The Cherry Grove Archives Collection committee recently received an amazing donation of photographs, letters, postcards, and documents from Sharolyn Urso. Sharolyn Urso was the sister-in-law of Pat (Laura) and Mike Stephani, the owners of Cherry Grove's Pat's Bar and Restaurant in the 1940s and 1950s (now Sand Castle On The Ocean Restaurant).

The Archives Committe was able to meet and interview the engaging and funny 91-year-old Sharolyn who currently lives with her son and his husband in New Paltz, N.Y. Sharolyn spoke of being photographed at Pat's Restaurant by legendary photographer Richard Avedon. She shared several amazing photographs of herself that were taken by Avedon. When Sharolyn was in her '20's, during the 1940s and 1950s, she worked as a waitress at Pat's, along with her husband Herbie who was their bartender. She remembered having worked so hard there but having so much fun because the guys treated her like one of them. She also recalled her husband hauling huge blocks of ice into the restaurant; that it was hard to keep staff because "there was nothing to do there if you werent gay"; and that a taxi ran on the beach.

At some point the owners of Pat's restaurant bought the house next door from author Carson McCullers. At the time, Pat's also rented rooms and there were frequently no vacancies. Sharolyn laughingly remembered sleeping on a door between two chairs under the restaurant when their room was rented by guests.

She said that Cherry Grove was mostly guys ("100 guys to two gals") at that time and that they were very protective of her. Sharolyn told us that frequently every house was rented and the Grove was crowded. She said that most of the guys would deny they came to the Grove because the discrimination was so terrible at that time. "How can others say you can't be who you are? (Some of) the guys would take my picture to say I was their girlfriend! It just wasn't safe to be gay at that time, you had to be real careful."

Sharolyn spoke about going over to Duffy's Hotel occasionally after work to go dancing with the guys. She told us Duffy's was run down and laughingly reported "the food was terrible."

When we asked about drag she told us the guys wouldn't dare do drag in the restaurant but that maybe they did at parties she wasn't invited to.

She stated that the cops would come over every weekend to arrest gay guys.

She remembered going over to the mainland different times to bail the guys out with a twenty-dollar bill. Sharolyn reflected on one particular memory of being at the mainland police station, bailing out some of the guys with a twenty-dollar bill, when a group of local mainland guys said to her, "...gee she's pretty, I wonder how she'd look if she got acid thrown in her face?"

Sharolyn told them they weren't going to scare her and reported the incident to the police. She remembered that bullies from the mainland would come over to the Grove every weekend looking for trouble with the gay men, but that, except for the bullies, mainlanders who came over to the beach got along with the guys!

Sharolyn also remembered different celebrities coming to the restaurant, like singers Johnny Mathis and Johnnie Ray, as well as the Italian Academy award winning actress, Anna Magnani. Numerous signed (headshot) framed photographs of actors such as Gar Moore and Nancy Andrews, ones that originally hung in the restaurant, were donated to the Archives.

Finally, Sharolyn told us a story in which her husband Herbie who was bartending at Pat's served Marilyn Monroe and her husband, Arthur Miller. Sharolyn said, "....she looked different without all the makeup!"

Sharolyn also remembered appearing in a skit in her waitress uniform on the Community House stage a few times. "We had so much fun."

Sharolyn Urso next to a photograph of her taken by Richard Avedon.

Sharolyn Urso on stage at the Community House (with Pat Fitzgerald dancing on the right).

Mandy, Wanda, and Sharolyn in front of Pat's restaurant.

Interior of Pat's restaurant.