History remembered, history lost

I grew up in Moodus on Sillimanville Road.  I periodically visit your website and have been meaning to write to you to say thanks for writing the history of Moodus, the way it really was -- the good, the bad and the ugly. Upon reading all the stories and articles over the years I realize I truly grew up at the wrong time to be in Moodus.  I grew up at the end of the Summer Resort heyday, and watched it all slide downhill from there. 

I remember the Soda Shop, and I remember getting groceries from Uncle Albert (Pear) as I used to call him.  I went to Synagogue when it was on North Moodus road, my Bar Mitzvah was there.  I worked for a short time as Pistol Pete's sidekick up at Banner Lodge.  I remember the Weiner Resort, Banner Lodge, Grand View, Klar Crest, all of them.... and I saw each, one by one, close and wither away. 

I remember the old downtown, I was old enough to ride my bicycle there stopping for a soda at Weinstein's and then heading on down to Neptune Avenue to meet up with John Bielot.  I remember the town being leveled too.  Just one day it wasn't there anymore.  

I even remember getting fresh eggs from Simon's farm and being shown how to "candle" eggs. I remember Jack Banner getting so annoyed because Pistol Pete and I couldn't seem to catch who was putting the row boat into the pool at night.

Yes, memories of Moodus are mixed for me.  I had some fun, but even at a young age I could see and recognize the town being destroyed, the history being lost. I remember the arson fires at Wieners and also at the place next door to Debowsky's house.  My dad had his first heart attack while up on our roof with a hose putting out the embers from the two fires that were landing on our house. I think one of the Bungalows across the street also burned (forget the names of the family that owned them). 

I graduated High School in 1976, did some college in Hartford and joined the Navy leaving Moodus in 1977.  I never looked back. Well, I say never, but I visited once or twice and I came back to bury my parents in late 2000 and early 2001.  It's seems like only the cemeteries can be used as landmarks anymore as people don't tend to build or pave over them.... yet.

I do have hopes that the children of those who moved into the area in the 80's and later, to the new Moodus, create new memories -- ones of growth and building up, and maybe adding to the history of the area.  From what I saw in 2001, they pretty much have a clean slate to work with. 

Again, thanks for the website,

 --Miles-Kevin Baron

Those summers were the best!

I stumbled across this web site and it certainly brought back wonderful memories.

I worked as a camp counselor at Orchard Mansion starting in the mid 60's. I grew up in Middletown, CT and my Mom thought it would be a great experience.  She was so right. In 1969, I moved up the street, to join my sister, to work at Banner Lodge as a waitress.  I worked there through college.

These summers were the best!  Working hard, making money and having a great social life.

--Maureen Charatan Bernstein

Fresh food, country air

Back in the day, Moodus was the resort capital of Connecticut, with more than 50 resorts serving tens of thousands of vacationers during the season. People came for the clean country air and food fresh from the farm next door. In fact, many of the resorts started out as farms whose families welcomed first family and then other visitors to enjoy the Moodus summer.

Matchmaking at Banner Lodge

Just wanted you to know that my husband and I met at Banner Lodge in 1961. I was there vacationing with my girlfriend from Montreal, Canada at the time and my husband was there with his friends and they sat us at the same table. We continued to write to each other and see each other after that for a year and then proceeded to get married and have been happily married for 47 years. Wonderful memories of the place.

--Betty 

Fabulous times at Banner Lodge

I remember as a young teenager my parents took me and my brother and sister to vacation for a week in August of 1968 & 1969.  In fact it was 40 years ago exactly today that I remember driving as a family on Sunday 8/17/1969 from Framingham Mass.  The reason I remember the day is because I recall hearing on the radio the death of Dr. Philip Blaiberg. He was one of the first recipients of an artificial heart transplant, and the longest surviving one at the time.  Also I developed a relationship with a nice girl I met from New Haven who I kept in touch with for several years

The food, activities and entertainment were fabulous. It was a shame to hear what has happened to the property after Jack Banner's death.  I understand some New York investors purchased the properties in 2005 and plan or are building condos there.  The glorious days of the 60's will never be the same, only just a great memory.

--Randy Hecht

Fond memories of 1950s Moodus

I came across your site and saw a picture I recognized. On the Moodus-center-pix page, there is a picture labeled ‘First National, Bill's Soda Shop, Weinstein's and Lou's Package’, which also seems to have been used for the ‘Greetings from Moodus’ card. I’d love to get a good copy of it.

My grandmother, Evelyn Levine, lived in the house whose porch partially appears on the left of the picture. There she raised her sons (Nathan, George, Bill, Barney, Saul, Jack, and Dave). The picture was taken in 1960, I think, despite the heading and the name ‘moodus_center_east_1940s.’ In any case, I think the car parked in the 2-car lot to the side of the house is a 1959 Rambler that belonged to my uncle Nathan (whom we called ‘Manny’), and it looks like there is a 1956 Chevy parked in front.

I have fond memories of exploring that house, and I still remember the floor-plan, my dad’s childhood room up-stairs, and the incredible antiques (treadle sewing machines, hand-carved sandstone pottery, my grandfather’s old butchering tools) I found exploring in the attic and basement.

One of my early memories (I was all of 4 years old) is from Memorial Day, 1959. My family drove down to Moodus from Massachusetts for the Memorial Day Parade, which became an annual event for us in the early 1960’s. We saw the parade (replete with Fife and Crum Corps) and then went to Billy’s store where my dad let us buy penny candy. We usually stayed in one of the cabins at Banner Lodge (Pop Banner was my godfather) over the weekend. None of the pictures I saw show it, but there was a covered and raised outdoor stage at the end of the lodge pool on which instructors would lead dance and exercise classes. The memory is that my dad (George) would take me to that stage in the evening, and we would sit, the two of us, while he told me about being a kid growing up in Moodus, working for Banner Lodge during his teen summers, and other recollections.

By the mid 1960’s, the ravine (Moodus River) behind my grandmother’s house was so polluted that the house began to smell horrible. She moved to a house in Middletown, and we ceased to spend Memorial Days in Moodus. Toward the end of the 1960’s, the family would still get together in the area with the brothers and my many cousins, either visiting Bashun Lake, Gillette Castle, or the Goodspeed, but by the early 1970’s, Moodus was essentially gone.

--Hal Franklin