I've often posted articles from one of my favorite sites on age restricted living; 55Places. They are the premier site for searching all of the communities catering to seniors around the country. Better yet they post up articles on hundreds of topics each year and have a blog that is fairly boring where people can comment. I pop up this site every day to read about and the other morning an old thread had a response that pushes long gone articles to the top of their Chatter column. This one was on Amphitheater's and it prompted me to look at the other responses. Darned if i hadn't commented. Here's a link to the article and here was my comment: The concept of active adult retirement began in Sun City Arizona so it is only appropriate the concept of outdoor entertainment for retirees began here as well. The Sun Bowl opened in November of 1967 with seating for 7500 people. The venue stands yet today and free shows are always popular with residents who only need bring chairs or blankets to sit on. The Webb Corporation leased it to the Rec Centers of Sun City in 1981 for $1 per year. The three year trial proved to the community it was a good investment and in 1984 they took ownership of it for $10. The RCSC increased rec center fees by $2 per residence to help cover costs of repairs and paying for the 20 or so free shows they brought in each year. In the early years Webb sold tickets for the concerts and used the venue and quality entertainment to help stimulate home sales. Here’s the lineup from an early 1970’s concert series: The Norman Luboff Choir; Pete Fountain & His Orchestra; Victor Borge; The Glenn Miller Orchestra; Pat Boone and Family; Lawrence Welk (in person). These six shows played from Jan 21 through March 18 and were popular to the point of packing the Sun Bowl. While some find the history insignificant, i find it helps people better understand the quality of life we still find today in age restricted communities. For a more in-depth look at the Sun Bowl, here is an article i wrote you may find of interest: http://suncitiestoday.wordpress.com/2010/10/31/free/ . You may note the link at the bottom to an old Sun Cities Today Blog i wrote on the backside of the Del Webb Sun Cities Museum. It has some cool trivia on the Sun Bowl, which will be beginning its spring concert series in the coming month. Also, an interesting aside is tomorrow my good friend Ben Roloff will be doing a Life Long Learning class at Fairway on the Sun Bowl. Sorry, but it is already filled, as Ben's session's alway's are.
Dang, shows you how time slips by so quickly. Turns out the first show of the season is tonight at the Sun Bowl. The 60's Forever band will kick it off at 6pm, here's the promo from the RCSC site.
The 60s Forever Band hit just the right note. Not just because folks danced all night but because three different people sitting around me had acid flashbacks during the show.
Like i said at the Board/Member Exchange yesterday; great weather, awesome crowd, band not so. Here's the good news, it will only get better week to week.
