Results tagged “White Oak Park” from York Town Square

Babe Ruth's autograph is shown on a piece of Hotel Penn stationary owned by West Manchester Township resident Jason Showvaker in 2006. Showvaker obtained the stationery from another collector. Background posts: Story answers much about great athlete Hinkey Haines, including origin of his nickname and York turned its eyes to Joe DiMaggio and Adding to York baseball timeline: Revs ready for 'second helping'.

His late grandfather saw them play there.

"I saw your article which included a picture of the park from July of 1945. Was any baseball ever played there? Whatever info you could provide would be appreciated,"
he wrote.

We'll turn the question of the Babe's appearance at the White Oak Park ballfield, north of York, to any fans out there to respond.

Here's some help.

York Daily Record columnist Jim Hubley wrote an account in 1995 of the Babe's visit to Eagles Park for the game that Jim Fickes' grandfather probably recalled:

The outside dance floor of the Shady Dell has been turned into a basketball court. The main Dell building is in background. (See four additional photos below). Background posts: 'Dell rat' blogs about southside York hangout where owners put out welcome mat, All posts on Shady Dell, All posts on White Oak Park.

Last post on the Shady Dell, its owners revealed that the now-closed southside York teen hangout is for sale.

So York Daily Record writer Mike Argento and photographer Paul Kuehnel visited the old site on the side of the hill off Starcross Road in Violet Hill.

Here is what they found:

The Shady Dell, longtime teen hangout in Spring Garden Township, was known throughout York County including an annual visit to the fair. The Dell has been closed for more than a decade and its buildings are deteriorating. Background posts: Shady Dell was home away from home for many York County teens in '60s, 'Dell rat' blogs about southside York hangout where owners put out welcome mat and Nostalgia and memories blog category.

Anyone want to own a York County icon?

Toni Deroche is owner of the house and barn that once housed the Shady Dell.

She has put the hillside site up for sale... .

This image, appearing on the Class of '66 White Oaks Reunion site, comes from an earlier era but shows the variety of ways that Manchester Township's White Oak Park was used in its heyday. The building here is playing host to a Blaw-Knox picnic. In the 1960s, rock groups played music for hundreds of teen dancers. Background posts: 'Dell rat' blogs about southside York hangout where owners put out welcome mat, York-area full of memory-spawning landmarks, Memories of 'The Oaks' pile - Part I and Other memories and nostalgia posts.

For whatever reason, photos of White Oak Park are rare.

Phil Schwartz found that out when trying to find photos of bands playing at this north York teen hangout in the 1960s. He is producing a compilation album.

Now Homewood Suites on Masonic Drive, whose new footprint covers part of the former Oaks grounds, is collecting photos and other information from the park during its heyday from the 1940s to 1960s. Hotel spokesmen are asking folks with such memories or memorabilia to call 717-434-1800.

In discussing this dearth of photos, some former Oakers mused that perhaps photos were rare because White Oak Park on band nights was a place where (unfortunately)boys were boys and documentation of certain activities might not have been preferable.

This is a rare photograph of White Oak Park courtesy of J. David Allen & Son Photography. This photo shows vehicles navigating the road to Emigsville near the Oaks' buildings. The traffic islands are there today, placing the Oaks at about the location of the present-day rental units lot where vehicles are stored. Background posts: 'Dell rat' blogs about southside hangout , The Oaks: 'I often look up there ... and think about how nice it was', and Memories about 'The Oaks' pile up.

John Allen is part of the generation that lived during the heyday of White Oak Park, a northside hangout where many local rock groups cut their teeth.

He graduated in York Catholic, class of 1966.

That's the year highlighted in an upcoming reunion at Sovereign Bank Stadium based on a White Oak Park theme.

For whatever reason, photographs of The Oaks are rare... .

The Shady Dell was a south side hangout for decades before closing the early 1990s. The building is now privately owned on Starcross Road, south of York. Background posts: The Oaks: 'I often look up there ... and think about how nice it was', Stadium will be site of Oaks music reunion, The Four bloggers write.

The Shady Dell was Tom Anderson's home away from home when growing up in the York area in the 1960s.

The 1967 Dallastown Area High School grad now living in Lakeland, Fla., e-mailed some memories of that hangout.

Here are some excerpts from Tom's e-mail (shadell6667@msn.com):

Plans are moving ahead for an October reunion of 1960s bands that played at White Oak Park. Meanwhile, memories of the park continue to flow to York Town Square. Background posts: Stadium will be site of The Oaks music reunion, York-area full of memory-spawning landmarks and White Oak Park welcomed Blaw-Knox workers .

For many years, Jane Heller's grandfather, Oliver Lease, ran White Oak Park, that nostalgia-inducing recreational center located in the area where the Masonic Lodge now sits, along the Susquehanna Trail, north of York.

Jane shared memories of "The Oaks" via an e-mail conversation: ...

A fun part about blogging is reader reaction generated by the posts. A series of posts on this blog about White Oak Park, The Shady Dell and other hangouts attracted numerous comments on the blog and helped sponsors of a compilation album of bands playing at The Oaks to collect information on the now-defunct park. This photo shows the folks at the Dell at a York Fair. Background post: First post, Yorktownsquare.com., Sept. 18, 2005, Journalism goes back to the future.

My recent York Sunday News column York's rich history - in print and online traced the writing of history books in York County's history.

Near the end, it veered a new way of telling local history stories - via blogging. It introduced four Yorkbloggers on history topics - Scott Mingus, Scott Butcher, June Lloyd and myself.

Why blog on local history? ...

For an upcoming compilation album, Phil Schwartz has found 26 tracks from 11 bands that performed regularly at White Oak Park, better known as The Oaks. Here are the bands he has tracks for so far: The Del-Chords; El Dantes; The Exciting Invictas; The Tranells; The Crystalaires; The Ambassadors; Seven Dwarfs; G.L. and The Vesters; The Chateaus; The Magic Monorays and The Calientes. Chris Huber, concert organizer at the Oaks in the 1960s, attributes the venue's success to The Del-Chords, pictured here. The first night The Del-Chords played the Oaks, Huber told the York Daily Record, the line to get in lasted all night long.

It started out with a query for information about White Oak Park, and it has resulted in a number of posts here of the now-defunct Manchester Township hangout.

Phil Schwartz Sr. continues to look for Oaks memorabilia from the heyday of band battles in the 1960s. He is producing a compilation album of the regulars at the Oaks: "White Oak Park - Battle of the Bands." Contact him at pschwa7845@aol.com.

Meanwhile, York Daily Record writer Jason Cox wrote a story last week about the Oaks:

So, I made the point in a York Sunday News column that White Oak Park (The Oaks) was to the north side what Shady Dell (The Dell) was to the south side of York: The Dell.

Primo teen hangouts in the 1960s and later.

White Oak Park was in the vicinity of the Masonic Lodge, north of York. (Someone explained to me that Interstate 83 and its interchange caused major changes in the terrain around there.)

Where was The Dell? (For photo, see teen hangout.)

On the hill overlooking Violet Hill and South George Street near the intersection of Old Baltimore Pike and Shady Dell Road.

But I'll shut up and let the York Daily Record's Mike Argento describe The Dell, taken from his article at the time the hangout's furnishings were auctioned in 1993:

Dr. John C. Bieri put on a magic show for Naval Ordnance Division workers at White Oak Park. One account states that he pulled rabbits out of hats, changed the color of flowers, converted a flag into dozens of flags, spilled candy from empty boxes and made boxes, tables and chairs disappear.

Prompted by a reader's query, a previous York Town Square post asked for photos of White Oak Park. See: Fun in North York

Well, I found some.

The park was a picnic grounds and a hangout for teens and concerts in the 1950s and 1960s. It was located in the vicinity of the Masonic Lodge, north of York.

I ran across these two photos and six others in a Blaw-Knox Naval Ordnance Plant publication. The plant now forms part of Harley-Davidson See recent H-D posts.... .

The Borden's Ice Cream Sign formerly hung outside the Shady Dell.
Now, does anyone have a photo of White Oaks Park?

York countian Derek Shaw, who is interested in all kinds of neat things, is looking for an exterior photo of the main building at White Oak Park in North York.

"It was a big hangout for teens and a venue for many of the local bands and groups of the 1950s and '60s," he said. "I believe the main building was on or near the storage facilities that are now at the top of the hill, above the Masonic Lodge."

Anyone with White Oaks photos or knows the location of such, should contact: bdshaw@lunginfo.org or comment here.

White Oaks was the North York counterpart to the south side's Shady Dell, the Spring Garden Township youth hangout that closed in 1991: ...