[carguy]

Hi All,

I am the newest of the newbies in this forum. I have been visiting this web site for many years, and I finally decided to join the forum so I can share my memories of the Lakes region and Lake Shore Park.

My dad purchased a tent platform for $50 at Lake Shore Park (LSP) the year I was born, 1943. Through the years the camp was improved until my family sold it in the early 1960's. The camp was located on the main road between the Pavilion and shoreline just west of "short Beach" in the "big pier area". McDude just posted today a post card of a man standing by a tree with Short Beach in the background. Our camp was situated about 50 feet to the right from where the man is standing. Somewhere in the family archives there is a photo of me at 5 months sitting on a blanket on short beach. In the background you can see the raft with diving tower sitting on the beach. It appears that the raft was not launched that Summer, probably needing repairs. I think the raft with tower was moored just off "short beach" in the Big Pier area.

There is another picture of me sitting in our Amesbury Dory boat with a 7-1/2 HP Scott Atwater outboard motor at Short Beach. My younger brother looks to be about two years old in the photo, so the year must have been 1947.

I have so many memories of me spending my Summers when I was growing up at Lake Shore Park. There were so many kids to hang out with. We had the "Big Pier Crowd' and the "Long Beach Crowd" of kids. We spent a lot of time together on the waterfront making rafts, playing water baseball, playing hide and seek on and under the Big Pier, fishing, tubing, and later when we were teenagers, we spent a lot of time waterskiing.

In an earlier post in this thread SteveA made reference to the Miss Lake Shore Park beauty contest starting in the early 1960's. It actually started earlier than that, in the 1950's. Two winners that I can remember, Donna DeGroot and Peggy Weeks went on to win the Miss Winnipesaukee pageant held at Irwin's Winnipesaukee Gardens at the Weirs. I think Jerry Donahue's sister won the Miss Winnipesaukee Pageant prior to Donna and Peggy winning it.

We all had a lot of fun at the LSP Pavilion in the evenings. During the week we danced to the music coming from an old Seeburg Juke Box that played 78 RPM vinyl records. Later we went big time when a newer Seeburg holding 100 45 RPM records replaced the old Seeburg 78 RPM machine.

I learned to dance on the Pavilion floor. Saturday Night there was usually a live band for the adults and Johnny Coyle mc'ed the festivities for many years. He eventually became one of the first presidents of the Lake Shore Park Association.

The Jones Family owned the Park when I was young. Frank and Doris Jones ran the main part of the Park with the store and Pavilion. Frank's brother, George helped Frank run his end of the Park. Frank Jones' other brother, Harry and his wife, (I think her name was Blanche) ran the eastren end of the Park. Thet had a little restaurant in the old LSP railroad depot which was later turned into a motel in the late 1950's. my parents and older brotherused to take my brother and I to the restaurant for a coke and a hot dog.

Over the course of the next few weeks, I will post many more of my memories of growing up at LSP in the Summer.I have a couple of large reels of color 8mm home movies that my dad took in the late 1940's and early 1950's at LSP.
I should look into getting these movies preserved on to a DVD. The Gilford Historical Society would love to have these, I bet.