WOODRIDGE – The ninth Borscht Belt Historic marker was unveiled in Woodridge on Sunday afternoon. Woodbridge Mayor Joan Collins welcomed guests with a little history.
“Woodridge has a rich interesting history starting as a farming community but the landscape was not conducive to farming, so, creative farmers began to rent rooms to city dwellers as a respite from the summer heat,” she said. “That started the hospitality industry that Sullivan County is so well known for,” she added.
Guest speakers shared their stories about the history of the Borscht Belt era as well as their connection to some of the hotels that existed there. Bruce Konviser is the grandson of the founders of the Vegetarian Hotel.
”My grandmother didn’t like people cooking dead animals in her kitchen so she offered to cook, and you know what? People loved it,” he said. “And thus a boarding house became Vegetarian Hotel,” Konviser said.
The co-founder of the Borscht Belt Marker Project, Marisa Scheinfeld explained why the Borscht Belt evolved.
“Where we stand is what had to happen because the Jewish community was excluded from many places,” she emphasized.
This unveiling was the last for 2024 with five more scheduled for the summer of 2025.
