A Summer Job, A Summer Plan

 

“Get married!! Get married!!, that was the constant refrain coming from my mother. At first the complaint was leveled at my sister, five years my senior and almost thirty years old. Still not married, she’d once been married for two weeks; marriage annulled (White dress on the closet door. That’s another story). Finally, the summer of 1955, she was getting married. So now at the age of twenty-four, I was the recipient of the demand, “Get married!! Get married!!” Enough to give this Jewish potential Old Maid Jewish guilt.

My summer plan was directing my action toward pleasing my mother. Let me introduce you to Green Mansions. Green Mansions was a book and a movie, but it was also a beautiful summer resort in the Adirondack mountains. It was a very popular way for young Jewish singles to meet a mate. That’s where I headed during the summer of 1955.  The resort was a Garden of Eden with great food, lake, tennis courts and summer theater. Their entertainers were not yet famous. The resort was a summer theater laboratory to hone their talent. The theater staff my summer included Bernie West (later to become the writer for All in the Family, The Jeffersons). Sheldon Harnick (future lyricist of Fiddler on the Roof). Charles Strouse (Composer and lyricist Annie, Bye Bye Birdie, etc. etc.).   Carol Burnett (no description necessary). These are some names I recall, but in prior summers, there was Zero Mostel, Clifford Odets and a host of other luminaries. The entertainment included opera, dance, musicals and serious plays. During the McCarthy era, jobs were given to blacklisted people. 

I was already a schoolteacher, with a fine summer salary when I got a job at Green Mansions as the waitress for the owners of the resort (no tips, small salary. My thinking was, if I went as a guest, I would be there for one week and maybe meet one handsome professional guy for my winter dating; if I went as a waitress, I would be there eight weeks and perhaps meet eight guys. There was a method to my madness. My mother’s voice echoing in this exquisite mountain resort.

So Green Mansions was my summer job and a handsome, professional guest was my lucky catch. He drove me to my sister’s wedding when his week was over at the resort. The rest is history; this winter, we will be celebrating 67 years of marital bliss.

Ethyl Haber