Anyway, The Note opened in the summer of 1963. Here's an article that appeared in the Lorain Journal on July 10, 1963 that tells the whole story.
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By SARAH WELKER
But the new cement and steel structure is as different from the old hardwood-floored dance hall as modern jive is from the jazz of the 20's and the swing of the 30's, albeit the short skirts, shifts, and teen-age hairdo's are reminiscent of the boy-bobs and cootie coops of the "dinosaur days."
Rising from the ashes (like the legendary Phoenix) of the old dance hall which burned completely July 3, 1960 is The Note, a recreation center designed especially for "young adults."
"We don't call them kids. We treat them as young adults and they have not disappointed us," said Kermit Price, president of the Hallmark Corporation, a group of Sanduskians who own and operate The Note.
Price is also the general manager and has memories of Ruggles as it was in the late 40's.
There is some 15,000 square feet of floor space in the dance hall, which includes an area under cover and a large patio for open air dancing.
There is a snack bar for soft drinks and sandwiches but The Note is"dry" alcoholically.
Music is provided by records. Speakers are installed throughout the building in the ceiling and also on the corners of the patio.
Disk jockeys handle the records and include Dave Parks of Sandusky's WLEC and George Mayer, who helps part time. He is manager of the South Shore Branch of the Erie County Bank.
The music is usually selected from the top 40 records of the week and several of these are given away as prizes during the evenings when the dance contests are held.
The picnic grove has been cleared of several years growth of brush and debris and a fence erected – this has a dual purpose – to keep the young customers of The Note from straying to nearby private beaches, and as a control for would-bee intruders.
Auxiliaries from the Erie County Sheriff's Department are on hand to lend protection if needed.
While The Note is primarily a "young people's" center, Price said parents were welcome to stop in to see what sort of place it actually is.
An open house is planned for mid-July and at that time the public will have an opportunity to visit.
Future plans call for the development of the picnic area and beach – Ruggles was once the mecca for Sunday School picnics, family reunions and other types of group picnics.
The name "Ruggles" will always bring back many "Do you remember's?" and even as the older generations shed a nostalgic tear for their lost youth, they cannot help but rejoice that "Ruggles is open" once more.
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Advertisements for The Note appeared in all of the local papers. Some ads included the illustration of the unusual building or its sign; others were more generic. |
| July 2, 1963 ad from the Lorain Journal |
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| July 17, 1963 ad from the Lorain Journal |
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| July 31, 1963 ad from the Sandusky Register |
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| October 3, 1963 ad from the Chronicle-Telegram |
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| June 5, 1964 ad from the Sandusky Register |
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| August 28, 1964 ad from the Sandusky Register |
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| August 29, 1964 ad from the Sandusky Register |
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| Nov. 20, 1964 ad from the Sandusky Register |
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| January 29, 1965 ad from the Sandusky Register |
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| April 2, 1965 ad from the Sandusky Register |
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| January 19, 1968 ad from the Sandusky Register |
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| Feb. 2, 1968 ad from the Sandusky Register |
Sometime around 1969, management of The Note changed, and the ads seemed to reflect that a change had taken place, both at The Note and culturally as well.
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| June 19, 1969 ad from the Fremont News Messenger |
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| July 3, 1969 ad from the Fremont News Messenger |
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| Sept. 25, 1969 ad from the Sandusky Register |
I’m not sure when The Note closed. The distinctive building is still there on U. S. Route 6 in Ruggles Beach, with no evidence of its former life as a popular teen hangout or its link to the earlier dance hall. Today the building is home to Sportside Storage.
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| The Note as it looks today (2024) |
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Judging from the ads, one of the regular local bands at The Note was Ronnie and the Rainbows. Click here to read about Ron Zehel and his bandmates on the buckeye beat.com website. On its “Venues” page here, the website also notes (no pun intended) that The Note apparently went through some name changes and lasted into the 1980s.
9 comments:
How in the world did they make any money when they only charged a $1.00 admission fee?...Talk about getting your money's worth.Jan and Dean are legends.Much better than this garbage they call music now.Everything now is voice enhanced.Someones grandmother could sing a Taylor Swift song and through the use of electronics it would sound exactly like her!I like how towards the end of the 60's the hippies took over the place and changed how it was run.Now it's a storage facility......If those walls could only talk.
If I recall right, this place was Magilla's Teen Club in the later 80's...
So many fand memories
The beach boys were also there in the mid 60s. I had a band called Jerry and the G’s We opened for them. They said there was 3000 people there
Would I be correct if I said the “James Gang” played there in the early/ mid 60’s?
In 1972 i worked there. That year we had Rory Gallagher live
The actual date was 9/1/1973 I checked. I thought it was 72
Danced many of nights there when my family vacationed in Ruggles Beach. Our favorite band was the Tree Stump with Courtney John’s (I think that was his name). The Band was very much like Paul Revere, and the Raiders. Good times!!!
when I was 17 years old, I was a janitor at the Note from June 0f 1973 until Sometime in the winter of 1974, along with Bob Hansman of Vermilion. At that time, he Note was run by a guy (from Sandusky, I believe) named Tom Halsey, and the late Dave Liljegren. Dave was a wonderful guy.
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