When I look at pictures of our parents and our parents’ friends back in the 60’s, I can’t help but think that they look old. For example, in 1968, I was 11, my Mom was 41, Dad was 51. Well, okay, they looked about right for their age. But the hair-dos, the clothes (fur coats!), the wrinkles, everything makes me say, “They look like grown-ups!“ I am now 51 (52 in a couple of weeks 
and I still don’t feel like a grown-up. Don’t we all sit on the floor, wear jeans, play, watch dopey TV shows. Our parents never did that kind of stuff, right? They always seemed dressed up and, well, grown-up.
Below are some photos of Salem Ridge grown-ups. Granted, some are part of the older set, like the Sitarskys. I remember them because the teenage girls were some of my baby-sitters, and I remember the parents because they lived right across the street. I think they had a really small dog that Mr. Sitarsky always walked. Who remembers the Kleinnechts? I remember the parents, especially Mrs. Kleinnecht. I think she and my Mom active in some stuff, including bridge club. Who remembers bridge club? Every other Tuesday afternoon? Or was poker every other Tuesday? Could poker and bridge happen on the same day?
These photos were taken at a Dalton wedding. I remember one of the daughters was named Penny. I’ll have to look back at the scrapbook to get the other daughter’s name – more baby-sitters!
Lois Kleinnecht, Jewel Benz , and Janet Silvers. I think my father’s caption was supposed to be “Lois and Jewel greet Janet.”
Mr. and Mrs. Dalton. Mr. Dalton was in WWII in the navy with my father. He was in a wheel chair, but not because of the war. He had an average, household “slip and fall” . I know from my old insurance company days that “slips and falls” are prevalent and devastating, but we don’t seem to hear too much about them. Mr. and Mrs. Dalton were so nice! They let us cut through their yard and they were always smiling.
Mr. and Mrs. Kleinnecht with Mr. and Mrs. Benz. Didn’t the Benzes live on the corner of Norgate and Westbrook? across from McDaniels? Where’s Obie Benz these days? There is on Obie Benz on the Internet, but I don’t think he’s our Obie (Oberly): Heir to a baking fortune (his grandfather allegedly invented white bread), Obie Benz was associated with a variety of socially conscious organizations including the MUSE Foundation (producer of the “No Nukes” documentary/concert feature) before turning to writing and directing. He married Debora Lynn Jones,in Albany. Is that our Obie? This Obie is a director of a film called “Heavy Petting” and other. Our Obie?
Also,I found Beverly Benz . She has been very successful as an author, businesswoman, Mom, and volunteer with Boys and Girls Club International . she went to private school, and I found a fantastic write-up of her at
http://www.emmawillard.org/alumnae/achievement/serving_and_shaping/benz65.php
Anyway, The Kleinnechts and Benzes below.
The Sitarskis below. Carol was a baby-sitter. of course! (Is it Sitarsky or Sitarski? I’ll research and do a global fix sometime soon)
I have a good story about Mr. Sitarski.
When I was about 9, I had bow and arrow that I would usually shoot in the woods. The bow was small and the arrows had the rounded metal tips.
You couldn’t really shoot an arrow in Salem Ridge because the houses were pretty close together. But I discovered one day that I could shoot them lightly straight up. It was fun because they would stop at a certain point, and, as they began to descend, the feathers would cause the arrow to swing around so that the tip was pointing down again. I could watch the arrows and simply step out of the way to let them stick in the ground near me. It was all very safe (duh!!!???) because I could follow the arrows trajectory.
But, as you can imagine, my curiosity began to test how high I could shoot them, and I discovered, after some tries, that I could shoot them high enough that they would completely disappear. Then it was a bit of a challenge to wait a few seconds before it would appear again on its way down, allowing me to quickly step out of the way.
So, one time the arrow never came down. I looked for it al over– in the bushes. Couldn’t find it. Suddenly Mr. Sitarski appeared and, beckoning to me, said, “Obie, I’d like to show you something.” I followed him, and there was my arrow, hanging by it’s feathers from the middle of the cloth roof of his screen porch. The metal tip was about three feet from the ground, meaning, of course, that, had someone been standing there, the arrow would have gone into his head!!!
I was horrified and stumbled through a “never do that again” kind of apology. He didn’t raise his voice or scold or anything. He just pulled the arrow out, handed it to me, and told me to be more careful.
As I thought about it later, this surprised me, as I had always seen him as an intimidating kind of guy.
That was the end of it. When I told my parents the story (decades later), they said they never knew about it. It deepened my respect for Mr. Sitarski tremendously. Now I view him as a very admirable character.
I pretty much recall that I put the bow and arrow away for good after that learning experience. I’ve also heard stories of boys who were killed playing that little game.
So, Mr. Sitarski, wherever you are, THANK YOU!!!
By: Obie Benz on September 7, 2009
at 6:38 am
Great story, Obie! Bow and arrow, ay? neat.
The neighborhood directory has the spelling as Mr. Sitarsky. just an fyi for us all.
More to come
Margaret
By: mmyatt01757 on September 7, 2009
at 10:00 pm
Ooops… Sitarsky, not Sitarski!
By: Obie on September 9, 2009
at 5:49 am
Wow!!! Thanks so much for putting all this up. It’s a lot of work but totally worth it for us. I have the fondest memories of that period of our lives. Our family moved out in 1962 or so…. to the house on the other side of the highway where the Hippie Party took place.
I’ll take some time to add comments and look for some shots here too. Thanks again!! Obie
By: Obie Benz on July 18, 2009
at 5:52 am
Hank – your mom had a ‘65 GTO!? How cool is that!!!!!!!!!!!! This is truly amazing stuff and its not even MY neighborhood! But I know and remember just about everybody! Keep it comin’ Mags!!!!
By: Anonymous on July 17, 2009
at 11:21 pm
I forgot to put my name on this response – it was me!!
By: Rick Flannery on July 17, 2009
at 11:22 pm
I believe that Obie Benz that produced the movie Heavy Petting is indeed OUR Obie Benz. There’s a Bio and picture of him on line and it mentions that he was born in NJ in 1949 which is the the correct timing. Incidently, the house that the Benzes lived in was just moved into a couple of days ago. It was on the market for about a year.Margaret, I’m glad that you keep posting pictures etc. I only wish that more people would respond. Hank
By: Hank Henckler on July 13, 2009
at 12:15 am
Imagine how much hairspray was used to keep those hair-dos up? No wonder we have a hole in the ozone.
By: Hank Henckler on July 11, 2009
at 2:50 pm
If you look closely at the picture of “Lois and Jewel greet Janet” you will see my Mom’s 1965 GTO. My father is the man to the side of the car. This was the car that I learned to drive in. I remember later on, that Julie Samson had a GTO. My sister and I somehow convinced my M & D that getting a GTO was the thing to do. Hank
By: Hank Henckler on July 11, 2009
at 2:35 pm