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Douglas Mashkow's Places I Miss
Douglas Mashkow's "Places I Miss"
This page is dedicated to my childhood memories of places that are no longer in existence.  If you have any links to add, or photos of the places mentioned below, please Email me.  I would love to see more pictures, or hear other people's recollections of these places.  I will try to scan some more of my pictures soon.  
SUGAR MAPLES RESORT                              
Every summer, we would spend a week at this resort in the Catskills.  Way off the beaten path, it was
like a trip back in time to visit this quaint little town & spend time relaxing and playing games in the
picturesque valley.  Highlight of the week for teenagers was always the all-day hike up to the top of
Black Dome mountain.  Always an interesting and eventful day.  How the camp counselors did it once
a week I still can't figure out.  There was also a guests-vs-staff softball game and doubles tennis
tournament that were well attended.

Hoping someone bought the place & renamed it since I was last there in the early 80s, I emailed
Maplecrest's "local historian."  She told me the place was indeed sold, as the old owners couldn't
afford property taxes for the sprawling property.  It was purchased by a NYC developer, but no renovations were ever done, and today several buildings had to be demolished after suffering roof cave-ins, and the pool had to be filled in due to health concerns. Several of the remaining buildings were donated by the developer to the Catskill Mountain Foundation, which plans to run an arts program at the site.  Nice to see something positive being done there, but it's a shame this "home away from home" for many wasn't able to stay open.  
Me at Sugar Maples Summer 1976 (left). At right is a New York Times picture of the now vacant Sugar Maples, July 2002
DANBURY FAIR
Danbury, CT
 My birthday is in early October, and every year my parents would take me to the Danbury Fair on the day
we got off from school for Yom Kippur.  Still don't know exactly what Yom Kippur stands for in the Jewish
faith, but every time it comes up, I have fond memories of the fair, which closed in 1981.  As with most of
the places on this list, the Danbury Fair was a victim of economics, as the prime real estate it sat on was an
 attractive site for developers, and it is now the site of the "Danbury Fair MALL."  Sure wish they would
have called it something different entirely!

The fair was always the same thing.  Same attractions, same rides, same food (never was a big apple pie
fan, but the apple pie a la mode had to be tasted!), and the same stunt show in the car racing stadium.  To
 this day I can still recite the answers of "Happy," the clown of the stunt show as the PA announcer asked
him if he was wearing a seersucker suit ("yeah, I'm the sucker who bought it at Sears") and  (after a close
call with a car) if that is blood coming out of his nose ("no, it's SNOT"), a joke my 5 year old Daughter now
finds terrifically amusing!
Happy the Clown (between cars) narrowly avoids nose injury at Danbury Fair's Racearena stunt show 1979
FREEPORT SPEEDWAY                            
Freeport, NY      
 One of my favorite summer outings with my Dad always was going to Freeport Speedway on a weekend
night. The small 1/4 mile oval  was a great place to witness car racing up close, and if you got a seat on
the last row of the bleachers, you could also see the action in the pits and the staging area.  Fans were
also invited to visit the pits after the races, to meet your favorite drivers, marvel at the twisted remains of
the demolition derby cars, and witness the occasional tire-iron throwing brawls between rival drivers!  

The link above is to a great car racing site that's worth browsing if you remember the drivers of Freeport,
Islip & Riverhead of the 70s.  It points to my favorite driver, modified legend "Chargin" Charlie Jarzombek,
who died in 1983 in a wreck in Martinsville.  Charlie had a modified Vega that was white with Evel
Knievel's (another childhood fave) big red white & blue "#1" on the sides.  What drew me to Charlie was
first the car, but then the seemingly reckless abandon (actually great skill) that he would exhibit in passing
 other drivers, often ending in a checkered flag.

What was great about Freeport was the variety of races every night.  The modifieds were the "headliner,"
but Late Models, Midgets, Bombers, and the backwards-forwards demolition derby (in which the PA
announcer would scream "BIONG-WHOO!" about 40 times) were often on the bill.  There were also
amateur races, during which I remember a guy driving his brand new Corvette into the wall.  Still would
love to hear what was said during THAT call to the insurance claims department!

Freeport Speedway closed in the 80s and was demolished to build a Caldor department store, which now
stands unoccupied after Caldor's bankruptcy.
Charlie Jarzombek at Freeport Speedway
GRUMMAN FAMILY PICNIC  
Calverton, NY
My Dad was a Grumman Aerospace employee for 48 years. Once employing 30,000 on Long Island,
Grumman is now down to a small Long Island-based workforce since being acquired by Northrup. As a kid,
one of the highlights of Summer was the huge Grumman Family picnic in Calverton.  About 15,000 would
attend the Saturday event.  Free food was doled out from booths all around the park area, leading to many
 eating and (soda) drinking contests among my friends.  Free rides included two model trains and the
caterpillar.  Entertainment included a all day vaudeville type show, and kids boxing matches, which
thankfully my Dad never signed me up for!

My uncle passed away 5 years ago, and on our way to Calverton Cemetery, I looked left to see the
overgrown campground the picnic used to take place in.  Plans for everything from a (Donald Trump
backed) NASCAR race track to a Long Island movie studio have been proposed for the site, but nothing's  
been approved yet.  Thankfully, the Cradle of Aviation in Uniondale is preserving some of Grumman
history for the future.
My Dad enjoys the Grumman Family Picnic 1979
ROCKAWAYS' PLAYLAND                              
Rockaway, NY
Rockaways' Playland Site                                                      
Last September 7th, I flew out of JFK on way to Chicago. As we made the turn over the Rockaways, I
looked down and traced the bridges and roadways to the point where Rockaways' Playland used to stand. At the spot I saw two patches of dirt.  Of course the events of the next week would make these two patches of dirt pretty insignificant, but I can't help miss the place.

Lacking the history of Coney Island and the size of modern amusement parks, Rockaways' Playland  nonetheless had charm.  The centerpiece for me was the huge funhouse, which took like 20 minutes to get through and featured a huge wooden slide, and conveyor belt ride back down to street level.  The roller coaster was exciting, mostly for the fact you were afraid of the stability of the old thing!  Lines of
"old-school" arcade games made Rockaways' Playland a great place for a date, or for us 14-15 year old
Newsday carriers to blow off steam!

Closed in 1986, Rockaways' Playland is still the above-referenced two patches of dirt.
Rockaways' Playland Fun House and Roller Coaster
NUNLEY'S
Baldwin, NY
Closed about 10 years ago to make room for a PEP BOYS, Nunley's was a great place both for the
young (kiddie rides), or for teenage dates (mini-golf).  Nunley's also featured dozens of ancient-to
modern video/pinball games, an arcade I have never seen an equal to.  I don't know if it was
designed to be a museum of games, or the owners just never threw anything out, but playing games
from the 50s in the 80s was a a fun bit of time travel.

In one of the few acts of preserving quality of life on Long Island, Nassau County has bought the
hand-carved carousel from Nunley's, and it's being restored to be part of the "museum row" in
Uniondale between the Children's Museum & the Cradle of Aviation.
Nunley's Carousel
Some Pictures "Borrowed" Without Permission - Let me know if you want them taken down!

 

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