The Citizens' Voice, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Back Mountain Bits column: Fern Brook Park was second only to Harveys Lake for dances, events

Nov 12, 2008 (The Citizens' Voice - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- GOOG | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- In the newspapers of the 1910s and 1920s, among the ads for catarrh cure and sales at Lazarus Brothers' department store, were advertisements for dances and other events at the Back Mountain's second biggest attraction (Harveys Lake was first, of course).

The Wilkes-Barre, Dallas and Harveys Lake Railway Company created Fern Brook (also called Fernbrook) Park in 1897. It was located on the site now home to Offset Paperback Manufacturing on Route 309 in Dallas Township.

The park was a popular place for family reunions, Sunday school picnics, and outings by organizations such as the Brewery and Soft Drink Workers, the painters' union, and the Boston Store Mutual Aid Association -- to name only a few who used Fern Brook's facilities, according to the Sunday Independent.

In the beginning, Fern Brook Park was essentially a picnic grounds with some basic amusements such as a merry-go-round and a shooting gallery.

But the big attraction for many years was the massive dance pavilion, to judge from some of the notices in the Sunday Independent.

The Ballet Club had dances there in 1919, and the Social Club held a regular dance every Monday in the summer of 1914, with music by Park's Orchestra. In the summer of 1924, there were farmer's dances with the Hayseed Orchestra on Monday nights, and, for the more refined, there were the Sterling Club dances with Harry MacDonald's Jazzapation Orchestra on Wednesdays.

On Aug. 14, 1915, the Masters and Journeymen Horseshoers had their annual joint excursion at Fern Brook, which included a picnic, a waltzing contest, a cake-eating contest and athletic competitions such as quoits, a nail-driving contest for women, a peanut scramble and a potato race.

I found it particularly amusing that on May 27, 1923, the Barney Google Club met at Fern Brook Park on Monday, May 28, to dance to Joe Connor's Serenaders.

Now, I'm a big fan of vintage newspaper comics. Barney Google, the character created by Billy DeBeck in 1919 (the strip would later be taken over by Fred Lasswell), was immensely popular in the 1920s. I've always wondered whether the Web search engine was named after him. A little Internet research (via Google, naturally) shows that it was -- sort of.

It seems the search engine's creators wanted to name their company for the mathematical term "googol," one followed by 100 zeroes, presumably to represent the number of Web pages the engine could find. The term "googol" was coined by mathematician Edward Kasner's nephew Milton Sirotta, who was, as legend has it, a Barney Google fan.

But I digress. In the mid- and late-1920s, Fern Brook Park changed. Fernbrook Park Amusement Company was formed Jan. 1, 1926, according to the Department of State. After that came the real amusement park rides, including a wooden roller coaster by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company.

Fern Brook's roller coaster is long gone, but the company lives on as Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters.

Some of its creations still around today include the 1923 Thunder Hawk wooden roller coaster at Dorney Park in Allentown, and the 1980 Phoenix and 1999 Twister coasters at Knoebel's Grove in Elysburg, according to the company's Web site.

Apparently the Depression helped kill Fern Brook Park. The dance pavilion stayed around after the rides were gone, but by the mid-1940s, when the park closed, it was being used as a skating rink. Unfortunately, there's not a trace of the park to be found at the site today.

Bingo at Noxen School

There will be a pay-per-card 50/50 bingo game Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Noxen School, School Street. Food and beverages will be available. All proceeds will benefit the Noxen-Monroe Sportsmen's Club.

For more information, call 298-2052.

Birding at Frances Slocum

Bruce Troy of Wild Birds Unlimited will lead a bluebird walk and birding outing at Frances Slocum State Park on Saturday. Meet in the parking lot at the Environmental Education Center and boat rental at 8:30 a.m., and don't forget your binoculars. There's no cost to attend.

Back Mountain blood drives

The Wyoming Valley chapter of the American Red Cross is hosting the following blood drives in November:

n Tuesday from noon to 5:30 p.m. at the Dallas American Legion on Memorial Highway.

n Tuesday, Nov. 25, from 1 to 6 p.m. at Fellowship Evangelical Free Church, 45 Hildebrandt Road, Dallas.

It's really zen

Misericordia University is hosting an introduction to Zen meditation Tuesday from 7:30 to 9 p.m. in the Mercy Center on campus. The introduction includes a brief time for practice and a question-and-answer session.

Pre-registration is required and a free-will offering will be taken. To register, call Sister Barbara Craig at 675-1872.

Pork and sauerkraut dinner

Carverton United Methodist Church on Church Road in Kingston Township is holding its annual pork and sauerkraut dinner in the dining hall Saturday, Nov. 22, from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Takeouts will be available from 4 to 4:30; please bring your own containers. Tickets are $8 for adults and $3.50 for children under 10.

Elizabeth Skrapits writes "Back Mountain Bits" every Wednesday. Story ideas and news items can be e-mailed to her at eskrapits@citizensvoice.com.

To see more of The Citizens' Voice or to subscribe to the newspaper, visit http://www.citizensvoice.com/. Copyright (c) 2008, The Citizens' Voice, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

More News:   Market Updates | Stock Alerts | All Trading News | Stock Index