Although I haven’t been to a Grandstand show in a long time, it’s still interesting for me to see what acts are going to be performing. The local newspapers usually announce them in the spring; this year, Grand Funk Railroad is one of the featured attractions.
Back on April 30, 1968 – fifty years ago today – the Lorain Journal provided the traditional fair preview. None other than Roy Rogers and Dale Evans were among the headliners, as seen in the Norm Bergsma Journal photo below which appeared on the front page of the paper that day.
That would have been a lot of fun to see.
At some point in the early 1960s, The Roy Rogers Show was being rerun on TV locally. I remember watching it.
Here’s a funny publicity photo. You can tell they were hitched by then.
In addition to knowing who he was from the TV show, I was also familiar with Roy Rogers from a Golden Book in the old Brady toy box, although its story highlighted Dale Evans.
Roy Rogers never seemed to age. He remained a positive, white-hatted role model for Baby Boomers right up to the end of his life, the way a Western hero should be. He passed away in 1998.
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Roy Rogers was a hero in another way too. Long after Arby’s switched to the chunked and jelled, faux-roast beef in the 1970s, Roy’s namesake restaurants were still serving up real roast beef – for a little while, anyway.
The restaurant is currently celebrating its 50th anniversary. You’re going to have to hit the trail for a long ride if you want to visit one, though, as they’re only in the mid-Atlantic states. Here’s the link to its website.
As I remember,Dale Evans did not make an appearance at that Fair show that year because she was ill..Roy brought one of his daughters instead..I think the child that made the show appearance with him was the girl that was killed in the bus accident in California a few years later,I believe her name was,Dodie..
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