LOCH SHELDRAKE  — The 12th Dedication Ceremony of the Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project will be taking place in Loch Sheldrake on Thursday, July 17.

This is part of an ongoing Historic Marker Series that tells the tale of the historic Borscht Belt era of Sullivan County. This marker in particular will be honoring the historic Brown’s Hotel (later Grandview Palace), as well as other popular resorts that made Loch Sheldrake a happening place.

The ceremony will begin at 6 p.m. at the corner of Route 52 and Loch Sheldrake-Hurleyville Road. The ceremony will celebrate more than just a place - it marks an era when the Catskills were a cradle of Jewish-American culture, entertainment, and intrigue.

Hotels, especially Brown’s,  welcomed comedians such as Jerry Lewis, Joan Rivers and Sid Caesar while at the same time brushing shoulders with gangsters and championship boxers. The ceremony will also cover the evolving arts scene that later birthed the renowned Stagedoor Manor performing arts center.

Bruce Turiansky, the grandson of Brown’s founders Charles and Lillian, will be delivering remarks alongside photographers Marisa Scheinfeld and Isaac Jeffreys. Their work has documented the fading grandeur and lasting legacies of these Borscht Belt locales.

After the ceremony, the reflection doesn’t end as guests will head to the untouched Fan-Fare Nightclub of the former Hotel Evans (now Vacation Village) for a 7:30 p.m. screening of the critically acclaimed film A Walk on the Moon. Set in the Catskills during the transformative summer of 1969, the movie, starring Diane Lane, Liev Schreiber, and Viggo Mortensen, captures the spirit of the bungalow colony era against the backdrop of the moon landing and Woodstock. 

The film’s screenwriter, Pamela Gray, drew inspiration from her own childhood summers spent at colonies like Dr. Locker’s in Mountaindale and Silverstein’s in Swan Lake.

Food and drink will also be available to guests courtesy of King of Delancey, Vacation Village’s onsite restaurant. Also present will be representatives from Bethel Woods Center for the Arts who will be collecting oral histories from former guests and employees in order to preserve the voices of the Borscht Belt’s golden age.

Capacity is limited; tickets cost $10 and can be reserved at https://tinyurl.com/2nzy4yje.