I laugh when Myra, 87, tells me that if I don’t publish my writings, she will. She’s one of my biggest fans. That’s why it’s such a delight knowing that I give her pleasure when she reads my blog posts and published newspaper articles.*

While conversing with Myra over the telephone this summer, I raised the subject of the Borscht Belt Museum being established in the Catskills. Then, I mentioned that a new television series co-written by Alan Zweibel, whom we’ve met more than once, is in the works.

I wrote about Zweibel in an article published in the Jewish Link, and my husband, Arnee, interviewed him on the radio. We also saw the highly acclaimed comic writer at the Borscht Belt Fest in Ellenville more than once. See The Time I Made An Iconic Comic Writer Laugh, dated September 26, 2023, at sharonmarkcohen.com.

The Mountains is an upcoming television series set in a Hollywood remake of Grossinger’s Resort Hotel, where Zweibel, a former Saturday Night Live writer, spent his childhood summers. Myra read about it and said she doesn’t remember Jennie’s daughter, saying she may not have been born yet, but she is eager to know who will be cast in their roles for the TV series.

Excitedly, Myra told me she and Milton honeymooned in Liberty, New York, at Grossinger’s, arguably the most famous Borscht Belt hotel in the Sullivan County Catskills. She added, “I take out the memorabilia every year on our anniversary and look through it.”

Over their many years together, they stayed at Grossinger’s more than once. They also vacationed at other famous Catskill resorts.

The surprising part was that after appearing on a television show, the studio gifted them a week-long honeymoon. I knew they were married on television. My brother Al repeatedly spoke about the unusual event and said our Aunt Fannie was in the audience with Milton’s grandaunt Sarah. The daytime series, broadcast from 1951 through 1958, aired as Bride and Groom.

The newsletter from Grossinger’s, which Myra saved, tells the story of the newlyweds' honeymoon at Grossinger’s in 1957. They married on August 19 that year, when I was merely four; otherwise, I most likely would have remembered. Possibly, I sat on my brother’s lap while he watched the televised nuptials.

But there’s more to report. Myra said it’s easy to think about Grossinger’s, emphasizing, “Everyone there was very, very nice. They were nice to everybody there, not just the newlyweds.” Myra remembers most “how kind Jennie Grossinger was” to them. She added, “We were so young, it was almost 70 years ago.”

The name “Jennie Grossinger” is synonymous with the establishment the maven built into an iconic empire. There were sports figures there with their trainers and famous entertainers. Myra added that everyone on the staff was nice to everybody there. Jubilant, Myra chuckled, “Sharon, you make me remember things from almost 70 years ago!”

While on their honeymoon, Myra cheered Milton on as he blazed around the golf links, as Jennie watched, all the while treating them as royalty. Whenever they attended a performance at Grossinger’s world-famous nightclub, they were shown to the best seats in the front row.

During that week in 1957, Milton and Myra stayed in the room next to actor Tony Randall, who later starred in The Odd Couple, rated “among the best-known and funniest sitcoms of the 1970s." Myra remembers that Randall was down to earth, and before he checked out, he gifted the honeymoon couple candy with a note.

I can only imagine the kibitzing that went on with Milton’s shtik tempered with Yiddish. As my brother Stu commented about Milton, he was a funny and fun guy.

For an added thrill, along with copies of full-length photos of the happy couple formally dressed in their tux and gown, and the Grossinger’s Gazette, Myra included a Grossinger’s dinner menu. She commented incredulously, “Can you imagine, you could have five entrées?” Milton brought his love for golf to Grossinger’s, where he used those skills to work off some of those tempting meals.

Per Myra, Milton, an army veteran and postal clerk for nearly five decades, who ended his career at the Newark post office working in the dead letter department, kept himself in shape by moonlighting as a golf caddy. Over his long lifetime, a family man, Milton donated 28 gallons of blood to help others in need.

Myra revealed she always played with dolls and wanted to be a mother. She and Milton have a daughter, a son, five grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. She remarked about having offspring, “You’re loved and remembered after you die.”

Milton, July 3, 1933 – January 19, 2023, was a singular character, remembered lovingly by many. I bet Jennie Grossinger never forgot the young honeymooners whom she treated as royalty. Jennie gave Myra and Milton a regal start to their 65+ years of happy marriage.

A version of this blog post appeared in the September 18, 2025, Jewish Link newspaper, where I am a staff writer. Link to the article: https://jewishlink.news/newark-native-married-on-television-honeymooned-in-the-catskills-and-fondly-remembers-jennie-grossinger/

I’m disappointed that the full-length studio photos of the happy couple attired in gown and tux, alongside the officiating rabbi, another flanked by the show hosts, and yet another photo with the happy couple looking at a gift from the television studio, were omitted at Myra’s request (with persuasion from her children), curtailing the golden opportunity “to bring Milton back to life.”

She did laugh as she told me I could do whatever I want with the pictures and other memorabilia, in her words… ”once she’s dead.”
I’m hoping that will be too late for my other ideas for those wonderful photos listed here:

I was looking forward to suggesting to Myra that I speak with the president of the Borscht Belt Museum Board, with whom I have contact, and that she donate the memorabilia (at least copies of the documents) to the museum. We also have the cassette tape of Milton’s interview on my husband’s radio show, which we could add to his story.

Since we’ve met Alan Zweibel more than once, and he was also a guest on The World of Work, plus we have a mutual friend who is also a former guest and a fellow volunteer, as my husband, on WDVR-FM, Myra and Milton’s story may have made it into the new television series The Mountains.

I can “see” Milton smiling down at me He would have enjoyed his spot in the limelight once again.

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*Mar 8, 2023, 8:15 AM

Sharon

Thank you so much for sending me your writings. I am enjoying reading
them. I am transported to the past with feelings of nostalgia,
feelings of interest for the present and looking forward to future
articles. I would be so grateful if you could continue to send me your
messages. I am not so up on using my laptop but I know I would get
much joy out of your spectacular writings. I will be busy reading the
articles you sent. Seeing the wedding picture of Cerna [her husband’s sister] and Jerry [my father’s youngest brother] touched me so much that I cried. You are a communicator who uses words to convey facts and feelings. You have a talent to inform and to reach the innermost feelings of your readers. You are a treasure to the world as it was and to the events of today. I am grateful for your knowledge of the past and the present. You are a writer that reaches the hearts of your readers. I hope you receive this email. Just let me know. Thank you.

Shalom
Myra