In the late spring of 2025, there was a ceremony to place a marker to honor the memory of The Nevele and Fallsview hotels, two well-known Catskill resorts owned by the Slutsky family. The two hotels mentioned were situated on what is today known as “Arrowhead Road.” Few people know where this name comes from. It seems this history has been hidden from view. It is my history, the story of another branch of the Slutsky family.

I grew up at The Arrowhead in the small enclave of Slutsky hotels that included The Nevele, The Fallsview, The Arrowhead, and The Evergreen Manor. The family of a fourth Slutsky brother owned a kukhaleyn in the area (a summer boarding house with a shared kitchen). The Breezy Lawn, owned by more distant cousins, was off Route 209, just outside the village.

I wondered,” can one go home again” as I drove with my son Daniel from Lenox Massachusetts. to Ellenville. We stopped in Kingston for lunch, a city I had not been to in over 50 years. I remember going through Hurley on Route 209, with high school friends, a fun excursion to buy the best ice cream in the county. I was excited to be returning to the place where my Slutsky family had put down roots at the beginning of the 20th century. As we approached Ellenville, on my right was the cemetery where my grandparents and other family members are buried. Another few miles and we passed Barthel’s farm stand. I was filled with pleasure to see that it still there. It was the place where my family bought our fruits and vegetables. I remembered the taste of the best juicy beefsteak tomatoes and the sweetest corn.

The two Slutsky brothers who first arrived in Ellenville, Charles and Morris, left Russia in order to make a better life for their children and themselves. The others followed. Charles, the oldest brother, bought a farm that became The Nevele Hotel. Morris built The Evergreen Manor. A third brother, my grandfather Shmuel (Samuel), arrived years later. After arriving at Ellis Island, he ran a newspaper stand on The Lower East Side. Then he he joined his brothers in Ellenville. He and my mother, Fanny, his third daughter, worked at The Nevele. At some point, Shmuel bought land next to his brothers and established The Shady Rest. The first building was a modest cottage facing the Nevele.

In the early years, most of my grandfather’s ten children helped him run The Shady Rest (the eldest, Harry, was already on his own). The youngest children went to the one room schoolhouse situated off Route 209 on Nevele property.

While working as a bookkeeper at The Nevele, my mother fell in love a young man named David Newman who was also working there. They got married and moved to The Bronx where my father opened up a dental practice. Four of my mother’s siblings decided to remain at the hotel and eventually took ownership from their father Shmuel. The children changed the name from Shady Rest to The Arrowhead Lodge. Legend has it that one of my uncles found an arrowhead on the property, hence the name.

My uncle Yudel became the plumber, electrician and carpenter. He built the main house of The Arrowhead Lodge. Sophie, the oldest daughter, was the cook and baker. Libby became the chambermaid and gardener. Yank the youngest, was second chef.

Although my grandfather Shmuel was an Orthodox Jew, he did not impose his religiosity on his children. Our family’s hotel stopped being kosher after his children took over. The hotel reflected the values of my aunt Libby whose voice was the loudest. She was active in left-wing politics. She was friends with Paul Robeson and other great musicians, artists, and writers. Under the influence of her and other non-owning family members, The Arrowhead became distinct from the neighboring hotels in the area. Pete Seeger, Paul Robeson, and Josh White became regular performers. Professor Irwin Corey was our resident comedian. The Arrowhead welcomed people of all colors when this was extremely rare. Later, in my memory, The Arrowhead welcomed people who had been blacklisted and had nowhere else to go.

After World War II, my aunts and uncles and their spouses who owned The Arrowhead decided to build a larger hotel in The Adirondacks which they called Crystal Lake Lodge. They sold The Arrowhead to my mother and father. From the time I was nine years old, my mother, Fanny Slutsky Newman, was the proprietor of The Arrowhead Lodge.

Before my parents owned The Arrowhead, we spent all of our holidays and the entire summer up at the hotel. Living there full-time felt like I was coming home.

To be continued…

This story is a generous contribution from Lita Slutsky Newman Moses, a former resident of Ellenville, who submitted this as a part of her recently published book, The Red Hotel: Tribute to a Lost World, which can be seen and purchased here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1958659177?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback.