Fresno Famous

Need Assistance:

I am looking for any information about a Fresno singer (mid 1960's) named Glen Adams. He recorded "Only In My Heart." I am working with a D.J. from Kansas City who will be broadcasting a show about San Joaquin Valley bands from 1960 - 1970.

I have collected over 160 tracks (11 CD personal set) of bands from this era. Visit: www.thebrymers.com and click on the "San Joaquin Valley bands." tab.

Dick Lee
The Brymers
(based out nof Lemoore during the 60's)

New Release: "The Love From Our Soul" (17 tracks of classic rock sound)
Other Albums:

1. Never Too Old to rock-n-Roll
2. 40 Year Brotherhood
3. Where Are they Now
4. Sacrifice

Dick Lee
rleekgb@comcast.net

I am looking for info on how to obtain footage of one of a local TV show Al Radka's Channel 30 Funtime which was shown in the 70's on KFSN Channel 30. KFSN Channel 30 has informed me to contact the family of Al Radka. Anyone having any information regarding how to contact Al Radka's family or information regarding how to obatin footage of this television show?

Does anyone remember the TV program called Uncle Tony O'Dare which aired in Fresno from 1953 to 1956?
By the way, Coney Island hot dogs and lime rickeys - yummmmm....
Great drive in theaters and drive-in restaurants with girls on skates
the indoor ornate theaters/still love those old ones
the Memorial Auditorium with the live shows
Arthur's toys - appreciate what they offered even now
Bass Lake - The Falls

Does anyone have any photos of the Lesterburger at Blackstone and Clinton? Does anyone remember the years it was open at this location?

Was there ever a gas station at this site?

Looking for anyone who knows about the tv show Lollipop Lane with Mr. Who,
Johhny Cupcake, Nifty and Marcia Drake. Late fifties, it aired before Agriculture today. A family member was on that show and I would love to have more info about it.
Pat (Mr. Who) and Marcia Cuming also had a talent school.

Does anyone remember Blakely's swimming pool and golf course off Clovis and Tulare Avenues? Village Green Country Club and Apartments are there now. Would love to see pictures if anyone has them.

I miss Arthur's Toys.

Such an interesting site bringing up old memories..i was in Fresburg from 1961 thru approx 1975. My Yosemite Jr. HIgh, Roosevelt Hi , FCC college years. I have such fond memories of Rossi's pizza - farmers market...(in fact was trying to find out how to make that incredible pizza when i came across this site!) Remember Royal Drive in downtown near Divisadero? Also...always loved original Chicken Pie Shop, Laucks Bakery (strawberry pizzas were to die for) and the local A & W near Roosevelt High School. There was a malt shop across from Roosevelt, and some other nice shops. My girlfriend and I would stop and get donuts for 5 cents after school.

Does anyone remember the radio contents KYNO or KMAK used to sponser where they would bury a key? or something? Everybody in town would try to dig up and find the key. There was a giant digging around 1969 year Kings Canyon and Tulare, before the Kmart was there, i think......thousands of people out digging to try to find this key>>

Other random memories...Fresno Downtown mall before it was outdoor mall... I remember my parents actually dressed up when we went downtown>!??? weird..huh

My High School class of 1969 dedicated the plaque of Teddy Roosevelt seen in front of the RHS auditorium. I had great times at RHS.. Great high school football games, and wonderful times with Campus Crusade for Christ and Young Life youth groups. Does anyone remember the whole city rallys...wow..those were amazingly good times of good clean fun with Christian kids from the whole valley participating. One nite, there was a "hippo nite.."...FIND THE HIPPO..kids boarded buses with clues to try to find the hippo (removed from the Fresno Zoo) and as it turned out, relocated to the Fresno City College football stadium on Blackstone. By the time we got there...we had won some prize, and I got to represent my school and ride the hippo!??? weird old memory..isn't it.

of course the Blakeleys water slide out on Belmont I believe. All cool Sunnyside kids hung out there....big slide and tall towers for jumping. great place to see and be seen.....wow, wish i had my shape and suit from those days... sigh

Remember the Oddfellow Hall across the street from the White Theater. There was a phone booth (remember those?) down below in the alley. My friend Randy's mom worked at the Hall. We got the number of the phone booth and would call it to see who answered. We could see the booth from the window in the kitchen on the second floor. One night a guy stopped his car in the street and answered the ringing phone. We told him he had won the KMAK-a-Call Jackpot and that he had ten minutes to get to the station to claim it. He jumped in his car and peeled out on his way to the station over on McKinley Avenue. Did I mention it was 11:45 p.m. when we made the call.

Remember the DJs on KMAK? Tom Male, Dave McCormick, Fred Kimmel and Robert W. Morgan (who went to KHJ in LA).

Remember Sam Schwan (who I hiked with on a 50 mile hike when President Kennedy promoted physical fitness), Dick Carr, Les Turpin, Johnny Hyde, John Walker, Gary Gilbert, on KYNO. KYNO had the KYNO Millionaire contest. The "Millionaire" was played by a professor at Fresno State. One day they took an armored car to Roosevelt HS at lunch time with the DJs inside. There were so many students mobbing the car it started rocking up and down on its shocks.

John Walker and Dick Carr (I won a record in my first radio contest from him "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavor on the Bedpost Overnight) almost got seriously injured in a promotion where they dressed up as Arab Shieks in flowing robes. they were supposed to race Ostrich carts around a track at the Fresno Fairgrounds. Guess what? You can't control Ostriches. Somebody left a gate open and the Ostriches started heading out on Kings Canyon. The DJs had to bale out to save themselves.

Remember Mello Ice Creme Parlor on Tulare Street where the Freeway 41 on ramp is now? The Dodge Laundry south of St. John's Cathedral?

Remember Al Radka's afternoon dance party on Channel 30? Dialing for Dollars? And of course Highway Patrol with the non-buff physique of Broderick Crawford.

There was the Santa Fe Basque Hotel, Moller Barber College on Tulare Street. The Villa Basque, the Basque hotel on F Street, and Ytruri's. Remember fishing at Lakeside on north Blackstone? Anybody remember playing pool at Don's Poollhall on Blackstone south of Belmont? The Mecca on Belmont? The Refectory before it burned down and was replaced by Barnes and Nobles.

Remember Rossi's Pizza (also great Calzones made by my mother when she worked there) in the Farmers Market and Coast Coin and Stamp on Divisadero?, Yosemite Coins on Triangle. Underground (Warhol's "Lonesome Cowboys") and skin flicks at the Fine Art Theater. The original Lesterburgers was on the Northeast corner of Tulare and Cedar across from RHS. Lightning Records on Kings Canyon. The Arctic Circle Drivein on Abby. The trolley car barn on Fresno and Tulare which became a lumber yard. The warehouses on Tulare from 1st to 6th Street. The Pabst Blue Ribbon Brewery on 6th Street south of Tulare.

Three of my uncles raced hardtops at Kearney Bowl in th 50's when Al Pombo and Marshall Sergeant were starting out.

The Bee ran a story years ago about "Mr. Cloud" who lived in the old shack near First and Gettysburg. He had a Political Science degree from Stanford. He refused to sell his farm to developers. As soon as he died his relatives sold the land which is now another charming strip mall.

I live in Sacramento now but come back frequently to visit my granddaughter.

I grew up in Fresno in the 60's/70's, and left nearly 30 years ago. It was a great time & place to be a kid, and remember (almost) nothing but the good stuff. Here's a partial list of places I remember - Gemco (first membership dept. store I remember), Whitey's Pet Shop, OK Market on "O" Street, Harry Coffee's Men's Store on Fulton Mall, Sambo's on Blackstone and McKinley?, The Fresno Bee District House on Shields near Maple, where I received my papers for delivery, The Ben-Hur Gas Station at Cedar/Shields, Purity/Young's Market across from Ben-Hur. Andy's downtown (grill in the front, card game in the back).

I remember A lot of things and this has been a great post love it. I remember.Growing up in the 70's a lot of things sure have changed here in Fresno for sure I miss the good Ole days.When we were small we use to walk to calawa park in the summer and go swimming and I use to go skating at the carousel which was at maple & shields not cedar . There was a like putt putt mini golf next door to it. The lady that owned it Georgiana sold it to a church in which it is still today. A lot of us who skated there every weekend got separated after that because some went to other rinks there was a few back than 2 roller towns and a rink in the fairgrounds.
Remember the outpost chestnut & olive , Lerner gas station maple & tulare, slayton bros. gas station maple and kings canyon the old k mart shopping center at chestnut & kings canyon which there was a thrifty's we got our ice cream cones at. We use to cruise Blackstone > there was an arcade we cruised in it and at the Malibu grad pre next to the drive in at Blackstone & Herndon. that lasted until 1985 I think until the police stopped it. There was a little hamburger joint across the street from Roosevelt high school at tulare & bond that was great many of us went there everyday for lunch. I could go on and on of all the places that are no longer around that are missed by many > brings back many memories of growing up and the days when it was safe to run the streets as a kid. Thanks for this blog it is great. :)

Calzone's on Divisidero, me & high school buddy use to go there for lunch religiously. Family owned business, and real people from Italy. The man did the cooking, and the wife would greet and serve customers. Very friendly woman. The calzone dishes were out of this world with basic beef interior and mouth watering sauce. Even DiCicco's hasn't outdone their recipe. Speaking of DiCicco's, they use to serve chicken cacciatore, the one by that restaurant, like a basque dinner. Salad, soup, plate of pasta, then the main course with large pieces of italian cooked chicken. Now the dish is a one plate order, everthing is extra sides, and dish looks like a chopped up stew. No more chicken cacciatore for me, just lasagna or calzone, maybe pizza, but rarely. Lil Ceaser has my pizza business at five bucks a pepperoni pop.

I just moved back to Fresno about 3 years ago, I left in '85. The places in remember growing up were Harpains of course they had the bomb punch, the red and the green. Flagg Bros in fashion fair is where we used to buy our fly shoes. Liugi's on Blackstone was the best Italian, and Calzones on Divisadero. J&C house of records on the west side had the best music. Lesterbrger, Farrell's was the best, remember "the zoo?" 13 KYNO, the best, and KLIP out in Fowler was the underground soul station. Does anyone remember wild wood pool, off what now is 41N. there was a lil brick oven pizza spot on Belmont called Roma, great pizza. senior taco was great, and sal's in Selma, the original was the best.The old school sneaker heads went to Blosser's sports downtown on Van Ness, and Herb Baurs on Abby. We used to cruise Roading Park on Sundays, and when the low rider magazine car show was in town, Kings Canyon was bumper to bumper. The Rainbow Ballroom, The Eagles Hall, Palm Lakes, Dos Amigos, and the 18 & over spot, The Electra! and of course, The Casino.Pop Shoppe is back, available at Sam's Deli. Naugles for the late night egg/bean burritos. Winchels Doghnuts, big shout to my boy, Frankie Fernandez. Raul's hydraulics. The Gottschalks Hi Debs were "hot" I do remember them on the wall. and Producers milk ruled! I was even in a Producers commercial with Daryl LaMonica from The Raiders. Fresno has so many memories, and it was a great place to grow up, i'm glad i'm back home.

Does anyone remember Lightning Records on Kings Canyon... I'd sooooo look forward to going there on the weekends. Walk in the door and you can smell the vinal from all the albums and 45's they had there. Too cool.

I remember going to the Fulton Mall on Saturdays...shopping at JCPenny, Anita's, Lerner's, and Gottschaks. We always looked forward to eating lunch at Coney Island..their chilidogs were the best! I went to Roosevelt High and I remember going to Lester Burger, Foster Freeze and Munchy's where the burgers were 12 cents each. My mom liked doing her grocery shopping at Country Boy which was on cedar and church and also at Hanoian's where the bakery inside (Karsh) was awesome. I remember playing at Calwa Park when I was young... on Friday afternoons after school they'd put on a preteen dance which was fun. The Rec hall there always had something cool to do and the pool was a nice hangout too in the hot summers. The burger stand at the park made the most awesome hamburgers too. I remember meeting up with my friends who lived in "Foodtown" which was the area near Maple and Church. There was a corner market there called Foodtown and the name just stuck to the whole area...us oldies still call it that today. I grew up in Calwa near the park. The area then was so nice... everyone knew each other... you could walk around the neighborhood after dark and it was safe. I've move away from the area but I have fond memories of it. I'm 53 yrs and was born at Wallace Hospital on Kings Canyon...I have never seen the hospital because they tore it down long before I can remember. I think there's a super market there today...lol

THE FRESNO BEE NEWSPAPER
Fresno, California
Saturday, December 6, 1975

Massage Center at 6351 N. Blackstone Ave., Summer Breeze at 459 N. Van Ness Ave., the Velvet Touch at 4744 E. Carmen Ave., Paradise Massage at 4683 N. Blackstone Ave., and Le Parlor at 5587 E. Griffith Ave. All in Fresno, California, and owned by Marilyn Laird. A certain blond male movie star from Fresno used to frequent these parlors when drunk on visits home. Because the madam refused to give a certain D.A. the payoffs his mafia friends demanded, the Red Light Abatement law was put in action. At the same time Fresno's most notorious Madam was sentenced to prison, a woman who murdered a man got thirty days in jail and probation. That's what happens when you don't pay off a crooked District Attorney. Fresno does have a fascinating dark side. In later years the same D.A. ended up in prison for pedophilia. A book is currently being written about Fresno's most notorious massage parlors owned by Madam Laird. Her case was TV and headline news from late 1975 to early 1977. She paid her girls $2 for a half-hour massage, $5 for a 45-minute massage and $8 for an hour massage, while the house charged $10, $15 and $20, respectively, for their services. She said her average weekly number of customers per parlor was about 25. Marilyn Laird had been a respected member of Fresno's Opera League until the source of her being one of the wealthiest members of Fresno's elite hit the papers. Many husbands of the elite became rather nervous whenever Marilyn Laird arrived in her mink coat and jewels. Gibson's Ghost still haunts the motel room where he killed himself over her in June of 1972, calling her name. Madam Laird did help free many young women from cruel pimps who beat them and even killed them. She was greatly admired and known to turn heads when she entered a room because of her charisma and beauty. The mere mention of her has since become taboo. Yet she symbolizes the wild side of Fresno. Also her son, who helped run her parlors while attending Hoover High School, was the inspiration for the movie RISKY BUSINESS.

It's all in the book PRIVATE PARTS by Ian Ayres: http://www.facebook.com/pages/PRIVATE-PARTS-The-Early-Works-of-Ian-Ayres...

****drive in theater**** looking for pictures of the drive in that were in fresno. i know the names of them. i been to all of them when i was small, but can't find any photos. would be coo to have some. pict. of the swings . lol. someone has to have some..

i just ordered wonton soup and spicy dragon curry for my friends from Thai Delivery, it was really nice, all my friends loved it.

How about SNEET week @ People's Church in 1969-1970? Something New & Exciting Every Time was the acronym for Teen Life week; an entire week of fun activities to keep us kids busy. The coolest was the race on the Fulton Mall to the top of the spiral Parking Deck. We could use the stairs, the ramps, or elevators. Wow! Was that a killer, but tons of fun. A;so, the HUGE cardboard box maze for the Halloween party. We were pretty EZ to please.

I'm not a Fresno native, but my parents are. I stumbled across this site today as I've been trying to locate some lost footage of an old TacoBell TV commercial from 1968. My mother worked at what she says was the first TacoBell in Fresno located on E. Kings Canyon. I looked it up on GoogleMaps and it looks like it has since been taken over by a pizza chain, but you can tell from the looks of the building it definately used to be a TacoBell. Anyway, she was about 19 at the time and was asked to be in a TV commercial which we believe was only broadcast locally in Fresno. She also met my father while working there in 1968. Additionally, she claims to have invented the Burrito Supreme which she fixed especially for my father whenever he came in to see her. At that time they only served bean and cheese burritos, and when people saw my dad eating it, they started to asking for it as well, and soon it became a featured menu item. He was in the military at that time and after returning from Vietnam, they married and left Fresno and traveled around the world to various duty stations until he retired and they settled in San Antonio TX. For many years my mother says that her cousins and family members would call and tell her that they were thinking about her because they had just seen her on TV again. I didn't even know about this TV commercial until recently and have been searching the internet since then, but have not had any luck. I came across this website and thought maybe someone here might remember it or know who I could contact to try to find a copy of it. Hope things rings a "bell" with someone out there! Thanks!

Lollipop Rance was near Fresno and Ashlan not First and Ashlan.

When Kmart was being built at Eastgate Shopping Center, I remember seeing the building before it had the complete letters. It only had KM. One of the teenage carpoolers said she hoped it didnt have anything to do with radio station KMAK. I think she said it as a joke.
So let me think about that Kmart's floor format. When you walked in, the customer service desk was on the right. Across from it was a deli counter. On the left, was a huge section for women's apparel. Further down next to it was men's wear where I did my school clothes shopping, trying on pants in the square mirrored dressing rooms in center area. The center shopping isle while walking in was versatile for seasonal shopping goods. During halloween, collegeville costumes in boxes were placed here.
On the far end was the cafeteria. To the right of cafeteria was sporting goods. Across from sporting goods and almost next to cafeteria were several isles of toys. They had some great toys there, and a neat book section for kids with a lot of hard cover Disney books.
Past the customer service desk almost all the way down toward the corner restrooms was a book shelf area, and I think they sold records there too.
The only reason I liked Thrifty's was for the cologne section, the toy section, the magazine section that greeted you when you walked in back automatic doors, and the fabulous ice cream bar that served ice cream scoops from round cylindar, that made the ice cream scoops in tall layers rather than scoops.
Then there was Mayfair market next door, and a check cashing place across from it on the interior mall. I liked that shopping center!

Does anybody have any history on Calwa Park? I grew up in Calwa as a child and moved away and now i am back in the Calwa area and would like any information on the park.

..I was a Fulton Mall girl and I loved it every Saturday, shopping , hanging out. my first job was JCPenney in 1974...there was Teds, Hartfields, Woolworth's,
'..does anyone remember Mar's Drive-in Belmont and Palm, best french fries and a real milkshake....how about White Front dept store. Blackstone and Ashlan, where now empty Mervyn's. then there was off Olive of Wilson (tower dist) then moved on corner of Echo and Olive called "Lucky"s or Lucky Burger, the best and biggest chili cheese burger ever!.a friend of mine parents owned it... now called the "Peach Pit" i miss the good ole' days...

Remember Lollipop Ranch on First Street near Ashlan? I don't know the man's name who ran the place, but he always gave us a sucker when we bought our milk there. Such a nice guy.

does anyone have a photo of it

My grandfather used to roller skate in skating shows of Fresno back in the days of Al Radka. The only thing I can relate this to is ice skating but with roller skates. We have a handful of pictures but would LOVE to see video footage. One picture is of him twirling a woman y holding her feet and hse has a match in her mouth and lights it up when she gets close to the ground. Fascinating! I'm sure he would love to see footage of himself as well!

Does anyone have any more information about these skating shows of Fresno? I just learned of Al Radka and the role he played as a sponsor or commentator of these shows last night. I'd like to think that at the very least, local news or stations would have footage somewhere. What were the stations back then? I would love to try and contact them for additional information.

Thanks. (sethcohen1978@yahoo.com)

Oh, Dan, you must be an old fart indeed. I grew up in the 50's and came of age in the mid 60's. And downtown Fresno was long, long dead by then. But give me North Fresno or crusin' Belmont and that rings a bell for me. But you Fulton Street draggers, aren't you guys about ready to turn in your driver's license? No offense, I'm just sayin' ... downtown hopping Fresno is not even a faint memory, even in my old age. Stop by lostfreano.com and leave a memory before it's too late. If you know what I mean.

Remember the days Downtown Fresno was bustling with activity? When people came from all around to hang out on the Fulton Mall and visit with friends? We will never have those days back, but the efforts to revitalize downtown and renew the neighborhoods around here, will allow future generations to have their memories of Downtown Fresno.