#triviatuesday

OK, Baby Boomers and local-TV historians, here’s a TriviaTuesday question just for you:

What Cincinnati TV personality, often seen in maritime attire, was scheduled to appear with Dick Clark, host of the hit TV show “American Bandstand,” during a musical program in 1962 at (the now long-gone) LeSourdsville Lake Amusement Park in Middletown?

If you answered “Skipper Ryle,” aka Glenn Ryle, give yourselves a pat on the back!

After perusing “The Cincinnati Sound,” (*) a highly entertaining book on the history of local entertainment, we were inspired to search our database of old local newspapers (**) for photos of superstars who appeared at LeSourdsville Lake.

Lo and behold, we found a Friday, May 11, 1962, article in the Hamilton Daily News Journal titled “Dick Clark at Lake June 17 ; Glenn Ryle will also appear.”

For those too young to know, Clark was the  decades-long host of ABC-TV’s legendary “American Bandstand” show where the country’s most popular musical entertainers performed and audience members danced to the hits of the day.

If you grew up watching Cincinnati TV, you probably have fond memories of Glenn Ryle. Not only was Ryle the host of   “Saturday Morning Dance Party,” he was also the beloved star of WKRC-TV’s long-running children’s program, “The Skipper Ryle Show.” There he assumed the character of a “Skipper” in naval-themed attire.

Interestingly, many of the articles and advertisements published on that 1962 newspaper page were devoted to the start of LeSourdsville Lake’s 41st anniversary season.

Many locals will recall the park’s musical venue, Stardust Gardens, where  entertainment royalty like Glenn Miller, Stan Kenton and Middletown’s own McGuire Sisters performed.

In later years LeSourdsville Lake Amusement Park became Americana Amusement Park. It closed in 2002. ***

Sources:

* “The Cincinnati Sound” by Randy McNutt with foreword by Jim LaBarbara, published in 2007 by Arcadia Publishing. The accompanying photo of Dick Clark promoting an early 1960s visit to LeSourdsville Lake can be found on page 97. Available for checkout at MidPointe Library.

** Past copies of local newspapers including the 1962 Hamilton article referenced above can be found at www.midpointelibrary.org > eLibrary > Research databases > Newspaper Archives.

***From Wikipedia. “LeSourdsville Lake Amusement Park.”

The 1950 photo of Stardust Gardens at LeSourdsville Lake Amusement Park and  the 1958 park entrance can be found on MidPointe Library’s Digital Archives:

www.midpointelibrary.org > eLibrary > Digital Archives > LeSourdsville Lake

Use your free MidPointe Library card to check out many music-related items, both on-shelf and online!

MidPointe’s also your gateway to copies of previous local newspaper articles:

www.midpointelibrary.org > eLibrary > Research Databases > Newspapers and Magazines.

In addition, decades of past copies of the Middletown Journal are available on microfilm at MidPointe’s Middletown location.

No MidPointe library card? No problem! Sign up for your free card at any location: Middletown, West Chester, Trenton, Monroe and Liberty Township (2nd floor, Liberty Center).