OUR NEIGHBORHOOD The Way It Was.......

The Larkin Sisters were a hometown hit, performing "Toolie Oolie Doolie (The Yodel Polka)" during this 1948 promotional appearance at the Kresge's store on Myrtle Avenue in Ridgewood. In looking to share information about our neighborhood's people, places and things of years ago, we will ask readers for help from time to time.

Such was the case in the "Our Neighborhood" column that appeared in the Nov. 27, 2008 issue of this newspaper, in which we wondered what had become of the singing Larkin Sisters. As we noted, the four local girls had been profiled in a "Community Cavalcade" feature in a 1947 issue of the Ridgewood Times, written by the late Nino LoBello.

The original article discussed their radio appearances, recordings and performances. Among the activities cited by Nino LoBello was the sisters' vocal work regarding Walt Disney's animated feature, "Bambi." We were hoping to find out what had happened in the years since the article appeared.

For those who may have missed the Nov. 27, 2008 issue, the Larkin Sisters were two pairs of sisters— neither pair named Larkin. The quartet consisted of Rita and Helen Kreuder and Terry and Celia Gargone. Three of them had attended Grover Cleveland High School. We showed the Larkin Sisters as they looked on the front-cover page of 1948 sheet music for the song "Toolie Oolie Doolie (The Yodel Polka)."

Billed as the Larkin Sisters, the singing quartet consisted of two pairs of Ridgewood sisters. Shown from bottom in this publicity picture, taken by renowned photographer James Kriegsmann, are: Terry Gargone, Rita Kreuder, Helen Kreuder and Celia Gargone. Daughter sheds some light

Within a few weeks, we received a message via e-mail from Mary Grace Roach (nee Haltigan). In it, she writes:

"My cousin has just forwarded me your article, asking, 'Where Are They Now?'

"I am the daughter of Helen Kreuder, now deceased. She would have been 82 years old if she were alive today. She died at the young age of 68 of amyloidosis—a familial disease that also claimed the life of Rita, her singing sister, my godmother."

The Larkin Sisters (l-to-r, Rita Kreuder, Celia Gargone, Terry Gargone and Helen Kreuder) had reason to celebrate with proud parents Frederick (at center) and Margaret Kreuder (third from right) in the Green Room of Hotel Edison, where they were booked to appear for seven months. Mrs. Roach noted that her mother had raised six children and served as "official cantor" at Sacred Heart Church in Merrick, where she volunteered many hours. After Helen Kreuder Haltigan's death, her daughter, Mary Grace, learned more about the Larkin Sisters through some letters and clippings that she found.

She shared some of it in her email.

"To my understanding, one by one they married and their career began to become secondary. Also, according to my mother, they were about to make it 'big' with 'Toolie Oolie Doolie,' but the Andrews Sisters beat them with a release."

Getting in touch with two

In closing, Mrs. Roach offered to put us in contact with the quartet's two surviving members. As a result, we were able to speak with Theresa Gargone Frezza and Celia Gargone DeLuca, who live a short distance from each other in upstate Yorktown Heights.

While the Larkin Sisters were known as a singing group from Ridgewood, the Gargone family had moved to Mount Vernon in 1944, during Celia's freshman year at Grover Cleveland. Theresa com- pleted her high school education at Grover Cleveland prior to the move, making her one of the two Larkin Sisters to graduate from the Ridgewood school. Helen Kreuder was a Grover Cleveland graduate, while sister Rita was an alumnus of the High School of Music and Arts in Manhattan.

It was a real treat, being able to enjoy a three-way conversation with the two ladies, who kindly answered our questions. In addition, they sent along an assortment of interesting photos to share.

As previously noted, the Larkin Sisters originally began singing on the radio as members of the Rainbow Harmonettes, a children's choir of about 30 voices, on Bob Emery's "Rainbow House" program on WOR. This was the same children's program on which opera star Beverly Sills made her debut as a young child from Brooklyn.

Emery, also known by the nickname "Big Brother," was a popular host and a talented performer in his own right during radio's "Golden Age" and the early days of television. Nationally, his radio show was broadcast as part of the Mutual Radio Network.

Sang in Dad's barber shop

Among the things we learned in speaking with Celia and Theresa was how they started by singing in their father's barber shop at 55-42 Metropolitan Ave. and while he made his living as a barber, Charles Gargone was a talented violinist. His wife Anna was a pianist. The family resided in the same building.that housed the barber shop.

Celia observed that the area was largely German. "That's how we learned to sing in German," she said.

Next door was a knitting mill and its owner arranged to have the girls perform at a local Masonic temple, providing entertainment at the dinners that were held there. To the delight of the crowd, the girls sang and their mother played the piano.

While Celia and Theresa, ages 10 and 13, respectively, were singing their duets, Helen and Rita Kreuder were already sharing their vocal talents over the airwaves as regular performers on "Rainbow House." The Kreuders lived nearby, at 54-08 Metropolian Ave.

On the air

One day, their father, Fred Kreuder, heard the Gargone sisters in the barber shop and suggested to Charles Gargone that his daughters audition for Bob Emery's program.

Before long, all four girls were singing in the radio choir—and on their way to becoming a quartet of songbirds from Ridgewood.

It was on Emery's show that they performed a radio version of "Bambi." To clarify the information that appeared in the 1947 "Community Cavalcade" article, Celia advised that the Larkin Sisters had not been part of the Disney feature.

The "Larkin larks," as Mr. Lo- Bello called them, did, however, appear with the all-girl band led by Bess Myerson, the former Miss America (1945) who later became New York City's first commissioner of consumer affairs during Mayor John Lindsay's administration.

They were picked by Vic

Among the young singers whom the Larkin Sisters met as fellow travelers during the 1940s was a Brooklyn teen named Vito Farinola—who would go on to gain fame as Vic Damone.

Celia and Theresa mentioned that years later, as his career advanced, Damone wanted the Larkin Sisters to serve as his backing vocalists. The girls had gone to see him at a Manhattan nightclub and he invited them to join him in performing. Reportedly, it went so well that Damone wanted to make it a more lasting arrangement. But the Larkin Sisters were under contract and their manager would not release them.

Even so, they had some memorable bookings and appearances. They played the Capitol Theater with bandleader Paul Whiteman for a week and were booked to perform at the Hotel Edison for seven months.

Celia and Theresa also appeared on radio with tenor Richard Maxwell, who was known for his work singing hymns. The program was "Hymns You Love."

"We were paid one hundred and twenty-five dollars a week for a fifteen minute show, four days a week," Theresa said. "That was a lot of money in those days."

Among the more special memories that Celia and Theresa have pertaining to the Larkin Sisters are ones involving the tours of veterans hospitals. The four girls joined Richard Maxwell in visiting hospitalized soldiers at facilities throughout the country. Following a performance, they would make bedside visits to those who had been unable to attend. Spreading their own brand of cheer, the girls would present the patients with radios during each visit.

They also recall the thrill they experienced in being part of a radio program that starred two-time Academy Award winner Fredric March and his Brooklyn-born actress wife, Florence Eldridge. The show was a radio adaptation of the 1941 movie "One Foot in Heaven," as March recreated his film role of a Methodist minister.

Wedding bells sounded

As previously mentioned by Helen Kreuder's daughter, Mary Grace Roach, wedding bells tolled the breakup of the Larkin Sisters, who became wives and mothers.

Celia was the first to wed. As a 20-year-old, she married Angelo "Doc" DeLuca, a union that produced three daughters.

"That was what I wanted more than anything—to marry and start a family," she said.

Theresa became the wife of. Pat Frezza, with whom she had a son and daughter. As for the Kreuder sisters, they married a pair of brothers and settled in Nassau County. Helen married Philip Haltigan, while Rita— who would raise 10 children—married his brother, Emmet.

Despite the miles that separated them, the former Larkin Sisters stayed in touch and would reunite to sing at such occasions as weddings of family members.

"The four of us really were like sisters," Celia said.

We asked Theresa about her favorite memory of Ridgewood and she cited the trolley rides along Metropolitan Avenue—one part of the girls' trip to Manhattan, where they would perform. To get there, the trolley would take them from home to the train station.

Celia cited no specific aspect of her Ridgewood years, preferring to recall the neighborhood in a more general way.

"It was wonderful to live there," she said.

Old Timer's note—If you have any remembrances or comments that you would like to share with our readers, write to the Old Timer, c/o Times Newsweekly, P.O. Box 860299, Ridgewood, NY 11386-0299.

To send a submission via e-mail, our e-mail address is Old Timer@timesnewsweekly.com.