Your Dream Job

farty that seemed as if it would never end is roiling to a stop
That's what Donovan means by
ROSIE FROM El
And the big room remains "moxie."
That and the rest of it: the
cornerstone.
what Donovan calls a "feast for
skywriting by Snow and his coleyeballs."
. "We strive for quality, and to
league Col. Joe Kittinger
J become an institution." Snow
Wood, brass, and class
other Orlando legend. There
said more than 25 years ago:
Snow haunted auctions of were the huge hot air balloons,
"As an institution, you appreciarchitectural antiques,"* filling the bagpipers, the jugglers and
ate with age. We want to be the
the place with real vintage fit- lots more.
heart of the downtown area."
One visitor last Saturday,
tings from all over the world,
. Rosie O'Grady's indeed becooked up into a Gilded Age ex- Vance Kaupang of Winger.
came the engine that pulled
travaganza of wood, brass, Minn., said he just wanted to
downtown Orlando from its
glass and class that looked right cry to see so much of it gone.
early '70s depths, bringing back
at htrne in the old Slemons De- "Some of the best times I've evboth locals and tourists to
partment Store building, even er had" were in there, the
streets Central Floridians had
given up for dead after business
though little of the decor was in teacher remembered.
"Rosie's is timeless." Snow
hours.
the building until Snow put it
said recentLive or party downtown
there.
ly. "The muthen? For most folks, not in a
The
four
sic is timeheartbeat.
burnished
less." And "It
For years, Rosie's heart beat
brass chandewas
built
so strongly it was easy' to asliers,
each'
with wonweighing 800
sume the good times, fueled by
derful. enpounds, came
hot Dixieland and cofd beer,
thusiastic,
from the forwould roll on forever. And as
SENTINEL ARCHIVE* mer .First Natalented peofolks tend to do with instituple. .. . ^ e
tions, Central' Floridians may The way we were. Owner Bob Snow draws a beer in 1975, happier days for the Goodtime Emporium.
tional Bank
SHOUN A. HIU. OK 1AN'IH> SFS'I INI I had
four
have taken the "old girl, for
building
in
deep at the
granted — like the once-rau- Three shows are schedhigh on the famous Nickel Boston, and
Beer Nights on Wednes- the cut glass in the doors was bar, and it could be that today."
cous, henna-haired great aunt uled each night from toTo succeed in the restaurant
days, Allred recalls, when the heaviest ever made in New
you keep meaning to visit until night through SaturOrleans. Snow said the day the and entertainment business, he
the day you learn with a shock day's last hurrah.
"the place was packed."
said, "you've got to know it, feel
that she's slipped away in her
Former cancan dancer place opened.
"We'd love to see Orsleep.
and waitress Sherry Lester
The 65-foot bar was made of it, love it. You can't just like it.
lando come and say
The shock came May 31, good-bye to a dear
remembers the beer-chug- Honduran mahogany, and the You've got to love it."
with the announcement that friend." Oke said. The
ging contests. "I was the painted glass panels once
new owners Of Church Street crowds sure came opensecret weapon," she" re- graced an English pub. And on Joy Wallace Dickinson can be reached at
JdkkirtsotfiorUndostntinel.com or 407Station would close the north ing night. Oke rememcalls. "They'd put me last, and on.
side of the downtown entertain- bers.
up against some big, burly
Snow, the man at the center' 420-6082, or by mail at the Sentinel, 6J3
ment complex August I as part
guy from the audience. of it all. was only 32 when the N. Orange Ave., Orlando, f 132801.
of a redevelopment plan still be- Standout dub
There was one guy in good times at Rosie's began.
ing formulated.
those contests who would And if you think he doesn't
Make no mistake, Or"1HE ADRENALINE RU5H
But the last shows at Bosie lando Hid nightclubs in
chug beer standing on his loom laige in Orlando's past,
OF THE YEAR"
O'Grady's are sooner than Au- the- summer of 1974.
head."
consider that the man has a
gust 1: They're this Saturday Gary "U.S." Bonds was
street named for him — Bob
Music, music, music
night, a few weeks short of the at the "Where It's At"
Snow Lane — and he's not yet
, 27th anniversary of the club's Lounge, Ross Raphael's
The spirit y/as serious 60.
openingon July 19.1974.
Orchestra wasplaying at
fun. and the music was se- Many of the entertainers
"Since J've been here so the Villa Nova and Bar.riouslygood.
who worked for him still refer
long, I've often wondered how bara McNair opened at
Lamond, a graduate of to him as Mr. Snow, even
it' would end," said. Rosie's Disney's Top of the
big-band days who had though'they may be years his
"Good-Time Ambassador" Rob World club
Smokin.' Terry Lamond fired up the crowd
sung with the likes of Artie senior.
Oke.
Arid there were more as the original Red Hot Momma in 1976.
Shaw and Benny GoodAnd they all have stories,
Oke performed at that open- — Shqik's, Kilroy's. the
man.remembersthe excelA like the time Snow phoned Rog<n>^ jPASSWQHQ ACCEPTED)
ing show in 1974, and he'll per- Empire Room at the Langford, is 75 years behind the times and lent musical charts and ar/ sie's and told the band and canV ffl
form at Rosie'S last show Satur- Limey Jim's near Walt Disney proud of it," treads proclaimed. rangements — the quality that can girls to meet him at the Sunday. "Millions of people- have World. But 'no notable clubs
.There were no mentions of was Snow's trademark.
Bank (now SunTrust) building
,come through those doors," he were downtown, and certainly "cocktaijs" — although the liba- From Rosie's, the band took down the street, with Rosie's
said recently in the dark hush not on Church Street by the rail- lions surely flowed. Rosie's was their sound all over town, coro- trademarkfiretruck.
between shows under Rosie's road tracks, an. area Rosie's not a "lounge." Rosie's. Snow net player Don Lord rememTo the sounds of jazz and the
high, pressed-tin ceiling. "It's. now-retired Red Hot Mama announced, was "Americana, bers. often on Rosie's trade- bubbles of champagne poured
, sad to see a legend close."
Ruth Crewsrecallsas "still kind Ma's apple pie. railroad cars mark fire truck, and eventually by the dancers, Snow repaid a
But if you get moving there's of scary. There were boarded- and whistles in the night, han- on tours around the world.
SunBank loan with $300,000 in
still time to pay your respects up buildings. You had to be dlebar mustaches, sleeye garNow, in this week's final cold cash, carried in an Old
and send Aunt Rosie off not walked to your car "
ters'straw hat and the Fourth of shows at Rosie's, Gerry Rose West-style saddle bag that he
with a whimper 'but a bang.
It was "like Tombstone terri- July!" And people loved it. On reigns as the last of Rosie's Red plunked down on the desk of a
tory," agrees Spatz Donovan, opening night, "we were Hot Mamas.
dumbstruck bank officer.
who walked into Rosie's in 1975 mobbed — there were lines go- And though diminished in
and stayed to become a headlin- ing around the building,"
number from the glory days
Rosie's Last Stand er
there for 14 years. In those members Bill AJIred, the .lop- when a nine-piece bandfiredup
early days, "you could practical- notch jazz man who put Rosie's -a crowd that stood four-deep at
Looks like a bus.
What: The final shows at Rosie ly see tumblewecds rolling band together and led it for the bar. Rose and her colO'Grady's Good Time Emporium at down the empty streets."
years.
leagues still perform like the
Churth Street Station.
Bob Snow changed all that.
"Everyone is so friendly." pros they are.
When: Wednesday Thursday 7:15, "He opened to such adversity." one opening-night patron told
Last week, in numbers rang8:40. 10:15 p.mi Friday-Saturday, 8, remembers Teny Lamond, the the Sentinel that night. "1 re-ing from Duke Ellington to Dix9:15, 10:45 p.m. The last shows are Red Hot Mama on . opening member the '20s, the '30s, the ieland. Rose, Oke. Bill White
Saturday.
Works irke
night.- "But we took the city by '40s," said another first-nighter,(the "Baron of Bourbon Street),
Wh«f*:,Church Street and Interstate storm."
a tax break.
John Franz. "This place comes three cancan dancers, and a
4 in downtown Orlando.
In news pages sagging with real close to what it was like, three-piece band proved there's
How much: 55 for Florida residents Watergate and the rumblings of I'm tellin' you. I'm gonna come music, fun and life at ol' Rosie's
s at 407.84J.POOL
for every employee
.it www golyn* com. .
(show your drivers license). Cast President Nixon's impeach- here all the time. I like the atwho rides the bus.
weekend the cover was 510 for out- ment. Snpw announced Rosie's mosphere."
of-state visitors.
jn large ads festooned with VicAnother couple. George and
Wh«rt to call: 407-422-2434.
torian wood type and old-timey Marsha Haberkern, loved both
banjo players. "Rosie O'Grady's " the "1890s d6cor and the loud
and tumultuous atmosphere." It
cost a dollar to get in.
•N'riNKl. ARC
Fun on the run. Wandering entertainer Peter Marks kept the 1976
crowd pleased, working the room in the personal Harpo Marx.
Plenty ofmoxie
Donovan remembers that
when he whirled through the
swinging saloon-style doors
that were Rosie's main entrance in 1975, inside was a
world of high-energy performance and laid-back fun.
Rosie's had "so much flair,
so much moxie, so much chutzpah." Donovan remembers.
Everywhere you looked,
something was happening — a
Harpo Marx look-alike making
goo-goo eyes at the' ladies, a
"Lou Costello" spinning his
tray. And the band? "The band
was just cooking." Donovan remembers.
• Band leader Allred remembers, the big patriotic finale,
with Uncle Sam on stilts.- flags
waving to the tune of "Yankee_
Doodle Dandy," and the Statue"
of Liberty — a woman tapped
from the audience to promenade in" with the entertainers
around the packedroom,carrying her torch..
The spirits got especially
Your
Dream Job
T u r n t o Sunday's E m p l o y m e n t section f o r
e x p a n d e d j o b listings in t h i s e x c i t i n g f i e l d :
A good-times roll call at Rosie's — from beginning to end
• July 19, 1974: Grand opening of draws 1.7 million visitors.
Rosie O'Gtedy's Good Time Empori- • May 1988: Bob Snow announces
um, followed by Appfe Annie's he is selling 50 percent of Church
Courtyard (1976), Lili Mariene's Avi- Street Station to Constellation
ator's Pub and Restaorant (1977), Holdings Inc., a real-estate subsidPhineas Phogg's Balloon Works iary of Baltimore Gas & Electric. In
(1978). Cheyenne Saloon & Opera June 1989, he announces the sale
House (1982). Orchid Garden Ball- of the rest of his interest to Constelroom and Cracker's Oyster Bar lation. Reported price: S61 million.
,(1986). and the Exchange Shopping • July 1994: With 840 full-time emj Emporium plus Commander Rag- ployees. Chutch Street Station
time's Midway of Food, Fun & ranks as Florida's fifth-largest tourGames 11988).
ist attractipn on its 20th birthday.
• 1985: Church Street Station, Flor • 1999: After 1998 attendance of
ida's ' fourth-largest attraction. 550,000, Enic PLC of London buys
Church Street Station from BG&E
for Si 1.5million.
• May 31, 2001: After acquiring
Church Street Station for SI5.85
million, new owners F.F. South and
Co. announce Rosie O' Grady's, Orchid Garden and Lili Mariene's will
close Aug. 1, and they ^ill shut
down operations on the north side
of Churph Street, Station. The company said it plans to "keep open
businesses on the south side.
• June 23, 2001: Final shows
scheduledfor Rosie's. about a
month short of its 27th birthday.
To place an ad, call
407/420-5191.
W' Sentinel ^
Classifieds,