about four to five years ago, was with my wife and teen-age children to attempt to show them what it was like for me. Sadly, there was no way to recreate for them the wonderful summers that I spent growing up with my family in this very special place. Obviously, it was a different day and age for me, and others, who spent time there as I did, will probably agree that they really felt a darn lot happier, with a whole lot less, than our kids today.

On my last visit, I was unable to visit the public library to inquire about anyone trying to record the history of the resort period in Moodus. So, it is with a great deal of pleasure that I discovered the existence of your site. Thank you for your efforts.

Sincerely,
--G. Shapiro

Leiber's Mansion a wonderous adventure

Your site on the resorts is fascinating. One minor point. Leiber's (Leiber's Mansion) was actually on Town Street about half a mile toward Hadlyme from where it crosses Valley Brook, or about a mile and a half from Wolf's Den.

My parents bought the house, outbuilldings and 11 acres from Joseph Leiber, the family patriarch and former owner operator of Leiber's Mansion in 1969. We lived there for about 6 years. The rest of the land, approximately 100 acres, was sold years later by Misha, Mr. Leiber's eldest son and has since been subdivided and homes built upon.

The original house and barn had been a farm before the Leibers acquired it. The barn had a stage and jukebox which we found fascinating as children. We had fun with plays and concerts there. The outbuildings were fascinating also. We found many minor treasures left by former guests which had been left there for many years between its days as a resort and our tenure.

The subsequent owners of the property have made it into what appears to be a lovely home. While we lived there we used a wood stove in the kitchen to attempt to heat the 19 rooms of the house. After the first winter we would close up all but about 8 for the winter. We often went to bed in snowmobile suits and I was usually the one who managed to get the dog for warmth.

Despite the minor hardship, it was a wonderful, adventurous place to grow up in.

--Ray Durant, Gloucester, VA