Popp’s - Parting

This last Blog entry regarding my memories of Popp’s and Woodhaven is the most difficult for me to write. I think it is because I am dreading having to say a final goodbye to a part of my life that was magical and relatively carefree. ( I guess teenage heartaches and unrequited love can seem monumental at the time you are going through it )but in general they were wonderful years. Truthfully I said “Goodbye” to Woodhaven a very long time ago but when it was actually happening it was so subtle and not too noticeable. All of a sudden I turned around and it was over.  Now as I recall events, places and most importantly people, I have been looking very deliberately at these things and for that reason it is almost like saying goodbye for the very first time.  I am feeling sad and nostalgic and hesitant to leave. 

 

Every holiday season, my family would watch a favorite, old classic movie entitled,  “ The March of the Wooden Soldiers”.  It featured the comedy team of Laurel and Hardy, but I always found it a bit sad.  There is one song in the movie that really defined the sadness which I am trying to explain.  The name of the song is “Toyland” and the line that always got to me is this:  “Once you pass its borders You can never return again”. 

In thinking back, this is what I remember about my departure from my Popp’s Ice Cream Parlor Days.  In my senior year at Our Lady of Wisdom Academy, my community service activity for the Legion of Mary was going to St. John’s Hospital on Queens Blvd. once a week to distribute dinner trays to the patients.  After we were attacked on our way down the subway steps after feeding the babies at St. Mary’s Hospital in the bowels of Brooklyn, it was decided that it would be safer to head to a hospital in Queens.  I missed feeding the babies but that wasn’t an option at St. John’s Hospital, so handing out dinner trays was all that we were allowed to do.  On one such occasion, a young male patient in bed # 1 of a 4-bedded room, egged on by the three older men in the room, flirted quite dramatically with me.  When I came back to the room later to retrieve the trays after dinner, Jerry, (the Bed  # 1 Patient) was able to convince me that it made sense to give him my phone number.  Shortly after he was discharged from the hospital, Jerry called me for a date and we went bowling together with another couple.  We had a lovely time and Jerry was a complete gentleman. I did not know, however, until after the date that Jerry was a full 5 years older than me!  I was not yet 17 years old and I was in a very real sense, “in way over my head”.   My rigid Catholic School training concerning sexuality came in handy in this relationship.  To put it mildly, Jerry was a man of the world, and had been around the block a few times.  He had a classy car, owned a Harley Davidson Motorcycle, belonged to a storefront men’s club in Williamsburg. Having dropped out of High School, he worked as an auto mechanic and had a few dollars in his pockets.   Jerry began to pick me up in his car after my weekly stints at St. John’s Hospital, and he would treat me to dinner at the diner before taking me home.   On one of these occasions, Elvis came on over the car radio and began to sing, “I can’t help falling in love with you.”  Jerry looked at me in his rear view mirror and sent me the loud and clear message that these words were meant for me.   

My trips to Popp’s became less frequent, as Jerry monopolized most of my time. 

However, Jerry did appear in Woodhaven on a few occasions and some of you may have even gotten to ride on the back of his motorcycle. 

On one other occasion, Jerry took me to a Drive-In Movie. I believe this date was motivated by the fact that Tom Marski wanted to double date with us so he could get in the back seat with Muriel.  Tom had “the hots” for Muriel and what better place to take her than to a drive in movie. I don’t remember much about Muriel other than she seemed like a sexy looking siren to me.  I also remember Tom and possibly others saying that she had “ bedroom eyes “.   When Jerry “ put the moves on me” in the hospital he said I had a “shiny nose”!  What a far cry from “bedroom eyes”.   I don’t think anyone in my whole life said I had “bedroom eyes”.  The next time Bob has a martini or two I’ll have to ask him to tell me that. LOL 

So in spite of the fact that I was taught that going to a drive in movie with a date was a near occasion of sin and should be avoided at all costs, I consented to this date.  I think Tom had a good time but I remember it as a tense and difficult experience.  By the way, did I ever mention the fact that I received the medal for Religion when I graduated St. Michael’s Elementary School?  I took everything I learned in religion to heart and it has taken me a lifetime to overcome the trauma. 

In September 1962, I started St. Vincent’s Hospital School of Nursing in the heart of Greenwich Village, NY, NY and the first couple of nights as I tried to fall asleep in the nurses’ residence at 158 West 12th Street, I actually cried.  I knew I had crossed a certain border and could never return again. 

Toyland, toy land

Li-ittle girl and boy land

While you dwell within it

You are ever happy there

Childhood's joy land

Mi-istic merry toy land

Once you pass its borders

You can ne'er return again

When you've grown up my dears

And are as old as I

You'll laugh and ponder on the years

That roll so swiftly by my dears

That roll so swi-iftly by-why

Childhood's joy land

Mi-istic merry toy land

Once you pass its borders

You can ne'er return again

Popp's - Woodhaven Photos

Popp's - the Pandemics and Honorable Mentions

First of all, I want to say thank you for allowing me to share my memories of Woodhaven with you.  It was a fun experience and helped me to have something pleasant to do during this time of the Coronavirus shut down.  I realize that I can’t possibly remember all the things about Popp’s and Woodhaven that, you, the people who actually lived in the neighborhood, remember.  Nonetheless, for the sake of closure and completeness, I would like to briefly mention some of the people and places, however foggy, which were a part of the Woodhaven experience for me.  If you are so inclined, I’d love to hear what you remember from those faraway days of our youth. 

• I remember that there was a “rival” Ice Cream Parlor on the other side of Jamaica Avenue and up a few blocks towards Woodhaven Blvd.  And never the two shall meet! 
• I can still see the inside of that amazing place known as Lewis of Woodhaven. There was all kinds of “stuff”, up and down the crowded aisles, all over the place.  You could find almost anything in that store and for me it was always an adventure, whether you really needed something or just wanted to browse.
• Then there was Jason’s Toy store where my cousin, Tom, worked as a teenager. It was also through that store that he met a wonderful young woman by the name of Maureen Scanlon.  One of Tom’s coworkers was a teacher from Long Island who was moonlighting at Jason’s.  It just so happened that one of his students from Hicksville was a perfect match for Tom, a blind date was arranged, and the rest, as they say, is history. Maureen Scanlon Marski was one of the nicest people that ever walked this earth.  Everyone who knew her loved her.   
• Jackie Sweeney worked at Candy Store on Jamaica Avenue and Forest Parkway. It was a classy candy store but it wasn’t like Ralph Popp’s Place, where everybody knew your name. 
• Weekends in the nicer weather meant football at the edge of Forest Park. It was an informal thing, no fancy uniforms or anything like that but the guys liked to strut their stuff for the young ladies who came to watch.  
• I remember LuAnn (I believe she was with Jackie Sweeney for awhile?)
• I remember a girl named Kathy and I think she was connected with my “real Woodhaven boyfriend” for a bit. 
• I remember a very, very tall thin guy and I always remember feeling a bit sorry for him. Not because there was anything wrong with him, but simply because it is a tough thing for a teenager to be so off the average bell curve in physical appearance. 
• I remember a diner on one of the corners. I believe it might have been called the Empire Diner, but I’m not certain. I didn’t go there much until my Woodhaven experience was nearing its end (which I will speak about in my next and last Popp’s Posting). I grew up in a family where dinner out in a restaurant was a rarity.  My father didn’t believe in such extravaganza, so for me, lunch or dinner out, even if it was only in a simple diner, was a very big deal. 
• When I was looking for old photos of Woodhaven on the web, I came across a place I was not familiar with, a really historic bar called Neir’s.  Did you know there were some interesting events that took place in both Neir’s and the Shamrock Bar?  So interesting in fact, that they actually offer tours? Look it up, it is intriguing. 
• Speaking of interesting stories, did you ever hear how the friendship between Kenny McKenna and Jack Cassidy ended?   Sadly, it is not a story for Prime Time.  That’s all I’ll say. 
• Whatever happened to Mike Roach and a guy named Mickey? 
• I remember a little candy /Mom and Pop Grocery Store on the corner not too far from where Bob Smith lived.
• Of course, I remember St. Thomas the Apostle Church and especially the Christmas Eve Midnight Mass.
• The last thing I’ll mention tonight was a fruit and vegetable store that opened onto the sidewalk along Jamaica Ave or did I dream that up? Possibly Jimmy McKenna worked there?

 

Popp’s and Other Woodhaven Adventures

There was a cast of characters connected to Popp’s and to Woodhaven in general. Some I didn’t know very well but they were still a part of the picture I have of these teenage years and the crowd that hung together in this neighborhood. A lot of the houses were connected to each other or at least they were very close together and many were two families making for an abundance of teenagers in close proximity.  At a time when we didn’t yet have cars or licenses, it was an ideal atmosphere for congregating.  Even if you didn’t actually live in Woodhaven, like my brothers or me, it was still easily accessible by bus or the elevated train.   I remember with special fondness the parties in Tom Marski’s finished basement.   It was a relatively private, pleasant place to set up a record player, and dance. Sometimes, the lights would be turned down low until we heard  my Uncle Joe Marski’s footsteps approaching the door to the basement, and someone would yell out, “ Get the lights, here comes the General!” 

Does anyone remember a game called, “Seven Minutes in Heaven” ? You’d somehow get chosen to go into the unfinished, back room of the basement with someone of the opposite sex. It was dark in there and you were supposed to close the door and do something exciting and sexual while you were in there.  Did anyone ever do anything worth mentioning, while you were in “heaven” for seven minutes?  I believe I went in there once with someone ( I have no idea who ) and I vaguely remember us moving around to make some noise and humming and giggling so that those on the other side of the door would get the idea that we were having a wild time together.  

In retrospect my Aunt Maureen and Uncle Joe, where quite generous allowing us to party in their basement on a rather regular basis.  I especially remember the bathroom in that house as us girls would spend a great deal of the evening running up and down the stairs to congregate in the bathroom reapplying our makeup and sharing our observations about what was going on at the party downstairs.  If you were feeling a little anxious or shy, that bathroom became a safe haven where you could retreat to take a deep breath, and recompose yourself.   I don’t know about you, but at that stage in my life my self confidence often needed bolstering.  

I remember the frown on my Uncle Joe’s face when I’d arrive at his house in my latest miniskirt, enter through the side door and walk through the kitchen on my way to the basement.  He’d mutter something loud enough so I would hear him -  “look at that skirt, look at all that makeup on your eyes”, “you look like a communist!”  I wasn’t sure what those things had to do with communism, and I was so excited to be at the party, that I remember I found his comments humorous rather than hurtful.   Thanks Aunt Maureen and Uncle Joe for opening up your home to a bunch of us teenagers! 

Popp’s, Woodhaven, Jimmy McKenna, John Folliard ( my Woodhaven Boyfriend) Part 2

I’m not sure how John and I traveled to the wedding but I remember being in St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Woodhaven for the wedding ceremony. It may have even been a full nuptial Mass, but I wouldn’t swear to it. It was my understanding that the bride was a big financial contributor to the church and was a friend of the priest performing the nuptials.  Of course the thing about this wedding that we all probably remember quite clearly is the fact that the bride was about 30 years older than the groom, who, by the way, was none other than Kenny McKenna! 

I forget where the reception was held; it  might have been a place in Forest Hills. I remember it as being a rather upscale event because- surprise, surprise - the bride apparently had a few bucks.  

I think that John was actually one of the ushers, but he’ll have to confirm this for you.  

I also believe that John was able to sit with me at a round table rather than at a Dias with the bridal party.  The main thing I remember about the reception is the fact that at some point during the event, Kenna McKenna came to our table and leaned over a sexy-looking Bombshell and said, “ Don’t worry, Baby, I’m not dead yet!”  John and I looked at each other with an “Oh My God “ expression on our faces. 

I remember we traveled back home by several buses.  I had a very nice time and as always, John was a perfect gentleman. 

Here a few things I remember about my teenage relationship with John Folliard: 

• walking down a street in Woodhaven on a cold, crisp Christmas Eve to attend the Midnight Mass at St. Thomas the Apostle Church.   
• Special gifts - a round, 14 karat gold miraculous medal on a chain, and my first “ classy” perfume, Chanel # 5. 
• Going to see the Christmas Show and the Rockettes at the Radio City Music Hall with John and some of the Woodhaven crowd. 
• I remember being in someone’s second floor apartment and dancing with John to an entire album of slow, romantic Johnny Mathis songs.  

I am not sure when we stopped dating or why.  I always marveled at couples like Sharon and Bob, Carol and Wally and Janet and John who seemed to commit to each other at such an early age.  They seemed to know what they wanted at such an early age.  It just wasn’t me.  I wasn’t ready. For one thing, I was brainwashed regarding the sinfulness of human sexuality during my years in Catholic School.  I’ve often thought it is a wonder I ever got married!  Even my own father finally told me “ Let the rope out slowly”.  I guess he was scared he’d be stuck having his daughter at home forever.  

Maybe it is a “getting near the end of my life type of thing” but for some reason it feels important for me to say, thanks John Folliard, for being real, and oh so kind to me. 

Popp’s, Woodhaven, Jimmy McKenna, John Folliard (my real Woodhaven Boyfriend)and More

Part 1:

I was feeling disappointed as I dropped my coins into the fare box and walked towards the rear of the bus.   Back in those days, it was not uncommon for a guy to send out a reconnaissance mission to see if a girl was interested in “going out” with him.  I had heard that John was thinking of asking me to go with him to the “wedding of the century”.  I thought he must have changed his mind, because he walked with me to the bus stop but never said a word about the wedding. As I was walking towards a seat at the back of the bus, John signaled from the sidewalk to open the window and when I did, he yelled up at me, “ Would you like to go with me to the wedding?”  As the bus pulled away from the curb, I answered, “yes”.  My cousin, Nancy, had a bit of a crush on John (she knew a good thing when she saw one) and she immediately expressed her disappointment that I accepted John’s invitation.   I didn’t know what to say to her other than a quick, “gee, I’m sorry”, but I certainly wasn’t going to turn down the invitation! 

Let me explain why I called this “the wedding of the century” although I guess you could say I am using a bit of hyperbole.    So here is my explanation: The McKenna Family  lived across the street from my cousin, Tom, and due to his proximity and the fact that he was the closest in age to me, I got to know  the youngest of the 3 McKenna boys, Jimmy,  quite well.  To put it mildly, Jimmy McKenna was a bit of a wild child. He was as interesting as they come.  I never forgot that he once told me that he hadn’t washed his hair for a year.  Could this possibly have been true or was he just trying to shock me??  When he danced to one of his favorite songs, Cara Mia, he would have me stand on the tops of his feet, so we could rock back and forth in an exuberant, lively manner.  It was amazingly fun!   Although our connection was always platonic (I’m not sure if he ever really had a girlfriend back in the Popp’s Ice Cream Parlor Days as that didn’t seem to be on his radar at the time), nonetheless, I always liked Jimmy McKenna. He was energetic, enthusiastic, friendly and not the least bit boring. And, although I described him as a wild child, he was probably the tamest of the three McKenna boys.    I still have a vivid snapshot in my brain of the first time I ever saw the middle McKenna boy, Jimmy’s older brother, Kenny.   He was standing and leaning against the front door entrance to the Shamrock Bar and he was looking like nothing I had ever seen before.  He was wearing cowboy boots and a cowboy hat tilted to one side of his head.  He could have been the picture under the word, “brazen” in the dictionary.  He had a devilish, shit-eating(excuse my unladylike adjective)grin across his face.  He was handsome, too, in an out of control, wacky, insane way . 

Once, for some reason, I sat at the same table with Kenny McKenna and Jack Cassidy in some little cafe-type place in Woodhaven, and I can’t explain why, but I remember actually feeling really scared - the energy radiating from the two of them was truly frightening.   I remember wanting to get out of this place and away from Kenny and Jack as quickly as I possibly could.  I’ve had several psychic experiences in my lifetime so perhaps it was a bit of a premonition.  To be continued...

By the way, I met up with Jimmy McKenna and his lovely wife at Bob and Sharon Smith's 25th Anniversary Party and just had to take a photo.  By the way, his hair looked just fine! LOL

Popp's - Rodney and JoAnn and Jealousy

I don’t remember exactly when my cousin Tom and his family moved into their two family house in Woodhaven (I believe it was 88th Rd? ). I do remember family dinners there and helping my Aunt Maureen set the table. First I would open up a very tiny table that sat against the wall and I was able to transform it into a rather large dining room table by twisting and turning it different ways, pulling down legs, and adding a bunch of leaves. I thought It was the coolest thing!

I am also diverging from my story a bit! This is a common trait of mine.

Eventually, as I reached puberty and boys became more interesting to me, Tom’s neighborhood was like a goldmine. Growing up on the service road of the Interboro Parkway, the teenage population was few and far between ( except for some older, wilder guys from the “bowels of Brooklyn “ who occasionally came up to visit Jamesy’s married sister who lived up the block from me ). Therefore, I found Woodhaven to be a wonderful place even though I always felt a bit like an outsider, an interloper of sorts.

I got to know certain Woodhavenites (my made-up term) better than others simply because of their physical or social proximity to Tom. The McSherry and Mc Kenna families lived across the street from the Marski Family and Bob Smith and Jack Sweeney were close personal friends of Tom (or at least that is what I thought).

Once again my memories are just the things I remember or thought or believed at the time and therefore you are perfectly free to disagree.

Rodney lived across the street from Tom and probably because of this proximity, he became my first “ love interest “ in Woodhaven. I was probably only 13 or 14 when I first “ fell” for Rodney. My attraction to him was magnetic and my crush on him was fierce although till this day I’m not sure why.  Maybe partly because he was a complete mystery to me. I didn’t consider him to be especially handsome, and at best, he basically ignored me. His affect was bland and I never really communicated with him about much of anything. Maybe an insult here or there passed between us. Nonetheless I was a bit obsessed. Which brings me to another Woodhavenite, JoAnn. I never really got to know JoAnn very well, precisely because my jealousy got in the way. The way I perceived it, JoAnn held Rodney’s heart ️ and I had a difficult time seeing her as anyone other than the person who had exactly what I wanted, i.e., Rodney McSherry! I have a vague memory of a downstairs anti-room to a teenage party at someone’s house. I remember coming upon a dramatic scene where Rodney and Joanne were screaming at each other. I believe there might have been an ankle bracelet involved and tears being shed. I remember being a bit embarrassed to have witnessed this and I don’t remember being the least bit gleeful that they were fighting or breaking up (or whatever negative thing was happening) since I knew that even if they split, I wasn’t next in line for my "beloved" Rodney. I remember thinking JoAnn was attractive, unapologetic, and in charge. I remember having the feeling that “as girlfriend material” I was not anywhere near her level.

Although I don’t remember the timeline, one day I received a phone call from Tom and I was told that Rodney wanted to take me to Coney Island. So I went to Coney Island’s Steeplechase with a group from Woodhaven and by the time we arrived at the entrance gate and were getting ready to pay, I ended up entering the Steeplechase Park with another friend of Tom’s named Joe Saparito (never understood or was told why there was a switch in who was suppose to be my "date"). Nevertheless, I rode the Parachute Jump with Rodney.  Having never ridden before, I remember being scared to death but Rodney sat stoically and didn’t even put his arm around my shoulders or try to comfort me in anyway.

Because of the switch of my date at the Steeplechase Entrance Gate that day, Joe Saparito’s entrance ticket was pulled for a raffle (instead of Rodney’s) and Joe won a brand new Schwinn bicycle. On the way home that day, I sat next to Joe on the subway train and Rodney sat elsewhere.

One other memory pertaining to Rodney occurred in Tom’s basement. He asked me to slow dance and I was thrilled. After the dance, he took me by the hand and led me to the couch against the wall. We sat down and he kissed me and I could smell the smoke on his breath but I didn’t mind it at all. I wanted to kiss him longer but I was so ingrained about "sins of the flesh" that I stopped after one or two kisses.

One time, when I was about 17 years old, I was completely taken by surprise when Rodney’s older brother, Bob, asked if he could drive me home from Woodhaven. I said yes and on the way home he asked me if I’d like to stop for a drink and again I said yes. He took me to a little romantic restaurant on a road alongside the Interboro Parkway and we sat at a table in the front corner. It was still daylight and the place was empty except for us. We both had a whiskey sour in those fancy tulip type glasses. I felt so grown up . We had a wonderful conversation and he brought me home and waited to make sure I got in the house safely.

Joann I am sorry I never got to know you on a deeper level. I was only seeing you through my Jealousy glasses.

Postscript:  After my teenage years I saw Rodney twice, both times at Popp's/Woodhaven Reunion Parties at the home of Tom and Maureen Marski in Lake Ronkonkoma, NY.  Rodney actually talked to me and he teased me and we laughed about the olden days.  We even danced a couple of times but if I remember correctly, my husband cut in.   Rest in Peace, Rodney McSherry!

Rodney W. McSherry (October 11, 1946 - May 19, 2015)
McSherry - Rodney William passed away on May 19, 2015 at the age of 68 years in Austin, Texas surrounded by family. Born in Woodhaven, Rod was a member of the Class of 1960 St. Thomas the Apostle. Proudly served in the United States Army 101st Airborne Division during the Viet Nam Conflict 1965-66. Graduate of Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, MO and Flight School in Oklahoma. Loving son of the late R. Donald and Marge. He joins in heaven his brother Bobby. Dear brother of Peggy and Dennis. He is also survived by two loving nieces and a nephew, and two great-nephews. N. F. Walker of Queens Funeral Home, 87-34 80TH St., Woodhaven, NY 11421.

More People I Met Though Popp's

 An even older photo of Popp's

Besides Bob Smith,Tom Marski’s best friend and my cousin, Sharon O’Donnell who met at my 13th Birthday Party, there was one other couple I remember who were “an item” at a very young age. I didn’t know them quite as well as I knew Sharon and Bob and Carol and Wally so my perceptions may be a bit misconstrued. I remember them as being a bit similar to a “ famous” American Bandstand couple by the name of Justine Carrelli and Bob Clayton. Justine and Bob were two young teenagers from the Philadelphia area who met on bandstand and eventually became one of the most popular and most “ followed “ couples on this popular after school show. They were frequently seen dancing together on Bandstand. As silly as it sounds now, at that time in my life I also remember watching to see when they were "fighting"; and feeling sad when they “separated”.  I would actually feel like rejoicing when they “got back together again”. In my eyes, they seemed like an ultra cool couple and I was rooting for them to be together.

Well, there was a couple I met at Popp’s that reminded me of Justine and Bob.   I remember them as an attractive, fair-haired couple, basically what I labeled in my brain as a "cool couple".   They both seemed to be very self-assured, and no-nonsense.  I couldn't imagine what it must feel like to be so hip.   I thought of them as the J & J couple.  Even their names were cool in an era long before names like JLo and Brangelina were in vogue.  What made them all the more exciting to me was the fact that, just like the famous American Bandstand couple - Justine and Bob, Janet and John really seemed to enjoy "fighting" with each other.   From my vantage point, I remember them breaking up and making up all the time.  They were what I would describe as a bit volatile, and my life seemed way too mundane in comparison. It was great drama to watch from the sidelines.   Nonetheless, I believe they were also another young couple whose love survived the test of time. 

 

Postscript: My husband and I were also what I would define as a volatile couple.  Many people were surprised we made it through our first year of marriage.  Every relationship is unique and one type of relationship is not necessarily better or worse than another.