I was going to do this in another thread, but it's worthy it's own segment. Most of us living here have been to the Sun Bowl at one point or another for the outdoor concerts. The venue clearly sets us apart from almost every other age restricted community in the country/world/galaxy. Holding 7500 jammed-in residents in an open air, tiered and grassed bowl setting is just something no one else does. People bring their own lawn chairs and blankets and it becomes party night. You can bring food and beverages or there are food trucks there an hour and half before the show starts. The shows start early fall, shut down for Dec and January and then start again in Feb. They are typically on Sunday nights with starting times varying with sunset and outside temperatures. This fall the lineup includes a Credence Clearwater Revival tribute band as well as any number of other kick-butt shows we can post later. Suffice to say, the place will be rocking when the CCR show begins and won't stop till they shut it down. The dance floor will be jammed with oldies but goodies who can't sit still. It's the perfect lead in to the history of this awesome venue. John Meeker/DEVCO built it in the late 60's as both a marketing tool and a place where people could go and feel good about having bought in Sun City. When it opened people filled the place, 7000 plus and in those days, they sold tickets. I'll post some of the attractions as we get further into the thread from those early years, it was quite the lineup; but you have to remember, Del Webb built half of Las Vegas and knew all of the performers. Everyone knows by now (silly me), the rec centers were given back to the community by DEVCO. The story goes the golf courses were sold back to the RCSC for "10 dollars and a cup of coffee." But what about the Sun Bowl? Was that just another in the long line of givebacks to the residents? Not quite, in fact, it was a story kind of buried in the annuls of time. Stay tuned as we delve into how and when the Sun Bowl became a part of the Sun City amenity package and how close it came to us not even owning this remarkable piece of property
Ah yes, CCR, one of my all time favorites. I first heard them as the Golliwogs, in the early 60s they used to play at a local dance club (The Purple Turnip) in Modesto, CA. I was too young to get in, but my older sister managed to sneak me in one time until I was found out and sent packing. She wasn't old enough to get in either, but her and friends had fake IDs and they were cute.
John Fogerty is back out on the road touring at the young age of 70. Go figure. Here's a you tube of Have you ever seen the rain? The show we have scheduled is on Sunday November 1 at 6 pm and features Randy Linder. If Randy is half as good as his website, it should be one hell of a show. Check it out here. Pretty impressive, he's played all over the United States. Every year the RCSC sets aside in the neighborhood of $50,000 to pay for these shows that are free to RCSC card holders and their escorted guests. Some of you guys thinking about Sun City as your new home should make it a point to come in the week of this show and see why Sun City kicks butt. I know any of us here would be more than happy to "escort" you to the show...heck we may even be able to dredge up chairs and a cold beverage. I know you're all hanging on to the edge of you seat waiting for the Sun Bowl story...soon, very, very soon.
The letter from the Rec Centers of Sun City to the residents of Sun City is dated March 24, 1981.If you recall, DEVCO had finished the sell-off of lots in Sun City by 1978 and immediately headed to Sun City West to start anew. Initially there were hopes the 2 communities could work in concert with one another but there was some rivalry that arose which caused the divide to be wider than the river bed on Bell Road. Each became a free standing entity, which certainly gives pause to wonder how it might have worked out had there been a closer relationship. The letter read: Dear Member: On December 17,1980, Mr. John W Meeker, President of the Del E. Webb Development Company, offered the Sun Bowl to the Recreation Centers of Sun City, Inc., under the following conditions: 1. Recreation Centers will accept the Sun Bowl on a three-year trial basis in its present condition and pay all cost of maintenance, operation, and taxes. At the end of this period, Recreation Centers will have the option of returning the Sun Bowl to the Del E. Webb Development Company. 2. Del E. Webb Development Company would be willing to have the Bowl restricted to use by Sun City residents and their guests. 3. The Sun Bowl can be used only for entertainment events of such nature as has been customary in the past. It is contemplated, however, that the scope of use could be broadened to provide for uses by the Members for picnics, arts and crafts shows, service club activities, and other activities conducted by and for the benefit of Members of recreation Centers and their chartered clubs. Use of the facilities by non-Sun City entities for use of facilities for soliciting funds or for financial gain would not be permitted. 4. After ten years, Recreation Centers may use the Sun Bowl property for any use permitted by its Articles of Incorporation. However, sale of the Sun Bowl property would require a vote of the membership and could only be achieved by a majority vote of the entire membership. The letter went on to say: For several weeks, an Ad Hoc Committee has been gathering pertinent data (pro and con) about the Sun Bowl. In addition to the voluntary opinions we have received from Members over the past year or more, we recently invited Members to submit their views on how the Sun Bowl can be used. About 150 responses were received. On the following page you will find excerpts from responses of Members who favor acceptance of this property, along with excerpts from responses of Members who oppose acceptance of the offer. You will also find an estimate of annual maintenance costs, as well as an estimate of the costs of making necessary start-up repairs. We sincerely hope you will take the time to review the material presented and indicate your preference on the Sun Bowl question. While the laws governing our Corporation require that business decisions be made by the Board of Directors, we will give due consideration to the preferences indicated by the Members. So there's way more to this story, but for now, I'll let you digest how this question weighed heavy on those both on the board and within the community.
The letter printed out was mailed to all Sun City residents. This article appeared in the paper on April 24, 1981: Board OK's takeover of Sun Bowl. Sun City-Directors Of Recreation Centers of Sun City Inc. will send s letter to the Del E. Webb Development Co. inviting a formal document that would turn over the open-air Sun Bowl arena to the resident-controlled organization. The 5-3 decision by the board Tuesday came after a questionnaire survey in which Sun City residents indicated they approved of the takeover on a three-year trial basis. Figures released this week by Recreation Centers President Jack Spellman show 15,755 - or about 57 percent -- favor the takeover, while 9,788 -- about 36 percent -- are against it. Oddly, 2,059 -- or about 7 percent -- of those who returned the questionnaire merely signed the survey without indicating their preference -- a figure Spelling said was "amazing." Board members Hil Vogel, Helen Blackburn, Dick Rolls, Carl Simon and Spellman voted to send the letter to Webb. Board members Harold Kraft, Trudy Jankowski and Harold Lee voted against it. Kraft said the language of the community's facilities agreements may have to be clarified. Lee said he opposed the language of the letter opposed by Mrs. Blackburn. Board member Jackson Perry was absent. Spellman revealed at Tuesday's board meeting that Webb picked up the $5,000 tab for the mailing of the questionnaire to the organization's more than 43,000 members. John Meeker, president of Webb, had said the company would sell the Sun Bowl property if the residents don't want to keep it. -- Steve Yozwiak. The thing to note here it wasn't a vote, but an impressive effort by the board to get the pulse of the community about this issue. The net of the deal was the RCSC would get the Sun Bowl for use for 3 years, at rent of $1 per year and they had to pay all costs associated with running and maintaining it. If they wanted to keep it after the three year period, they could buy it from Webb for $10 or give it back to them. The RCSC had factored into the questionnaire a $2 per year increase (from $40 to $42) that was part of the source of angst by residents. By this time the Sun Dome was open and one person noted we didn't need the Sun Bowl because we had the Sun Dome. Interesting to note, the Sun Dome is now a Fry's grocery store and the Sun Bowl is an amazing venue so many of us love. I won't bore you with the details, but 1981 could truly be called the summer of discontent. During all of this, there was a massive effort to recall both the president and former president on the RCSC board. Along with this purchase there were 7 significant by-law changes that had people up in arms. I suspect part of the reason for the questionnaire was to make people feel like the board was listening to them. The recall failed and several of the by-law changes were dropped. It truly was one of the more tumultuous years in Sun City's history. Finally, think about this: Had the vote turned out differently and we did not own the Sun Bowl, this community would have been wholly different. My only regret is that Meeker before he left the Webb Corporation didn't make us the same offer for the Lakes Club...without question, it would have made Sun City wholly different than it is today...and in a good way.
The rose garden in the southeast corner is so beautiful and you can get your cues on rose care from watching how the roses are maintained through the seasons. When was the softball field added to the Sun Bowl? I remember going to a "Posse of the Year" Dinner at the Lakes Club...must have been in the early 90s? It was a very nice venue and would have been a great purchase for the RCSC for special events & programs.
Nope, I'm not E, but all of this is readily available. I suspect some tire of reading the history, and several ignore it. Often people just see our history as old meaningless minutia. The whole point of this is to get those curious to begin to grasp what self-governance means. We've truly drifted from those days when the community was involved in ways we couldn't even begin to imagine. Take for example this mail ballot questionnaire; nearly 26,000 were returned where they voted and another 2000 + had folks who didn't quite grasp the concept of marking an X in a box. I guess the good news is they at least signed it before returning it. Think about it; that's 28,000 of the 43,000 living here. Staggering numbers. My good friend Ben tells me in the 1963 elections for the three boards in Sun City: The Community Center board; the Town Hall board and the Civic Association (which became SCHOA) there were 25 candidates for each of those boards. These days we're excited when we get 5 candidates for the 3 openings. The further we get from a community where we are committed to a process, the more we morph into how other age restricted communities are built. Some of it's happening by the shear inertia of what's going on outside the walls, some of it is by design by those who find it easier to just do it themselves and minimize the impact residents can have. That bothers me. I just don't ever want to lose sight of the history, thinking Sun City happened by accident or osmosis. We are what we are because of what people living here were willing to do. As we lose that dimension of community involvement we tend to drift away from our roots.
Just for shatz and giggles i stopped by the Museum today and took some photo's. Here's just the first of several i will post from the Sun Bowl archives: Photo courtesy of the Del Webb Sun Cities Museum.
It is indeed C, and here's an old newpaper article that should give folks a better perspective of what it was like when it first opened. Back then, they sold tickets: The picture above was about the performance, while the one below tells the story far better:
