STATESIDE BMM qp strip CI
Feb26.indd 1
11/2/26 09:54
Welcome to happy coincidence
As many readers are on holiday, this month’s column is more “feel good” than serious. Whether sitting on a beach or poolside, Sharon Harris hopes you enjoy this easy reading.
couples met and married at Grossinger’s. It was key to the region’s economy and even influenced Hollywood. Jennie welcomed movie stars, athletes and even politicians. During the 1950s and 1960s heyday, Grossinger’s young choreographer, Steve Schwartz, led dance entertainment. In 1987, actor Patrick Swayze modeled his Dirty Dancing character Johnny after Schwartz and trained with him at Grossinger’s for the iconic film. Today, the “young” 80-something Schwartz lives in Florida. Where else would you expect the guy to go other than the golden land of retirement?
I know personally about how fabulous Grossinger’s was back in the 1960s. My family spent many wonderful Thanksgiving weekends there.
in the most unusual ways. W
That recently happened to me. I interviewed former President/CEO Mitchell Grossinger Etess of the Mohegan Sun Indian casino in Connecticut. The conversation was not about gaming, but about his family’s hospitality history in New York State’s Catskill Mountains. He comes from “royalty” since he was an active fourth generation employee.
How did this conversation happen? This summer, I hosted a South Jersey Shore film series. The first movie, We Met at Grossinger’s, documents the 20th century evolution of Sullivan and Ulster Counties in the Catskills, and more specifically, his family’s resort. In the early 1900s, farms, small boarding
12 AUGUST 2026
e all know our world is getting smaller. We may encounter people we’ve heard of, or maybe even met,
houses, illegal bootlegging during 1920s Prohibition and the dangerous Ku Klux Klan (KKK) inhabited the Catskills. Vacationers flocked there to escape New York City’s summer heat two hours away.
The Grossinger family defined hospitality and resort operations for 73 years. Grossinger’s, with its 35 buildings, post office and private airfield, was vital to building the Catskill Mountains into a premier destination. Specifically, Mitchell’s grandmother, Jennie Grossinger(1891-1972), was the area’s unofficial tourist representative, “grande dame” and driving force behind the Grossinger’s brand.
Between the 1920s and 1980s, Grossinger’s and hundreds of large and small operations dotted the landscape. These people enticed vacationers with unmatched food, scenery, entertainment and other amenities. Countless
But nothing lasts forever. Like the declining 1970s appeal of Atlantic City-200-plus miles south-, so went the allure of the Catskill Mountain resorts. With air conditioning becoming commonplace, late 1960s cultural changes and expanded air travel, younger people sought more exotic holidays. The result… these grand resorts faded from favor. Why repeatedly go to the mountains when someone could fly to Europe or travel cross-country for about the same money and experience something new?
Today, more than 100 years later, there is no bootlegging or KKK there. Instead, multiple casino properties operate within 75-100 miles in all directions and have changed the economies. New Jersey understood the benefits of casinos earlier than New York and legalized Atlantic City casinos in 1976. Resorts International Casino opened in May,1978 and
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