MAY 14 1961 THE HILLS OF WINGDALE CAME ALIVE

[rcgarrenParticipant]

OPENING DAY AT DOVER, I REMEMBER HEARING ALL THE CARS WITH OPEN HEADERS, PEOPLE WALKING AROUND WITH HUGE SMILES AND EVERY TYPE OF CAR, RAIL,TRUCK AND SOME I AM NOT SURE WHAT THEY WERE. I REMEMBER THEY HAD A LOT OF TROUBLE WITH TIMMING LIGHTS. I KNEW FROM THE FIRST DAY THAT I WOULD BE SPENDING A LOT OF TIME ( AND MONEY ) THERE AND SO FOR THE NEXT 15 YEARS, THERE I WAS. LIVING ONLY 6 MILES AWAY ON THE WEEKEND THAT I DIN”T GO FOR LACK OF MONEY OR A BROKEN CAR I COULD STILL HERE THE CARS ANd RAILS GO DOWN AND HEAR THE 4 SPEED CARS. if i knew then what i know now i would have made it there every weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dinoKeymaster]

49 YEARS AGO TODAY.ROGER is correct …Pre ‘Grand Opening” this was FIRST Day OPEN to the public,With Danbury Modifiers Car Club as ‘helpers -officials’ and Grover as the First paid Customer, Mark Mastrianni as first Manager. Photo contributor Roger Hibbert a ‘worker,with Bud Hallock as General (bus.) manager.George Hosford the first Flagman.

Official Grand Opening as shown in Ad (And reproduced on our Sign) JULY 16 1961…Will dig up Newspaper storys to go with this …Roger -Made this a ‘Sticky’ to stay up top all the time -Good memory!

[dinoKeymaster]

Working title for book…Rumble in the Hills… ‘when Dover Reigned in the Hudson Valley’ ….Like yours Better: “The Day The Wingdale Hills Came Alive” !
……………Happy Anniversary old Friend !

[rcgarrenParticipant]

WHO ELSE REMEMBERS OPENING DAY OR THE FIRST SEASON AT THE TRACK, I KNOW GROVER AND MARK DO BUT IF MY MEMORY SERVES ME RIGHT EVEN THOUGH I HAVE C.R.S, I BELEIVE THE TRACK WAS OPEN FOR THE SUMMER HOLIDAYS MEMORIAL DAY, FORTH,& LABOR DAY. I REMEMBER THAT THE GUYS FROM WHITE PLAINS WOULD DRIVE UP SAT NITE GO TO THE BARS, SLEEP IN THERE CARS TO BE AT THE TRACK WHEN IT OPENED. LETS HEAR FROM ANYONE WHO REMEMBERS THE GOOD TIMES AT DOVER,

[smokey-dragctParticipant]

hi roger from the opening day the 14th.of may we were there every sunday includeing holidays till the day it closed.
smokey

[dinoKeymaster]

Thanks to Brian and his never ending scavaging …Heres the actual pre-MAY article from the Poughkeepsie Paper.Last paragraph chopped ,but you can figure what it says .Nice Save of a great documentation.

---

Attachments:

[dinoKeymaster]

Here’s another From “Roaming the Valley Column;This relates to May Too.

---

Attachments:

[dinoKeymaster]

Check the date …3 weeks after opening ,and week Before ‘Grand Opening” In Drag Rag..Winners next post including Ron Abott, Paul Gommi,Don Gallant & Ed Prout.

---

Attachments:

[dinoKeymaster]

next page:

---

Attachments:

[dinoKeymaster]

Coming up….THE day FIFTY YEARS AGO….the first “Rumble in the Hills ” was heard…….watch for new newspaper ‘finds’ wev’e got of this period. Heres an FRONT Page story from the Amenia paper about the ‘hearing” the town had to vote on it’s future:

Drag Strip Hearing
To Be Held April 21
A public hearing will he held at
the Wingdale firehouse on Thursday,
April 27, at 8 p.m. to consider the
question of the adoption of an ordinance
to allow drag racing at the
Dover Drag Strip, Wingdale, on
Sundays after 2 p.m. At the hearing
all interested parties may be
heard for or against the proposed
ordinance.The Dover Drag Strip is located
on Pleasant Ridge Road, west of the
railroad station in Wingdale, and is
expected to attract large crowds of
spectators. In the event this ordinance
is defeated, the track operators
have permission to hold their races
on Saturday. The Sunday law is expected
to permit the track to draw
more customers.

[dinoKeymaster]

How’d they Do?
Check out This front page story …just 3 days before they ‘pre-opened’. From the Harlem Valley Times-Thursday May 11,1961:

Sunday Drag Racing
Allowed By Dover Board
Members of the Dover Town
Board passed an ordinance last week
permitting drag facing on Sunday.
The measure passed by a 3-1 vote.
Officials of the, Dover Drag Strip,
Inc., which will operate a track on
Pleasant Ridge Road, Wingdale, have
already applied for the permit which
will permit them to open on Sun-
At the board meeting a petition
>>>>>from 263 taxpayers was submitted
to the, board requesting a delay in
the ordinance so that the effect of
the drag strip on the community
might be studied for a year before
permission.

……some of those 263 still there it seems …but thats another story.

SEE THIS TOPIC FOR HOW TO access more Old Dover Newspaper Storys:

http://www.doverdragstrip.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=2923&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=newspaper

[dinoKeymaster]

THE FIRST PUBLIC NOTICE OF THE PLANNED TRACK….July 21.1960 I consider THIS a fantastic historical document.The publics first printed indication of Chet & Joes intentions. And it was ‘buried’ on page 4 of the Harlem Valley Times .Consider in just 10 months , it was built and operational….with-in just three days after the Town approving the permit. Now thats the American way of taking a business risk and going right down to wire ,without giving up.If the town turned him down, it would have been all for nothing.(See previous posts here for other goodies-next posts will be zoomed -in to read Chet’s Great Explanation)

---

Attachments:

[dinoKeymaster]

“Part 1” of the previous story . . .

---

Attachments:

[dinoKeymaster]

“Part 2” continued…..

---

Attachments:

[dinoKeymaster]

Re-mem-mem …Remember when…..Song by The Earls , Bronx, NY. !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaEcxi3tgkc&feature=related < crank it up !

photo from Dick Donofrio Collection-ODF Galleries

---

Attachments:

[Author]

Posts