SDC "Citizens" of the past...and present!

[Joy]

Coolness! I bet I've probably seen him a few times on TV while surfing and that's why he seemed familiar.

[Junior]

both rainmakers pictured must have been after my time on park. Don't recognize either. They both look as if they were really into the character in the shots!

[rubedugans]

Do you have the "Sounds of Silver Dollar City" LP Junior? It has the rainmaker routine on there more than likely from the era which you would remember. You would be right, Both of these performers would have been from between 85'-88' seasons.

[History Buff]

"My" rainmaker must have been in "Junior's era".  SDC was fortunate to have just one rainmaker, but to find at least three men with the talent?  That's just unbelievable.

[Junior]

Yes, I have the "Sounds of SDC" album, and if I remember, it was Rex Burdette who played the rainmaker. The clip of the rainmaker was only a few seconds, but thank goodness, at least some of it was preserved for the record. ALSO WISH THEY WOULD HAVE REMASTERED THIS AND RELEASED IT AGAIN IN THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY YEAR. Another opportunity to cash in on the good ole days missed!

[rubedugans]

I have mine downloaded off of the LP, I still have to touch up portions of it.

[History Buff]

^^Seems easy enough to think of something like that.  I suppose they were more focused on making bigger money - drawing a crowd of ticket buyers, rather than making a little extra cash with a $10 CD.  The same seems true of the shows - why can't we have a CD of the Opera House shows.  I realize the songs are covers that probably require royalties, but so are many of the music shows we see.  Who wouldn't buy the Dickens CD, the For the Glory CD, or Listen to the River CD?

[okiebluegrass]

I actually had a listen to the river tape. They've done this kind of thing before.

[rubedugans]

Here is a city musician and his pig from the early 80's (can anyone ID him...the musician...Not the pig!)

[sanddunerider]

Dont know the entertainer... BUT that is a great pic.

[Junior]

That is D.A. Calloway (musician) The pig, by the way, was named Blue.  master entertainer, and now, an entertainment director...D.A. is pictured on stage at the little theater that sat right where Dockside Theater is today. D.A. and Blue performed in "The Trained Pig Show." Blue did several little tricks, and his final act of each show was to slide down a slide located on the tower of the bucket water feature next to the diving bell entrance line, and go off into the lake for a little swim. The crowd loved it. The trained pig show lasted one year. It would have been about 1980 or 1981. The pig got to where he did not like going down the slide into the lake...especially on cold days! Who likes a cold swim on a cold day? On a few occasions, I saw D.A. literally give the pig a boot...shoving it down the slide into the lake. We Dugan boys thought that was side splitting funny! We'd laugh hard when D.A. did that every time. Some in the crowd did not like it...thinking D.A. was being harsh with the pig. Don't know what happened to "Ole Blue" after that season of shows. But I understand D.A. had a freezer full of pork that winter. (JUST KIDDING!)

[mhguy77]

But I understand D.A. had a freezer full of pork that winter

Great story

[rubedugans]

From your photo of D.A., and his photo in a brochure, I thought this was him!

[rubedugans]

Here's another photo of some city musicians

[Junior]

Don't recognize these folks. Could this be a shot from the old "Mountain Folks Music Festival?" Could be visiting musicians. It would have been WAY out of character in the old days, for a guy to perform in a wheelchair. Since they are located on a platform that appears to be on the ticket booth side of the hospitality house, it would have been acceptable back then. Not trying to be uncourteous to the handicapped, but back in the 70s or early 80s, they kept a strict theme, and I have no memories of handicapped people in wheelchairs working inside the 1880s part of the park.