Letters from Our Readers:

In a message dated March 28, 2010, Helen (Gavender) Bachman writes to Rockaway Memories

 
 

Dear Marty,

I found this to be of great interest to me. I am a graduate of Far Rockaway High School, class of June, 1943. My grandparents started in the hotel business in Arverne in 1914. My mother was the Queen of Arverne in the summer of 1921. This was a popularity contest between the daughters of the hotel owners in the Rockaways at that time. I think the name of the hotel was the Colonial Inn. There was a fire there in 1922. Isaac Weisman was the President of the Arverne Hotel Association. This was in the newspapers and in the "Pathe News" in the movie theaters. I never got to the library in Manhattan, which supposedly had this film. My grandfather, Isaac Weisman, ran the Edgemere Club Hotel on Beach 34th St. It was a 200 room hotel. That was 80 years ago. The American Legion had a big celebration there. My grandparents continued in the business in Long Beach at the Lincoln Hotel. He owned 12 bungalows at Beach 24th St. in Wavecrest. which were rented for the summer, only. The people from the Bronx & Brooklyn loved to catch the breezes from the ocean. Eventually, the bungalows were bought by the city to build Seagirt Blvd. which went all the way to the bridge to Lido Beach.

Several years ago, I tried gathering names and locations of my graduating class for a 60 year reunion in 2003 They were ready to come from as far away as California. However, this never came to pass except for some of the gals that lived in this area of Florida. They did not want the guys to be with us.

How would I find these other stories on the internet?

" FAR ROCKAWAY YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE"

Sincerely,
Helen (Gavender) Bachman