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1961-1962 LOOK AT THE SIGN FOR THE HAIRPIN CURLY CURVE IN THE ROAD AHEAD! |
Saturday, March 31, 2012
LIMO FULL OF TEENAGE AND 20 SOMETHING WOMEN ON THE ROAD
Sunday, March 25, 2012
BARNSTORM FOLK
MY DAD WAS A BARNSTORMER HIS ENTIRE ADULT LIFE.
HE STARTED PLAYING BASKETBALL FOR THE HOUSE OF DAVID PLAYING BASKETBALL TOWN TO TOWN AGAINST LOCAL TEAMS AS WELL AS THE HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS AND THE NY RENS THE 2 MOST FAMOUS BLACK MALE BALL CLUBS
MY DAD DEVELOPED HIS OWN BARNSTORMING BUSINESS IN THE 1940'S HE MADE HIS LIVING AT IT UNTIL THE 1970'S.
HE OWNED COACHED , OPERATED BASEBALL AND BASKETBALL TEAMS:
THE NY HARLEM QUEENS, THE TEXAS COWGIRLS, THE NY HARLEM CHICS, THE CARIBBEAN KINGS, THE CUBAN HAVANA GIANTS, THE HOUSE OF DAVID, THE ALL AMERICAN INDIANS.
THAT MEANT BOOKING GAMES, TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS FOR 7 TEAMS ALL TEAMS PLAYED COAST TO COAST AND SOME IN OTHER COUNTRIES.
MY MOM BECAME A BARNSTORMER WHEN SHE WAS RECRUITED TO PLAY FOR MY DAD'S TEXAS COWGIRLS BASKETBALL TEAM .
I HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT EACH OF HIS TEAMS IN MY BLOG THIS BLOG IS A PEEK INTO THE BARNSTORM LIFE S MODES OF TRANSPORTATION AND HALF TIME ACTS THAT WERE BARNSTORMERS IN THEIR RIGHT
WE TRAVELED BY STATION WAGON VAN LIMO S OWNED BY OUR PARENTS AND AIRPLANES OWNED BY OTHERS
HOTELS WERE OUR SECOND HOMES
THOUSANDS OF SMALL TOWNS AND HUNDEDS OF CITIES WERE THE LANDSCAPE OF A BARNSTORM PROFESSIONAL'S LIFE AND FOR US 7 HOVLAND KIDS.
HE STARTED PLAYING BASKETBALL FOR THE HOUSE OF DAVID PLAYING BASKETBALL TOWN TO TOWN AGAINST LOCAL TEAMS AS WELL AS THE HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS AND THE NY RENS THE 2 MOST FAMOUS BLACK MALE BALL CLUBS
MY DAD DEVELOPED HIS OWN BARNSTORMING BUSINESS IN THE 1940'S HE MADE HIS LIVING AT IT UNTIL THE 1970'S.
HE OWNED COACHED , OPERATED BASEBALL AND BASKETBALL TEAMS:
THE NY HARLEM QUEENS, THE TEXAS COWGIRLS, THE NY HARLEM CHICS, THE CARIBBEAN KINGS, THE CUBAN HAVANA GIANTS, THE HOUSE OF DAVID, THE ALL AMERICAN INDIANS.
THAT MEANT BOOKING GAMES, TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS FOR 7 TEAMS ALL TEAMS PLAYED COAST TO COAST AND SOME IN OTHER COUNTRIES.
MY MOM BECAME A BARNSTORMER WHEN SHE WAS RECRUITED TO PLAY FOR MY DAD'S TEXAS COWGIRLS BASKETBALL TEAM .
I HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT EACH OF HIS TEAMS IN MY BLOG THIS BLOG IS A PEEK INTO THE BARNSTORM LIFE S MODES OF TRANSPORTATION AND HALF TIME ACTS THAT WERE BARNSTORMERS IN THEIR RIGHT
WE TRAVELED BY STATION WAGON VAN LIMO S OWNED BY OUR PARENTS AND AIRPLANES OWNED BY OTHERS
HOTELS WERE OUR SECOND HOMES
THOUSANDS OF SMALL TOWNS AND HUNDEDS OF CITIES WERE THE LANDSCAPE OF A BARNSTORM PROFESSIONAL'S LIFE AND FOR US 7 HOVLAND KIDS.
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| MY OLDEST BROTHER DENNIS TRAVELLED WITH THIS BUNCH IN THE CAR OCT-MAY FROM BABBY TO 5 YEARS OLD HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF MILES |
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| HOTELS RANGED FROM RAYS TO THE BROWN PALACE TO THE PALMER HOUSE TO THE KNICKERBOCKER IN NY - NO MOTELS NO CHAIN HOLIDAY INNS OR HOWARD JOHNSONS |
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| UNITED STATES AIRFORCE TRANSPORT FROM COUNTRY TO COUNTRY |
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| THE FIRST FOUR HOVLAND SUITCASE BABIES DENNIS JULIE TODD ERIN |
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| DOG SLED TAKES MY DADS TEAM TO PLAY IN AIRPORT HANGER IN ALASKA AGAINT AIRFORCE TEAM |
ENTERTAINERS BARNSTORMING FOR MY DAD
Pee Wee King's accordian
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Nashville TN
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| PEE WEE KING AND RED STEWART ARRIVING FOR PERFORMANCE |
| December 31, 1993
Ruth Hill Poppenburg, 77, a Chicago-area puppeteer, had a nightclub act and performed on television as well as for many years on the USO circuit for troops all over the U.S. Her act was billed as "Ruth Hill and her Stars on Strings." A resident of the North Side, she died Monday in Swedish Covenant Hospital. Jay Marshall, a fellow performer and friend, said, "She was quite attractive and wore a black velvet evening gown to help disguise the strings she used." She sewed the costumes for her puppets, which her late father, Ernest Hill, helped design and string.
Razzle Dazzle was the title of a Canadian children's program produced by the CBC between 1961 and 1966.
The series was initially co-hosted by Alan Hamel and Michelle Finney, who were later replaced by Ray Bellew, and Trudy Young. There was also a cast of characters who appeared in every episode, most notably Howard the Turtle, who was considered the star of the show.
Among the regular features in the series was an adventure serial called The Forest Rangers that ended up getting a series of its own.
TVarchive.ca - Episode Guide for Razzle Dazzle
www.tvarchive.ca/database/18259/razzle_dazzle/episode_guide/
Special guest is Ollie Olegario, yoyo expert from the Philippines who plays a harmonica while spinning two yoyos, crosses two yoyos in the air while blindfolded ..Razzle Dazzle was the title of a Canadian children's program produced by the CBC between 1961 and 1966.
The series was initially co-hosted by Alan Hamel and Michelle Finney, who were later replaced by Ray Bellew, and Trudy Young. There was also a cast of characters who appeared in every episode, most notably Howard the Turtle, who was considered the star of the show.
Among the regular features in the series was an adventure serial called The Forest Rangers that ended up getting a series of its own.
Winner of seven World Championships, including four Singles crowns, Richard Bergmann was regarded as the greatest defensive player in table tennis history. In 1936, he won his first World title as a member of the Austrian Swaythling Cup (Men’s World Championship) Team. He won his first World Singles Championship one year later and in doing so became the youngest player ever to win that title. When the Nazis invaded Austria in 1938, Bergmann fled to England. In 1939, he won his second World Singles crown and the World Doubles title, pairing with Viktor Barna. Following World War II, he reclaimed his title in 1948 as World Singles Champion, and again in 1950. His last World Championship came as a member of the 1953 English Swaythling Cup Team. In the mid-1950s, Bergmann became the world’s first professional table tennis player and toured extensively with the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team. | |||
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| THE MILLERS DECENDANTS OF THE WILDWEST CIRCUS MILLER FAMILY |
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| MRS HANK WILLIAMS SENIOR |
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| THE AMAZING CONNELY'S MOTHER AND SON ACT |
CHEROKEE JERRY SERVING FOOD TO THE BASKETBALL TEAM WAS A GUITAR PLAYING SINGING IRISH CHEROKEE BARNSTORM ENTERTAINER
THE
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| LEROY PAIGE NICKNAME SATCHEL TOURED WITH TEAXS COWGIRLS, AND PLAYED BASEBALL FOR MY DAD MY DAD MANGED HIM AND PUT HIM ON A CROSS COUNTRY SPEAKERS TOUR |
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Associated Press article this week about my dad and 2 of his basketball players
A ticket to travel
Lifelong friendship
Marva Towles, left, and Irma Bradford, both of Beloit, became lifelong friends when they played one season for the New York Harlem Chicks barnstorming basketball team. Recently they reminisced about those days of 1959 when they were recruited for the semi-pro team.
Posted: Thursday, March 15, 2012 4:00 pm
For basketball lovers, this could be considered the most exciting time of the year, as March madness casts its spell over teams who play and audiences who watch courts across the country.
In the Stateline Area, the Brodhead Cardinals girls’ team won the regional title March 10 and face Fort Atkinson at East Troy as this is written.
There’s no doubt about it, opportunities in sports for girls and women have come a long way since Title 9 was enacted in the 1970s.
And they’ve come even further since 1959, when Irma Bradford and Marva Towles graduated from high school and went on to play semi-pro basketball with Dempsey Hovland’s barnstorming teams.
Hovland, of the Beloit/Rockton area, recruited players for semi-pro teams.
The two women graduated from high school in 1959: Bradford from Murfreesboro, Tenn. and Towles from Orange, Va.
Both were star basketball players and apparently just what recruiter Dempsey Hovland was seeking for the all black women’s New York Harlem Chicks team.
It was 1959, and teams still were segregated.
“That’s the way it was,” the two women said recently as they reflected on a season of fun, travel and basketball from bygone days.
Upon being notified by her teachers, Bradford talked to her parents about the opportunity as did her teachers, she said.
She graduated in May of ‘59 and by August was in Beloit where other recruits also would come together to form the team.
Towles graduated in June and worked over the summer to save money for a train ticket to get to Beloit. She arrived in September, she recalled.
“This was my way out,” she said of wanting to strike out on her own.
In Beloit, “We stayed at the Hobson Hotel or the Marvin Hotel,” Bradford said. She remembered eating at the Hobson Club or restaurant.
Team practice was done outside, they said.
Later in September, the team of eight girls started traveling.
They all crammed into a station wagon with all their gear and headed for states such as North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington state, Minnesota, Nebraska and Wyoming.
“We stayed in nice hotels; people were really nice to us,” they said.
They also surmised communities were well informed of their coming to town in advance and that they held a certain celebrity status.
The Harlem Chicks would play against men’s teams and provide entertainment as well as skilled basketball playing.
But those skills also would be reined in a bit when they played against the all-white Texas Cowgirls, they said.
Marva, a 5-foot, 11-inch defense player was “called on the carpet” for demonstrating some of those skills and was told to tone it down a bit, Bradford said.
Overall, however, “It was good fun for us and we learned how other people live,” Towles said.
They didn’t get rich, but they did get paid weekly. Room and board were paid for, but they paid for their own food.
They also got a little tired of eating out all their meals, so they bought a hotplate and cooked (pork and beans and hot dogs) in their room sometimes.
Bradford and Towles played one season, then went back home to their respective states. But they had made lasting friendships with each other and other members of the team.
Bradford attended Tennessee State University for a while and then married a resident of Beloit and moved here in 1962. Towles stayed in Virginia briefly then came to Beloit and sought work.
Bradford worked as a secretary at the Salvation Army and at Beloit Corporation. Towles worked at Admiral, Dana, Caterpillar and General Motors.
The best part of that season with the New York Harlem Chicks: “I got to meet a lot of people and got to travel. We stuck together through thick and thin,” Towles said.
“The travel — I wouldn’t have gotten to see a lot of country otherwise,” Bradford said. “We were young and on the road and excited to be making some money.”
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