5 Things I Loved About Evansville While Growing Up

I am Evansville born and raised, and I love our city.  I grew up in what is now the hood, right near Washington and Evans.  Went to Evansville Lutheran School and then to Bosse...a bit of a culture shock.  I am however a proud alumni.  After Junior College at Wabash Valley in Mt.Carmel, I got a job at the then Top 40 1280 WGBF-FM in 1979.  They then in 1980 purchased the FM at 103.1 on the dial, flipped it to Rock and called it KC103.  I've pretty well been on the frequency at 103.1 ever since.  Growning up here I still today have memories of "Old Evansville" and a lot of things that were cool back in the day, but don't exist anymore or have changed drastically.  Here's 5 Things I Loved About Evansville While Growing Up.  These photos come from the Facebook page  "You Grew Up In Evansville, IN if...".

Pleasure Park also known as Mesker Amusement Park.  This famous carousel arrives in town in 1923.  I rode it many times until it was sold and moved to Charlotte, NC in 1979 where it still operates today.

I also remember when Main st Downtown was like any other street.  Two way traffic!  The city messed up hugely by turning it into a walkway in the 70's.  Downtown is still trying to recover. Keep in mind, some of these were just a little before my time...but it was similar to what you see when I was growing up,

I started my DJ career at United Skates Of America.  It was on Green River Road, behind where Rafferty's is now.  Below a photos as demolition began in the 80;'s

Drive In Theaters.  We used to have 4.  The West Side Drive In, Sunset Drive In, The Family Drive In and my face the Evansville Drive In at Green River and Morgan.  I spent lots of nights there, our band even performed there before a Cheech and Chong triple bill.  Video killed the Drive-in's in the early 80's.  Here the Evansville Drive In after it closed.

Ayr-Way.  One of the first discount stores in Evansville.  It was on Green River Road where Big Lots now sits.  There was also a store on the north side. I used to ride my bike from uptown to Ayr-Way to buy 45 rpm singles.  I remember the day I bought the first Boston album there, took it to a buddy's house and we listened to it all day.

Those...were the days,