The Big Bands at Sunnybrook Ballroom
The Big Bands at Sunnybrook Ballroom I ran across this poster at an antique mall and it brought back memories. The 1950s were the waning years of the big band era, but Sunnybrook Ballroom in Pottstown, PA gave me and some of my friends the opportunity to hear, and dance to, the live music of Stan Kenton, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Les Elgart, and others, including a new name at that time, Maynard Furgeson. There were many trips up US 202 and PA 100 on Saturday evenings in my 1948 Studebaker Land Cruiser sedan, and sleepy drives back. Sunnybrook was alcohol free and welcomed teens. I welcomed at least one New Year in at Sunnybrook. A few times I had a chance to chat briefly with some of these major bandleaders, including Louis Armstrong. In 2007 Arcadia Publishing published a picture history of Sunnybrook by Thomas Sephakis, The Sunnybrook Ballroom. The Kenton poster above does not have a year, but October 3 fell on a Saturday in 1959. I think I was there.