Playing with frogs, messing with the chef

I think I am "the baby" mentioned in the post about Breslows, but a couple things are slightly off. My birth dad was Ed Cohen, (called Richard in Allen's post). One of the brothers running the resort; his brother was indeed Frank. Ed has passed away, about 7 years ago. My mom is Marcia (Cohen) Goshen, mentioned in the post. She and Ed divorced when I was 4, and she remarried Bill Goshen, (I think they met in Moodus or East Haddam) they still are together and live in South Florida. My initials and nickname were indeed ABC, but my name was Andrew Bennett Cohen (not Amy Beth) but that's understandable, it's been 50 years since I left Moodus at age 4!

Surprisingly, I actually do remember a few things, but also when my brother Mat and I went back one time a few years later and visited Ed at Breslows. He was still running it with his new wife Pat. Pat had a cool blonde kid (Michael?) who took me around that week.

We played with impossibly giant bright green and gold bullfrogs in the pond, explored everywhere, stayed in the cabins, listened to Beatles songs on transistor radios and got in the way of the always gruff (and possibly intoxicated) cook, Sterling. He seemed to like us kids, but yelled at us a lot. We shared cool secret spy things, like "the rock trick" , where you hid in the woods and threw a rock somewhere away from you to make someone think you were somewhere else.

From age 4 or so, I actually remember tagging along at get-togethers (were there bleachers?) with the older campers and singing John Jacob Jinglehammer, 100 bottles of beer, the hole in the nickel song and other camp staples. I also remember doing the bunny hop off to bed and being shooed out of the kitchen by the sweaty Sterling, dusty with flour and brandishing a rolling pin yelling ... "Out, out, out of my Kitchen!"

--Andrew Bennett (Cohen) Goshen

Fond memories of Breslow's

My name is Stan Feinstein and my family stayed at Breslow's each summer from the 40's to the 50's. In 1950, at age 15, I received a call before the season started from the owner Meyer Breslow, who asked me if I'd like to be a busboy in the main dining room. I couldn't wait to get there. That year began the fondest of memories I have of my years ages 15 thru 22.

Let's start by identifying the Breslow family. Until the early 60's, the resort was owned by Meyer and Morris Breslow. Their wives were Clara and Bella. Each Breslow brother had 4 children: Meyer and Clara had Stanley, Jay, Paul and Abie. As a side comment, Abie's son Craig is a relief pitcher for the Oakland Athletics (as of 2010). Morris and Bella had Charlie, Herbie, Yetta and Harold.
 

Perhaps some member of their families will see these comments -- the guests most memorable to me were: Saul and Frances Feinstein (my parents), Jerry and Jeanette Firtel, Morris and Janet Genzer, Bernie and Dorothy Keiler, Kelly and Bea Keller, Barney and Mary Kissel, Sol and Pauline Kleinfeld, Marty and Ann Lerner, Mike and Tilley Melnick, Harry and Ida Nadel, Harry and Gladys Orfuss, Max and Roz Polinsky, Pete and Gladys Solomon, Joe and Flo Wasserman, Bennie Weber
Morris and Anne Wertkin, 

The highlight of these years is that I met my future wife Helene Call who was niece of Meyer and Clara. We have now been married for 50 years.

I'll always remember:

-The mile walk to Miller's restaurant for grinders,
-The 4 mile WALK into Moodus just for the fun of it,
-Visiting Bill's soda shop and Weinstein's pharmacy to buy sodas and baseball cards,
-On rainy days, Meyer driving the old bus to the Moodus movie house, his head barely visible over the steering wheel,
-Meyer driving the bus to Bashan Lake for swimming. In later years he put in a new pool,
-Morris lugging bedding on his back between rooms,
-The weekend softball games with the guests and the Breslow boys,
-The softball games against the other Moodus resorts. The Breslow boys were all good ballplayers and we were unbeatable. We challenged Banner Lodge multiple times but they wouldn't play us. For the record, the softball field was moved 3 times, from in front of the old casino, to the corner near the arch and finally to beyond the new pool,

-The 1/4 mile walk DOWN to the OLD pool,
-The conversion of the old casino into guest rooms and the building of the new casino,
-As a waiter, hiding the apple pie deserts from the guests on Sunday,
-Sleeping with the other help in the barn attic,
-Getting investment tips from the guests (all tips went down),
-Breaking into the freezer at night to get extra food for the guests,
-Getting caught by Clara when backing out thru the freezer door,
-Playing 3 handed cut-throat pinochle with 2 seniors,
-and My weekend payday from tips for being a waiter.
 

All summers went too fast and now the Breslow's resort is a horse farm. Even the impressive arch has been removed. My wife and I visit Breslow's twice each summer and are dismayed to see the former Moodus center. Unlike Brigadoon, Moodus never returns.

THANK YOU BRESLOWs for a lifetime of memories.

--Stan Feinstein

My own little room

I spent four summers at Breslow’s in Moodus with my parents and sister. I believe they were the summers of 1958-1961. I was 10 years old that first summer and 13 the last.

My memories of those summers are so wonderful. I remember:

•Softball games against other resorts and camps
•Walking down the road almost a mile for ice cream
•Waiting at the entrance to the resort on Friday evenings for my father to come up for the weekend
•All the kids bunny hopping out of the casino on Saturday nights so the adults could party
•The town of Moodus
•Gillette’s Castle
•Devil’s Hopyard
•Goodspeed Opera House

The four years we were at Breslow’s, the resort was owned by the Cohen brothers—Frank and Richard(?). Their wives were Micki and Marcia. Frank and Micki were newlyweds. Richard(?) and Marcia had a baby while we were there. For some reason, the baby’s name has stuck in mind mind—Amy Beth Cohen (ABC).

During the fourth summer, I had my own little room on the top floor of one of the older buildings. Boy, did I feel great!

My family went back to Moodus for holiday weekends in 1964 and 1967. We stayed at Klar Crest. The weekend in 1964 was most memorable. I was 16 and had just graduated high school. Klar Crest was packed that weekend, with over 100 teenagers. We had a fantastic time. Think about it — over 100 teenagers hanging out all day and night for three days and not once was there any trouble.

I loved summers in Moodus so much that I brought my wife and two kids back in 1975 and 1976. We again stayed at Klar Crest. When I reminded Dave Klar of that big holiday weekend in 1964 with all those teenagers, he remembered it well.

I just found your website and saw the old pictures of Breslow’s, Klar Crest and Moodus. Wow!! They brought back these wonderful thoughts.

Thank you for you website

--Allen Fetterman