The adventurous Willing Sisters
REPRINTED FROM 7-29-2010
Juliette, Dorothy and Emily Willing traveled the world before settling
down in Edgewater Camp and running the local confectionary shop.
Some old-timers still recall the sisters and many a tale has been told
of their adventurous travels. Here they pose in front of the ice cream
parlor that they operated.
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, A BTR PRIL 19-25, 2019 59
The reason most people enter
an ice cream parlor seems
rather obvious but in at least
one case, there could have been
an underlying factor. Couple
an ice cream soda, banana
split or egg cream with exciting
tales of adventure before
the advent of TV and you have,
no doubt, encountered the Willing
sisters. Perhaps that’s why
Richard Shaw of Edgewater
Park chose the three sisters to
run his soda fountain. Miss Juliette
Willing was listed as the
proprietor and she lived at 30-D
Edgewater Park.
It was a huge store featuring
the typical overhead ceiling
fans that proved so necessary
in pre-air conditioning days.
Small round white marbletopped
tables with the wrought
iron chairs with backs twisted
like pretzels can be recalled
with clarity by most old-timers.
The long gray marble counter
with the tall metal stools of just
the right height for young eager
heads to peer over as they
pondered their myriad choices
of goodies also comes to mind.
The post-Depression days of the
late 1930s and 40s is the time period
involved and behind the
counter stood the stalwart and
well-traveled Willing sisters.
Iran was still called Persia
in those days and it was still
ruled by a shah. The deserts
were wild and paved roadways
rare, yet the adventurous Willing
sisters were no strangers
to the back roads of the world.
Patrons at the Edgewater Park
Ice Cream Parlor were treated
to more than delectable sweets,
but might also glimpse a photograph
or two of those serving
the treats. Seeing the women
borne by camels in strange
lands can leave a lasting impression
on youthful young
minds. The exotic backdrop to
the photographs viewed in that
iconic sweet shop colored the
dreams of many patrons both
young and old.
No one seems to know if Juliette,
Dorothy and Emily Willing
came from wealth and lost
everything in the Great Depression,
retiring to the quaint
little bungalow colony that
came to be known as Edgewater
Camp and then Edgewater
Park, but the stories they had
to tell were certainly hard to
forget. Backed up by photographs
and brochures, they
showed the sisters living a life
of adventure. I’m sure it was
stories like theirs that inspired
at least one latter-day world
traveler. That would be John
McNamara who grew up listening
to tales of their adventures
and followed in their footsteps
albeit via the less-costly tramp
steamers. There are few portsof
call that escaped John Mc-
Namara and fortunately he
recorded many of those adventures
in newspaper articles or
in his book “McNamara’s Vagabond
Travels.”
As for the ice cream parlor,
after the Willing sisters retired
Herman O’Neil took it over
and ran it quite successfully
for years. It was then taken
over by Anna Wehr who ran it
with her young son, Larry, until
they moved out west where
the air was better for Larry’s
asthma.
Various other owners followed
until the stores burned
down under rather suspicious
circumstances in August of
1978.
I still wonder what happened
to all those photographs
of the adventurous Willing sisters
posing in Persia and other
exotic lands.
BRONX SCENE
10th Annual St. Jude Fundraiser
and CT Salsa Fest, May 24 to 26
The 10th Annual St. Jude Children’s
Research Hospital Gala Fundraiser
will take place on Sunday, May
26, at the Hilton Stamford Hotel.
This year, guests will enjoy another
star-studded event with a live
auction hosted by Stamford’s reigning
comedian Michael Motts Pelazza, and
a silent auction--both fi lled with wonderful
items from which 100% of the
proceeds go directly to St. Jude.
Guests will also enjoy dinner, beer,
wine, a cash bar and spectacular dance
performances, including Jonathan
Troncoso and Jorge Valcarcel, the fi rst
same-gender couple on World of Dance.
This year they will honor the organizer
and founder of this gala fundraiser
Lou Lopez for his years of dedication
to this cause, and for being the
driving force behind this home-grown
Stamford event/ Guests can further
enjoy more dance performances, live
Salsa music by Latin Heartbeat Orchestra,
and social dancing until 4
a.m. Tickets are $125, tax–deductible.
The 10th Annual St. Jude Fundraiser
is sponsored by the Connecticut
Salsa Fest & 3rd CT Salsa Summit
Competition, a community-based,
family-oriented event now in its 15th
year with dance performances, competitions,
professional dance instruction
by internationally-acclaimed instructors,
a live band, professional DJs, and
social dancing for youths and adults
taking place the weekend of May 24 to
May 26 at the Hilton Stamford Hotel.
The 15th Annual CT Salsa Fest will
be the largest dance festival in Connecticut
to date.
Sunday, May 26 will focus on a very
special cause: St. Jude Children’s Research
Hospital. 10% of Sunday evening
general event ticket proceeds are
also donated to St. Jude. Sunday night
will feature live band Latin Heartbeat
Orchestra!
As always, the public can enjoy a
party—Free To The Community from
3 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 25, with
music and dance performances!
Over 100 youth and adult dance performances—
home-grown talent from
the tri-state area, PA and MA will perform.
Bands and DJs from around the
U.S., South America, Europe and Canada
will be higlighted. Over 35 dance
workshops will taught by internationally
acclaimed, professional instructors.
Visit www.ctsalsafest.com for more
details, or email ctsalsafest@gmail.
com.
/www.ctsalsafest.com
/www.ctsalsafest.com
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