Middle Tennessee/Celebration Memories

Just wanted to share a few old memories from the Celebration back in the late 60's before the Celebration became Industrailized. We would go down for the entire week. I would work all summer and save my money to spend at the Celebration. My day would start by dropping down to the doughnut shop and pick up a six pack of doughnuts and a large orange aid that they used to sell in a milk carton. Then I would head over to Dan Arnold's blacksmith shop,they call it a farrier today, and watch him shoe and tell them old tales. I will always treasure those days. Anyone else have memories?



Six pack of doughnuts and Orange aid, Buck 20.

When I think back to my early days at the Celebration, the first image that comes to mind is "the tree". You know the one. It stood in the center of the old warm-up ring and to me it was the "center" of the Celebration Universe.
It was a meeting place, a resting place, a social place, a place to do "business". It was a place for small talk and maybe a little whittling. It was an interesting place just to watch. Something was always happening there at all hours of the day or night. To me "the tree" somehow symbolized what the Celebration was really all about and I spent many hours under it or on the rail watching it. I think it may have been the only tree on the entire grounds (?) in it's latter days at least. Not sure what kind of tree it was, but I always suspected it may have been an Elm. I could be wrong about that. I'm also not sure why it was removed, but perhaps it got diseased and was dying. I think the Celebration finally replaced it with a Oak of some sort, but of course it is not the same. Things change, but "the tree" lives on in many memories.

I believe the Hawkersmith's donated/planted the new tree...do not remember the history of the original either. Hope to live long enough to see a scene under "the tree" like this one again....

I don't know what they replaced it with either, but they didn't put it in the same location in the warm up ring.

I remember security chasing us on golf carts one night. It was better than the chase scene in Bullitt or The French Connection !

I remember back in 1969, the year that Marvin and Senator won the WGC. We were in the same Barn with Elmer Humphrey and we had a stable made into sleeping quarters. Our beds were floating around in the stable that night when we got back to the barn. It was a mess. The rain started during the Amateur championship and Moonglow Jr. won the class.

I remermber it well, i stayed for the whole thing. Walked in water running down the aisle to get out. Took a week for my raincoat to dry, even the pockets had water in them. But we still enjoyed it.

That is the hardest rain I've ever been in.I was down on the rail and it was taking my breath away it was raining so hard.But it was a night I'll never forget,what a thrill !!

Ya'll remember what that "stuff" that they put in the ring to absorb the water smelled like after it got good and wet and baked? WHEW! Pus it was spongey - the horses feet kind of bounced when they set them down.

What really ticked me off was when the celebration stopped the Farriers from having a place to shoe on the grounds. The small minority rule the world!!!!!!!!!!!

Another Celebration image that is firmly implanted in my memories is that of the flag horse. All of them are memorable, but in my mind, White Lightning & Mr. Dewey Arnold were special. When he came into the ring at the start of each evening carrying the red, white & blue, it not only made you proud to be an American, but proud of the breed and proud to be in Tennessee at the Celebration. There was not a single time I saw this pair that I failed to get the "warm & fuzzies".

...and of course there's the SOUNDS of the Celebration......more specifically, the old Flat Walk Boogie:

Speaking of Celebration sounds, one of the things I liked best about the old days was listening to Emmett Guy, especially when he was telling jokes. I remember the "R" joke and the monkey wrench joke and the one about the store keeper that always came up with biblical quotes while making transactions.

Anyone remember that barrel they used to have at the barn office that they would fill with big blocks of ice and water. It was a backwoods water fountain!!!!!That was real good water when the weather was hot.

Yep ,i remember, bugs & all. Sure was good

BUGS?

It wasn't exactly state of the art but the water was usually cold and there was always a puddle around it from the melting ice sweating through the barrel. Good memory, I never would have thought of that one.

MIB,
Emmett Guy was a friend of my father in law. He used to chide Emmett about his ability to reuse a joke to the point of ridiculousness. Emmett would say, "you're just jealous."
The amazing thing about Emmett's delivery, as I'm sure you remember....no matter how many times you'd heard those jokes, they never were stale when HE told them.
I don't remember the monkey wrench joke, could you refresh my memory.
How many years did he squeeze out of the Big R? I remember the night he retired that one, do you? Now that was some ceremony.

Scooter, I do remember the night they retired the R story! Emmett Guy had a voice like no other announcer at the Celebration, although they have had some other very good ones. He would have been great as a narrator in movies or t v. Had a soothing quality to his voice, kinda like Orson Wells or Morgan Freeman.

The punch line from the joke was karate,karate, karate, and the truck driver leaned over and said monkey wrench, monkey wrench, monkey wrench.

Does anyone out there know the rest of the joke???
I'd like to hear it again!