These first writings are by Jane Smith who was the Fan Club President for American Bandstand Regular Pat Molittieri. JANE SMITH IS PICTURED WITH PAT TO THE LEFT (picture courtesy Don Gillis). These wonderful long letters were saved by Don Gills in his American Bandstand Scrapbook, which I have featured for a long time as a Gallery page. I know you have all enjoyed looking at the rare and special photos that he has sent for that gallery and now you will be able to read the materials. Some of the materials were at my website a couple of years ago but were lost in my major reformatting of the website and now I am going to bring them back bit by bit, so keep checking back to see additions, as I find time to type them in to the site and add some pictures now that will be relevant to that timeline and to the particular letter writings in many cases. THESE FAN CLUB MATERIALS REGARDING MAINLY PAT MOLITTIERI WILL SERVE AS A GALLERY FOR HER--RATHER THAN A REGULAR GALLERY PAGE. SHE HAS MANY PHOTOS THROUGHOUT THE OTHER GALLERIES, BUT I THOUGHT THIS WAS A SPECIAL WAY TO PAY TRIBUTE TO A LEGEND OF EARLY AMERICAN BANDSTAND. Purple text = My writing Black text = Jane Smith writings

"MY VISIT WITH PAT" Picture of Pat and Jane to right is also courtesy Don Gillis. It seemed impossible that one year had gone by since I was in Philly and Mrs. Molittieri, Pat, Bill Cook and Frank Brancaccio had been to visit me. Then, on the afternoon of April 8, 1960, my mom and I were on the bus returning to Philadelphia for our vacation. All the way down I kept pinching myself to make sure it wasn't a dream. We arrived there late Friday evening and it was so good to see Mrs. Molittieri that night--you know the old saying that women never shut up, and we had so much to tell one another. Also everyone was excited and anxious because Pat was coming home for a visit after five months in California. I didn't help the matter by counting the hours and minutes, and in the middle of a conversation I'd yell, "Five more hours and seventeen minutes!" Mr. Molittieri came home from work around four o'clock and it marked the beginning of his vacation, too. Quite a few of the relatives and friends besides Billy Cook, Frank Brancaccio and Bunny, a girl from Jersey, went with us to meet Pat's plane that Saturday morning at 7:30. As Pat was arriving in the "City of Brother Love", Bobby Rydell was leaving it. A long sign was taped to the window saying, "Welcome Home Pat!"

TO THE LEFT IS A PICTURE OF PAT MOLITTIERI AND JUSTINE CARRELLI (COURTESY OF JUSTINE) AND IS THE PICTURE OF THEM AT THE AIRPORT WHEN PAT LEFT FOR CALIFORINA...THE REFERENCE THAT JANE SMITH MAKES TO PAT'S BEING AWAY IN HOLLYWOOD. Mr. Molittieri and I went up to the man who collects the tickets and said, "There is a girl coming in from Hollywood and this is her National Fan Club President. She came all the way from Cleveland, Ohio to meet the plane and we were wondering if she could get close enough to take some movies?" Lucky for us the man was understanding and he allowed me to go out through the gate to where the passengers come off the plane. I saw the first person get off and it looked like Pat, but she was still a good distance way from me. I watched this girl coming toward me in a pretty plaid dress, white shoes and a big white purse, with her hair up in a twist. Yes, the closer she came anyone could recognize that this was Pat. However, one thought rushed through my mind. Everyone had been asking me, "Has Hollywood changed Pat?". This was something I could determine for myself by being with her.

A few months ago the Molittieri family moved to a new and larger house which Pat hadn't seen until now. "Where's the closet? Where is this or where is that?" were some of her questions. Pat's bedroom is turquoise with modern white furniture, a princess phone, and completed with trophies, dolls and stuffed animals that had been sent to her. SEE THE PICTURE TO RIGHT FROM TEEN MAGAZINE JUNE 1959 SHOWING PAT IN HER ROOM WITH HER DOLL AND STUFFED ANIMAL COLLECTION

During the evening Justine Carrelli and her boyfriend, Bonnie Harden, Peggy Leonard, Billy Cook, Agnes Pooler, Frank Brancaccio and Frankie Levins came over to celebrate Pat's homecoming. Sunday morning two early birds could be found puttering around the kitchen. Patty wanted to surprise everyone by making pancakes for breadfast. As for me, I did a good job of getting in the way. I will admit that Pat is a good cook--at least we are all still alive. PICTURE TO LEFT IS FROM A TEEN MAGAZINE AND SHOWS THE HOMECOMING PARTY--WITH FRANK LEVINS AND PAT MOLITIERRI.- from Marsha's vintage magazine collection.

Pat has her license so the car was constantly in use. On the way to visit her Aunt Meil we stopped at Bill's house to discover he wasn't at home. We spent the afternoon at Meil's house--she's the sweetest person you would ever want to meet. PICTURE TO RIGHT IS COURTESY DON GILLIS AND SHOWS PAT WITH HER CAR OR HER FAMILY'S CAR.

We no sooner got back home when Kenny Rossi came strolling in. He hugged Pat and mentioned going out. Ken said that he and his family are moving to New Jersey in a few months. Outside was Ken's own sharp red car, which you couldn't help but notice. If Pat wanted to, she could borrow it sometime. I guess Kenny has a lot of faith in women drivers---or is heavily insured!. After supper Pat, Frankie B., Frankie L., Pat's little brother and I planned on going to the drive-in. We never made it since Lou Solino, Larry Guiliani and Roslyn Shechtman dropped in. Before the evening was over we got to reminiscing about some of the funny incidents that happened when they were here in Cleveland. KENNY & CAR PHOTO IS COURTESY DON GILLIS.

TO THE RIGHT IS A PICTURE COURTESY FRANKIE LEVINS THAT SHOWS TWO OF THE GUYS MENTIONED IN JANE'S LETTER--FRANKIE BRANCACCIO (on the left) AND FRANK LEVINS (on the far right--just his face). The young man in the middle is Joe Wissert, who was another popular 50s Regular.By the time the three left it was too late to go to the show. Instead we went to the Hot Shop for a snack. We sat in the car eating, and all of a sudden Frankie B. said "This Mighty Mo doesn't compare to the one we had in Cleveland." On Monday morning Pat decided that the two of us would go shopping on The Avenue (a shopping section of Philly) and eat breakfast in a restaurant. If anyone had taken the time to watch us, they would have come to the conclusion that we were crazy. Who else would drive up one street and down another for nearly twenty minutes looking for a corner parking space.

Frankie Brancaccio said he knew of a lady giving away a miniature Chihuahua dog. Pat and little Frankie have always wanted a dog, not that kind, but they weren't going to be particular just as long as it was a dog. We drove over to Frankie's house and right away everyone fell in love with Ginger. The biggest problem was that the dog was sick, but my mom played nursemaid and helped to bring it back to health. Wherever you saw my mom you coudl be sure that the dog was close behind. Now when someone called, the conversation began, "how's the dog?" PICTURE TO LEFT IS OF PAT AND HER BROTHER FRANKIE AND IS COURTESY THE KOSTYRA/LA HA COLLECTION.

The two Frankies, Bill, Pat and I decided to look at the colored movies I took last year at Bandstand and Pat's old home. At that minute who should walk into the house but Peggy and Harvey Robbins. Harvey wants to become a hairdresser--it seems like all the Regulars are going in to the hair styling business. For practice, Harvey fixed Peg's and Mrs. Molittieri's hair in a twist. That wasn't easy since both of them have short hair. PHOTO TO RIGHT IS OF HARVEY ROBBINS & PEGGY LEONARD (MAYBE THAT VERY DAY? AND IS COURTESY DON GILLIS. GO TO CHAPTER B--THE CONTINUATION OF THE FAN CLUB MATERIALS