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Show it j ' y The arts and people behind the scenes neview Wednesday July 22, 1987 ; Bands visited Lagoon; pool was sea of fun -- r t r s 'i i i series of articles chronicling cheap thrills, the early forms ofentertainment in the Lakeside area over the past 100 years. This week, fun during the two decades following 1950 is deEditor's Note: This is the third in a scribed. BRYON SAXTON Lakeside Review staff ' "Theres a park near the city and all the kids dig it. Lagoon now," Taken from The Beach Boys' 19SS song tilled Salt Lake City. The thrills from 1950 to 1970 werent exactly cheap. But compared to todays prices for the same amount of fun, the word inexpensive applied to fun in those decades would definitely be an understatement. According to those who enjoyed their youth during that period when both the Chevrolet Corvair and the music of the Beatles became popular, the place to be was Lagoon. Whether you lived in Davis County or not. Every Friday and Saturday night we would have one of the eras big bands play at Patio Gardens," said Dick Andrews, director of communication for Lagoon Corp. Patio Gardens has since been turned into Lagoons video arcade, located just north of the amusement parks main entrance. But before the hall was changed in the early 1970s from a dancing arena to the video arcade, a number of familar 20-ye- ar IB ''V V - 1. ' . - - T , nr names and faces graced Lagoon with their presence, leaving behind a wake of memo- 'i v x i f '' t i, "i; fV;sS- fun-fill- ed ries. "'t tf V'- - We had name attractions, like Louie Armstrong and Nat King Cole, Andrews said. No question about it, it was the place to be on a Friday or Saturday night Men would be in their coats and ties and women would be in their summer dresses, he said. And as the music industry changed, so did the names, the type of dress and the tone of the bands sounds. They always packed them y Bill in, said KJQ Allred, a frequent vistor at Las. goon during the early to " f nr-"- - t - . . 4 1) 4 r, yfypi t w v J t v Lagoons Patio Gardens was a popular place for summertime thrills when bands played in the 1950s and 60s. Stones and Jim Morrison and the Doors playing at Patio Gardens; they would pack them in, he said. There would be several thousand people. disc-jocke- mid-1960- The Beach Boys played at Lagoons Patio Gardens at least five times, Allred said. And they always had songs on the charts. Those hits included their 1965 song, Salt Lake City, which happens to mention Lagoons popularity. Allred said even though the tune never appeared on the national charts, the pop song Salt Lake City was listed as number one song by KNAK (a former radio station) from July 19 to the middle of August in 1965. Other groups, who went on to become rock n roll household names, also visited the Davis County park. I remember both the Rollings However, according to Andrews, by the late 1960s dancing lost its popularity and Lagoon got out of the business. Other factors behind the elimination of the popular dance band concerts included the cost versus the number of people the parks facility could hold and the changing personalities of thegroups. We want to be , a family entertainment park and the direction that the music was going wasnt compatible with that, ming pool. And even though it was small, it was an inexpensive place to go. Hunt said the pool, construct. ed in the early 1960s, was also popular for other reasons, besides just as a cheap means of entertainment For fun, the city used to put carp and fish in the pool and would let people dive in after them to try to catch them with their hands. Hunt said the city would also sponsor fun day at the pool near the end of the summer. He said one activity at the Layton pool fun day was to let area youth dive in after coins ' thrown into the pool. They use to do some really fun things. Things we couldnt do today, Hunt said. And those who didnt have a dollar, for Lagoon or a quarter for the pool usually found their entertainment at The Dipper, drive-i- n d located on a Main Street. Or at Hobbs Pond, where all you had to do was show up to have fun. Carter Cook, Laytons recreation supervisor and a lifetime resident of Davis County, remembers when area youth would head out to Hobbs Pond, located near the Weber Basin a PAPfc , non-existe- s c,ty NAR nt n, Water Conservancy District And those area residents who "Lay-to- skin-ny-d- ip fast-foo- Andrews said. couldnt afford to visit Lagoon n would often dive into the a catch to either City pool headquarters to swim or for free. All you had to do was show up, Cook said referring to the cost of swimming at Hobbs. But since then. Cook said, activities have changed with the growth of the city. The population grew in Lay-toand we couldnt accommodate all the people at the pool, Cook said. And city development squeezed the life out of the old Layton swimming hole. But when the pool and Lagoon were the spots to be, the fun provided, cheap or not, was always considered a thrill. , fish or grab a quarter. Richard Hunt of the Layton City recreation department said during the 1960s Layton City had a popular outdoor swim Story by Bryon Saxton Cartoons by Val Bagley Pioneer Village 'alive' for holiday CALLAHAN JO-AN- Lakeside Review correspondent Have you FARMINGTON ever attended a shotgun wedding? This week at Lagoons Pioneer village you can do just that and much more. TJie people who brought the Salt Lake area the Dickens Festi- val at Christmastime are doing something similar this summer, but this time with an Old West flavor at Lagoons Pioneer Village. Many times young people find Pioneer Village boring, but this week it will be different, said Kathy Thayne, an organizer of the event. We will have activities all day long and continued entertainment. There will be , ttft. demonstrations daily of weaving, spinning, bootmaking, Mary Ellen is a member of the Utah Scots Society and proud of her heritage. She has more than 200 costumes in her private collection and has even made a tuxedo for a newborn infant. black-smithin- g, whit- basketweaving, tling and sand painting. There will also be old time exconperiences like cow chip throwing and tests, watermelon-eatin- g contests. pie-eati- ng Mary Ellen Smith is one of the craft people who will be selling her wears. She has supported five children by sewing and selling crafts for 21 years. She makes costumes and wedding attire during the year and then for fun she makes clothespin dolls and other crafts. These dolls are so cute and so cleaver that people want to have them to treasure or to give to special friends, said Mrs. Thayne. She is only one of the great people who will be there. We will actors have performing a and the other events, explained Mrs. Thayne. shoot-o- . ut A medicine man will come into town at 5:45 each evening and authentic Indian dancing will be performed at 6:15. Mrs. Thayne predicted that the stagecoach would be robbed at 6:30 nightly and a train jobbery will occur at 5:30 each evening. Another attraction, a real salon ...... . i.." VvUv.s girl called Miss Shari, will be performing from 8 p.m., in the saloon constructed in the village. 4-- For the younger kids a sawdust scramble will be held at 12:15 and 4:15 p.m., and also at 4:15 will be a Little Rock Church Choir skit Besides the concerts on the village green sponsored by Lagoon, there will be live entertainment all day in the village. This is a great week to come to Lagoon and even those older folks who feel they are too old to ride the rides can come and be entertained all day in Pioneer Village. But beware, the shotgun wedding will be at 6:45 who know who .might end up hitched. m,.. v V t 441 It ' J ' 5 I'-- i-' v i'i'SJ ;X Loading muskets are mountain men at Lagoons Pioneer Village, Toker Timothy and August Wapato of Sandy. |