Paradise Park
A Long Time Ago in a Land Far, Far, Away
The following are a group of photo’s from various gatherings I organized along with my cohort Michael “Cheech” DiRenzo on the grounds known as Reichweins, a.k.a Paradise Park, in Mowry/Lavelle, Pa.
Although countless people through the years went there routinely as a local weekend destination, we gathered there for 6 organized get togethers. Four in the 70s & two in the early 80s after my return from Syracuse, New York. The first being an impromtu gathering in August 1977.
For the first little get together in 1977 we collected $ for a few half barrels of beer. “Cheech” & I took my Pioneer CRS700 speakers & his Sansui speakers along with an amplifier/receiver and picked up on FM whatever we could with a makeshift antennae. Our power was derived from a jury-rigged generator from the car batteries. We placed the speakers on top of Cheech & Jeff Perambo’s cars, tapped the first barrel… and it was game on. It was a laid back day of a group of maybe 30 or so. An afternoon of music, beer, “nature”, and a spur of the moment game of touch football. Basically just the general reverly that came along with anytime we got together.
The 2nd was June 4, 1978. This one took a bit more planning. For this was…… PARADISE RISING !
The moniker can be seen on my red tank top & the pink ticket to the event. For this one the park itself was still open to the public as well as the natural spring swimming pool. Photo below. So there were other folks gathering opposite and close by of all ages. A few family’s etc.. We alone were approx. 500 strong. For this I rented professional equipment off of Joe Marnickas at Terrace Music Center. 4 brand new Yamaha bins that sat upon the roofs of friends Blazers. Powered by a Peavey board & music supplied from a TEAC reel to reel & 1 mircophone. I sold tickets & purchased 24 half barrels from a well known local distributorship.
The music was 10 hours of a faux festival produced by WMMR that I recorded on the reel to reel. They named this fake outdoor concert Paradise Rising. Bingo! The name of the place was Paradise Park. So hence the name of the affair had to be Paradise Rising. Needles to say the titled song “Two Tickets To Paradise” was often heard before, during, and after this event. Throughout the gig they (WMMR) would announce the next act of whomever they have lined up whether it Zeppelin, The Who, Rolling Stones, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, whomever. But the recorded voice would say “Ladies & Gentlemen please now welcome to the stage here at Paradise Rising…..” or “Looking over the masses here at Paradise Rising “..etc….There were many a confused face throughout. For numerous reasons. 😉 So approx. 10:00 am that Sunday morning I powered up & started rolling the tape.
Within a half hour a gentlemen drove up and asked who was in charge . I introduced myself and then he proceeded to politely ask if we could “just turn it down until Sunday morning worship is over”. Apparently the sound was going right up the valley to the open windows of the little white church that sits maybe 75 yards up the road. I certainly obliged and asked him what time it would end. By 11:00 am we were back at full volume.
Maybe 2-3 hours into the day around 1:00 a longtime friend (let’s call him “Doc”) gets to the party and comes directly to headquarters. Headquarters was in the box of a mail truck owned by Mike Conway (r.i.p.)who was a friend of my father’s. This is where I had the board & reel set up (as seen in the one photo). Doc comes to me with a look of urgency and say’s…..”Hey. My Dad heard that this party is getting busted”. “The PLCB is coming”. Now this news came from the man who I bought the beer from. So needless to say it wasn’t time for panic but more so implementation. I got on the mic and announced “People ! I’ve just been informed that the PLCB is coming to pay us a visit. ANYONE that is NOT 21 years old please finish your cup & separate yourself from the beer garden. If you comply you can stay. If you don’t you will be shown the gate”. I myself was only 21 years old turning 22 in December. So without incident, the day came, and the day went. I left the site at approx. 8:45-9:00 pm that evening. No raid. So I thought it was all just random bullshit. However, the next day I “unofficially” inquired through a friend of a friend in the PLCB. We. Or in reality me. Would have been busted for it was my name on the beverage purchase. Apparently when I got on the horn and notified the crowd of a possible upcoming visit by the “Regulators” there was already an agent “in the house”. From what was told to me he stayed, observed, and saw compliancy. They called it off. Already paying an agent and they were not going to waste any more taxpayers money. I guess if they pushed I still could have been jammed up but nevertheless there was no further disruption or repercussions.
That was the LAST time I bought the beer. For the following events we turned to Cheech’s college roomie. Ronnie “Savit” Savitsky (r.i.p.). A real “piece of work” but a great guy. His family owned a distributorship in Mount Carmel. So instead of having to have pre-sold tickets to cover all costs for I certainly didn’t have the capital to front for 24 barrels and rent equipment. Now when you came to the gate. If you hadn’t already purchased a $2 ticket. You paid the 2 bucks there. One for me for putting it together which easily covered the sound rental & one for “the House”. The house per se’ was old man Marone who had bought the property. He sat at the gate by the trailer. For him this event was a no-brainer. Supply me with electricty. Do nothing. Make a bucketfull of cash. You want beer? You see Savit at the multi-tap beer truck in the middle of the celebration. You pay him. He will stamp you & give you a cup. I had nothing to do with that transaction whatsoever.
If you preferred you were welcomed to bring your own. Bottles, cases, barrels, whatever. So many different parties going on simutaneously with beverage and charcoal grills. It was like different group picnics all over the grounds, but all as one. This was then new format for the 3rd event that was held. This was named RERISING. Aug. 12, 1978. By this time the park was was no longer a public venue. So after the field was cut for hay then we scheduled accordingly. For RERISING Cheech & I made 10 hours of new music on reels that I eventually transferred to cassettes. For this one I upgraded the sound system and rented a Peavey board and 2 towers of sound from Joe Torquato (Omega Electronics). Each made up of 3 separate speakers . A giant bottom, a mid & a high. When stacked sat nearly 9 ft. high & elevated on platforms. To supply our power as was done for Paradise Rising we ran heavy duty extension cords for about 50+ yards from the box of the truck to the trailer that sat at the gate. I still have the reels of Paradise Rising as well as the collection of cassettes of RERISING. #4 was High Anxiety on July 22 1979. Biblical rain for a couple of hours. No one cared. Other than Savit whose beer truck was bogged deep down in the muck & mire. However a dozen guests made short work of setting him free. A vivid memory of this day was the rain pouring down on a friend of mine as she seemingly floated across the center of it all, sashaing in a sheer “peasant” dress with matching scarf as it flowed effortless behind her as Fleetwood Mac’s Rhiannon echoed throughout. Looking back it was perfection in the moment. A little torrential rain could not dampen our spirits and the day went in to the evening. Once again without a negative incident. A haitus from our hallowed ground until my return from Syracuse in ’81. We then followed with 2 more. Summer Jam 1 & Summer Jam II. As seen in promo for Summer Jam II that I advertised in the Pottsville Republican.
Reflecting back I consider myself most fortunate for I grew up in a time in the world like no other. A time where you were able to hold multiple events, hosting countless good people and all gathering in peace, fellowship, refreshment, song, and just flat out good times . Granted we would not have tolerated any disturbance in “our force” and would have dealt with it accordingly. But the reality is we never had to. Everyone was as cool as cool can be. Sadly I don’t believe this would be the case in today’s world. Too many years, too many decades have passed, and with that passing so did the innocence of the time. The distribution of alcohol alone without a day festival liqour license would present a major stumbling block. No less all the other liablity issues of today’s world that would most certainly cast shade of concern.
But once there was a time. “Over the Hills & Far Away”. A magical time. That time which is now “A Long Time Ago in a Land Far, Far, Away” that afforded us the opportunity & privilege to be who we were. These photo’s can give you a glimpse of that special time. The final photo’s are that of the site now. One taken from the road, one from Google maps and a semi-recent, artistic photo of the old spring water pool taken by Phyllis Skocik Gallagher. If there are other photo’s out there please contact me. I’m always looking to add to the memory of our time at Paradise Park.
