CastleRock

CastleRock took place in the cavernous Dorney Park dance-hall, Castle Garden. The "Garden" was built in the early 20's and hosted all the famous big bands of that era. By the late fifties it was called CastleRock. The Philadelphia recording stars, such as Frankie Avalon and Freddy Cannon would routinely perform. By my teenage era, in the early mid 60's, it was mostly disc jockeys. The Park was free, no admission. Pay to park, and maybe a buck or so for the dance-hall.







By then the nightclub tables shown in the photograph were gone, and sitting was around the sides. There were no shootings, and rowdiness was restricted to sneaking on a ride without buying a ticket. The dance-hall overlooked the lake, it was destroyed by a fire on Thanksgiving in 1985.

reprinted from January,26,2010

Flash From Past

Occasionally, some of the older boys in Lehigh Parkway would get saddled with taking me along to a Saturday matinee in downtown Allentown. We would get the trolley, in later years a bus, from in front of the basement church on Jefferson Street. It would take that congregation many years to afford completing the church building there today. The trolley or bus would go across the 8th Street Bridge, which was built to accommodate the trolleys operated by Lehigh Valley Transit Company. Downtown then sported no less than five movie theaters at any one time. Particularly matinee friendly was the Midway, in the 600 Block of Hamilton. Three cartoons and episode or two of Flash Gordon entertained our entourage, which ranged in age from five to eleven years old. We younger kids, although delighted by the likes of Bugs Bunny, were confused how the Clay People would emerge from the walls in the caves on Mars to capture Captain Gordon, but our chaperones couldn't wait till the next week to learn Flash's fate. Next on the itinerary was usually a banana split at Woolworth's. Hamilton Street had three 5 and 10's, with a million things for boys to marvel at. The price of the sundae was a game of chance, with the customer picking a balloon. Inside the balloon was your price, anywhere from a penny to the full price of fifty cents. The store had a full selection of Allentown souvenirs. Pictures of West Park on a plate, the Center Square Monument on a glass, pennants to hang on your wall, and picture postcards of all the attractions. Hamilton Street was mobbed, and even the side streets were crowded with busy stores. Taking younger kids along was a responsibility for the older brothers, the streets and stores were crowded, but predators were limited to the Clay People on the silver screen.

reprinted from March 24, 2010

Trail Network Approved

Denise Sanchez/The Morning Call/April 4, 2010

Shown above, Luciana Martucci, with her Barbie fishing pole, teaches her daddy how to fish in an Allentown park. Luciana is concerned that the Trail Network Plan will encourage many additional bicyclists, going much faster, which will make watching her daddy more difficult; He tends to wander when they walk on the paths. She doesn't understand why the paths are going to be dug up and paved to accommodate one particular set of users, at the expense of all others.

The parks are a nationally recognized heritage of all Allentonians, from one generation to the next. No one Administration, or set of Trustee's, is entitled to impose irreversible changes in its design or use.

This post is reprinted from one year ago. Despite assurances given by City Council at that time, to a packed chamber of citizens, that all future park plans would receive proper public notice and input, last evening funds were appropriated to begin construction of a bike trail connecting Cedar Park to Union Terrace and Lehigh Parkway.

Prime Time Television

Last evening Bernie O'Hare invited me to watch the Gracedale Business Matters show, and quite a show it was. Bernie pounded away at election fraud, despite both the Election Board and a County Judge approving the signatures. Since the taping, the Commonwealth Court has reaffirmed the legality of the petitions. Ron Angle offered to keep Gracedale, if the union would come back with significant concessions. A better prepared Tony Iannelli might have questioned Angle's authority, since he is not the County Executive, or even still Council President. Bernie insisted on calling Pastor Martinez a fake reverend. I'm not sure why Bernie wanted people to watch this show, but I may have seen his friend Bill Coker. Some gentleman in the audience asked under what authority do the citizens think they can circumvent council? It's called democracy.

Day of the Fight

In the late 1920's, Newark was home to a large Jewish population and hundreds of Jewish fighters. One night a week, Laurel Garden would host either boxing, wrestling or roller skating, in addition to performances by popular bands. One night in 1929, an eighteen year old volunteered from the audience to fill in for a missing boxer. The kid won by knockout, and so began the career of Tony Galante, who would fight 29 times at Laurel. Among the notables who fought there over the years were James Braddock and Max Schmeling. The photo above is a still from the documentary, Day of the Fight, made in 1951. It was the first film attempt by a young director named Stanley Kubrick. Laurel Garden was demolished in 1953.

Bad Lesson Plan

This blog has been critical of both the school superintendent and the school board. I have even mentioned the board leadership, but not by name. Although an elected office, I can think of no more of a thankless job than school board member. I'm sorry to report that someone has attacked a local business over the school district dilemma. Jeff Glazier is president of the school board, and fourth generation operator of Glazier Furniture. The store is still located on Hamilton, near 2nd Street. When it started in 1916, this was the busy hub of Allentown merchandizing. Throughout the years and generations, the family has stayed faithful to Allentown, and certainly doesn't deserve this abuse. Another member of the board works for the Lehigh Valley Health Network, would they boycott the hospital? It is my hope that whoever put up the signs, realizes that it wasn't his best lesson plan.

Allentown School District

Last night the School Board approved Zahorchak's Pathways to Success, laying off 247 teachers. Before I begin my tirade, let me acknowledge a reality. Apparently, there will be less revenue from the state and federal governments this year. (although we always seem to end up with more than the initial offer) Assuming that, never the less, there is a substantial reduction, and the taxpayers can only tolerate so much increase, some layoffs were inevitable. Also, apparently teachers cannot be laid off for reasons of economy, only curriculum changes. So, I concede a program change, and some layoffs were necessary. That said, this school board and this superintendent could not have done it in a poorer fashion. The board hired the wrong person last year as superintendent. It was apparent from the first Z Letter indicating that everything was wrong and that he had all the answers. It was apparent from the 3000 idea's he threw against the wall. It was apparent from transferring the most effective principals to administrative jobs. To have made the best of their bad hiring decision, the board would have to first recognize it. Apparently, this board, or at least it's leadership, has too much self esteem for such a conclusion.

Although 247 teachers will be laid off, not one administrator will lose his/her job. To make matters more irrational, many of these administrative jobs did not exist before last year. Although Zahorchak's goal of higher test scores and graduation rate are admirable, he is gutting the elective programs, which were the unique aspect of the Allentown School District. If he doesn't succeed in his goals, which is very likely, his plan was the Pathway to Failure. He has demoralized the teaching staff, even before the layoffs. Allentown School District has dug itself a deeper hole, which wasn't easy to do. Zahorchak claims we need a change; I agree, we need a new board and a new superintendent.