Spruce Creek High School Class of 1977

Daytona Memories

You Know You're
A Hard Core Daytonan If:

You were forbidden by your parents to go near the Tomoka State park and chase the "lights" but you went anyway

You remember when ISB was Volusia Avenue

You've played in the "casinos" on the boardwalk and turned in your tickets for prizes

You remember when Doby's was open (not that you shopped there)

You remember when Nova was a two-lane road called the "truck route," on one side of the canal

You used "Holly Hill" as an adjective

You know better than to drive around in the Shores for fun

You remember T.C.'s Top Dog commercials with the girls in half shirts and that Dog Catcher song in the background

You know where the Banned Bookstore is

You know what the Barf Barge is

You actually shopped at the Daytona Mall (corner of Nova and ISB)

You went to the movies at the Volusia Mall

You remember the White Lady Motel

You remember when Best Buy's parking lot was Daytona Jai-alai

You remember the Pink Pony as the Shingle Shack

You had to stop at all the bridges over the Halifax to let a boat pass

You remember when 102 JAMZ started and played "Jam On It" by Newcleus for a whole weekend

You remember when the radio station 99.9 was I-100 and Y-100

You remember Spring Break wet t-shirt contests at the Whitehall

You saw a movie in your car at the Drive-In on Hand and Nova

You remember the Par 3 golf course on ISB

You watched Stuart Scott do the sports on WESH 2

The water slides on ISB

You went to Chuck E Cheese's in the K-Mart plaza on ISB

You hung out at the Taco Bell parking lot on beachside... or the Steak and Shake!

You heard of and knew how to do the Starlite bounce

You remember when "LPGA" was called 11th Street

You remember Wal-Mart on Granada was nothing but woods

You remember when the Handy Way Pizza was the cheapest in town

You thought the Rock N Ranch was a "cool" place to hang before the old folks took over

You remember when Wal-Mart on Granada was where Winn Dixie on Granada is now

You remember when the movie theater in the Daytona Mall was only $1.00 and it was actually "cool" to go there

You remember when LPGA did not connect to I-95

You remember Orbit 3000 and probably went to a concert there

You remember hearing John Travolta's personal jet fly into the Spruce Creek Fly-In at early hours in the mornings

You remember the REAL Spring Breaks that MTV threw!

You can remember when Montgomery Wards was where the Daytona Mall is now

You remember a couple of quaint little bars named The Yum Yum Tree and The Zodiac

You remember the #1 drive-in on U.S. 1 next to the Zodiac (where Warner Christian Academy is now)

You remember J. M. Fields, TG&Y, Pantry Pride and Goodings

You remember learning to maneuver the Seabreeze Circle when you first started driving

You shopped "downtown" before there was a Volusia Mall

You remember the giant stuffed giraffe in front of Dunn Brothers store downtown

You browsed in the Dunn Brothers "really cool" toy department upstairs

You went to Holly Hill Junior High

You parked at Ross Point

You drove at night on the beach -- making out (torpedo races...).

You remember The Book and TapeWorm (head shop) in the Holly Hill Plaza

You remember the Beachcomber, the Wedge, and the Martinique!

You could buy a Krystal burger for 10 cents and then go to the Daytona Theater (next door) downtown for the Saturday Morning Kids show

You could walk downtown from Mainland Jr. High to the Angel and Phelps Candy Store for red string licorice

You could walk your dog on the beach... anywhere

You could drive on the beach anytime -- day or night -- and without a toll

You could park anywhere on the beach as long as you were out of the traffic flow

You remember the beach at low tide was at least as wide as a football field is long, and the sand was very white!

You remember the "Purple People Eater" on Nova Rd

You remember that at the Martinique Club on the beachside that Gregg Alman played there in the 60's and the band looked like "little Surfer boys" and were "THE ALMOND JOYS" back then.

You remember the "Krispy Kreme Donut Shop" on the Corner of Nova and Volusia Ave in the 60's... and believe it or not, it is STILL THERE-- always could get fresh warm donuts just out of the oven, after a good night out.

You remember after all the clubs closed on the Beachside that on US1 "CHECKERS LOUNGE" stayed open to 4 am and they didn't even care if you had a Fake ID.

You remember telling your parents that you were going to the Drive-In Theater in Edgewater because it had a Midnight Movie that didn't get out until 2 or 3 am and heading straight to Daytona Beachside to the Martinique.

You remember your parents "threatening your life" if they caught you going to Spring Break on the Beachside (because drinking and wild things were going on) and remember saying you were going somewhere else then being right in the middle of the action of Spring Break.

You remember when you saw someone walking on the beachside that had a small paper sack in their hand that, in their bag was Glue and that they were one of the "Glue Sniffers" in the 60's.

You remember the Halifax Rocking Chair Theatre @ the Halifax Shopping Center

You remember the Halifax Shopping Center, too!

You remember sneaking your friends in your trunk at the Nova Road Drive In Theatre in Ormond.

You remember going to Mainland 7th Grade Center (where the Justice Center is now) on Bay St., then graduating to Campbell Jr. High

You remember Campbell Jr High was once Campbell Sr. High.

You remember Mary McCleoud Blvd was known as 2nd Avenue, and you nervously bought your weed there as a last resort!

You remember George Ingram Blvd was called Fairview Ave.

You remember some went to elementary school at North or South Ridgewood Elementaries.

You remember eating burgers in your car at the Page Drive In Restaurant at the corner of US1 and Pierce Ave.

You remember going to the Other Place in Ormond to rock to A-circuit 80's metal cover bands, then hauling ass down to Broadway Ave (US92) to catch the last set at PJ's.

You remember seeing big national bands like Meatloaf, Molly Hatchet, Blue Oyster Cult and others at a country bar on Grandview called Finky's!

You remember the nightclub at the Main Street Pier, and that there were always TWO bands playing on TWO stages there every Fri and Sat night - never a break!

You remember the best barbecue was at Buck's Barn on Ridgewood, the best hot dogs and onion rings at Sherry's on Volusia, the best doughnuts at Cherry's in Westgate Shopping Center, the best hamburgers at Stansfield's on Ridgewood, the best ice cream at Howard's on Volusia -- although some might argue for Flamingo.

And the giant slide on Volusia was actually transversed via a burlap bag -- not water as listed above.

You remember pony rides before the drive-in movie on Volusia and then retreating to your car to burn Pic to ward off the mosquitoes.

You remember petting the sea cow and watching porpoise perform at the Sea Zoo on Ridgewood.

You remember letting the calves lick your hands to get them nice and clean before you ate your freshly made ice cream cone at Bishop's Dairy -- which certainly ranked right up there with Howard's and Flamingo.

You remember seeing the Kingston Trio entertain from a flatbed truck that was traveling up and down the beach during Spring Break.

You remember sitting on the infield of City Island Ballpark and singing along with Peter, Paul and Mary.

You remember saying, "Second floor, please," to the elevator operator at Ivey's, seeing absolutely everyone you knew during the holidays on Beach Street and watching capsules shoot along the hydraulic tubes at Ivey's and Dunn's.

Howard's was on Broadway, right next to the best burger in town...Gus's Charbroiler.

You remember that Granada stopped at the rail road tracks, and there was a train station and lumber yard in Ormond.

You participated in the annual Seabreeze/Mainland grapefruit fights.

You went to dances at the skating rink that was next to the original Memorial Stadium, behind Daytona Beach Junior College, which was Mary Carl College before it was DBJC.

You went to the Surf Bar for Jazz at the foot of the Main Street Pier.

You dropped your car into a lower gear and punched it just to hear the roar, while driving up from the beach, under the Daytona Plaza Hotel at the end of Seabreeze Blvd.

Thanks To Patti McKim (Jefferies) for this little trip down Memory Lane!

Do you have some more? Send them to me and I’ll add them.

Mailto: Lloyd@tylconstruction.com

Here are some …

Well, what about..... the cool arched entrance to Sherwood Forest leading to the Ganymede Circle and the beautiful woods and magnolias that covered the slope from Ridgewood where the Sunshine Mall and Woolco would one day reside? Palmetto was a dirt road that ran alongside a ditch south of Big Tree and more lots were wooded than had houses! None of us had central AC, we boated over to camp out on Pelican Island, cane pole fished off our docks, shrimped in front of our houses, went/wanted to go to James Street dances, kindergarten that met in an old church building behind Port Orange Elementary, taking out of town visitors to the hole-in-the-wall speedway museum by the Sea Zoo on Ridgewood, and cutting down our own Christmas trees out of the vacant lots at the end of Palmetto! Those were the days!

Maggie Nelson (Morgan)

WMFJ and WORD were the radio stations we all listened to! With Jo Christy and The Janitor!

Then there was WDIZ and BJ 105

Bob Mitchell worked for all of the stations listed!!

How about when Dunlawton ended at the Anchor Inn.

The only movie theater was in Belair Plaza and maybe Beach Street if it was open.

The only high rise on the beach was the old Plaza Hotel.

Astro Subs, Sorrentos and Hardees for lunch!

Mike Poniatowski

How about Mister T’s pizza? It was the hang out after the football and basketball games.

Susan Gray (Clippinger)

How about the Osteen drug store in the Nova mall where there was a soda fountain, a hot dog stand that sold real foot longs off the grill (in front of Nova Mall),

Welch Pool off of Dunn Street (DBCC Parking lot) where Tammy Dubois's dad taught swimming lessons and we had to wear the plastic caps in the pool,

Palm Grove was the place to live,

Teen dances at James street park,

The hangout at the bridge between Oriole and Brian in S Daytona,

The barber shop downtown (expansion of Stavro's Pizza now),

Woolworth's downtown and the diner counter,

YMCA down town (now Post Office),

No churches near S Daytona School- just woods and bike trail,

Bus stop at Ganeymeade circle with brick wall in middle of circle,

General store on Herbert and Terri Shover and I rode horses to,

Sauls road a dirt road with the farm,

Crossing the canal over to Palm Grove due to no houses just woods,

Collecting glass soda bottles to go to Big Tree theater for .50 cents on a Saturday,

Summer camp at S Daytona school with Mr. Conrad no fences,

Wags at Walgreens in the Sunshine Mall,

Sambos on S Ridgewood,

PJ's and the Other Place top rock and roll clubs with live bands,

The Mocambo with Little Eva and the espionages,

Partying at Treasure Island Inn on the beach with alcohol during the day,

Learners and Furchgotts downtown,

Steak n Shake on Ridgewood,

The rotating bar at ABC in S Daytona,

The Transexual club with the rocket in S Daytona,

Mainland JR downtown,

Two lanes on Big Tree,

This is just a few I could remember... Kathy Meagher

Some additional OLD memories of Port Orange….

Port Orange had 1 street light, it was on the corner of Herbert St. and Nova. Herbert St. was the main East-West road with all it's spinout curves.

Bogie's store on Herbert St. had a hitching post for the horses. It was common to see people still riding horses on the streets of P. O.

Orange Groves were all around. Gentry's OJ was the best!

Airport Road had an old airstrip on it and it was a dirt road.

Sopotonick's (Cabbage Patch) was as REDNECK of a place as you could get and unless you were a Samsulian, you didn't go!

P.O. Police Dept. had 4 cars and when we got 2 motorcycles we new P.O. was moving up.

P.O. Christmas Parade consisted mostly of the city's vehicles which included tractors, 2 firetrucks, one of which would have Santa on it and local horse riders and the parade route was on Ridgewood Ave.

Shimmy Shack, the teen dance at the P.O. ballpark on Ridgewood.

Fireworks were set off on the Causeway.

Golden Pond Estates on Spruce Creek Rd. were the cliffs where there was a rope that you would swing out on and hope you didn't hit one of the sunken cars in the water.

All 3 Big Daddy Lounges. ok only 1 was in P.O. over the bridge.

Classmates of ours were the biggest dealers in P.O. Their house on Canalveiw was replaced with a city park named Bushman Park.

1/2 of Taylor Rd. was still a dirt road the summer of 1975.

How insane it was to build a state-of-the-art High School in the middle of nowhere! They named it SPRUCE CREEK HIGH SCHOOL and gave the students a choice in deciding such things as the colors....Who decided that the guys would wear orange for their cap and gowns?

I thought of more, but realized that I sound like an old person remembering the good old days!

Praise the Lord I got through them!

Susan Duckworth (Ross)

You know, I remember when Highway 40 west of Nova had only a few homes and 3 gas stations at the interstate, otherwise WOODS!

Everyone growing up in Daytona HAD to go pool hopping among the motels on the beach!

We used to go hunting just south of Speedway Blvd on Williamson and didn’t get caught.

The car hops at the Steak and Shake on US 1 just north of Beville wore roller-skates (the original SONIC).

How about the great food at the Anchor Inn in Port Orange.

You used to be very worried if you broke down on Willamson Blvd as there was NOTHING on that road.

Remember when Dunlawton in Port Orange used to be a dead end road.

Dale McCormick

Remember the Sunshine Mall on Ridgewood.

When Mr. Dunderbach’s opened in the Volusia Mall (and it’s still there and looks almost the same).

When there were actually lights on the beach.

When you were in the sun from dawn to dusk because the huge condos on Atlantic weren’t blocking the afternoon light and if you stood in the right place you could see the Halifax and the ocean at the same time.

When there was nothing out Beville Road past Clyde Morris and Pelican Bay hadn’t even been thought of yet.

When Reed Canal dead ended at Nova

Mark Helwig—Class of 1979

Come on !! What about Burger Chef and the Auku Tiki.
I spent most of my teenage plus life at these places.
Barry Mais

Internet Design by
Lloyd Davis
TYL
“Thank You Lord”