OPINION: Sea Cliff: Small town USA for the past 60 years

In 1951, the United States Information Agency, hoping to show Europeans life in a typical U.S. town, picked my town of Sea Cliff - noted for its close-knit families, old Victorian homes and pristine beaches - to be the subject of a 20-minute film.

That long-forgotten movie, whose existence was unknown to most of its residents, showed up on YouTube a few months ago, and while it hasn't exactly gone viral, it's holding its own in hits.

The film was shot in Sea Cliff, and the cast of hundreds consisted of town residents. Called "The House in Sea Cliff," it mixed a lot of fact with a little fiction. The star was Reginald "Reggie" Stevenson who owned Stevenson Lumber (and later became the postmaster). In the movie, he played the owner of Schoelles, the old drugstore. His real-life wife played his wife, but actors played their two children.

The story was about how the parents felt that the teenagers in Sea Cliff had too much time on their hands and were likely to get into trouble. Sound familiar? The idea, which came from real life, was to build a community center. Everyone pitched in to help - kids and adults - except for Stevenson, who thought it was too expensive and a waste of time. Of course, in the end, he comes around, too.

The YouTube hoopla began when the movie was shown at St. Luke's Church in Sea Cliff last year. Attracting more than 150 people, the scene was typical small town. A committee made sandwiches, provided drinks, and baked cakes and cookies. The locals sat on folding chairs and schmoozed until the lights went down.

There were oohs and aahs as people recognized their neighbors, friends, and relatives ("There's my Aunt Mary!" "Hey, that's my Uncle Fred!" "My, he looks young!"). Ed Stack, who later became president of the Baseball Hall of Fame, was seen as a teenage soda jerk at Schoelles. A young John Burns, later mayor of Sea Cliff, and Remington Furlong, later the superintendent of North Shore Schools, also got screen time. My typing teacher, Mrs. Zipperian - great-grandmother of the Janelli kids who are still coming through North Shore - was spotted, too.

The sleepy town of Sea Cliff looked pretty much the same. But, as 73-year-old Emily Janelli, daughter of my typing teacher, whispered to me, "I think Sea Cliff was busier then than it is today."

Nearly sixty years later, it's not hard to see why the USIA picked Sea Cliff to represent life in a typical U.S. town.