fontana remembered
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- čas přidán 16. 10. 2013
- A slide show of old and new photographs showing construction of Fontana Dam and
Fontana Village. Most of the older photographs are from TVA files. The slide show was prepared as a presentation during Fontana Fall Hiking Week by Photographer Bill Nichols. Learn more about fontana at www.fontanavillageresort.com
OMGoodnesss!! My Dad took my family (from Niles, Mich) up to Fontana Village in 1964 for the vacation of our lives!. I remember they taught us how to square dance in the afternoon and then just turned us loose in the evening to dance with all the wonderful locals. I remember the Buck Dance that happened after dinner every night to get us all tuned up...there was a very talented youngster named Bob Sloan and the Fontana Ramblers that we looked forward to for the dancing. During the days they taught us arts and crafts...my Mom made a large serving platter out of metal that she etched with acid...it was used by my family to serve veggies for decades to come...Can I still rent a cabin for a week up there??...my family is in sorrowful repair and in need of some good old Mountain Music and Love...??.
I took my girls there in 2004, stayed in one of the cabins and had a great time. I think it was 4th of July week and my oldest daughter won the watermelon eating contest. We swam in the old pool. I remember the water pipe rails and the old bathhouse. It was like stepping back 50 years. I loved that my girls experienced a little of the way it was. I was also impressed with the low cost of archery and mini golf. If I understood the video, the old pool is gone. That was part of the charm. Some years after that, I was flying an Army Huey Helicopter out of Knoxville southbound and looked down to see the dam and village. I live on the west coast now and want to take my wife there soon.
I caught my first Rainbow Trout in Summer 1961 at the dam's lake using my late father's fishing gear. We vacationed at Fontana Village twice, but our 1961 visit was a "family reunion" with a large group of us from Florida and Ohio, meeting half-way in North Carolina for our get-together. We "kids" performed during a family "talent show" at the large hall which also included places to make crafts for both kids and adults. We also enjoyed swimming in the large swimming pool !! The 1940-vintage cottages were rather spartan (I remember many ants in the kitchen running around the cupboards). Otherwise, it was a bargain for a group during the late 1950's and early 1960's for a family get-together. It wasn't as fancy as staying at a "Holiday Inn motel," but the area was beautiful to visit in the mountains. We also hired the horses to ride and took a tour through the area for about an hour to 90 minutes (riding western style). Also we remember seeing the big black bears who would "raid" the garbage cans any time (day or night) in the area where our cottage/cabin was located. I doubt whether today's "cabins" are quite as "primitive" as they were when we visited during the late 1950's/early 1960's (because the cabins we stayed in were the original cabins built for the workers' families when the dam was built in 1942).
This wonderful presentation brings back so many great memories! I was born in the hospital there during construction of the dam and lived nearby most of my life until I graduated from college. I worked as playground supervisor for two summers and in the drugstore, mostly as a soda jerk, for the two following summers while a college student. I even babysat a couple of times for my cousin Bill Nichols who produced this show!
I spent 3 weeks there every summer from 1967-1987.Mr. Dyer at the Dam, the Nichols art studio, the post mistress, Tex. Thank you for this trip down memory lane.
I appreciated this very much. As a child growing up in Fontana Village in the 1960s I thought all life would be like heaven. The images brought tears to my eyes. Very well done. Thanks, Bill. You and Marie and your wonderful family were just a hundred or so feet Woods Road opposite the Beasley's...well, before the "new" Lodge was built. --"Billy" Sloan
All these before pictures are great since I have only known Fontana since the 70's. It is still a magnificent place to be and live.
Thanks for the memories. Grew up there in the 70's
Why was the lodge pool filled in!? I was there in May and that was sad to see.
My first time to Fontana was in 75 or 76 I was 10 or 11
I’ve been back several times as an adult