When the President comes to town it is a very big deal. As most of us know, a lot of planning goes into a presidential visit and even if the president is just passing through it generates a lot of excitement—and, I am sure, a lot of anxiety for police and city officials.
Guide photographer Tom Scilipoti got a better view of President John F. Kennedy at the Fifth Regiment Armory. Photo by Thomas Scilipoti
I remember when John F. Kennedy came on a helicopter which landed in Patterson Park. He arrived just around sundown in the late summer. There was not just one helicopter, but two. The small part of the park east of Linwood Avenue is mostly baseball diamonds, which means a lot of loose red dirt and clay.
There were a couple thousand people lined up along Linwood and Eastern avenues hoping to see the president. But during the landing the helicopters kicked up a dust storm that spread for hundreds of yards. They put the president in a convertible and all I could see was two heads, one with a hat and another without. I’m guessing one of them was JFK. The motorcade sped away on its way to the Fifth Regiment Armory. Hey, I saw JFK! Or part of him, at least.
Lyndon Johnson came in the same way and also landed in Patterson Park. I was visiting a friend who lived on Chester Street just across from McKenna Pontiac. The new cars had come in so [Read more...]
Being a regular meant you could probably get on the show two or three times a month. I think Mary Lou’s dad probably had some pull with his business, but I really didn’t care—I was dancing on TV! Mary Lou had the tickets, and onto the Number 22 bus we went.
