Update 10-2-12

 

Hi,

 

A little international history.  A restaurant question.  A short reminder.  Some cultural criticism.  A link to a possibly funny photo.  And some looting from Facebook.

 

First, the history, from Steve Zuckerman:  The nightly news frequently mentions that the incursion into Afghanistan is, so far, this country's longest  running war.  Actually, the longest military involvement for the United States to date was a conflict with Spain, which was initially spread over two years.  But that was followed by five years of suppressing the Philippine Insurrection -- the legitimate aspirations of the people of  the Philippines -- and continued with ten additional years of jungle warfare, the first for this nation.

    In this bloody struggle to conquer the Moros of the southern Philippines, the Moro tribesmen never officially surrendered to the United States, and to this date, there is no treaty ending the hostilities.  I learned this from someone who migrated from the Philippines to Puerto Rico and who educated me in the history of the Philippine islands.  Nothing like this is contained in our history books.

 

Second, from Jerry Bittman:  Does anybody remember the name of the steak restaurant near the Green Acres Mall?  It resembled a castle.

 

[Rich -- As I wrote Jerry, I think by 1970, it became Cooky's Steak House, but I don't know when it was built or what it was first called.  I also don't know if it still exists, or if that's where the Red Lobster is now.

    In a different context, a posting on Facebook mentions Beefsteak Charlie's being near the mall, but that could have been a different restaurant.  And another posting mentions that the Green Acres Century movie theater on Sunrise Highway has now been torn down and an Olive Garden restaurant is being built in its place.  That theater must have been over fifty years old, and it had been divided into a number of smaller theaters before it was finally closed.]

 

Next, the reminder, from Claire Brush Reinhardt:  the class of 1962 is having its 50th reunion this weekend.  

    The informal get-together is Friday evening, October 5th, at J. Mags on Atlantic Avenue in Lynbrook.

    The main event is Saturday afternoon, October 6th, at the Bridgeview Yacht Club in Island Park.

    There will also be an after party that night at the Keystone Yacht Club in Woodmere, and a brunch early Sunday afternoon.  

    All the details are on our web site:  vssh1962reunion.weebly . com   Anyone can also contact me at:  reino @ optonline . net  (please remove the spaces)

 

The cultural criticism, about last week's extended High Holy Days seating joke forwarded by Barbara Blitfield Pech.  All critics kept anonymous.

    Opinion 1:  "That was very cute."

    Opinion 2:  "That was pretty funny."

    Opinion 3:  "Extended?  Try interminable."

 

A link to a possibly funny moose hunting photo, specifically sent by Barbara Blitfield Pech to Allen Moss in Maine because of its subject matter.  But it's worthy of being shared:  talkbass . com/forum / f34 / moose-hunting-pic-820682/  (again, delete the spaces)

 

Finally, from Facebook, two South Valley Stream history questions from Amy Kassak Bentley.  They've been partly answered, but anyone's welcome to add new information.

    Here's my almost-lost memory that needs some reviving:  does anyone remember a roadside bar on Mill Road?  The building, in my mind, was barn-red.  I am thinking log cabin, but that might be an extreme fantasy.  This was about 1960-or-so, not much later, I don't think.  It was a stand-alone building, not part of another business, and I think it looked rustic and out of place.  It was on the west side of Mill Road, the same side that Harbor Road School is on, and it was between the school and Rosedale Road -- now called Brookfield Road until you get to Hungry Harbor Road.  Anyway, the bar was set back a little off the road, and there was off-road parking in the front of the building.  They tore it down, and maybe the lot remained empty for a while, then I think they put up a house in a newer style than the ones that were already there.
    From Audrey Lieberman:  Wow, I remember the building clearly now.  I never would have remembered it on my own.  I always really liked it, and I think it was called the Mill Road Inn.

    From Lorin David:  Three homes now stand where it use to be.
    From Amy Kassak Bentley:  Three homes.  Now, I know where it was.
    From Frank Curry:  Me and Donnie D. abandoned my uncle's car behind that place.  We pushed it about a half mile to get there. 

    From Don Denny:  I remember the Mill Road Inn very well.  There was a wooded area behind it that we used to cut through to get to South or Harbor Road School.  When I was about 12 or 13, some buddies and I decided to start a campfire in those woods with some old discarded Christmas trees.  You can guess what happened next.  We were running down Mill Road when the fire engines went racing by.  I hope the statute of limitations has run out on that one.
    From Amy Kassak Bentley:  That's quite a story about the Christmas trees!  And I remember the woods behind to restaurant, as well.  Does anyone have any idea when the Mill Road Inn opened?  Do you think there's a photo out there of it?  And do you think there was any relationship between the inn and the nearby railroad spur?  Did train workers stop in for a beer?  The freight train carried coal to the waterworks. There was a furnace below ground in the building that needed constant stoking.

    From Don Denny:  I remember the freight train, but I think it may have come from the opposite direction rather than from the Mill Road Inn.  

And Amy's related question about that railroad spur:  Does anyone recall the railroad spur on Mill Road?  I think it was on the corner of Rosedale Road and Mill Road, and I think it went south on Mill, crossed over Peninsula Boulevard, and ended somewhere near the Hewlett train station.  I know there was an earlier spur, as well.  That one was also near Rosedale Road and Mill Rd, but it crossed Mill and went to the Gibson Station.  I believe it ended, or started, somewhere behind Goldie's restaurant, though not by the actual train depot.  The spur was situated between South Drive and Pershing Avenue in Gibson.  This is esoteric, I know, but I just thought I'd ask.
    From Barbara Pech:  I spent my earliest years in Gibson on Garden Street, crossing both Pershing and South Drive.  Was this in the road or between or behind the houses?  The end of Garden Street was flat as far as I recall.  I remember this from walking, skating, and bike riding to the brook.  Also, maybe Ann Massa Garafolo can help.  Her house is on Pershing.

    From Don Denny:  I lived on Watts Place, between Wingate and Mill, from 1949 to '70.  On the other side of Mill Road, there was a spur that was used for freight.  It was all woods back in there when I was a kid and a great place to play.  There was a water works station in there as well, which the freight train went to.  

    From Amy Kassak Bentley:  Barbara, I think the spur was there before the houses went up on Pershing and South, but I could be mistaken.  My sister also remembers the spur crossing Mill.  And Don, do you know when they stopped using that spur for freight?

    From Don Denny:  They might have stopped using the spur when the houses were first starting to be built. There was a creek back in those woods with a small swimming hole that had a rope hung from a tree to swing out and jump in.  We didn't use it much after my friend cut his foot badly on some glass bottles someone had thrown in.  It was kind of spooky back in there.

    From Barbara Pech:  I spent countless hours, weeks, years, in the woods walking around near the water works with Ed Albrecht, and an equal, if not greater, amount of time digging up clay in the creek.  Ed is my go-to guy for information.  I'll make sure he's in on this for any new answers.
    From Edward Albrecht:  Barb, I have no idea what you're talking about.  As many times as I went to Harry's & Larry's and Goldie's in Gibson -- and this had to be a thousand times -- I never knew about a spur.  What is that, a track extension?  Oor other routes trains took?  I don't ever remember seeing anything on Mill or Pershing, so there's no help here.
    From John Higgins:  Ed, the track ran in back of Mill Road, down to Hewlett.  I don't think there was a spur in Gibson.  We walked the spur/rails often, with our bikes, too.  And there was a mechanical railroad hand switch you could play with, down past the Mill Road Inn.  It used to change tracks and was neat.

    From Edward Albrecht:  John, I must be losing it.  I walked to school thousands of times next to the brook and up Mill Road to Harbor and then South.  I played in the woods next to Mill Road, and never do I remember tracks there.  Dennis Acker lived adjacent to Mill Road.  There was a restaurant/bar across from him.  As hard as I try, I don't remember any kind of tracks.

    From John Higgins:  The track was actually down by Hungry Harbor Road, and it went through the woods next to the water works.  It ended before Peninsula Boulevard.  You must have run into it.

    From Edward Albrecht:  OK, that's nowhere near Mill Road.  Now you say through the woods by the water works.  Still, I can't picture tracks back there.  Barbara Blitfield Pech and I used to play on a Tarzan swing in the woods, and I swam in the reservoir in the water works woods, but I still can't place tracks.  Is it possible they was so far back in the woods that we never got to them?  Barbara doesn't seem to remember them, either, and she can remember what she had for breakfast her first day in kindergarten.

    From John Higgins:  Ed, the tracks were a block-or-so from Mill Road, running parallel to it, and they ran past the water works and down to Hewlett
    From Barbara Pech:  The original post said the spur ran between Pershing and South Drive, crossing Mill Road.

    From Don Denny:  John Higgins has it right.  As I said, I lived right across Mill Road and remember the tracks well.

    From Amy Kassak Bentley:  OK, I just found a map, and there were actually two spurs.  Spur # 1, the older one, went from the corner or Mill and Rosedale, crossed Mill and ended up behind Goldie's and that group of stores.  The tracks were there before Pershing and South Drive were built, I believe, and there was an elevated trestle inside the waterworks that dumped the coal into the building.  Spur # 2 ran south on Mill, though not actually on Mill because the tracks were in the woods, and crossed Mill right at the entrance to the Peninsula Shopping Center.  It would have cut through the shopping center, but this was before the shopping center was built.  It crossed over Peninsula Boulevard, and then I think ended or began at the Hewlett tracks.  If you do an Internet search for old Long Island railroad maps, you can see what I'm talking about.  And maybe Spur # 1 was before everyone's time.

 

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

 

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

 

 

Rich