The Concord Resort Hotel at Kiamesha Lake, NY

The Driveway at The Concord Resort Hotel

Yesterday I told you about some old photographs from 1942 that I was selling in my eBay store. I know most people would be saying, "I don't have any old photos like that to sell. Where would I get any of those?" Would you be surprised to know that I am also selling old photos I took of various vacations I went on, back in the seventies and eighties? I see some sellers that sell photos they take now, when they go on a trip and sell it many times over in digital formats only. Gives them an unlimited supply. I am not talking about those, but that is an option too. This is what I have been doing.

The Concord Resort Hotel at Kiamesha Lake, NY

I have a big supply of pictures I took in the seventies and early eighties of The Concord Resort Hotel at Kiamesha Lake in the Catskills in New York state. Every year, my son and I spent about four weeks there and his dad would come up on the week-ends. It is about an hour and half from us, half way to New York City. Staying there was just like the movie, Dirty Dancing. The Concord was gorgeous and filled with people from the forth of July to Labor Day. Name acts performed on their stage. Many of the comedians such as Joan Rivers, Allan King, Rodney Dangerfield, and many more, got their start there.

Our suite had 2 bathrooms!

The suites that we stayed in were huge. Two bathrooms, which I must admit, back then, I needed. Every evening you dressed for dinner. The dining room was bigger than a football field. The waiters bringing you trays of food all through your meal. You didn't just order. After you placed your order, the waiter would bring food out, putting it in front of you, saying, "Just try this." The food was kosher and very good. The dessert trays would be piled high with such desserts, you just couldn't imagine how good they were.

The pool at the Concord

My son spent time in the pool form early morning till late afternoon. His skin was always all wrinkled up from being in the water so long. I laid out in the sun, going in the water to get cooled off. The cabana boys would come around and spray you with their little bottle of water if you looked hot. Waitresses brought you all types of drinks, pina coladas being one of my favorites. The pool, which was Olympic size, had a diving tank, as well as a kiddie pool area. There was an outside cabana where they prepared barbecued food and cold sandwiches if you did not want to go into the dining room at lunch.

Dining Room at The Concord

This area in the Catskills was known as the "Borscht Belt," since the clientele in the hotels were mostly Jewish people from New York City, and the surrounding boroughs, as well as Long Island. People escaping the heat of the city for a few days. Many families stayed all summer with the fathers showing up on Friday evenings, after they got out of work. It had two PGA golf courses, one being called The Monster. There was indoor and outdoor pools, tennis courts the lake, horseback riding, a children's activity camp (which kept them busy all day), a miniature golf course, the dinner theater, a couple of nightclubs, an all night restaurant for late night meals and snacks, stores to shop in. Many people would go to Monticello Raceway to the track in the evenings, which was just a few minutes away.

Kiamesha Lake

It is an era that is gone now. Gone, since The Concord and all the other hotels are gone too. It is a memory my son and I will always hold dear. I will be listing many of these photos and more in my eBay store in the next few weeks. There is a market for these, since these are the memories of all the people who stayed there. 

Copyright © 2015 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2015 Kathleen G. Lupole
Updated 2018

Pontchartrain Beach, A Story in Old Photographs

My eBay store, katlupe's Shop

As many of my readers know, over the years I have sold on and off on eBay. Presently, I have a store, katlupe's Shop and am selling a variety of items. Mostly used items and many are my own things that I need to downsize. As you get older, you start thinking about what will happen to all that stuff. Not having a daughter means my stuff isn't the type of a stuff a son would want to inherit from me. Speaking of inheritance, when my father passed away in 2012, my husband and I were the ones cleaning his home out. He had a lot of stuff! My niece stole most of his good possessions before he was even in his grave. As not only his daughter, but his executor, I got left getting rid of mostly what I would call clutter. Some of that was old photographs.......ah, my niece overlooked the value in those!

Photo I am selling in my store.

I am selling most of them on eBay and they are selling good. What this blog post is really about is the knowledge I gain by researching the various photographs. These photos are mostly from my parents' early years together. In 1942, my father was stationed in New Orleans. There wasn't a lot of photos from New Orleans, but there are a few. The ones I found and listed on eBay (and already sold one!) was taken at Pontchartrain Beach. My parents talked often about their time in New Orleans, but I never heard them mention Pontchartrain Beach. So I had to research to list my photos. This is what I found out.

According to Wikipedia:
  "Pontchartrain Beach was an amusement park located in New Orleans, Louisiana, on the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain. It was founded by Harry J. Batt Sr. and later managed and owned by his sons, Harry J. Batt Jr. and John A. Batt. It opened in 1928, across Bayou St. John from an existing amusement resort at Old Spanish Fort. Pontchartrain Beach's original location is the present-day lakefront neighborhood of Lake Terrace. In the early 1930s, subsequent to the construction of a seawall extending from West End to the Industrial Canal that created a new shoreline for Lake Pontchartrain, Pontchartrain Beach was moved to a new location at the lake end of Elysian Fields Avenue, a location formerly offshore of Milneburg.

Milneburg Lighthouse, dating from the 1850s, predated Pontchartrain Beach, was a landmark in the park for decades, and still stands within the boundaries of the University of New Orleans Research & Technology Park. The lighthouse once rested offshore and was reached by a wooden pier. Land reclamation in the 1920s stranded it several hundred feet inland from the current lake shore.

Pontchartrain Beach included a beach with a large art deco style bathhouse and swimming pools, amusement rides (including a wooden roller coaster called the Zephyr), and concession stands. The park featured live music concerts, including many local musicians and touring national acts such as Elvis Presley."

Photo of my Dad's friend

Pontchartrain Beach opened in 1939, a little time later, our country prepared for war. The area around the park became a tent city military base for the young enlisted men. Of which, my father was one. Camp Leroy Johnson and Camp Polk were within walking distance and the Navy used the parking lot at the beach as a drill station. Harry Batt Sr. gave the men in uniform half price tickets for rides and games as well as inexpensive entertainment for young soldiers needing some relaxation and entertainment who had war on their minds.

Cockeyed Circus

The photo, I sold? It was this one, which on the back my father had written, "Pontchartrain Beach, Cockeyed Circus" and it sold in a matter of hours after listing it. I wondered about that name, "Cockeyed Circus" and was that just my father joking around? Nope, that is what the name of it was. I researched it and found elsewhere on the internet: "The clown was part of a ride called the Cockeyed Circus, a fun house of distorting mirrors, slanted floors, and gusts of air that blew up ladies’ skirts." (quote from Denise Trowbrdge)

New Orleans 1942

If you have a lot of old photographs and don't know what to do with them or wonder what will happen to them after you are gone. Maybe selling them on eBay will help you to bring in some extra money, as well as, putting them in a collector's hands instead of ending up in a landfill somewhere. I am pleased to see mine go to a good home.

Update 2018: I have removed all my links in this blog post due to having closed my store.

Copyright © 2015 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2015 Kathleen G. Lupole
Updated 2018

Funds For Amy

Kevin & Amy Foster

I want to thank everyone for their prayers, good thoughts and comments about Amy, my niece, who was in an accident on April 3rd. If you don't know about it, please read my previous posts, Praying For My Niece, Amy, Please Join Me and Amy Foster In Surgery Today. I am sure you all know the horrific expenses an accident such as this incurs. Amy's husband, Kevin is a hardworking man and provides well for Amy and their six children. Amy is a stay at home mom, who is happiest being a homemaker and raising her children. She also home schools them. Kevin has his own business which he started when he was very young. When other teenagers were out having fun, he was working. He built up a successful lawn mowing and tree removal business, and snowplowing during the snowy months (which is many in NY state).

Amy & Angie Noyes

Today I am asking for any size donation you can give. Even if it is only ten dollars. If you are unable to give a donation yourself, can I ask you to please share this post with others, that may be able to join us in raising funds for Amy?  Many churches across the country and maybe some around the world, have taken up collections to assist Amy and Kevin, in paying these medical expenses. Kevin will need help in other expenses that will come in the future, such as transporting Amy back to their home in NY, making their home handicap accessible, a handicap vehicle, just to name a few.

Jill, Lisa, Amy & Angie Noyes with cousins, Hollie & Jeffrey Lupole

Please visit the gofundme page that has been set up for funds for Amy and donate what you can today! Please share my post with others and feel free to post this blog post on your blog, social media pages or websites. Thank you so much! Let's keep Amy focused on recuperating and not worrying about how Kevin is going to pay for this. Above all, please keep praying for Amy's recovery!

Copyright © 2015 Kathleen G. Lupole

Amy Foster In Surgery Today

The Foster Family

It struck me this morning, that I had requested prays for my niece, Amy Noyes Foster, that maybe I needed to tell everyone what a wonderful young woman she is. My sister-in-law, Pat and her husband, Tim, home schooled and raised four beautiful daughters. They taught them values that you don't see much anymore. I remember when I first met them. My husband, Larry, took me to his family reunion that year in 1993. When we arrived, his sister, Pat and her daughters rushed out to meet me and welcome me. I lost the feeling of nervousness I had about meeting his family all at once like that.

The Lupole Family

As teens, all four of my nieces, Lisa, Jill, Amy and Angie were at my in-laws' home often when we came there. They would come for music lessons that my mother-in-law taught them. Not just piano lessons, but a variety of different instruments. Music was a big part of their lives and still is, as they play music in their churches and teach their children the same. I was impressed spending my first holidays with my husband's family and instead of turning on a football game, everyone was playing music and singing. My mother-in-law's legacy to her family.

Twins, Amy & Angie

Lisa married first, with Jill not far behind. Soon they began their families. The twins, Amy and Angie were hopeful that soon they would be married and starting their families soon. They had to wait. They were patient, but they really wanted to have their own families. All of the girls just love children, just as their mother does. So they babysat other people's children and waited some more.

Jordan, Angie, Amy & Kevin

Needless to say, God was in charge and their time came. Amy married Kevin and soon Angie married Jordan. One of the most amazing things about this story, is that Amy and Kevin have four daughters, with their oldest and youngest being their sons. Angie and Jordan have just the opposite, four sons with their oldest and youngest being their daughters! Wonder if that has anything to do with being identical twins?

Tim & Pat Noyes' Family 

Even though they all live in different places, most holidays they find the way to get together. This family is very special and caring. They reach out to others constantly. Tim and Pat are to be commended for the family they raised. All of their daughters are sweet, loving and caring young women who have carried that tradition on in their own families. Please keep the prayers coming for Amy, as she is undergoing the operation at this moment to fix her broken neck. Thank you for all the kind words and the prayers! We really appreciate each one.

Copyright © 2015 Kathleen G. Lupole

Praying For My Niece Amy, Please Join Me

Today my request for all my readers is to lift my precious niece, Amy Foster, up for healing prayers. Tomorrow she will be undergoing an operation for doctors to try to make repairs on her neck. She was in terrible accident when her family was traveling from NY to WV to spend the Easter week-end with her parents and other family. Her husband, Kevin was driving and their six children were all fastened securely in their car seats. The car seats saved their lives. Unfortunately though, Amy broke her neck. The doctors at the trauma unit said it was the worst break they had ever seen!

Angie & Amy are the twins, Jill and Lisa and each of their youngest children

Thank you for all your prayers and good wishes on Facebook and Homesteading Families forum. I really appreciate it. I just have to believe God will get Amy and Kevin through this ordeal. She means so much to our family. Her and Angie were so quiet and faithful waiting for the right man to begin their families. God made them wait, because he had the BEST in mind for them. I saw them both blossom into confident wives and mothers. I noticed it immediately. Especially the first time I saw Amy and Kevin after they had Gunnar. Amy had grown as a person, a woman, a wife and mother. I believe somehow God will see her through this. Do not give up on her! Keep praying! I have read some promising testimonies and hope we will have a story to tell when this is over. 

Copyright © 2015 Kathleen G. Lupole

Planning Our Garden Now

Summer 2014

Spring has started here in New York with a fury of cold weather and snow. That is not unheard of. Though most people forget that. I take this time to get some chores and projects finished in my house since soon I will be into gardening season. I am making a lot of plans for our new garden. We are adding some fruit sources to our homestead this year. I regret doing it so late, but better late than never, as the saying goes.

Some of our raised beds

This morning I took the time to make a list of the herbs and flowers I need to add to our garden. I have spent so much time cultivating the vegetables that I don't have any area devoted strictly to the medicinal and culinary plants we need. One stone raised bed has two trees in it and I am hoping my husband sees it in his heart (with all the other projects he is waiting for the weather to warm up so he can tackle)  to take those trees down. One tree has my clothesline attached to it. He wants to change that set up so that is no problem.

The Snake Bed

That raised bed we refer to as the snake bed, not because it has snakes (though it does), but because of the shape. Long and curling. I think it would be a good spot for the medicinal and culinary plants. And one section for the asparagus bed. This year I plan on increasing our greens and salad vegetables. I don't even know if I will bother with squashes as I have a huge amount canned. If I do, I will plant only one or two plants of winter and summer varieties. Probably zucchini and one winter type.

Nutmeg's Garden

I have a special bed (called Nutmeg's Garden) for lemon balm because it takes over the whole bed. Last year it got plowed under by mistake and I didn't have much of a crop. That was okay though, as the years before it was too much for me to harvest or handle. I am thinking that if I have it growing that much again, I will offer it for sale. It is a good medicinal plant. The leaves can used fresh or dried for fevers, period cramps, headaches, colds, insomnia and other uses to many to mention here. I wrote about it in a past post, Lemon Balm: Food or Medicine. What special plans are you making for your 2015 garden? Don't forget the herbs!

Copyright © 2015 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2015 Kathleen G. Lupole