590 MIGHTY MEMORY #538

PHOTO INDEX: POCONO DRAG LODGE CIRCA 1960s.

POCONO DRAG LODGE REUNION

In the 1960s WARM Radio’s music personified fast cars and fast music. The station’s bell shaped signal provided great booming coverage into the Pocono Area. It was a natural for the participants in the Pocono rag Lodge to listen to WARM as their station of choice. And WARM Radio, the Mighty 590 seeing a promotional opportunity used to provide information on the events. Night time jocks Joey Shaver, Bill Stuart, T.J. Lambert III and the late Tim Karlson used to promote the races on their shifts during the 60s and 70s.
On Saturday 8/15/09 there will be a Pocono Drag Lodge reunion. For those that remember, it was a great track in the 60's and 70's. The hours are 9-5. That's where Joe Amato got his start. Pocono Drag Lodge was a 1/4 mile NHRA drag strip located in Bear Creek, Pennsylvania, near Scranton/Wilkes Barre. The strip has been idle for decades, but was once a major NHRA site. A plan to revive the track for a 1998 opening fell through the cracks but a reunion, long planned for this weekend will be a chance to reconnect with some of the drivers and their cars. For those of you not able to attend, here’s some information on a DVD produced in time for the reunion.

DRAG RACING - WHEN IT WAS FUN!

This one hundred and twenty-three minute original movie production includes Drag Racing action from the 1960’s at various drag strips: Pocono Drag Lodge, Pocono International Raceway, Kel-Rica, Wind Gap, Vargo, Numidia, Island, Forty Fort, Tri Cities and Maple Grove. The video has an assortment of Gassers, Altereds, Dragsters, Super/Stockers, Funny Cars and Stockers. The big names of the sport appear as well as some of the regular racers and their cars. I started off doing this video for the first annual Pocono Drag Lodge Reunion but as I got into it I realized that the people who went to PDL also traveled to several other drag strips within the same geographical area. It was common for many of the same cars to tow into Island, Tri Cities (NY track) or Vargo on the same weekend. Of course they also went to Numidia and Maple Grove on a regular basis. Wind Gap Drag Strip was one of the first tracks in the area and we have a short story about racing there in 1961. I have also included a story on the Kel-Rica track and you have to see it to believe it. Some of the track is still visible today and I had a chance to talk to the owner about it. I believe you will really enjoy this story. I have also included some very rare footage of drag racing at the Pocono International Raceway. They ran two drag races there in 1969 and we are able to show you some of the action in both of them. Jungle Jim and Brutus ran the first match race there and you get to see the action. I have also included some interviews with people who competed at these tracks: Joe Amato talks about his early years in drag racing, Bob Chipper does the same for his career. Both of these super stars of the sport got their start at PDL. We also talk to Jerry Hotchkiss about the ’63 Z-11 Chevy he bought from Malcolm Durham. We show a best of three-match race with Al Joniac and his A/FX Mustang against Fast Eddie Schwartman’s ’65 A/FX Mercury Comet at Vargo Dragway then talk to Al about it. Tom Sneeden talked to us about running the Bob Banning Funny Car at Pocono International Raceway. We also talked to Wally Bell about his ’57 Chevy Gasser and his role as Manager of PDL. Bob Strunk raced at both PDL and Numidia back in the 1960’s and he gives us a history report regarding Numidia. This video has several stories about Gassers. Included are: Joe Amato (5 time Top Fuel Champion) ‘32 Chevy, Fiat AA/A, 40 Chevy; Bob Chipper ‘55 Chevy, 40 Willys, 33 Willys, 70 Cuda BB/GS; Wally Bell 57 Chevy; Tony Durso C/MP 55 Chev. In addition we show numerous gassers at all the tracks. If you are a fan of gassers this will surely appeal to you. For Super Stock fans we have a match race between the Lawman Plymouth and the Tasca Tbolt at Island Dragway in 1964. Cool stuff. The Joniac vs. Schwartman match at Vargo is killer. The close up shots on the return road will knock you out. We also follow Wally Bell, Jack Schaffer, George Whalen, Tim Richards, Jerry Hotchkiss, Lee Malkemes, Bob Harrop and others to match races at Tri Cities, Island, Numidia and PDL. As always we have taken the time to dub real car sounds on to the movie footage in order to give you the most realistic sights and sounds available of the golden era of drag racing. We have also included relative narration in the video so you can follow all the action that takes place. Get your copy today on DVD or VHS. Our DVD includes 30 Chapter markers so you can quickly navigate to your favorite part of the video. Cost is $19.00.
Here are two videos from YOU TUBE on the Pocono Drag Lodge.


From Jan and Dean: "Bucket T:"

Then there was Jan and Dean's "Drag City". Heard on WARM many, many times during drag racing season.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #539

PHOTO INDEX: LETTER FROM SCOTT ARTHUR TO MY FRIEND, JOEY DELLARTE. (CLICK TO ENLARGE).

CUSTOMER CARE AND WARM

You walk into a car dealership and want to buy a car and the salesman won't go the extra mile to help you. You complain to his manager and the head honcho calls you out for your "bad attitude". You order something in an eatery and it's wrong. No apologies, just eat it and shut up. The State Liquor Bureau is paying a guy $70,000 to teach State Store Clerks how to be nice to customers. Consultants travel around the country making millions chatting up the marvels of good customer service in business. Crazy. All customer service means is doing the right thing and treating people like you'd want to be treated. WARM Radio understood that long before the gurus were paid big bucks to state the obvious. My late friend, Joey Dellarte entered a WARM contest with all night deejay Scott Arthur. Joey didn't win the contest...............but got a nice thank you letter anyway. That's the type of customer care WARM practiced one listener at a time. That's why they were king of the hill for decades. And their jocks didn't need a consultant to tell them how to treat a loyal listener.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #540

PHOTO INDEX: THE LATE MANNY GORDON.

MANNY AND WARM

A big part of my childhood at Christmas time was being terrified that our Christmas tree would burn the house down. My father was kind of like the dad on "The Christmas Story" so things sometimes were jerry rigged. Every year, I dutifully waited for the Manny Gordon Christmas tree recipe which kept the tree moist and less brittle. Through the years, Manny Gordon was on the radio so much you'd think he was a member of the WARM staff. Even after his retirement from the Forestry Department, Manny would be on WARM joshing with Harry West or Len Woloson or George Gilbert on various charities he ws involved with at the time.
Manny Gordon died last week at the age of 97. He lived a very good life of enjoyment. His mantra was "Enjoy Enjoy". With Manny's life, we in WARMland did. We enjoyed Manny to the Max.
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590 MIGHTY MEMORY #541

PHOTO INDEX: THE SCRANTON FAMILY FROM THE COVER OF LIFE MAGAZINE, JUNE 1964.

WARM AND THE GREAT CAMPAIGN

It was 1964, a scant half year after John Kennedy, the President of the U.S. was killed. Midway through '64, the name of Pennsylvania Governor and WARMland native William Warren Scranton's name was being bounced around as a possible nominee for the Republican Party. Although Barry Goldwater led in the delegate count, many of the moderate Republicans wanted a more left of center voice. William Scranton, the progressive Republican Governor of the Commonwealth fit the bill. Scranton was unsure about running until Senator Goldwater voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Scranton, whose family virtually founded the GOP in the state was outraged that the party of Lincoln had as its possible nominee a man who voted to deny basic rights and dignity to all Americans. In mid June he jumped into the race for President. WARM Radio had reporters, Jack Donniger and Terry McNulty in Atlantic City to follow the proceedings. Special interviews with local delegates were featured. WARM also followed the convention via their UPI News Service with veteran reporter Pye Chamberlain providing minute by minute coverage. WARM of course kept its music format humming but the Scranton effort was not that far off the radar. A promo ran constantly that stated: "Did the Governor start too late? Or is Bill Scranton, WARMland's hometown boy poised to pull an upset in Atlantic City. Stay tuned as WARM News takes you there as it all unfolds". Scranton needless to say did not get the nomination but the coverage of his bid by WARM Radio made for an exciting political summer.
And in that political summer, here was one of the top songs played on WARM.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #542

PHOTO INDEX: MAN ON THE MOON.

WARM AND THE MOON

WARM Radio, in the summer of '69 promoted its news operation as the lunar landing approached. Utilizing UPI News, WARM had special reports during each newscast and broke in with bulletins as needed. On the night that man first landed on the moon, WARM suspended local programming (it was a Sunday night so it was no big financial loss for sales) with UPI coverage.

HERE'S WHAT WE WERE LISTENING TO ON WARM:



AND OF COURSE, WARM PLAYED THIS OLDIE FROM 1965.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #543

PHOTO INDEX: WARM HURRICANE GUIDE FROM 1969. (CLICK TO ENLARGE).

STORMY WEATHER

Forty years ago WARM Radio actually published a Hurricane Guide. When I heard about Tropical Storm Carlos making its way therough the seas last week I thought of this piece of WARM trivia. Apparently WARM decided to put out this guide for travelers as well as an aid in planning summer road trips. Little did the powers that be at WARM realize that in 1972 a tropical storm named Agnes would wreck havoc on parts of WARMland. A song WARM played, "Stormy" by Dennis Yost and the Classics 4.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #544

PHOTO INDEX: SUMMERTIME FUN ADS ON THE BACK OF WARM SURVEY SHEETS AND MC TOMMY WOODS. (CLICK TO ENLARGE).

SUMMER CONCERTS

Many people who remember WARM readily point to the concerts at Rocky Glen Park for summertime fun. WARM day was held toward the end of summer and drew thousands of people. But during the summer, WARM promoted cncerts featuring various artists at places like Pocono Downs, San Souci Park and Hanson's Amusement Park. WARM was the summertime clearinghouse for information on the hot groups and of course summertime fun. Here's one of the featured bands, Cannibal and the Headhunters:

Also, here from Allentown is Jay and the Techniques:

And then there were The Dells: