I’m feeling nostalgic these days; couldn’t say why.  But my thoughts are turning to Callicoon and how it was in the days of my youth.

                  Let’s start our walk down Memory Lane at the corner where Gregory Street meets Upper Main Street.  As we make our way down Upper Main, the railroad tracks are on the right and the Harden Theater is on the left. It is now known as the Callicoon Theater and is the only active theater in Sullivan County, amazingly enough.  Back when I was a girl, it was the Harden, then the Arden when someone removed the H. For years Harold Miller manned the ticket booth. Harold was quiet, but he had a dry sense of humor. Since the theater was the scene of much of our social life, Harold didn’t miss much. He saw who we came in with and when we left.  Once we hit junior high, the movie theater was the place to go with your friends.  It was a great place to hold hands and practice kissing in the back row with your steady.  Of course, there was also the opportunity to go to the restroom and smoke a cigarette, blowing the smoke out of the open window.  Like I said, there was a lot going on. 

                  Next door was Davis’, one of the local watering holes and the scene of many a late-night meal with friends.  Thelma Davis’ roast beef sandwiches were the stuff that dreams are made of—the beef was so rare and so thin and stacked so high.  Seriously, I don’t think I have ever had a roast beef sandwich that was better than that, before or since.

                  Continuing down Upper Main, we come to Popolillo’s.  Brothers Frank and John ran the shop. Frank, always with cigar in hand, ran the retail side of the store. He sold men’s clothing on the right as you climbed the stairs into the shop, and shoes on the left.  In the back was John the cobbler, mending the shoes of Callicoon.  Mom took us there to get our shoes for many years. 

                  Next to Popolillo’s was the Autumn Inn, owned by Don and Jean Molusky. I worked summers there when I was home from college and have many fond memories of that experience.  Don always reminded me of Jimmy Cagney—he had a personality and heart as big as all outdoors.  He was at the bar, greeting everyone and never at a loss for words.  He loved the singer Eddy Arnold and Roger Miller and played their songs on the sound system nonstop. 

I think I still know the words to “Make the World Go Away.”

 I worked as a waitress alongside Josephine McDonald, and Jean ran the kitchen.  Jean was a whirling dervish, never stopping as she prepared and plated the meals each day and night. Jo and I made the relish dishes, put together the salads and appetizers, served and bussed our tables, and kept moving.  The Autumn Inn was a very busy place.

Among Don and Jean’s famous guests were former President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn, who came to the area to go fly fishing and had lunch beforehand at the Autumn Inn.

Callicoon was—and remains—a happening place.