A Time Machine Back to the Thirties Will be launched Saturday Night at the Bootlegger’s Ball
Saturday night’s Bootlegger Ball, getting underway at 6:00pm at the Cherokee Yacht Club, will serve as a time machine to take Grand Lakers back to the thirties during the construction era which created the Pensacola Dam. Thousands of workers, looking to escape the latter part of the “Great Depression,” descended on northeastern Oklahoma seeking employment on what was known as the Pensacola Project.
Saturday night’s event, the first of three South Grand Lake Area Chamber fund raisers for 2015, will salute those responsible for the construction of the dam nearly 75 years ago. Tent cities popped up on the east and west sides of the Grand Neosho River creating the towns of Disney and Langley. For 23 months, concrete was manufactured on site and poured non-stop. With prohibition in full force, the workers were creative in designing ways to unwind during their off hours.
Whiskey Point was but a short hike from Disney and was a densely wooded area which provided a perfect hiding place for the workers to perform their distillery operation. While the setting was apparently rough and the barkeep, perhaps a Siegfried or Bendel by name, even tougher, the first Grand Lake drinking location of record, provided a secret location for workers to unwind. It has been speculated they perhaps even engaged in an illegal gambling game or two and who knows, there could have even been ladies on hand to provide companionship. The location of that pre-Grand Lake party spot is known today as Hinds Point.
Seventy-five years ago those workers were not only sipping their moonshine on Whiskey Point, they were rapidly closing in on the completion of the historic Pensacola Dam. In recognition of their contribution to the Grand Lake we enjoy today, the Grand Lake Area Chamber is dedicating their annual season launching event as a salute to a truly remarkable feat.
The Bolt Fiber Optic Services Bootlegger’s Ball, a Speakeasy Soirée, is set for this Saturday night at Cherokee Yacht Club. While the location of the long overdue salute will be complete with all the modern day yacht club amenities, the operation will be hosted in a 1930’s setting, when drinking establishments were definitely found behind closed doors and subject to police raids from time-to-time.
Our time machine will take Grand Lakers back to those days complete with a jazz band, gaming tables, Grand-Shine, the drink of that historical time period and reportedly brewed on Whiskey Point, a dice roll for $2,000, available keys to the evidence locker and a chance to claim a mini IPad, food, a live and silent auction and the guarantee of a great time..
The event wouldn’t be possible without all of sponsors, including our name sponsor Bot Fiber Optic Services. Others deserving a Grand Salute include Serenity Hospice, GRDA, Dick Lanes of Grand Lake, Roberts Auto Group, Bank of Grove, Core Productions, Grand Lake News Online, Pine Lodge Resort and Stepping Out Design,
The event is open to the public. Tickets are $20 each and can be purchased now at GrandLakeAreaChamber.org, at the door or call 918-782-3214 and get the password. The ball will begin at 6:00 PM at Cherokee Yacht Club, 33152 Browning Lane, Cleora, OK.
A Time Machine Back to the Thirties Will be launched Saturday Night at the Bootlegger’s Ball
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