Your SDC 50th Anniversary Weekend Experiences

[Junior]

Zephon...You mentioned Jae in your last post. Is he still active on park and what does he do? Last time I saw him was in spring, 84. I walked into the Mass Com Dept. at Southeast Missouri State University (Cape Girardeau) and a professor was giving him a tour of our TV studio! This surprised me to no end...what was he doing there? Turns out he graduated from the school, just like I would three years later. I never knew that, Jae and I worked together a bit during my time on park. In fact,  he was one of the spotlighted entertainers at the time. We were both shocked to see each other...you know, fish out of water...didn't expect to see you here type of thing. We only had a few moments to chat, but he did remember me from the diving bell. Now, over the years I'd seen Jae's photo in promotional material, usually something from one of the stage shows, but was not aware he was still around SDC.

[Joy]

Well, until they changed the Saloon show a couple years ago, Jae was there as Choctaw Charlie all season. I've not been to the Christmas show since the regular show changed, but apparently he's still in the Christmas show.

[Zephon]

Jae is still out here...33 seasons now.  He emcees the Echo Hollow show now, but he's done a lot of other stuff on park, as well as several things in Branson.  In the mid-80's he worked at the radio station and in the 90's, he did a short stint with Jim Stafford (doing some writing I believe).  He's doing well...married a former Saloon gal, Helen (the original Miss Tilly), and has three boys.

[Joy]

By original Miss Tilly, is she the one from the early/mid 90s or earlier than that? The Miss Tilly from the mid-90s is the one my whole family enjoyed the most.

[oldsdcer]

Is she the one with the silly giggle? We went to one show that when she would giggle, a baby in the front row would mimic her, broke up the whole saloon.

[Joy]

Yeah, she's the one with the silly giggle and the big hair bow. She's usually brunette, but I've noticed that sometimes during Christmas, she's blonde.

[saloongal]

Not sure that we really had an anniversary experience.  Our trip ran parallel to the celebration but didn't really intersect it!

We arrived on park about about 9am on Saturday, despite multiple stops for bouts of kids' carsickness (fun way to start).
Things were busy but not overly crowded. We all got buttons and saw a lot of characters around the square.  I was beyond amazed at the fact that people were lined up for the Echo Hollow show already!
We headed straight to the GE and spent several hours back there. Then did a walk around the park (the line for FITH was crazy) went back over and had some  "worldly" foods.  Everything we sampled was good, the chips of fish and chips were great. I went to Echo and bought a few of the 50 greatest books for our group. We headed back to the GE after that and by then the lines were a little longer so we left and checked in at Deer Run. After a little R&R at Deer Run we went to Danna's BBQ and hogged down.  Went straight back to the park from there, both kids cashed out so we had a chance to look through the glass shop and watch a demo, and roam through the wood carvers.  By now all the bus groups were long gone and the park felt a lot more peaceful.  When the kids woke up we went to GG and FITH, then (surprise) back to the GE.  On the way out I stopped at the Candy store and E&Ds. 
A couple things I was disappointed in:The Homestead needs more animals to be out.  I know that they have to rotate and a lot of what they have is lambing/kidding/calving/whelping etc. But I felt like 4 goats and 1 rabbit was not the best that they could do. Also would like to have seen more "world" vendors up around main.

[Joy]

A week or two ago, one of the Citizens at the Homestead said they were still in the midst of receiving their animals.

[Coaster]

Sounds like everyone had a great time. So how many people were at the park on Saturday?

[Joy]

At around, oh, 5pm-ish (can't remember exactly), there were 18,000 on park.

You shoulda SEEN the crowd at the dance party! OMG, it was so amazing! And we stopped when the fireworks started, so even though we didn't go to the GAC show, we still got a really good view of the fireworks.

I have pics and video (video taken on my camera because I stupidly left my camcorder battery in its charger at home), but not sure when I'll have them online. It's 6pm and I have 3 papers due and an oral exam in Spanish all tomorrow. And I have a short story due by Wednesday morning.

So... yeah. I was gonna do homework yesterday, but I ended up sleeping in until 2:30pm, went BACK to bed at 4pm for a nap and got up at 6:30pm. 14.5 hours at SDC in a single day can definitely take its toll on you, especially when you add in sunburn from sitting in a blazing hot sun for over an hour.

[Junior]

I want to thank everyone for the updates on Jae, and for the play by play on anniversary weekend. Zephon was kind enough to secure an anniversary book for me, and to him I say "thanks" again! Really would have loved to of been there, and when this ankle heals I'll get that way later in the summer. I'll give a heads up on my trip, and perhaps I'll be able to meet a few of you. 

[rubedugans]

It was a long weekend but well worth it. Waking up Saturday in StL posed the first hurdle at arriving for opening ceremonies...We arrived after our 4 hour drive at about 850, so you do the math! Needless to say we were glad to be there, but the stress, and early morning, and lack of stops had us all on edge (I again apologize Tinman for being so distant!) It was alot to take in when running into the square during the veterans march. We walked around for about an hour and a half while our family went and got in line for us at Echo Hollow. Sat next to Gene, and enjoyed the show greatly. Got the limited edition coin, coca cola, and button, as well as the program, and after a long weekend, it all seems like ablur of a trip, cause it was! Cannot wait until this summer when I can come for a week and relax.

[Joy]

I'm thinking of starting an online petition to get better music for the "moonlight madness" hours, 'cause they had that playlist going Saturday after 6pm-ish. I don't want to be walking around SDC hearing "Ghostbusters" and "My Baby Does the Hanky Panky" streaming through the park.

That said, I LOVED the dance party, and I'm planning to fill out the feedback form on the SDC site and tell them I'd love to see it done again during Moonlight Madness. The crowd was HUGE, and there had to be more than a hundred people dancing. It was FUN. That'd be the only allowance my mind can give to modern music being played in SDC.

I mean, really, I think they're aiming at the younger set with their "moonlight madness" playlist, but the thing is, they're all "golden oldies"! Sure, I listen to that stuff, but the majority of the generation they're aiming for do NOT listen to that music. So why not, if one wants upbeat, modern music, just play modern country--Garth Brooks, Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts, etc.?

But yeah, the dance party, though, was amazing. In fact, here's the playlist for it (I made a memo on my phone so I could remember all the songs they did); it's mostly in order, but not entirely:

Celebration by Kool and the Gang
The Electric Slide
The Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)
YMCA by The Village People
Simon Says (a song I've never heard before, but it was fun!)
Cotton-Eyed Joe by Rednex
Hokey Pokey (which started out traditional then did some different music styles)
Bunny Hop
Boot-scootin' Boogie
Time Warp
The Twist
Cha-Cha Slide Part II
Then a medley that went: The Dinosaur/Walk Like An Egyptian/Come On Ride The Train/Hand Jive/Thriller/Cupid Shuffle
And to end it all, Na Na Hey Hey (The Goodbye Song)

[Cardinal Fan]

14.5 hours at SDC in a single day can definitely take its toll on you, especially when you add in sunburn from sitting in a blazing hot sun for over an hour.

Wow....that is a long time and the sunburn is definitely no fun!  Hope you get some much needed rest.  Thanks for sharing your weekend experience and thanks to everyone else.  I've really enjoyed reading them!

[bthomas]

It was disappointing to see that they still had several shoppes closed during the weekend..including the Christmas and Love Thy Country shops.  Why would you not have all your shops up and running for this weekend...this was no ordinary weekend?!  Open them just for the weekend event...you can't tell me that there wasn't enough staff to cover all the shops.  They were even touting OTC as you were leaving the park and not to have Christmas Hollow open was odd to me.

Was there starting Thursday and enjoyed all the festivities a great deal.  I must say that I was disappointed in the praise and worship event.  I even extended my stay a day to be able to attend.  It began when I noticed that it was going to be a night of contemporary praise and worship.  I'm sorry....I don't go to SDC for anything contemporary, especially my praise and worship.  It seemed out of place.  Then to arrive and see that they were handing out the words to the some of the songs, again disappointed.  To see the choirs in blue jeans, another disappointment.  I guess this was tailored around the two choirs that were chosen for event.  When waiting in line for the event, it seemed to me that the majority of those there were members of one of these 2 churches.  After getting seated, my observation seemed true.  Having attended a traditional Baptist church for the entirety of my life, I have become accustomed the traditional hymns of the past.  I imagine that this is why SDC holds such a special place in my heart.  I applaud them for having such as event, I wish they would have returned to our praise and worship roots,  We insist upon being true to our themes with everything else in the park..... praise of the Lord at the park should be no different.  Was expecting that "old time religion" and got modernized for today's word instead.  My spirit was touched more, and I was moved the tears, during the short praise and patriotic portion of GAC, than during the hour I was at Sunday's night show.  Again I thank them for this type of event... just was expecting something more fitting.  Please keep in mind that this is in no way meant to offend anyone that enjoys contemporary praise and worship.  We all worship the Lord in many different manners.  I can sit in the Wilderness Church for hours in silence and feel closer to Him than I did Sunday night....to each is own.

How fitting would have "Precious Memories" had been Sunday night?