Like Old Times: Charlotte Lenkowsky returning to Daiker’s Inn on August 29; popular pianist to play from American songbook Charlotte Lenkowsky.

The mere mention of her name can prompt nostalgic musings from generations of seasonal Fourth Lake visitors and residents.

CHARLOTTE LENKOWSKY played all the Fulton Chain's big entertainment venues for decades. On Monday, August 29, she will be returning to Daiker's Inn for a special nostalgia night at the piano, complete with audience sing-alongs.

Charlotte, a Fourth Lake summer resident herself, charmed audiences by playing piano at various resorts, hotels and restaurants in a period that spanned four decades.

Her introduction to the area came in 1944. Fresh from graduating from the Eastman School of Music, the piano student from South New Jersey took a summer job as a hostess and piano player at the former Bald Mountain House owned by the Barrett family.

Charlotte said it was common for Adirondack resorts to hire music students who could juggle a few tasks and entertain guests as well.

Leading Bald Mountain hikes and coordinating boat tours on the Fulton Chain with Don Burnap were among her duties, but during dinner hour she was poised at the piano.

At the end of the summer she returned home and quickly began to make a name for herself in New York City.

She performed with Phil Spitalny and His All-Girl Orchestra which was featured on a Sunday night radio broadcast for General Electric.

Following a six-month rail tour, she decided to go out on her own.

Performing as Charlotte Sande, she played piano at such legendary venues as the Vanderbilt Hotel, Billy Reed’s Little Club, Blue Angel, and the Essex House.

She was also an accompanist for the original Name That Tune show which at the time was monitored by George Dewitt.

But that gig came to an abrupt end in light of the quiz show scandal created by the program, Twenty-One, which caused networks to cancel quiz shows in 1958.

Charlotte returned to the Adirondacks for a few weeks in the summer of 1953 and began performing at such locations as Rocky Point, Foley’s North Woods Inn, the Albedor, and back where it all began, the Bald Mountain House.

“Mr. Barrett had just opened a new bar that year, The Hunt Room, and that’s where I played. The place was filled every night and the chef would get so mad because I would play through the dinner hour and hold him up,” she said.

In the ’60s, Charlotte was teaching music in public schools which enabled her to spend her summers in the Adirondacks.

By that time she had become a well known local performer and per the request of Midge Daiker she began to play regularly at Daiker’s on Sunday and Wednesday nights.

“They had a wonderful old Steinway piano that remained from the original Fulton Hotel. People would gather around for sing-alongs. It was a great time,” Charlotte said.

She ended up buying a small place in close proximity to Daiker’s where she continued to perform until the early ’80s.

Today, Charlotte lives most of the year in Yonkers where she keeps herself busy as director of a group of women singers, the Song Pipers.

She writes the arrangements and accompanies the primarily senior ensemble who sing songs from the pre- and post-World War II era.

“We perform at nursing homes, women’s clubs, and other gatherings. The women get a big pleasure out of singing for folks at nursing homes who haven’t heard that type of music performed live in years,” Charlotte said.

And she continues to spend summers at her little Adir-ondack camp, where piano music can be heard streaming from her windows at random times of the day and night.

At the request of a legion of her fans, Charlotte will make a return engagement to Daiker’s on Monday, August 29. The music will begin at 8 p.m. and admission is free of charge.

“If you know the name of the song with the lyrics, ‘Kiss me once and kiss me twice, and kiss me once again’, you’re in for a great time,” Charlotte said.

And even if you don’t, prepare to be entertained.

 

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