Page:Brunswick 100 Years of Memories.pdf/183

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other facilities including a boat ramp, pavilion, and

play area. Tent camping is also available.

Too bad they're only a memory of the past. But we could never recapture the nostalgia of the Catholic Picnics again!

SPORTS COMPLEX. Long-planned for the reclaimed area of an old dump east of Thirteenth A venue, near Radio WTRI, this project is now in the hands of an engineering firm for a feasibility study.

W-BLC

ENTERTAINMENT City Park, the swimming pool, and the campground all generate revenue for the City.

At the turn of the century and in the early 1900's there were many traveling variety shows that came through Brunswick and there were also entertainments that were staged by local performers at the opera house (which was located on the second floor of Kaplon' s Store, situated between the tracks across from the westbound station). The Red Men's Hall, the YMCA Chapel, and the Imperial Theatre were also used for shows and entertainment. During the first three decades of the 1900's Brunswick was blessed with two very talented sisters, Lena and Mattie Sigafoose (Lena Troxell, Mattie Van Osdale). They were excellent performers and they did both comedy and drama; but their comedy skits were absolutely hilarious! Brunswick had concer ts in the Park Pavilion and in the vacant lot where Fast Eddie's Station is presently located. Mr. Wall and Mr. Stull were directors of the city band and the school band, and they directed these concerts. They practiced on the third floor of the Roelke Building. The original Park Pavilion was an open building that spannedthe "branch" but a new building wasbuiltduringthemid 1930'sby the WPA. Catholic Church picnics were held annually in City Park, usually during the Fourth of July week, and the dance on the last evening of the big picnic was Brunswick's big social event of the summer. The following week, the colored parishioners held their annual picnic at city park and their dance was also a popular attraction. Carnivals were held in the "bottoms" - across from City Park where the tennis courts are now. Brunswick also had a miniature golf course where the Berlin Cafe's parking is now. There were also bowling alleys over the years - one of the earliest was located under the Kaplan Building on Potomac Street; there was also a skating rink in that same location at one time. There were a bowling alley and pool tables under the Imperial Theatre. The old YMCA also had bowling alleys in the basement entered at ground level on the track side. In 1942 a bowling alley was opened in a building at the foot of West "C" Street hill and Petersville Road - just a few hundred feet from Feete's Funeral Home. Brunswick finally got its first municipal swimming

S - Councilman Ellwood Wineholt W -BLC

-BRH

THE CATHOLIC PICNICS AT CITY PARK Until the outbreak of the Second World War it was traditional for St. Francis Catholic Church (Brunswick) and St. Mary's Catholic Church (Petersville) to have an annual fund-raising picnic at Brunswick City Park. These picnics were the main summer event and were held two or three days during the Fourth of July week. People came home from as far as Philadelphia for the event. There was always a bingo table and other types of fun events and contests for children and adults. The food table was the big attraction all day long. It was manned by volunteer women of the parish who did the cooking and preparing of the delicious food; and their fried chicken was the main menu item. The last day of the picnic was climaxed by a dance in the City Park Pavilion, and there was always a great dance band on hand for the evening. The week after the St. Francis picnic, the black parishoners of both churches held their picnic at City Park. They too had bingo, food tables and other attractions. They attracted as many white people as black. Their dance in the Pavilion brought the white people back, who stood outside and watched the dancers through the big window openings and enjoyed their music and dancing. They always had a terrific dance band; Manuel and Larry Brown, Damon Robinson, Francis Allen, and others from the neighboring communities made music. Later, Jimmy Hall's outfit from Frederick and Gordon Coaston of Pennsylvania, brother of a local teacher, provided music. The park was a sea of people during these picnics. The Catholic Picnics in Brunswick were the main summertime social events during the 1930's.

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