The buzz over the 250th birthday of the United States is winding down and it made me look back to the summer of 1976 when the Bicentennial was approaching. Two hundred years as a country was a really big deal and everyone, of all ages was way into it.
I’ll share exactly what I did on July 4th 1976 but first, there were other things happening during that summer.
I was 15 years old and finished my freshman year at York High School. I was earning money doing weekly mowing of 6 lawns. Three in my neighborhood and three on the northside of Elmhurst. I’d load my lawnmower in the trunk of our Chevy Caprice and my mom would drop me off to cut away. Then she’d come back ninety minutes later and I’d pack up with some freshly earned cash in my pocket. Money for wiffle balls, movie tickets, pinball playing at the Game Room in Lombard, poker parties and I can’t forget slushes at the White Hen Pantry.
Mowing lawns was my source of income in the summer of ’76.
I was pitching for the Red team in Colt league that summer in the Elmhurst Baseball league. It was my first time throwing from 60 feet 6 inches (just like the pros do) and my final mound record was 3 wins & 6 losses. Four losses came at the hands of the ultra-star filled Green team but in two of those games I HAD them beat but my fielders fell apart a bit in the last inning. Still, I learned so much about pitching that summer and that led to three solid years pitching for the York Dukes and then American Legion ball.
Pitching for the Colt League ‘Red’ team was a big learning experience for me.
Mariott’s Great America in Gurnee opened that summer. You could buy tickets in advance at Jewel for less than 10 bucks. My mom woke me up one morning and said she wanted to take me up there to check it out. This would lead to future visits to Great America in the summers after that.
Marriott’s Great America opened its first season in the Summer of ’76.
For the 4th of July, the BIG day to celebrate America’s bicentennial, I hosted four friends for the day at our house. We loaded up a laundry basket full of water balloons and had a massive balloon bout. A pizza dinner followed then my sister Marianne drove us to see the fireworks. Since a late night poker party was happening at our house afterwards, we convinced Mary to buy us cigars to smoke during the card playing. My pals slept over that night and I recall we had some bottle rockets and firecrackers to light up too. Nobody lost any fingers that night.
What better way to celebrate our nation’s 200th birthday than with a big water balloon fight?
At the end of July, I attended my first ever rock concert, Elton John’s 4th and final night at the Chicago Stadium. We landed tickets 2 months earlier and the countdown to this show was a constant focus for me. Marianne took me, her boyfriend at the time, me and two pals as we rocked out to the hottest act at the time. This was the first of many times I’d see Elton John in concert. What a blast that first experience was!
Elton John was the first ever concert I ever saw and it rocked big time back in late July of ’76.
One downer of the summer of 1976 was the passing of our beloved part German Shepherd dog “Coach.” Coach was our first ever dog and a beloved member of the family for 12 years before incurable kidney issues happened. He was gently put to sleep the second week in August and it devastated all of us. Even our pure white kitty Miss Priss mourned Coach as she kept vigil by his backyard dog house for 2 days after his death. Rest in peace Coachie.
Losing our beloved dog Coach was the one downer of the Summer of 76. He was a great member of our family.
When the summer of ’76 wrapped up, I was about to start my sophomore year at York where I’d be on the Yearbook staff, struggle through Geometry with Mr. Urbaniak, go 2 and 0 for the Dukes of York with a team leading E.R.A. of 1.54. (I told you I learned lots about pitching in ’76) and would move on to summer baseball at York plus my first part time job at White Castle.
This all went down fifty years ago. Fifty years. And yet, it sometimes feels like it just happened.
NEXT BLOG– When I know, you’ll know.