Courtesy of the 1960 Pine Log – Pine Plains High School Yearbook
Within the vicinity of most high schools in rural America, there are “hangout” places where classmates gather during lunchtime and after school. Ivo Regini’s “Top Tunes Luncheonette & Soda Fountain” (known simply as “Ivo’s”) was the go-to place during my Pine Plains Central School (PPCS) high school years (1957-61).
It was conveniently located directly across Academy St. from the school which accommodated grades kindergarten through 12th at the time. In fact, I entered kindergarten on the first floor of PPCS in 1948 and graduated from high school on the third floor in 1961.
Ivo’s was efficiently owned and operated by Ivo Regini who was a native Italian and known for his pizza. And yes, just as the “Top Tunes” name implied, there was a popular jukebox which blasted out hit songs such as “Cathy’s Clown by the Everly Brothers, “I’m Sorry” by Brenda Lee, “The Twist” by Chubby Checker, “Only the Lonely” by Ray Orbison and ”Save the Last Dance for Me” by the Drifters.
Regini had emigrated to the United States in 1957 and died in 2009 at the age of 78. I don’t know when Ivo’s closed its doors, but it probably was shortly after the new Stissing Mountain Junior/Senior High School opened across town in 1970. At that time, the PPCS building was relegated to grades K-5 and renamed Seymour Smith Elementary School and today it is the Seymour Smith Intermediate Learning Center.
Credit: R. A. Hermans
Ivo’s was eventually sold and converted to a single-family residence that included a second story. It has subsequently changed hands again and has been improved significantly.
The title at the beginning of this short memory declared that Ivo’s was a place: “Where Everyone Knows Your Name” and indeed that was true. But, the only mixed drinks served were milk shakes. Our 1961 PPCS graduating class numbered about 42 and there were fewer than 1,000 kids in the entire K-12 school. In both the classrooms and across the street at Ivo’s, we literally knew every classmate’s name.
Chris’s (The Cottage) – A Little Competition for Ivo’s
Another late 1950s-early 1960s PPCS “hangout” was a 10-minute walk from the school.
Located “uptown” in the commercial center of Pine Plains, this little soda fountain-luncheonette was well known for its 25-cent milkshakes and its hot and salty French fries. The nickel pinball game located to the rear was popular as well because it was hard to “tilt” and easy to win a free game.
My 1961 classmate Jon Adams recalled the name “Chris’s” given to the eatery. Apparently later, it was renamed The Cottage. Adams remembers a short walk from his nearby home; once inside, he perused the magazines displayed for sale in a rack, calling the establishment his own private library. Continuing a decades-old tradition, the space became the Storybook Café earlier this month.
Roger Snyder grew up on a farm in Ancramdale. He and his wife, Cyndy, live in Manassas, Va.