Sunnyside Tribune

by Frank M. Roberts

July 2016

Let's see -- two years with the Jacksonville, N. C. Daily News, half-a-century with the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, now with the estimable Jimbo and five area newspapers --- but, there was one more journalistic endeavor before all the others.

Six months with the long defunct Sunnyside Tribune. I was part-time reporter and editor -- editor, because I owned the weird machine (made of some ooky, gummy material) that published the thing. Circulation - about 100. It was a freebie and we had advertisers paying the outlandish price of a nickel per ad. They included the neighborhood delicatessen and the drug store.

Also, we had a slew - well, a small slew - of reporters in the 12-year-old bracket. We all had differing views on what made a news story. We didn't want to compete with the New York newspapers so we kept everything local - local, being Sunnyside, Long Island, a sort of middle class neighborhood about a 20-minute ride to Times Square. (you could see the Empire State Building from our elevated subway stop - Bliss Street).

Nesbit Garmendia (Armenian - better known as Nezzie) was our most ambitious news gatherer. We were never sure whether his contributions were fact or fiction. One of his gems concerned a kid who swiped some bubble gum.

Rudy Horak, a Polish accordionist who later joined the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, contributed one or two stories per issue; Eli Levinson was a Jewish guy who lived his dream, actually joining the Barnum & Bailey Circus. My best friend, Johnny Bucher, was gung-ho, delivering about five stories per issue.

Jackie O'Brien, the neighborhood bully, was an altar boy at St. Theresa's Church who, later, recited poetry at a Lower Manhattan club, The Atheist Mother. His older brother, Bart, rightfully thought we were all a bunch of nuts.

Another reporter, whose name will not be mentioned, needed my editorial services. This character actually made up stories, admittedly a great way to fill space.

We were un-salaried and we were given one day off -- Christmas. The editor later became a radio announcer.

Other neighborhood kids included Danny McCarthy, one of my closest friends and, Hal Schaeffer who I wrote about in a previous story. He was a loner who preferred practicing the piano umpteen times daily. The result? He became one of the most important jazz pianists and, a close friend of Marilyn Monroe.

True confessions. About 95 per cent of the above is true. On summer weekends some of us would get together for a trip to the 1939-'40 Worlds Fair, about four subway stops from our homes - or - we would go for a 20-minute ride to Times Square to see a movie and a big bands stage show - or - we would spend about 90 minutes on the subway to go to Coney Island. And, there were trips to beaches (my mom usually driving). If we stayed home we would play stickball in a large backyard or, sometimes, in the street - or - we would play silly little games that would make kids snicker. Computers? Teevee? Science fiction.

There were alternatives, and what alternatives. A few blocks away there was the crowded fun place - The Sunnyside Pool. And, if we were in the mood for 5 & 10 cent shopping, Woolworth and McCrory were across the street from each other.

A few years ago I re-visited the old neighborhood - now, predominantly Korean. The theaters are history. As Duke Ellington once put it, "things aren't what they used to be." We didn't have barrels of money, but we did have barrels of enjoyment. Bottom line? You couldn't pay me to be a New Yorker today.

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Didja know? Famed actress-singer, Doris Day, once co-starred with (interesting cast) future prez, Reagan, and Ginger Rogers in "Storm Warning," a story about the KKK (krazy, krazy, krazy). Soon after its release, Alfred Hitchcock met her and told her that he had seen the movie, noting, "you can act." That is how she wound up as the star of "The Man Who Knew Too Much," (the story of Frank Roberts. Not hardly).

She had the reputation of being a sweet person who enjoyed acting and singing but, was not crazy about the spotlight. Some of her biggest hits were those only slightly suggestive movies she made with folks like Rock Hudson and James Garner.

One of her songs became a top-10 hit in England, but was banned in the U. S. The title tune of "Move Over Darling" was deemed too suggestive. Nowadays it would be deemed as too mild.

Miss Day's big break was as vocalist with Les Brown's Orchestra but, for a few months before that she did a brief stint with Fred Waring's Pennslyvanians. He was a guest on an interview show I did at KWWL-TV in Waterloo, Iowa. He was a pleasant gent who spent a fair amount of time discussing his famed invention, the Waring Blender.

Ben Alexander was on the same show. He was Jack Webb's first "Dragnet" partner before Harry Morgan stepped in. I remember - he had the ruddiest complexion.

About life -- Miss Day sang it best - "Que Sera Sera."