The New Year is upon us once again. I shall spare you all, my usual diatribe of “where is all the time disappearing to?” Since there really is no coherent answer to that plaintive query it seems foolish to continue seeking one. To paraphrase Mark Twain “Everyone talks about the time, but nobody does anything about it!”

The Catskill Historical Society Conference at Kutsher’s Country Club, in Monticello, New York was an unqualified smash hit! Lots of friends, old and new got together for a full weekend of eating, schmoozing, eating, attending lectures, eating, discussing the lectures, eating, enjoying the shows in the night club, eating, socializing and oh yes, did I mention eating?

For a full 3 days several hundred veterans of the Catskill’s golden era were able to relive some of the most treasured moments of our lives. For 36 glorious hours we were all between the ages of 16 and 25 (give or take a decade or two) again. The occasional balding pate, rounded belly, sagging chin and various other signs of physical “maturity” went unnoticed as we looked at life through the eyes of our youth.

The highlight of all the activities so beautifully planned by Phil Brown who heads up the Catskills Historical Society were the various speakers who shared some of their remembrances of the era with us. The most touching moment came when the 90+ year young former owner of the Aladdin Hotel was helped up to the podium in order to introduce her son-in-law who was to speak on his experiences working at that hotel as a youth. I am embarrassed to admit that her name escapes me at the moment, but the feeling I had listening to her and watching her standing on that little stage, speaking in what can only be described as a remarkably strong and vibrant voice is fixed in my mind. I found it incredible to learn that this little, 90+ year young lady, actually ran that hotel until last year when it was finally sold.

The activities during the day, and the entertainment at night were without end. And of course, the food! What can I say about the food of the Catskill Mountains resort that has not already been committed to legend? The gorgeous, thick slices or roast brisket of beef, or the tender, melt in your mouth meat on the bone known as “flanken” have been described by better writers than me. So have the honey drenched prunes and carrots in the tzimmis, along with the golden brown crisp on the outside, delicately soft on the inside cheese blintzes (served at dairy luncheon only). The ice cold red beet borscht with real country sour cream and a fresh boiled potato swimming in it. Stop! I cannot continue to write another syllable about the food as my waistline has just spread another inch and a half just thinking about that joyous bounty of Jewish cookery! You will just have to take my word for it. The weekend was a huge success, and I urge anyone who is interested in attending next years event, to please let me know, and I will pass on the necessary information to you.

Speaking of Jewish Cooking, The Gantseh Megillah is beginning a new feature. Eddy Robey, author of the brand new cookbook entitled “It’s Not Just Chicken Soup” has generously offered to share her much sought after recipes with the readers of the Megillah, the first of which appears in this issue. My salivary glands went into hyper drive simply from reading samples of her numerous delectable dishes. Eddy is bound to pick up a whole slew of new fans amongst our readers.

Last and certainly NOT least we come to our ongoing presidential election campaign. Lots of you took a moment to respond to last months question asking how you feel about having a Jew nominated for Vice President of the United States. Here are the results of your responses:

A total of 78 readers voted.
45% “It’s About Time!” - 36% “I’m kvelling!” - 9% “But is he competent?” - 9% “Wait, they’ll blame us yet!” - 1%” I don’t care about politics.”

The campaign is heading into the home stretch and it’s beginning to look as if Vice President Lieberman and his wife Hadassah might very well become reality. It is the official position of The Gantseh Megillah not to have an official position on this election. J Suffice it to say, in all fairness to those who support the ticket that does not have a Lieberman on it “ a leiben uf dein pipik.” What could be a friendlier and less partisan wish?

There are a couple of articles in this months Megillah relating to the race that I hope you will find enjoyable and informative. The most important message to get across at this point in time, to ALL eligible voters, is to get out and VOTE! It is always so sad to see how low the voter turnout is in our country. There always seems to be far more people willing to espouse there “knowledgeable” opinions, than there are people who are actually willing to put the effort into going to the polls and expressing the most important opinion of all; their vote for the candidates they feel are best qualified to lead our country. PLEASE! No matter who you plan on voting for, make sure you actually VOTE!!!!!!!!

One final note. I have been given information on the availability of “Gore -Lieberman” tee shirts and other campaign memorabilia in Hebrew. If you are interested in such items kindly contact Global Webvertising, LLC 98 Main Ave Passaic, New Jersey 07055. Telephone 973 777.4537. Tee shirts cost $10.00 each + $3.50 for shipping within the United States. Shipping for 2 to 4 shirts is $5.40 flat. If you require size XXL there is an additional charge of $2.00 and XXXL (Reallly!!!???) costs $3.00 more. Bumper stickers and buttons are 75 cents each. The Gantseh Megillah makes NO money on the sales of these items. I am mentioning them once, strictly as a service to those readers who asked about the availability of such items.

May all of you, your family and friends enjoy a peaceful and healthy New Year.
Enjoy the Megillah.
My love to all of you,
Michael
Editor