A lot has changed since this You'll Love Erie tourist guide was published by the Erie Area Chamber of Commerce in 1982.
Erie County, PA has gained 6,000 people.
The Flagship Niagara is no longer propped up on State St.
The Civic Center replaced the Erie County Fieldhouse.
Mercyhurst is now a University.
The Erie Art Center is now the Erie Art Museum.
The Greyhound bus station moved to the bayfront.
Doctors Osteopathic Hospital closed.
The Geriatric Center is now Pleasant Ridge Manor.
The Erie Blades no longer exist.
The Erie Cardinals no longer exist.
Commodore Downs is gone.
The Erie International Airport is now Tom Ridge Field.
Villa Maria College merged with Gannon University.
Lou Tullio is no longer the Mayor of Erie.
Enjoy more historic facts and photos of Erie, PA at: oldtimeerie.blogspot.com
The Erie County Fieldhouse was home to professional and youth hockey in Erie, PA for many years. This event schedule gives you an idea of the number of games played during December of 1982.
There were six Atlantic Coast Hockey League hockey games played at the Fieldhouse. The Erie Blades (or was it the Golden Blades?) played Hampton on Dec. 8th, Virginia on Dec. 10th and 11th and Mohawk Valley on Dec. 15th, 18th and 22nd.
There was one college hockey game on Dec. 12th, when Gannon University played Wheeling, WV.
High school games included Cathedral Prep vs. Pittsburg Baldwin on Dec. 11th and 12th; and Prep vs. Cleveland St. Edward's on Dec. 21st. McDowell High School played Upper St. Clair on December 11th and and Pittsburgh Baldwin on Dec. 12th.
Erie Youth Hockey played a tournament at the Erie County Fieldhouse from Dec. 27th through Dec. 30th.
Other events included an Erepa Grotto Variety Show on December 1st, and a concert by Nazareth and Toronto on December 7th.
Enjoy more historic facts and photos of Erie, PA at: oldtimeerie.blogspot.com
I remember the first concert that I saw at the Erie County Field House. It was loud and there were no seats on the floor, just lots of people sitting on blankets or standing up front. I could barely see the band on stage through the haze. I was hooked!
The Erie County Fieldhouse was located at 5750 Wattsburg Road in Erie, PA, off of Route 8 near I-90. The Erie Lions played hockey there, as did the Erie Blades. When concerts came to town during hockey season, they covered the floor with sheets of wood. It was a little chilly, but no one complained. Some shows had an open floor plan and some had rows of metal chairs on the floor.
I saw a ton of shows at the Field House. Off the top of my head, the ones I remember include Mahogany Rush, Head East, Sammy Hagar, Boston, Blue Oyster Cult, Nazareth, Shakin' Street, April Wine, Triumph, Blackfoot and Fastway. I'll add more when I find my ticket stubs.
I worked at a record store, and we would take unsold tickets and money up to the Field House before the show. It was fun to watch them put piles of money in a counting machine. It was also fun to get free concert tickets, even if they only cost $7.75 each. We sold a lot of tickets to closed-circuit boxing matches. This was in the days before satellite TV and the Internet. We had a seating diagram that showed which tickets we had for sale, and would then cross off the seat numbers as they were sold. This was the days before Ticketron and Ticketmaster.
There was always a handful of scalpers selling bootleg t-shirts in the parking lot before and after a concert. The shirts were cheap. When you washed them a few times, they shrunk or became deformed.
Enjoy more historic facts and photos of Erie, PA at: oldtimeerie.blogspot.com
The Erie Blades
The Erie Blades played the Beauce (Quebec) Les Jaros at the Erie County Fieldhouse on March 10, 1976. The Blades competed in Western Division of the North American Hockey League, along with the Broome Dusters, the Buffalo Norsemen, the Johnstown Jets and the Philadelphia Firebirds. One thing was for sure- if you saw the Blades, you could count on a fight on the ice, and the crowd would go wild.
I followed the Blades for about three years, interviewing Val James for the Wilson Citizen, my middle school newspaper. The story, which ran in the December 1979 issue, was the first sports article that I wrote. I mainly wrote about music.
The issue also includes articles that I wrote about the eleven people that died at a Who concert in Cincinnati, OH on Dec. 4, 1979, and article about Quill Eller. Quill Eller featured guitarist Timothy McLaughlin (Strong Vincent Class of '71).
Enjoy more facts and photos of Erie, Pennsylvania at: Old Time Erie
Quill Eller
