1976 Admiral King Majorettes

Here's a photo from the 1976 football program of the Admiral King Marching Band Majorettes. (Click on it for a larger view.)

By George, that's just what this blog needs to get more readers... some cheesecake!

1976 Admiral King Marching Band Mug Shot

Here is a photo of what the Admiral King Marching Band looked like back in the fall of 1976, from another old football program that I saved. Unfortunately, I missed this photo shoot, but one of this blog's Followers is in there! (Click on the photo for a larger version!)

I still think the current version of the AK band has shrunk over the years. In this 1976 photo, there are more than 120 people carrying musical instruments; in the photo on the current band's website, I count only about 75.

I wonder if they still have enough band members to spell out Script King?

1974 Admiral King Marching Band Mug Shot

Here's what the 1974 version of the Admiral King Marching Band looked like, scanned from the small photo in the old football program. (Click on it to see a larger view so you can locate your old band pals.) This blogger and at least one Follower is in there somewhere!

For me, marching band was the best part of high school. Leading the band that fall was Drum Major John Venzel, who now has a very successful Pediatric Dentistry practice in Avon, Ohio. Click here to visit his website.

What does the Admiral King Marching Band look like these days? Click here to visit its website! I'm not sure... but it seems to have shrunk!

1974 Admiral King Football Program Ads

Here's a grab bag of some of the old advertisements in the 1974 Admiral King Football Program. (Click on each for a larger version.)

Remember the old Clarkins department store on Leavitt Road? That was the best place for me to buy new records when they came out. (For you young'uns, it's where the PC Campana industrial park is now.)

Also of interest is the ad for WLRO 1380 (now doing business as WDLW Kool Kat Oldies), and Brady's (no relation!). Brady's Restaurant will be the subject of a blog series a little later...

And here's a link to another blogger who has a little bit of information about Clarkins.

Don't forget it's High School Football time!

Fall is only a few days away - so that means it's time for high school football! Hard to believe but it's already Week 4. (Admiral King plays Sandusky tonight at George Daniel Field.)

Every couple of years I drag the wife over to George Daniel Field to take in a game on a Friday night. I mainly want to hear what the Admiral King Marching Band sounds like these days and if they are using the same drum cadences from thirty years ago.

I dug this old football program from 1974 out of storage, and next week will present some of the goodies inside this one and some of the other ones I saved! There's plenty of great ads, photos, etc. (Hmmm.... there might even be a photo of this blogger and a Follower.. or two!)

One last Cedar Point memory... Berardi's French Fries!

Summer is almost over, and soon Cedar Point will wrap up another season.

After all that blogging about Cedar Point back in June, I forgot to mention one of the best things about the place... delicious Berardi's French Fries! You could get them at Cedar Point from 1942 until 1978 at their stand.

After Cedar Point chased out all the mom-and-pop food vendors, the Berardi family opened up several restaurants in Erie County featuring their fries. My wife and I go to the one in Huron on US 6 right next to the bridge. To visit their website, click here.

Old timers will remember that before the restaurant became Berardi's, it was a root beer drive-in. To rekindle memories of that place, click here.

You oughta head to the Aut-O-Rama Drive-in!

Made a trip out to the Aut-O-Rama Drive-in theater over the weekend. It's always a good time, even when the movies stink (as they did this time.) But even if the movies are lousy, there is always the great commercial for Pic insect repellent to look forward to (see screen grabs at right.)

The Aut-O-Rama has been out there by the turnpike exit in North Ridgeville since 1965. I've actually been to it more since I was an adult, since the drive-in of my youth was either the Lorain Drive-in on US 6 or the Tower Drive-in on Lake Avenue. But they're both long gone.

Actually, I always enjoy the timeless atmosphere of the drive-in more than anything else, including any movie that might be showing. Sitting under the stars in lawn chairs is pretty relaxing and very similar to camping. Don't miss your chance to pay a visit to the Aut-O-Rama as the season is winding down.

For a link to the website of the Aut-O-Rama Drive-in, click here. (The Overview page has some nifty information about the history of the place.)