We got to enjoy it for a few years, but unfortunately they closed it a while after our senior prom dance there in 1963. I remember being in awe of it's atmosphere even in it's late days.
Was so Blessed to have danced in 2 musical worlds in Lowell! Every Friday night, record hops in 'stinky' gyms for 50 cents with Folks like all the 4s-Lads, Aces, Freshmen etc; The Commadores and Coasters; the McGuire, DeCastro Sisses; Jerry Vale; The Platters dropping in for 15" when in the area promoting their records! Then, Saturday night with my steady(ies) to The Commodore for Bachelder's Big Band Sound! (Heard Glenn Miller's touring band this spring!) Nothing like dripping sweat in days before A/C...LOL Came down Rte 3 to 128 from Lowell '57-'60 for an occasional change....Eh! it was "far from home" to get the Folk's permission to do with "the one family car"!. Take a pedal/paddle boat out for a sunset cruise before hitting...what I believe Lowellians referred to it as The Tote...LOL Maybe push the envelope for some Fried Clams or Lobstah Roll and Coffee Frappe under an orange roof on the way home. Not a big time for booze, let alone drugs! So sad kids know nothing like it today!
Louis Armstrong smoked reefer every day of his life. Gene Krupa's career was about destroyed when it became public that he smoked reefer. But you're right; no drugs, and alcoholism didn't exist until after your generation.
@@jnagarya519 Haha J...alas, and upon reflection, I misspoke as I was then and for 50ish years after, hooked on the drug of nicotine that has me huffin n puffin today while I walk all-the-way to the bathroom, putting on my clothes, and etc. LOL Be Safe...must get back to watching the FOXNewsChannel where I'm seeing...live-as it is happening...Folks from Cuba, Venezuela, etc. walking ankle/calf deep through the water of the Rio Grande in Del Rio, Texas while the Secretary of Homeland Security dares to bald-facedly lie by telling us "The Border is Closed!"
@@jnagarya519 my dad was with the big bands since the age of 16 on the road -Al Donahue etc. and he saw a lot of drugs alcohol womanizing it was amazing he managed to stay straight!!
Vira DeFilippo..... Hi Vira, I no longer live in Mass, but I did grow up in Auburndale, on Ash St., only about 10 minutes walk from the entrance to the park. I will try and help you out as best I can from memory... as I/we use to go there quite a bit from spring time to early fall. The "Pole" as it was affectionately known by my parents' age group (dad was in WW2), was located "approximately" (at this point in time.. it's a "Guesstimate" lol) 100 to 180 Yards from the present location of the Marriott Hotel. If you were to stand with your back facing the entrance doors to the Marriot, then turned to your left slightly... to about your eleven o'clock position and walk about 300 to 540 ft you should be able to locate where it stood.... if I remember right. I Do remember that it was just over the "hill" behind where the "merry go round" was located.... kind of in a low spot surrounded pretty well by a "berm" of sorts... it's been a few years!! lol I would think, even after 54 yrs (don't remember if it was torched in 64 or 65?), that you should still be able to see burn scars on the trees that surrounded the Ballroom, as well as obviously younger/newer growth in the center where it stood. I do not remember or know, if they ever really cleared out what was left or not.... especially after the Marriot people bought the land. The Boathouse (MDC Boathouse back then, not sure if it still is or not), was there Lonnnnng before I was born (1949)... in fact I have an "Auburndale Book" that shows all the folks out on the river, canoeing in their Sunday finery, from the opposite side of the river... looking back towards Norembega Park, and the MDC Boathouse was clearly there, then. I believe that particular photo was taken in or around 1916. I remember the night of the fire when the Totem Pole burnt to the ground (pretty much) and I was 14+ yrs old then. It was an arsonist (or at least a "fire-bug") by the last name of "Johnson" or "Johnston" if I remember correctly, but could be wrong.... but, that last name seems to stick in my mind in relation to that fire for some reason.... a real shame, though.. no matter how you look at it... the Totem Pole Ballroom should have been listed in the National Historic Places Registry. That same kid (17 to 20 yrs old if I remember correctly) who torched the "Pole", also set fire to the old Boston and Albany Railroads (NYC RR since 1900, but before the Penn Central merger) Riverside Station and Tower (where the Wellesley branch split off) up on the RR grade at the end of Charles St. (where you walked/drove under the tunnel to get to the tower/station) overlooking the Charles and 128/95 (Rte.128 back then) not long prior to the Totem Pole fire. Funny thing about "fire-bugs".... they usually will hang out somewhere fairly close by to watch their "handi-work"....... which he did, and that's how he got caught... complete with empty gas containers and matches close by. Where the Marriot is now located.. or approximately thereof, is where we use to board the little narrow gauge train that ran near the edge of the river embankment, around and through part of the park. My mother (passed in 2012) had numerous B&W photos of us when I was "younger" (a toddler to about 10 yrs old - 1959) that were taken at the Park.... which in my absence and living/working in the western part of the country, wound up "disappearing" when my sibling took charge of disposition (lives not far from Auburndale) after dad passed away in 2015.... actually at That particular time I was laid up with an injured right knee.... poor "timing" all the way around at that point. :( Hope this helps answer your question, at least somewhat.
@@richardyanco3229.... Sorry, no it was not "at the Marriott Site".... yes, it was In the Park, but a ways from where the Marriott Hotel itself is located.
I remember playing little league baseball games there at "Gills Stadium".... then we'd go to McManus' (at the park entrance) for an ice cream, after the game!! : )
An end of an era, I remember hearing about this, but never experienced it, God bless the Best of Boston...
Unscrew the lightbulbs!
We got to enjoy it for a few years, but unfortunately they closed it a while after our senior prom dance there in 1963. I remember being in awe of it's atmosphere even in it's late days.
Did you go to Newton high school? My father was the bandleader there in 1955.
Don’t forget Nuttings onThe Charles. Prospect Street Waltham. My dad used to dance there.
Loved working for the Gills.
Was so Blessed to have danced in 2 musical worlds in Lowell! Every Friday night, record hops in 'stinky' gyms for 50 cents with Folks like all the 4s-Lads, Aces, Freshmen etc; The Commadores and Coasters; the McGuire, DeCastro Sisses; Jerry Vale; The Platters dropping in for 15" when in the area promoting their records! Then, Saturday night with my steady(ies) to The Commodore for Bachelder's Big Band Sound! (Heard Glenn Miller's touring band this spring!) Nothing like dripping sweat in days before A/C...LOL Came down Rte 3 to 128 from Lowell '57-'60 for an occasional change....Eh! it was "far from home" to get the Folk's permission to do with "the one family car"!. Take a pedal/paddle boat out for a sunset cruise before hitting...what I believe Lowellians referred to it as The Tote...LOL Maybe push the envelope for some Fried Clams or Lobstah Roll and Coffee Frappe under an orange roof on the way home. Not a big time for booze, let alone drugs! So sad kids know nothing like it today!
Louis Armstrong smoked reefer every day of his life. Gene Krupa's career was about destroyed when it became public that he smoked reefer.
But you're right; no drugs, and alcoholism didn't exist until after your generation.
@@jnagarya519 Haha J...alas, and upon reflection, I misspoke as I was then and for 50ish years after, hooked on the drug of nicotine that has me huffin n puffin today while I walk all-the-way to the bathroom, putting on my clothes, and etc. LOL Be Safe...must get back to watching the FOXNewsChannel where I'm seeing...live-as it is happening...Folks from Cuba, Venezuela, etc. walking ankle/calf deep through the water of the Rio Grande in Del Rio, Texas while the Secretary of Homeland Security dares to bald-facedly lie by telling us "The Border is Closed!"
@@jnagarya519 my dad was with the big bands since the age of 16 on the road -Al Donahue etc. and he saw a lot of drugs alcohol womanizing it was amazing he managed to stay straight!!
@@bobcurmudgeon3848 Only racist fools believe the anti-American propaganda pumped out by FOX "news".
@@new_hampshire I was being satirical. The clue should be the fact that I stated facts about Louis Armstrong and Gene Krupa.
I wonder if any folks featured here are still with us today. They would be in their nineties are the youngest so unlikely
I saw another video and it featured a bald guy with glasses I think is Irving Schwartz a friend of my fathers can anyone confirm this for me?
To see a map of Norumbega Park, go to www.magicnorumbega.com/map.html
Jitterbug = Breakdancing!
Does anyone know where the Totem Pole was exactly? Was it at the Mariott Site or more by the boathouse that exists today.
It was inside Norumbega Park which was where the Marriott Hotel stands today.
Vira DeFilippo..... Hi Vira, I no longer live in Mass, but I did grow up in Auburndale, on Ash St., only about 10 minutes walk from the entrance to the park. I will try and help you out as best I can from memory... as I/we use to go there quite a bit from spring time to early fall.
The "Pole" as it was affectionately known by my parents' age group (dad was in WW2), was located "approximately" (at this point in time.. it's a "Guesstimate" lol) 100 to 180 Yards from the present location of the Marriott Hotel. If you were to stand with your back facing the entrance doors to the Marriot, then turned to your left slightly... to about your eleven o'clock position and walk about 300 to 540 ft you should be able to locate where it stood.... if I remember right. I Do remember that it was just over the "hill" behind where the "merry go round" was located.... kind of in a low spot surrounded pretty well by a "berm" of sorts... it's been a few years!! lol
I would think, even after 54 yrs (don't remember if it was torched in 64 or 65?), that you should still be able to see burn scars on the trees that surrounded the Ballroom, as well as obviously younger/newer growth in the center where it stood. I do not remember or know, if they ever really cleared out what was left or not.... especially after the Marriot people bought the land.
The Boathouse (MDC Boathouse back then, not sure if it still is or not), was there Lonnnnng before I was born (1949)... in fact I have an "Auburndale Book" that shows all the folks out on the river, canoeing in their Sunday finery, from the opposite side of the river... looking back towards Norembega Park, and the MDC Boathouse was clearly there, then. I believe that particular photo was taken in or around 1916.
I remember the night of the fire when the Totem Pole burnt to the ground (pretty much) and I was 14+ yrs old then. It was an arsonist (or at least a "fire-bug") by the last name of "Johnson" or "Johnston" if I remember correctly, but could be wrong.... but, that last name seems to stick in my mind in relation to that fire for some reason.... a real shame, though.. no matter how you look at it... the Totem Pole Ballroom should have been listed in the National Historic Places Registry.
That same kid (17 to 20 yrs old if I remember correctly) who torched the "Pole", also set fire to the old Boston and Albany Railroads (NYC RR since 1900, but before the Penn Central merger) Riverside Station and Tower (where the Wellesley branch split off) up on the RR grade at the end of Charles St. (where you walked/drove under the tunnel to get to the tower/station) overlooking the Charles and 128/95 (Rte.128 back then) not long prior to the Totem Pole fire.
Funny thing about "fire-bugs".... they usually will hang out somewhere fairly close by to watch their "handi-work"....... which he did, and that's how he got caught... complete with empty gas containers and matches close by.
Where the Marriot is now located.. or approximately thereof, is where we use to board the little narrow gauge train that ran near the edge of the river embankment, around and through part of the park.
My mother (passed in 2012) had numerous B&W photos of us when I was "younger" (a toddler to about 10 yrs old - 1959) that were taken at the Park.... which in my absence and living/working in the western part of the country, wound up "disappearing" when my sibling took charge of disposition (lives not far from Auburndale) after dad passed away in 2015.... actually at That particular time I was laid up with an injured right knee.... poor "timing" all the way around at that point. :(
Hope this helps answer your question, at least somewhat.
@@richardyanco3229.... Sorry, no it was not "at the Marriott Site".... yes, it was In the Park, but a ways from where the Marriott Hotel itself is located.
Loved working for the Gills.
I remember playing little league baseball games there at "Gills Stadium".... then we'd go to McManus' (at the park entrance) for an ice cream, after the game!! : )