Memories of The Catskills

A fond look back at the heyday of the Borscht Belt. The hotels and bungalow colonies of the Sullivan County, NY Catskill Mountains once served as a vacation haven for urban Jewish families and singles. From the 1930s on, the Catskills were also an incubator of some of the best-known show business talent of the mid-twentieth century. At one time, hundreds of hotels, large and small, dotted Route 17; as of 2008, fewer than five were still struggling to stay in business. In the first of this four-part series, reporter Joel Siegel (1943-2007) discusses "activities" -- the sports and often wacky organized games that kept vacationers busy. Produced in 1992 for WABC-TV.

Part 1


Part 2

Part 3

Part 4