April 2012

To our patrons:

Thank you, thank you, and thank you. We have so much enjoyed serving you and being a part of your lives.

After forty-five years in business at the Hideaway, we have decided to discontinue operations. This was a decision not lightly made, but one we feel is best.

Throughout these last forty-five years, the Stuppert and Donisan families have had a lifetime filled with hard work and good times at the Hideaway.

In the beginning, in 1967, Philipp & Elsie Stuppert came with their children, Phil Jr. and Suzette, to begin a new life in the Catskills. Elsie left her luncheonette in Brooklyn behind, but for the first several years, Philipp traveled every week back to Long Island to his job as a precision grinder making airplane parts. Weekends he came back to his wife and family, tending the bar and running the business. Eventually as the business grew, he was able to give up his job in the city and work the business full-time.

Elsie’s mother, Rosa, was with us and was an integral part of the business as well as helping raise her grandchildren until her death in 1979.

Upon graduation from high school, Phil Jr. left Prattsville to pursue his career in computer information systems, and returned regularly to help the family business. Eventually this also included his wife and children.

Suzette, after briefly pursuing computer engineering at college, enrolled and graduated from the Culinary Institute of America, and ran the business full-time with Phil & Elsie. Suzette’s husband, Robert, joined us in 1981, after working in Washington, DC after graduation from the Culinary. The Stuppert and Donisan families were soon joined by the next generation, Julius and Austin. This core family brought us through many years of the business, and was at times supplemented by other family members, including Bob’s parents, our cousins, as well as continuing assistance by Phil Jr. and his family.

As Julius and Austin grew, we realized their potential and the need for funding for their college educations. In 1998, Suzette went back to college to pursue a degree in accounting and another career to supplement the family income.

Bob’s mother, Jenica, came to live with us several years after the passing of Bob’s father.

Thereafter, Elsie fought back breast cancer, Suzette began working a second job as an accountant, and Julius was accepted at Columbia University. Philipp became ill, and died in January 2003 after a battle with cancer. Elsie went through rough times with significant health issues, and Julius and Austin stepped up to help, particularly in the summer of 2004 when Julius traveled back and forth from college and work on weekends and sometimes midweek, just as Suzette and Philipp Sr. had done years earlier. Elsie came back strong once again, Julius graduated from Columbia, and Austin was accepted at Harvard University. In the fall of 2008, Bob’s mother passed away.

In the last few years, the family made a conscious decision that the business was coming to an end, even though the timing was uncertain. Elsie’s car accident this past winter in California provided the answer, and we decided not to reopen after our winter hiatus. Elsie’s desire to retire, continuing health issues amongst family members, depressed economic times, as well as the pursuits of the younger generation all contributed to our decision. Upon graduation from Harvard last year, Austin went to work as a software engineer in California, Julius is ensconced in his teaching career in NYC, Suzette continues to work as an accountant, Bob looks forward to continuing work in the food service field, and Elsie is now permanently retired after having celebrated her 75th birthday this year.

The Hideaway allowed us to meet thousands of wonderful people with whom we shared good food and good times. We are extremely grateful that we were blessed with this opportunity.

If you would like to speak with Elsie, please call her on her personal cell phone; you may also leave a message at 518-299-3616, and we will try to get back to you.

Thank you once again.

Sincerely,

Elsie Stuppert and the Donisan Family

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