ALICE BROWN OPENED THE SWEETHEART TEA ROOM IN 1916, AS
A RESPITE FOR WEARY TRAVELERS ON THE MOHAWK TRAIL, WHO WOULD STOP
IN FOR FOOD, TEA, AND THE HEART SHAPED MAPLE CANDIES FOR WHICH
THE SWEETHEART BECAME KNOWN.
ITS SIGN BECAME A BEACON ON ROUTE 2, FOR THOSE HEADED TO
SHELBURNE FALLS AND HAS HOSPITALITY BECKONED TOURISTS
AND LOCALS ALIKE FOR DECADES.
AFTER A SUCK SIGNIFICANCE OF OWNERS THE SWEETHEART CLOSED ITS
DOORS YEARS AGO, BUT THAT ICONIC BUILDING AND SIGN BRING BACK
FOND MEMORIES FOR THOSE PASSING BY.
PRODUCER TONY DUNNE AND VIDEOGRAPHER MARC RHINEHART
BRING US TO THE STORY OF THE SWEETHEART TEA ROOM GONE BUT NOT
FORGOTTEN.
>> THE SWEETHEART TEAHOUSE IS THE GATEWAY TO SHELBURNE FALLS.
THE SIGN IS A LANDMARK.
WE ALWAYS TELL PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, YOU TURN BY THE SWEETHEART.
>> THE REGULAR CUSTOMERS WERE FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS.
AND IT REMAINED THAT WAY THROUGH ALL OF THOSE YEARS.
>> MY HUSBAND AND I USED TO GO DANCING AND DINING EVERY FRIDAY,
OR SATURDAY.
>> IT'S JUST A HISTORIC LANDMARK, AS FAR AS MOST LOCAL
PEOPLE, UNDERSTAND IT.
>> AND YOU COULD ALWAYS COUNT ON IT AS BEING THERE.
>> THE SWEETHEART TEAHOUSE WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1916 BY ALICE
BROWN.
IT INITIALLY WAS A GIFT SHOP WITH SUITES, AND THEN IT EVOLVED
INTO A FAMOUS RESTAURANT.
>> AND AT SOME POINT THEY GOT FAMOUS FOR HEART SHAPED MAPLE
CANDIES.
>> THEY WOULD POUR THE LIQUID INTO THE MOLDS AND LET IT
HARDEN, AND THERE WERE PAPER SLEEVES THAT THEY WOULD SET THEM
INTO.
AND THERE WERE BOXES FOR SALE, AND THEY ALSO SOLD THE MAPLE
SYRUP.
>> WHAT I REMEMBER ABOUT THE SWEETHEART IS WHEN YOU ENTERED,
THEY HAD IT SO BEAUTIFULLY DECORATED.
>> THE LOBBY AREA WAS LIGHT AND SPACIOUS AND BEAUTIFUL.
A BIG FIREPLACE AND TO THE RIGHT WERE THE WIDE OPEN DOORS, AND
THAT LED INTO A BIG DINING ROOM.
THEY ADDED STONEWALLS AND A BEAUTIFUL ROSE GARDEN.
>> IT WAS A WONDERFUL LOCAL PLACE TO WORK.
>> MY RELATIVES WORKED THERE, MOSTLY IN THE 1920s.
MY AUNT AGNES WAS THE HEAD COOK THERE, BACK IN THE EARLY DAYS.
>> I BELIEVE IT WAS 1978 WHEN I FIRST STARTED WORKING THERE.
>> PAUL AND DELORES WERE FANTASTIC, AND THEY WERE THE
LAST PEOPLE THAT RAN IT AS A RESTAURANT.
THERE IS MANY PEOPLE HERE THAT HAVE FOND MEMORIES OF EATING
THERE.
>> THE FOOD WAS TO DIE FOR.
IT WAS VERY, VERY GOOD.
>> MY DAUGHTER STILL SAYS THAT THEY MADE THE BEST CHICKEN
CORDON BLEU THAT SHE HAS EVER HAD.
MY FAVORITE MEAL WAS THEIR SEAFOOD NEWBERG.
>> WE HAD WEINER SCHNITZ EL, AND I WENT TO GERMANY AND I WAS
DISAPPOINTED.
HIS WAS SO GOOD.
>> WE HAD WEDDING RECEPTIONS THERE, HOLIDAY PARTIES.
SENIOR PROM.
BIRTHDAY PARTIES.
MY KIDS WOULD PICK TO GO THERE FOR THEIR BIRTHDAY MEAL.
>> WE WOULD GO THERE AND THEY WOULD HAVE A SMALL DANCE FLOOR,
AND THEY HAD AN ORGANIST.
>> IT WAS RED SOX JOHNSON, AND HE WAS THE ORGANIST THAT PLAYED
FOR DANCING, SO WE WOULD HAVE A NICE MEAL AND WE WOULD BE
DANCING THERE, SO THAT WAS MY FOND REMEMBRANCE OF THE PLACE.
>> IT'S DECEMBER 19, LAST NIGHT WE ATE AT THE SWEETHEART WITH MY
FATHER.
TONIGHT SUNDAY NIGHT, WE GOT ONE OF EVERYTHING ON THE MENU, AND
INCLUDING THE SPECIAL.
>> WE WERE ACTUALLY WORKING THE LAST NIGHT BUT I HAD TALKED TO
HIM THE NIGHT BEFORE, AND ASKED HIM IF THERE WAS ANY CHANCE THAT
HE WOULD MAKE US ONE OF EACH MEAL ON THE MENU BECAUSE AT THAT
POINT WE HAD BEEN EATING THERE ALMOST 20 YEARS.
>> I REMEMBER THE LAST NIGHT THAT WE WENT, THE NIGHT THAT
THEY CLOSED, AND SHE CAME OUT WITH A JAR OF APPLE CHUTNEY FOR
US TO TAKE HOME WITH US.
AND EVER SINCE I HAVE TRIED TO PERFECT HER RECIPE, AND I DON'T
KNOW IF I HAVE IT NOW, BUT I MAKE IT EVERY FALL, SO IT'S JUST
THE MEMORY THAT WE JUST CARRY ON WITH.
THE SWEETHEART GAVE US.
>> IT WAS A MECCA FOR EVERYONE, FOR TOURISTS, WHO WOULD COME
FROM AS FAR AWAY AS BOSTON, AND FOR LOCAL PEOPLE WHO JUST
ENJOYED IT.
>> IT'S SAD THAT IT'S NOT THERE.
A LOT OF GOOD MEMORIES.
>> IT SHOULD NOT JUST FADE AWAY.
IT WAS A PRETTY ICONIC PIECE OF HISTORY.
AND THE COMMUNITY AND THE HEART IS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE PLACE
IT HOLDS.