Jim Dale-Class of 1940
jdale@uark.edu
Miscellaneous Memories-1930-1940
Dance Marathons--During The Depression people at Olney were fortunate that they had two good theatres, the Elks and the Arcadia, that offered good movies and entertainment. Young people, however, often wanted something a little different from what they considered the monotony and sameness of local events. Vincennes, IN, which was considerably larger and just over 30 miles away did offer some entertainment that was a little different. Plus, teenagers often think that out-of-town activities are more interesting than things that happen in their home town.
At Vincennes they sometimes held what were called Dance Marathons. They were also called Walkathons because some churches still considered dancing as being sinful. Some also thought Sunday movies were equally sinful. The Dance Marathons at Vincennes were held in a tent near the airport on the Illinois side of the Wabash River. As I recall the admission to watch the dancers was 25 cents and you could stay as long as you liked.
The objective of the Marathon was for the paired dancing contestants to keep their feet moving at all times, and style was not important. The contestants were allowed 15 minutes of each hour for rest, eating, etc. For their rest periods the contestants were provided cots in segregated facilities out of view of the public. The contestants were a mixture of local young people who were probably unemployed and trying to get a little attention and possibly win some prize money. It was said that some entered just to get food and shelter since times were very difficult during that period of The Depression. Some of the contestants were professionals who traveled with the group and they probably got paid by the promoter whether or not they were winners.
As I recall most of the contestants looked pretty seedy. As the Marathon went on they looked even seedier and more pitiful with the partners dragging each other around while they took turns taking catnaps. The Marathons could go on for weeks and they were probably rigged so they could end at any time that the ticket sales declined. Some communities banned the events because they considered them cruel and degrading. The Dance Marathons did give even the losing participants a chance to forget about their own despair of The Depression years. Regarding the audience, most probably felt sorry for the contestants, and although many of the viewers also had a rather meager existence, they felt good about themselves and the fact that they were above having to participate in such an event.
Vincennes Big Bands— The Sunday matinee appearance of big-time name
bands at Vincennes was another event that drew large audiences, especially teenagers. The concerts were held at a nice movie theatre that was located downtown. The bands were the top notch ones that usually just played in the large cities. The theatre was able to obtain them because the bands would play at a night club at Evansville or Indianapolis on Saturday night and a concert at Vincennes on Sunday afternoon fit perfectly into their schedule. As teenagers we felt lucky to see live performances by bands that we usually only heard on a radio, record player, or a jukebox. As I recall, admission costs to the concerts were very reasonable, otherwise as Depression-age teenagers we would not have been able to attend them.
Jim Dale
Class of 1940
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Things I Remember About My Life in Olney
I remember going with my scout troop to the National Jamboree in 1953 just before my 14th birthday. At that time, Jamborees were held every three or four years. The previous one had been in 1950 at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The Jamboree I attended in 1953 was held at Irvine Ranch, California near Los Angeles.
Compared to most of my fellow scouts, I was a fairly seasoned traveler thanks to the many trips I had taken with my family. During WW II, Mother and I had followed Dad all over the eastern United States as he transferred from one military assignment to another. We had lived briefly in Battle Creek, Michigan; Oglethorpe, Georgia; Dundawk, Maryland and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. And although I was only between 3 and 5 years old during those wartime travels, I still have some memories of each place we stayed.
After the war, my family took a two-week vacation someplace almost every summer. On our trips we ranged as far north as Winnipeg, Canada and as far south as Datona Beach, Florida in the east and Matamoros, Mexico to the west. My Aunt Eva and Uncle Jim Forgione had also taken me with them on several trips during which we visited Washington, DC; New York City; Niagara Falls, Canada and the Blue Ridge Mountains. I had even made a number of train trips by myself between the ages of 6 and 12 to visit relatives in Chicago and Anna, Illinois. Still, in all my travels up to that point, I had never been west of the Rocky Mountains and I had never been away from family for more than a few hours at a time The Jamboree trip to California promised to be a great adventure and I was excited from the time I found out I was going until we began our trek almost twelve months later. Such a trip requires a great deal of planning, preparation and fund raising. Throughout the year, my scout troop held paper drives, ran a concession stand at local civic events and held bake sales to raise money for the trip. In addition to registration fees and other organizational expenses, we had to purchase or construct a good bit of new camping equipment. Among other things, we needed lumber and hardware to construct a compact camp kitchen with storage space for pots, pans, and staples along with folding tables. We also constructed a decorative, prefabricated arch that we later reassembled over the entrance to our camp area at the Jamboree. We bought new pots, pans and utensils to equip our portable camp kitchen. And we ordered enough Baker tents to accommodate our troop while at the Jamboree; these roomy shelters were far superior to the pup tents we used for weekend camping trips and had special features that made them more suitable for the hot, desert-like conditions we expected in southern California. In addition to these group preparations, most of us looked for ways to make extra money on our own to help cover personal expenses. Of course, each scout was responsible for his share of the trip cost. We were required to be in complete summer uniform throughout the two-week trip so this was a major expense. And then, we also needed pocket money for souvenirs and incidentals during the trip. All together, this represented a major outlay of money and I remember that my own family gave up their summer vacation that year so that I could go to the Jamboree in style. After months of preparation and anticipation, the day of departure finally came. All our gear was tagged, big items like the camp kitchen and arch were loaded into a couple of pickup trucks and my troop set off from Olney in cars driven by parents headed for St. Louis, Missouri, our assembly point. Scouts from all over the Midwest converged on Union Station in St. Louis to board a special chartered train that would take us to the Jamboree in California and return us to St. Louis some two weeks later. We said our goodbyes and boarded the train that would be our home for the next three days. The cars were pre-WW II, meaning that there was no air conditioning, the seats in which we both sat and slept were not much softer than wooden benches and you could feel every seam in the rails as we clattered along the miles of track. Still, we were not without our comforts: we could open the windows when we got too hot, each car had a toilet, we had cool drinking water and we were given tasty box lunches three times a day. In Denver we disembarked from the train for the better part of a day. There we boarded touring buses that took us to Pikes Peak, Buffalo Bill Cody's grave, the Garden of the Gods and a number of other very interesting sights in the area. Then it was back on the train to continue our journey over the continental divide and on to California. One of my favorite parts of the trip was the spectacular scenery as we made our way through the Rocky Mountains. The night before we arrived in California, we passed through Reno, Nevada. Our train stopped there for an hour or so for some reason and we were fascinated by all the neon signs and bright lights of the casinos. Around daybreak the next morning we reached our destination. Most of the train windows were open even at that early hour and the first thing I noticed was a very pleasant fragrance that was new to me. I looked out and saw that we were stopped in the middle of a huge orange grove. There were fruit-laden trees planted in row after row on both sides of the train as far as I could see. California already seemed exotic and I was impressed. A short time later we disembarked from the train and moved by bus and truck to Irvine Ranch. The Jamboree site was very different from the orange grove where our train had stopped. It was flat, desert terrain broken occasionally by a dry gulch. The only vegetation was cactus, tumbleweed and some hardy grasses. The military had graded rough streets across the sandy soil, marked off the site with stakes, twine and small signs into a temporary tent city, set up outdoor toilets and had run above ground pipes to provide drinking water at convenient locations all over the area My troop found our assigned area and sat up camp. It felt good to stretch your legs and move around in the open air after being cooped up on the train for the better part of three days. Then we settled in to enjoy the Jamboree. During the day we took turns preparing our meals cooked over special paraffin stoves (conventional wood fires were not permitted for safety reasons), carried water to our camp area in heavy five gallon cans (this was the most irksome chore), and policed the area to keep things neat. None of this took very long, leaving plenty of time to meet and visit with other scouts from all over the country, trade embroidered scout patches and small handicrafts as mementos, take in demonstrations, shows and other organized group activity and write home about all that we were seeing and doing (we even had our own temporary Jamboree post office). Each night, everyone assembled in a huge natural amphitheater. We sat there on the ground, sang songs, listened to messages that were sent from the President and other dignitaries and were entertained by movie stars from nearby Hollywood. One day I was walking along one of the dusty streets with a couple of buddies when we saw three girls heading our way. Seeing girls in the midst of some 50,000 boys was a treat in itself, but I could hardly believe it when I realized who they were. Debra Padget, Mitzie Gaynor and another pretty young starlet I had never seen in a movie stopped us right there in the middle of the street and struck up a conversation. I was so awe-struck that at first I could hardly talk, but they were very friendly and quickly put me at ease. They asked our names, where we were from, if we were enjoying the Jamboree and how we liked California. One of the guys with me had a camera and the girls offered to have their pictures taken with us. For the three starlets, a trip to mingle with a bunch of boys at the Jamboree was undoubtedly just another day's assignment from the studio publicity department. But for me, the chance to talk with three beautiful young movie stars and to capture the moment in a photo was the most exciting thing that had happened to me up to then. While we were at the Jamboree we had several other memorable experiences. One day we went swimming at the beach. That was the first time I had seen the Pacific Ocean and the first time I had gotten stung by jellyfish. At first I didn't know what was happening to me and it hurt like the dickens. Although Disney Land had not yet been built, we spent a very enjoyable day at Knots Berry Farm, one of the first theme parks in the country. We were also treated to a day at nearby El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. At that time, the commanding general of El Toro was General Christian Franklin Schilt, a native son of Olney. We were taken by Marine Corps bus to the air station where we were met and greeted by General Schilt, given a VIP tour of the facilities and treated to lunch with the General in his mess. It was good being from the same town as someone important! But as I look back, the most enjoyable excursion we took during the entire trip was going "just 26 miles across the sea" to Santa Catalina Island. As the old song says "that's the place for me." Although I got seasick on the way out, the discomfort I experienced was a small price to pay. To me, the little village of Avalon, hanging on the step sides of a sparkling blue cove lined with palm trees and a profusion of blooming tropical plants was the nearest thing to paradise I had ever seen. To this day, I still love tropical islands and the Catalina of my memories ranks near the top of the many I have seen. That afternoon, I hated getting on the boat to go back to the mainland, partly because I dreaded another bout of seasickness but mostly because I had found my Bali Hai and I wanted to stay. A day or so later we packed up our gear and re-boarded the train for the trip home. We were tired and nothing we saw or did on the return journey could match what we had already experienced. We played some cards, told some stories and napped a lot. All in all, the three days back across the great divide to St. Louis were just plain dull. By the time we got home we were glad to be there. All in all, that's a pretty good way to end any trip. Tom Gallagher ERHS Class of '57 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ann Weesner King
Pianoann97@aol.com
After reading Tom Gallagher's letter about the Boy Scout trip to California he replied to me with another letter shown below. I thought it had a lot of good information and memories many of you would enjoy reading, and Tom gave me his permission to post it below for all of you to read.
Ann Weesner King
Class of 1960
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Glad you enjoyed reading about our trip to the 1953 Jamboree. It was indeed a memorable experience. To answer your question, yes, we had a large Olney contingent. In those days there was a very active scouting program in Olney. The Lutheran Church ( believe it's now an Episcopal Church) on the corner of S. Elliott and E. Elm sponsored the Explorer Scout's and the Christian Church, just back of the Lutheran's on E. Elm sponsored the Boy Scout Troop. Our adult leader was Ray Vandelist, who had a dental lab that I believe was located on either E. Butler or E. York. I don't remember the names of all the members of our troop who went on the trip but here are a few: Frank Bailey, Ted Crackel, John Forsyth, Bill Goudy, Ken Horrall, Bob Maas, Harold Michael and Dan Yount. As was always the case in those days, we had great civic support for our fund raising efforts in preparation for the trip and the Olney Chamber of Commerce even presented a special embroidered Olney patch to each member of the group prior to our departure; it featured a white squirrel, of course. About two years after the 1953 Jamboree, Ray Vandelist also took the Olney Explorer Scouts on a two-week trip to Region & Boy Scouts of America Canoe Base Landing in what then was a remote area of northern Wisconsin. This was another great experience. We raised enough money to purchased an old school bus for the trip, refurbished it and Ray drove it all the way up and back. The Canoe Base Landing experience was sort of a 1950's forerunner of the "Outward Bound" programs that have become so popular in recent years. I believe that the Canoe Base facility was closed some years ago.
Tom
Class of '57
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Judy (Petty) Johnson JudyLarryJ@aol.com
In the late 40s and all the 50s, I lived on Monroe St, up from the pond and ice plant being talked about so much in these last two issues. It really brings back the memories because we stored apples at the ice plant/locker.
Thanks again for the memories,
Judy
Class of '58 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Ann, Wanted to tell you I enjoy the Olney Memories very much. Thank you for helping us to remember the past.
I want to clear up a memory for Tom Gallagher in Memories 36. He some how was under the impression that a new street thru a new subdivision called Douglas Dr. was named after a Democratic Senator Paul Douglas. This sub division was developed by my brother- in- law and was named after his son Douglas. He also stated that many of the residents on Douglas Dr. were prominent Democrats. I lived on that street for 17 years moving in 1972 and I never knew any prominent Democrats living there at that time. In fact most of my friends that lived there were Republicans and that was the majority of the neighborhood.
Nancy Hocking -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Walter Gibbs gibby114@hotmail.com
I lived by a pond when I was growing up -which was called Wilson's Pond. I spent some of my best years at the pond when I was growing up.
In the summer you would find me fishing with Galen Clodfelter. In the winter we always went ice skating or bunch of us kids would play ice hockey. The day the pond was to be drained ,they shocked the fish and Larry Stiver's and I would get buckets, then we would take them to my dad where he would be waiting on us to dress them.
I think they drained the pond in the early sixty's. If the pond was still there today I would be fishing under a tree and I would be thinking of all the good times I had there. After the pond was drained it was filled in with dirt and leveled. They started a store, I think it was oil field equipment.
Walter Gibbs
Class of 1960
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I would like to respond to Tom Gallagher's article about the prank involving Ted Crackel. I was somewhat involved in that caper. Ted and I were in the same chemistry class and we had just finished studying about the components of gunpowder especially KNO3(Saltpeter). Ted was very methodical about what he had planned and had soaked several lengths of string in the Potassium Nitrate and water solution. When the strings dried out he lit them and timed how long it took each length to burn.
Mrs. Benson's English class at that time were mostly in the library doing research papers of some kind so the classroom was fairly empty. This was also part of Ted's alibi. So to get on with what happened; Ted had a Cherry Bomb or M-80 and before anyone came into class he hooked the fuse up to a precut length of string soaked in the Potassium Nitrate Solution . As I recall the string was timed for about 15 minutes. He was chewing a large mouthful of bubblegum. There was a watchman posted at the door to be sure nobody came in during the setup of his scheme. He took the gum, put the Cherry Bomb(M-80) in the center of the gum then lit the string fuse and as far down as he could reach outside the window, stuck the gum with the timed fuse and Cherry Bomb to the concrete sill under the window.
Class took up as usual and after a few words from Mrs. Benson we were excused to go to the library. At approximately 15 minutes into our research in the library there was a very loud boom. Of course everyone was out in the hall trying to find out exactly what happened. A few of us were lucky to know. Mrs. Bensons room was directly above the office and as I understand it at the time they were a little shook up by the loud boom and the rain of exploded Cherry Bomb debris that came floating down from above them. Tom, maybe this will clear up a little more about Ted's prank.
I also enjoyed Smitty's article about the old ice house. It was extremely accurate as I visited the site many times while growing up in Olney. Ice blocks were our refrigerators.
Jim Totten
"Class of 56"
Chris (Keiffer) Totten "Class of 70" -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Janis Jones Kern
I am working on collecting information on Veterans from Richland County. I started collecting the special tributes to vets that were published by the Olney Daily Mail several years ago and have managed to get over a hundred names with pictures and details. Actually, my husband Mike (class of l959) got me started in saving the Olney Daily Mail publications since he is a Vietnam Vet himself and was interested in reading these tributes. However, I have missed several of the special tributes and also articles that were published at intermittent times. I know there was an exceptionally detailed article about Robert L. Dehner around December 2002 and also one about Stan Walters around the same time that I didn't clip out. I checked the Olney Daily Mail's website, but a very hefty fee is required to get articles printed from their archives that long ago. My aim is to compile all this information in a nice organized way into a binder and then contribute the book to the Olney Public Library's Genealogy Department. Since I have retired from the library where I worked for almost l7 years, I have some time on my hands and decided to gather a lot of my papers that I had stuffed away in drawers regarding veterans in this area. So, if anyone out there would like to contribute information about any of their family members who served our country and who have lived or are currently living in Richland County Illinois, please contact me via e-mail. I'll give those who are interested my home address to "snail mail" this information to me. Please do not send attachments via e-mail because I sometimes have a hard time opening these up and end up losing the information.
Janice (Jones) Kern Class of 1963 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I HAVE REALLY ENJOYED ALL THE OLNEY MEMORIES AND THOUGHT I WOULD ADD ON TO THEM FROM MY POINT OF VIEW AS A TEEN. SINCE I WAS A FARM KID, MY SOCIAL LIFE ENDED WHEN THE BELL RANG AT THE END OF THE SCHOOL DAY. I CAUGHT THE BUS, HEADED HOME, AND TOOK ON THE DAILY CHORES ASSIGN EACH OF MY SEVEN SIBLINGS. OUR OLD HOUSE WAS NOT MODERNIZED WHICH MEANT WE HAD TO CARRY IN WOOD AND COAL FOR THE STOVES EVERY EVENING. THE BOYS HAD THE COWS TO MILK AND TEND TO ALL THE FARM CHORES. DAD WORKED OUT IN THE OIL FIELDS FOR PURE OIL CO. AND HE AND THE BOYS FARMED WHICH MEANT THE HARVESTING HAD TO BE DONE AFTER SCHOOL ALSO AFTER DAD AND TOM AND PAT WERE HOME. WE HAD THE OLD FAMILY CAR WHICH HALF THE TIME WOULDN'T START WITHOUT A PUSH OR A STIFF KICK ON THE TIRES. ANY WAY WHEN WE WENT TO TOWN, IF WE WERE LUCKY, IT MEANT AN ICE CREAM FROM MIKE'S OR A BAG OF PEANUT CLUSTERS FROM THE OLD FIVE AND TEN. DAD AND MOM WOULD LOAD US ALL IN THE CAR IN THE SUMMERTIME AND WE'D TAKE IN A MOVIE AT THE DRIVE-IN WEST OF TOWN. BIG FAMILIES WERE PRETTY COMMON BACK THEN ,ESPECIALLY FARM FAMILIES, SO I DON'T THINK MY SITUATION WAS A WHOLE LOT DIFFERENT THAN A LOT OF OTHER COUNTRY KIDS. I DON'T THINK TOO MANY COUNTRY KIDS HAVE WRITTEN , HAVE THEY? IT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO KNOW IF THEIR AFTER SCHOOL LIFE WAS ANYTHING LIKE MINE. ALL I CAN SAY IS I FEEL SO BLESSED TO HAVE OLNEY TO CALL MY HOMETOWN. HOW I WISH OUR CHILDREN AND LITTLE GRANDCHILDREN COULD BE SO FORTUNATE. LOVE HEARING FROM YOU
NANCY CRAIG
Class of 1960
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