Shown is a recently found penny postcard of Wilson Park at Okolona, MS. We spent many summer days of fun there.
The pool was always full of swimmers. The high diving board was not for the meek.
The ballroom (lower left) had a very loud sound system. I first heard Chuck Berry singing his new hit tune "Maybelline" there. The Wurlitzer jukebox was the largest I had ever seen.
You probably can recall some Wilson Park stories of your own.
______________________
Carl, Great to see that post card. In the early sixties, a car load of us made the drive to Okolona on a Saturday nite to that rec center. There was a great band out of Memphis playing and more pretty girls than you could shake a stick at! Fairly early in the evening however, some rectal orifice flushed a cherry bomb and the resulting explosion caused the entire dance floor to be flooded bringing our evening to an end.
ReplyDeleteYou hit a home run with Okolona posting, Carl. James Mask played dance music there for many years and he played "I got my mojos a'working" every night for many years.
ReplyDeleteLordy!
ReplyDeleteThanx fer that photo!
Many great memories for me!!!!!
GOOD stuff!!!!
Not only were there happenings in and around the dance hall. There was much activity in cars parked outside!!!
ReplyDeleterock n roll had just started in '1955 and that was the place to get a loud noise to "dance" to!
ReplyDeleteNow we realize more than ever it was just noise, but man what a time we had!!!
Okolona was a hoot!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Carl
I was there one afternoon when someone opened a Baby Ruth candy bar and threw it in the pool, needless to say, they closed the pool for a while that day
ReplyDeleteJMD
SOME GREAT DANCE BANDS PLAYED THERE REGULARLY. IT WAS AN ENJOYABLE PLACE TO TAKE YOUR DATE FOR BELLY RUBBING DANCES.
ReplyDeleteIT SEEMED, HOWEVER, THAT SOME GUYS WERE ALWAYS HACKED OFF AT THE PATRONS HAVING A GOOD TIME AND TRIED TO SABOTAGE THE FUN. SOME WERE CAUGHT AND DEALT WITH PRETTY SEVERELY, ANONYMOUS 11:08 AM.
WHO WAS THE JACKSON, MISS BAND THAT PLAYED GLENN MILLER STUFF SO WELL, AND HAD A GUY THAT LOOKED AND SOUNDED ALMOST IDENTICAL TO TEX BENEKE? ANYONE REMEMBER? THEY WERE VERY GOOD.
Thanks, Carl. What a place. For those of us that came of age in the 1950s Wilson Park was our ultima thule. Even now I can see Aaron Weatherford doing somersaults and swan dives off the high board and Jo Carolyn in her white bathing suit and long flowing black hair swimming in the sky blue water. We did not realize that we were creating memories that would last a lifetime.
ReplyDeleteHenry
Wish I could have seen that band that played Glenn Miller so well, Anonymous 9:25.
ReplyDeleteI was always a loyal fan and also an admirer of Tex Beneke. I did, fortunately, contact him on ham radio once in the early '80s. he was K0HWY and lived in Kansas at the time.
I have all the YouTube videos of them that I have been able to find, especially their hit "Five Minutes More" from 1946.
Oh, Henry, I'm so sorry the facade of that girl with the long black hair no longer exists. Of course, inside I'm still the girl in the white bathing suit as I know you are still a precocious imp. Sweet memories keep us going.
ReplyDeleteIf any of you have great pics of Okolona back in the way I would love to see them. We are working on a town revitalization project and they would be so meaningful. thank you
ReplyDelete