Update 12-14-10

Hi,

A little deli sleuthing:

From Judy Hartstone:  Hmmm, I don't recall Ben & Sol being the name of the deli.  My recollection is of riding my bike, or going with my father in the car to Schlucker's on Sunday mornings for donuts, and going to the deli next door -- which I recall as Royal Farms -- and getting bagels, lox, and cream cheese.  Does anyone else recall Royal Farms?
    Also, Len's, which was in the mall, had the best pickles on the tables and the very best grilled hamburgers, cooked over an open-fire grill.

[Rich -- And I wrote Judy:  Yep, I think that's it:  Royal Farms.]

And Judy wrote back:  I keep trying to remember if Royal Farms also had deli meats or did it just have fish?  I don't recall any other deli, certainly not something called Ben & Sol.  Were those the proprietors?

And Peggy Cooper Schwartz seconded:  Were you thinking of Royal Farms?  That was next to Schlucker's, and it was a deli and small grocery.

[Rich -- And I wrote back:  Yep, Judy Hartstone suggested that, and it instantly seemed right to me.  But the other thing is that Ben & Sol might have taken over that location at some point, or Ben & Sol might have been in another place in Valley Stream.  The only thing I can find on them through an Internet search is that they started in Brooklyn and later moved to Valley Stream.  But I don't want to read the whole, extremely long blog to find out when and possibly where, and I can't get my browser to search it.]

The link to the Brooklyn blog mentioned above:  http://citynoise.org/article/2078

And Helen David added:  I thought that Woodrow's was first located in Green Acres.  It had large, black-and-white tiles on the floor.  The last I know -- as of 6 years ago -- it had moved to the possibly still present location in the Peninsula strip mall.

And Jerry Bittman added:  They were right -- it was called Ben & Sol.  Now; for the rest of the story:  Ben and Sol got divorced  -- they were Valley Stream's first gay marriage -- and Ben moved to Vermont.  There, he met his future soul mate, a guy named Jerry.  Then they went into the ice cream business, and they were credited with adding over one billion pounds, just in the United States.

Then my brother Mike wrote:  It was a kosher deli, and the name was Ben & Sol's.  I worked there for a while.

[Rich -- And I wrote Mike:  Where, exactly, was Ben & Sol's?  Was it next to Schlucker's?  If you worked there, it was probably after 1974, when you were 16.  Was the deli previously called Royal Farms?]

And Mike wrote back:  Ben & Sol's was next to Schlucker's.  The name Royal Farms is familiar to me, but I'm not sure from where.  It may have been in that same row of stores on the end closest to the main part of the shopping center.  I don't think it was where the deli was.  As far as I remember, Ben & Sol's was there for a long time, and when I worked there, Ben had been dead for a while, and Sol had another partner, named Paul.  Anyway, the walk down memory lane brought back some cool times.

And my sister Marilyn wrote:  Royal Farms!  I thought, "Whoa, you remembered that name!"  I imagine it was the name of the "greengrocer" that was there.
    I can still remember the main worker:  He had always reminded me of a clown, but after seeing Robin Williams in Moscow on the Hudson, he reminded me of the co-star who played the Russian trying to get asylum.  So maybe the man was of Russian heritage, but he probably was either born here or came here at a young age, as I don't remember him having an accent.  Dad used to stop in there a lot and get fruits and vegetables, probably on the same errand as to Schlucker's.  Mike and Dave would have been little squirts along for the ride -- with Dad and me, much of the time.
    Either Ben & Sol's was next to Royal Farms, or it took over its location.  Later, around 1970, a health store went into some of those locations -- probably two storefronts.  I think it was called Health Nuts or Health Hut. The father of a Lisa, a very beautiful blonde-haired girl one year ahead of me, owned and managed it.

And my mother, who still lives in Green Acres / Millbrook, tried to find the address in one of her very old address books -- the metal flip-up kind, with a little pointer that stops at the letters along the edge and has been in our kitchen since possibly 1953 -- but she couldn't.

[Rich -- So I wrote to Judy and Peg, and to Eric Hilton, since he started this whole thing:  The latest information is that Royal Farms probably became Ben & Sol's somewhere in the 1970s.  That's why people correctly know the deli by both names.]

And Judy wrote back:  Thanks for clearing that up!

And Eric wrote back:  Thanks!

And Peggy wrote back:  Of course, I moved away in 1963.  But when we moved, Royal Farms was still there.

[Rich -- And then I got so hungry for lox and bagels that I wrote Amy Lieberman, Paul Zegler, and Barnet Kellman to see if they wanted to get together at Jerry's Deli next Monday, since we still haven't managed to celebrate Vince Tampio's birthday.  (Actually, I didn't write that yet, but I was planning to, so I guess I just have.)]

And that's enough about deli's.

One more thing:  Schlucker's could be spelled that way.  Or it could be Shlucker's.  Or Shluker's.

In other news, Peggy Galinger Meneker wrote:  My mother soon will be moving from her Hewlett apartment to New Jersey.  I would appreciate if you would include the following "classified ad" in next week's newsletter:
    Quiet, 2 bedroom, 2 full bath, garden apartment in a well-kept, park-like setting, for sale in Hewlett, New York.
    AC, EIK, good closet space, entrance foyer, living/dining room with wall of windows, patio.
    Heated garage under building, ample guest parking.
    Short walk to Long Island Railroad, shops, restaurants, houses of worship.
    Close to Atlantic Beach, Long Beach.  Price negotiable.  Furniture negotiable.
    For more information, please contact:  pegmen1@aol.com

Finally Allan Bendel forwarded:  When you're sending your holiday cards this year, why not take one card and send it to the following address?  If everyone who reads this sends one card, think of how many cards these special people who have sacrificed so much would get.  And if you like this idea, please pass this message on.
    Send cards to:
    A Recovering American Soldier
    c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
    6900 Georgia Avenue NW
    Washington , D.C. 20307-5001

The South '65 e-mail addresses:  reunionclass65.blogspot.com

The South '65 photo site:  picasaweb.google.com/SouthHS65


Rich