Bonnie Wetter Ross
To Bonnie Wetter Ross, Paterson was a wonderful place to grow up. She was born in 1947 to Irving Wetter, a kosher butcher in Paterson, and his wife Mollie. The butcher shop started with Bonnie's grandfather, Benjamin and was located on Graham Avenue (now Rosa parks Boulevard). There were several kosher butchers in Paterson, including Goldberg's.
Bonnie's parents met on a blind date and married in 1937. At first, they lived in an apartment, but as the butcher shop prospered, they bought a house on E. 31st Street, between 14th and 15th Avenues. Bonnie's grandparents continued to live where Irving had grown up, on Graham Avenue next door to the butcher shop.
The Wetters belonged to several organizations, including Temple Emanuel, the YMHA, and the Jewish day camp, Camp Veritans. Bonnie's mother also belonged to the National Council of Women and Women's American ORT, a service organization dedicated to vocational training. Temple Emanuel and the Y were strongholds of Jewish social life. Bonnie recalls a dance contest at the Y, sponsored by Cousin Brucie (Bruce Morrow), which she won.
Given the family's butcher business, meals at the Wetters included lots of meat: brisket, corned beef, tongue, chicken, and turkey, although the young Bonnie preferred tuna fish.
Bonnie attended PS #13 and Eastside High School. In all four years at Eastside, she had to participate in split sessions, because there were about 1,000 students in her grade alone.
Irving faced personal challenges at the store. In 1968, race riots broke out in Paterson. Fortunately, the butcher shop remained untouched. Bonnie also remembers a time when her father was threatened at gunpoint. The perpetrators forced him into his meat locker, where employees were able to pull him out. But the store was also a place of celebration. On New Year's Eve, Irving invited his employee's and their families to usher in the new year at the store.
Bonnie fondly talks about shopping downtown, taking a bus and getting off between City Hall and where the Fabian Theater used to be. She ordered chicken chow mein for lunch at Meyer Brothers, which was "the" thing to do. Her mother bought her clothing at Jacob's. At home she roller-skated in the street, played hopscotch, and played house or dolls or school. Eastside Park was a big hangout, according to Bonnie. She says, "When you got your license, your automobile license, the first thing you had to do was drive up there [Eastside Park] so everybody could see that you were part of the driving area in Paterson now." On Christmas Eve, she visited the Signes family and they did the same on Chanukah in a sort of cultural exchange.
Editing note: The full transcript of Bonnie's interview appears in the photo however, those of you who use gmail can enlarge the font of the transcript by clicking on the images below to easily read the text. Likewise, those of you with smartphones can enlarge the images for easy reading. |
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