Happy Acres - Those Places Thursday

Happy Acres Family Resort, Middlefield, CT

(Digital Images. Photographs Privately Held By Cynthia Shenette; Photographs and Text, Copyright (c) 2013 Cynthia Shenette) My mom, Christine (Szerejko) Shenette always use to talk about Happy Acres Family Resort.  She and her sister, Helene (Szerejko) Dingle use to spend their summer vacations there in the late 1940s.  After Helene got married in 1948 mom still vacationed there. Mom would meet her friend, Rosalie (Wagner) Massey, at the resort. Rosalie lived in New York City so it was a nice place for the girls to meet between Worcester, Massachusetts and NYC.

Left, Christine (Szerejko) Shenette; Middle, Mary Foersta ; Left, Helene (Szerejko) Dingle
23 August 1947

Until I did a little research I had no idea where Happy Acres was located.  I knew it couldn't be too far from where my mom lived at the time in Worcester, Massachusetts.  I eventually discovered that Happy Acres was a well known resort located on Lake Beseck in Middlefield, Connecticut.  I found photos of the resort online and matched the places shown in the online photos to my photos below.

Christine (Szerejko) Shenette

Happy Acres was started by Captain Jack Sibley, a former World War I pilot, during the 1940s.  The resort started out as a fresh air camp for city kids in the 1930s.  It eventually became a family resort, finally closing in the 1970s.  I was happy to discover that there is a facebook page devoted to Happy Acres, and the facebook page is great! There is a map of the layout of the resort, as well as some great old photographs and postcard images. There is even a photo of Captain Sibley himself!  Apparently, people use to come back year after year, reuniting with other resort friends who often vacationed the same week each year.

Mom use to talk about the fun she had at Happy Acres--tennis, games, swimming.  One of her most vivid memories was of meeting Rosalie at the resort.  Apparently, Happy Acres employed an accordionist to play music as guests arrived at the resort.  My mom said on this particular day the accordionist played the song Rosalie over and over again as people arrived. When mom's friend Rosalie finally arrived at the resort the accordionist played Rosalie one more time.  Rosalie was thrilled because she thought he was playing it especially for her!

Travel back in time with me.  

Happy Acres offers...

Tennis!

Games!

Christine (Szerejko) Shenette

Cycling!

Left, Unidentified Friend; Right, Helen (Szerejko) Dingle

Rowing!

Left, Helen (Szerejko) Dingle; Right, Unidentified Little Friend

Fun for kids of all ages!

Left, Christine (Szerejko) Shenette; Left, Unidentified Friend

Horseback riding!

Helene (Szerejko) Dingle

Archery!

Left, Helene (Szerejko) Dingle; Right, Unidentified Friend

Opportunities to make new friends!

The "Sharayko" Girls
Left, Christine (Szerejko) Shenette; Right, Helen (Szerejko) Dingle

Happy memories.



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(Digital Image. Photograph Privately Held By Cynthia Shenette; Photograph and Text, Copyright (c) 2013 Cynthia Shenette) Summer is picnic time!  This photo was probably taken at one of St. Mary's (Our Lady of Czestochowa) parish picnics in Worcester, MA in the late 1910s.  My grandmother, Antonina (Bulak) Szerejko is the first young woman on the left.  I believe my grandfather, Adolf Szerejko, is the young man seated to her left.



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Taking A Dip

(Digital Image. Photograph Privately Held By Cynthia Shenette. Photograph and Text, Copyright (c) 2012 Cynthia Shenette)  This photograph was probably taken at a church picnic for the parishioners of Our Lady of Czestochowa in Worcester, MA. I don't know exactly when it was taken, but my best guess is the late 1910s.  Zoom in, and check out the many details.

I love the two ladies in their long sleeve dresses and umbrellas primly watching the action in the water from the grassy bank, and I'm fascinated by the scantily clad (at least according to the standards of the day) woman on the left wearing just her shift!  Shocking!  I bet that made for some lively parlor conversation among the parishioners later that evening!  The children close to shore appear to be wearing their bathing suits and are no doubt wading where their parents can keep a close eye on them.  My grandfather, Adolf Szerejko, is the man in the water with his foot raised way up in the air.  Skinny dipping?  Probably not.  I love that the man on left didn't even bother to take off his hat before he jumped into the water!

If you have a moment, check out my post for last year's annual Swimsuit Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy.  It's one of my favorite all time blog posts.  After all, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun too, you know...

Submitted for the 119th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy. 

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Sitting Left to Right: Adolf Szerejko, Antonina (Bulak) Szerejko, Helen Bulak, Helene (Szerejko) Dingle, Christine (Szerejko) Shenette; Lying Down: Unidentified 

(Digital Image.  Photograph Privately Held By Cynthia Shenette; Photograph and Text, Copyright (c) 2012 Cynthia Shenette)  It's interesting what you see when you enlarge a photo.  This is a photo of my mom and her family on a picnic, sometime in the 1920s. When I looked at the original of this photograph I thought the material in front of where everyone is sitting was a tablecloth. When I enlarged the photo and adjusted the color I was more than a little surprised to discover the material is actually part of a woman's dress!

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