Mystery Photo

[betamike]

Lawzy!  Since the Park used to have it's entrance down on that end waaaaaay back in the early days, could it have been Admissions?

[Junior]

Prior to Flooded Mine being constructed, the area was used as the new parking lot after they closed off the first parking lot...Main Street! Rube posted a photo some time ago that showed cars parked along the pathway leading from the Blacksmith Shop and up to the town square. Early, early '60's I think. My stepfather told me first time he visited SDC, he parked in the vicinity of where FM is, and entrance to the city was by walking across the Swinging Bridge!

[pintrader]

Was it the barbershop?

[Junior]

BINGO!    Pintrader has got the extra point! It indeed was the Barber Shop. The Barber Shop was like the Jail is...kind of a static display space. It had a full set up of an old time barber shop, a dummy sitting in the chair getting his hair cut by another dummy. I think that was the original use of the space...at least it was in 1970 when I visited the first time as a little kid...and to the best of my knowledge only served in that capacity until the silversmith shop went in there sometime in the early to mid-70's. Again, now it is "The Greatest Gift" shop.

TOTALS:

OZARKS GAL.....6
Betamike.........4
Trams.............1
Okiebluegrass...1
Zephon...........1
Pintrader.........1
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MYSTERY PHOTO #14: The old Gazebo on Main Street, photo from 1979. QUESTION: Name this noted "citizen" who entertained at the theaters around the park, and what was his specialty? Hint: His mom was Jack Herschend's personal secretary for many years, his dad was a talented scrimshaw artist on park.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/juniordugan

[pintrader]

John Corbin Goldsberry?  The Dulcimer?

[Junior]

John Goldsberry. John Corbin. John Corbin Goldsberry. He was billed under all three names. Later, when he married, the act became known as Jan and John or John and Jan. He played the hammer dulcimer. John is known on sdcfans.com as OLD GUY and was one of the charter members on this site. He posted many, many posts about the old days at SDC. He and his wife left the park in the mid to late 90's I think. They were saddened deeply when the park management moved in another direction, leaving traditional music behind. Traditional music is what they both did. The only band on park left over from that period of the 1970s is Horse Creek. Of course, we all love the Front Porch Pickers, too. I noticed something while on park the last couple of years...folks get to the McHaffie Homestead a half hour before the pickers begin their shows, and when they do the shows, it is standing room only around the porch. Hint to park management: Maybe it was wrong to move away from the traditional music performers? Last I heard, John was working at the dulcimer shop in Branson adjacent to Presley's Jubilee. Don't know if he is still there or not.

PINTRADER GETS THE POINT!

OZARKS GAL......6
Betamike...........4
Pintrader...........2
Trams...............1
Okiebluegrass.....1
Zephon.............1
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MYSTERY PHOTO #15:   My friend Aubrey was in the SDC Labor Pool. That meant he would show up for work, and they would assign him to a different place to work each day...where ever there was a need. One day he'd bus tables at the smokehouse, next day he'd greet guests at the diving bell. All the Juniors at the diving bell were in their late teens and early 20s, and so we all looked up to and highly respected Aubrey, whom we lovingly called "The Colonel" because he reminded us of Colonel Sanders, of KFC fame. He had a wonderful sense of humor, and had the knack of walking up to people, asking them where they were from...and then telling them he had visited their hometown, and provide facts and figures to proove he really had been there! It always amazed us Juniors, and the guests, too...because he was always right! He was a retired man who was probably in his late '60s at the time this photo was taken in 1983. QUESTION: In the photo, what location on park is he greeting guests, and how is the building he worked out of utilized on park today?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/juniordugan     

[pintrader]

Looks like he is at the train depot.  It's used as a gift shop today.

[Junior]

PINTRADER HAS IT!  Prior to the gift shop being put in at the train depot, it was used as the depot office. A stationmaster sat at the front window. Initially, in the early days when there were regular and premium ticket prices, he'd punch your premium "passport" ticket so you could enter the depot and ride the train. Later, he'd give you a Pathfinder, steer you to other things to see and do, point out how to get to the rest rooms, and so on. The office was also used as a break room for the conductors. In the off season, the depot was sometimes used to store props from other attractions, so they could be kept out of the harsh winter weather until next season. I fondly remember Ken Holt as being the primary stationmaster during the years I worked on park. I believe that Ken, who was an older gent back then, has now passed on to that great train depot in the sky! Today, the same space is the train depot gift shop.

TOTALS:

OZARKS GAL.....6
Betamike..........4
Pintrader..........3
Trams..............2
Okiebluegrass....1
Zephon............1
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MYSTERY PHOTO #16: Photo from 1980. What activity is this "citizen" involved in, and what shop did he work at?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/juniordugan     

[pintrader]

Musket shooting demonstrations at the Gun & Knife Shop?

[Junior]

You got it again, Pintrader! Prior to the construction of Wildfire in the woods near the gun and knife shop, black powder rifle demonstrations were given all day, and guests could try shooting them. This was a popular thing to do, and the noise from the shots got people moving over and into the shop to look things over. After wildfire was built, it was too dangerous to shoot the rifles in that direction anymore, and so they quit that activity. At the time this photo was taken, the gunmaker was Bruce Grimes, who dressed in buckskins and was talented at hand carving wildlife and patriotic themes into the stocks of the rifles. His work was fabulous, and on top of that, Bruce was a great yodeler, and would entertain guests by yodeling for them. This is one of the other gunsmiths, whose name I don't remember. He is loading a rifle for a demonstration in the picture.
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TOTALS:

Ozarks Gal.....6
Betamike.......4
Pintrader.......4
Trams...........2
Okiebluegrass.1
Zephon.........1

MYSTERY PHOTO #17: This photo shows a 1980 company related meeting, held after the park closed in the saloon. The couple on the right are being honored for their work with the park. QUESTION: Name the "citizen" in the solid blue shirt on the left who is presenting the couple a certificate of appreciation.
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/juniordugan

[pintrader]

Jack Herschend?

[Junior]

The photo is an end of the summer meeting of Young Life, the Christian organization that supplied college aged students to the park for about 12 weeks to help in various capacities. The college kids were paid, and the people in the photo were a couple that owned a small resort on Table Rock Lake near Kimberling City that the Young Life people stayed at all summer. Jack Herschend is seen presenting the couple, whose names I cannot remember, with a certificate of appreciation for their work with the Young Life program that summer. Several of the Juniors at the diving bell were in the Young Life program. I attended some meetings of Young Life over the summer of 1980. It was always fun, a prayer, devotional, some kind of religious based skit or program, and after the program, many Young Life participants and their guests would go to the Pizza Corral at Kimberling City for pizza, Cokes, and to watch silent movies the restaurant ran. I remember seeing a Buster Keaton flick one evening. My pal, Russ Maulden, who worked diving bell maintenance all those years ago, and who made a career at SDC, even married a lovely young gal that was in the Young Life program. I think Young Life operates a hostel across Highway 76 adjacent to the employee parking lot today. I am glad to know the Young Life program continues at SDC, one of the many Christian based programs they have been involved in for decades.

THE COUNT:

OZARKS GAL..........6
Pintrader...............5
Betamike...............4
Trams...................2
Okiebluegrass.........1
Zephon.................1

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MYSTERY PHOTO #18:   From 1978, this is a photo of Norm, one of the notable "citizens" in his time. He always had a big smile on his face and was one of the first people to greet guests as they came through the Hospitality House doors and onto the town square. QUESTION: What specific character role did he play? If you visited SDC as a kid in the late 70s or early to mid 80s, Norm would have been one of the first people you saw each time you came to visit.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/juniordugan

[Ozarks Gal]

Sheriff?

[MissinTheGreenTrams]

knife maker?

[Junior]

Norm was the town sheriff...he passed out the deputy badges to all the kids and swore them in. He was excellent at visiting with guests. He also did some of the Hatfield/McCoy street skits.

TOTALS:

OZARKS GAL..........7
Pintrader...............5
Betamike...............4
Trams...................2
Okiebluegrass.........1
Zephon.................1
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MYSTERY PHOTO #19: Grandfather's Mansion photographed in 1978. Question: Name the original attraction located at this spot. Hint: People today still enjoy seeing part of that original attraction!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/juniordugan