She’s lived through the Cold War and Sputnik, hippies and hair, shoulder pads and parachute pants, and all the way through to Lindsay and Brittany – and she’s still here!! The Betty Grable legs, the warbling voice, the inimitable style – after 55 years of non-stop entertaining in Cherry Grove, Robert “Rose” Levine is very much here.

But, no wonder -- she started out strong. On her first ever Grove weekend in July 1955 to celebrate Dickie Martini’s birthday, she was greeted at the dock with a big banner that said “Welcome Rose Levine!” Not bad for a little redhead from the Bronx.

Life was a lot different here then: no running water or electricity, rooms for $5 a night – and a lot was the same: great parties, great entertainment, good laughs and great songs.

She (or he) has seen it all. Dubbed “Rose” Levine by pals at James Monroe High School in the Pelham section of the Bronx, Bob used to sneak his mother’s clothes out of garment bags stored in the garage, add some makeup and a wig (a skein of red wool sufficed in those days), go into Rose’s act; then slip the gowns back in their bags. Mama Levine never knew till much later.

This led Rose to an entertainment career that stretches across more than 160 shows here and in the Pines for over five-plus decades. The song-and-dance all started in 1955 when Martin Kraft put her into her first Cherry Grove show as “Miss Grand Rapids,” a Ziegfeld-style number that Rose embellished by adding water squirting from her costume at two strategic anatomical places (you can guess). Later that summer Martin forgave her, put her in another show, and gave her a new song -- “Rose of Washington Square” which was transformed to ‘Rose of Cherry Grove Fame.” It became her signature.

The next decades were studded with unforgettable performances in the Grove and Pines: “Dames at Sea,” “Rose: A Special Entertainment,” Gilbert & Sullivan’s “Ruddigore” (with Dominic DeSantis and Don Reisborough), “Red Hot and Rose,” “Double Time, Triple Time: Doing Time with Rose Levine,” “I Feel A Song Coming On,” and Sal Piro’s now infamous “Who Killed Rose Levine?” In the middle were countless benefits at the Ice Palace and John Whyte’s Pines Botel for God’s Love We Deliver, AmFAR, GMHC, and so many organizations that fought AIDS. In 1971, Rose did the first benefit for the Grove’s Doctor’s Fund, reprising “Rose: A Special Entertainment.”

Then there was “The Women.” It’s a bit of history. In 1968, Bob was in a Cherry Grove drag production of Clare Booth Luce’s famous catfight play. When the author found out, she was royally pissed off and had it stopped after two performances – and then stipulated legally that not now and not ever would it be performed in drag or in a gay environment. Maybe that was a good thing: the play was so endlessly long that Dickie Addison (who was sitting it out in the dressing room between entrances) was overheard saying “If the first act doesn’t end soon, I’ll have to shave for Act II.”

Personal milestones: In 1965, Bob bought Roseland (everyone said he overpaid); on August 29, 1983 he met Larry Taylor, the “one of the loves of my life.” (Larry died in 1991.) In 1993 he met Michael Fitzgerald who has been his handsome companion ever since. His other great love is Lillibette, the cute little Westie who is often on this arm in town. He’s written a column for The Tide and its predecessor for 37 years (“Only a Rose,” and “Rose’s View”).

He counts among his artistic friends and collaborators over the years such luminaries as the internationally famous (Jerry Herman, Tommy Tune, Marty Richards, Michael Feinstein, Harvey Fierstein, Anne Hampton Calloway, Julie Wilson) and the locally notorious (Dixie, Dickie Addison, Dickie Martini, Maggie McCorkle, Myron and Milton, Jack Lichtenstein, Steven Alan Black, Kenny Rahtz, Terri and Susie, among so many others.)

Bob still goes to work most days – he owns his own business in the garment district, and still loves to travel to Mexico and London, among some favorites.

Rose is not stopping now. Next month, she’s doing a benefit for the Cherry Grove Property Owners Association and the Community Association.

Come back in another 55 years – betcha Rose will still be here.