INSPIRED BY THE SHADY DELL, YORK, PA, AND DEDICATED TO ITS OWNERS JOHN & HELEN ETTLINE
AND TO MARGARET ELIZABETH BROWN SCHNEIDER, NICKNAMED "THE OLDEST LIVING DELL RAT"


Thursday, June 30, 2022

Yesterday Once More: Meet Another Group of SPMM
DJ Trainees - Vanessa, Renee, Gina, Kara and Ellie!

 Ellie Appleton - Yesterday Once More 

COLD OPEN:
CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW! 


"It's Not Unusual" - Tom Jones
(May/June 1965, highest chart pos. #10 Hot 100 & Cash Box,
live perf. on June 28, 1965 TV special Murray The K –
It's What's Happening, Baby

Kicking off this special sneak preview, a rare clip of Welshman Tom Jones
before he became a superstar and heartthrob to millions of women all over
the world. You saw Tom at the start of summer, 1965, entertaining animals
at the zoo singing his breakthrough international hit "Its Not Unusual" on
the American TV special Murray The K – It's What's Happening, Baby.


 Hello, I'm Vanessa Kensington... 
a beautiful, determined, intelligent young woman who partners
with British spy Austin Powers in the 1997 comedy film
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.


I'm sure you are familiar with Austin as the semi-regular host of the
Valentine's Day dances here at Shady's Place. I've got great news.
Austin and I are reuniting as hosts of our own radio show.

 Stay tuned for the debut of The Spy Who Shagged Me featuring the best
of Brit pop, coming soon to S-P-M-M... the station with personality



 I'm 
 Renee Clemons, 
a reporter working at the
San Francisco Globe on
the TV series Gracepoint,
the American remake of
the hit UK drama series
Broadchurch. I'm happy
to report that I will be
joining five other news
gathering women as
anchors of the new
S-P-M-M radio show
The I-Team. The
"I" does not stand
for "investigation."





You see, every song we
play on our show will have
an "I" word in the title.

CLICK TO START
THE VIDEO NOW!

Here's a sample "I" song from
our series, one of the biggest
hits of the 60s, the Four Tops
reaching #1 on the pop and
soul charts with-- "I Can't
Help Myself (Sugar Pie
Honey Bunch)!" 


"I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" - Four Tops
(May/June 1965, highest chart position
#1 Hot 100 & Cash Box & R&B


 I'm WPC Gina Dawson 
on the British period police drama TV series WPC 56. 


I'm the first WPC (woman police constable) to join the
Midlands Constabulary at Brinford Police Station in 1956.
 



Soon I'll be joining other
fetching, feisty females as
presenters on a S-P-M-M
radio show that we're going
 to call British British Swag,
and I've got a sample, a song
recorded and released 10 years
after I joined the police force.
That's around the time my
job description no longer
included making coffee
for the men. The song
is by The Rolling Stones,
a cut from their 1966
album Aftermath,

CLICK TO START
THE VIDEO NOW! 

This is one of their most popular songs from the period, yet it was never
released as a single in English-speaking countries. Here are Mick and
his mates, the kings of British swag, on the UK music TV show
Ready Steady Go! doing-- "Under My Thumb." 


"Under My Thumb" - The Rolling Stones
(from Apr. 1966 album Aftermath, perf. on
May 27, 1966, ep. of Ready Steady Go!



 Hi, I'm 
 Kara Danvers... 
a bright, bubbly, somewhat
shy and awkward young woman
working as a personal assistant
and later a reporter on the DC
Comics superhero TV series
Supergirl. Some people say
I look and sound almost
exactly like Supergirl...
that the only difference
between the two of us
are the glasses and
the red and blue
caped costume.



That's crazy talk! Supergirl and I are nothing alike,
so just put that notion out of your mind, mister. 





I'm here to play a song sample from
my new radio show Kara Danvers
Supertunes coming soon to SPMM
Supersonic Radio. It's a wonderful
performance by a Nashville-based
band called imy2 which, in modern
code-speak, stands for "I miss you,
too." The group is fronted by blue-
haired beauty Annalise Mahanes,
a singer with the super power of
being able to cover songs from
a variety of genres and make
it seem like they were
written just for her. 

CLICK TO START
THE VIDEO NOW!

Here are Annalise and imy2 with a super cover of
Michael Jackson's-- "The Way You Make Me Feel!" 


"The Way You Make Me Feel" - Michael Jackson
cover by imy2 (Sept. 2020) 




 And I'm 
 Ellie Appleton. 
Do I remind you of
Lady Rose Aldridge
on Downton Abbey?
I get that a lot.

You say goodbye
and I say hello
and welcome to my
segment giving you
a sneak peak at my
new radio show
coming soon to
Shady's Place. 






As the co-star of Yesterday...
the 2019 musical rom-com
film that's loaded with great
 covers of Beatles songs, my
show on S-P-M-M Retrosonic
Radio will be wall-to-wall
Beatles, including classic
original recordings by the
Liverpudlian mop-tops
themselves, and terrific
Beatles covers by artists
of the past and present.
Quite rightly, my new
program will be called
Yesterday Once More. 







To close today's sneak
preview special, I've got
a sensational sample for
you. It is one of the best
covers I've found of a
song written by John
Lennon and recorded
by The Beatles. It was
released as the lead
song on their 1969
album Abbey Road
and as a single that
topped the chart
in the U.S.

CLICK TO START
THE VIDEO NOW! 


Here's the Ukranian duo Sershen & Zaritskaya - Sergey on guitar, Daria on vocals -
taking it to the next level with-- "Come Together." Now this is Ellie Appleton.
Thanks for joining us and see you soon on Yesterday Once More!


"Come Together" - The Beatles cover
by Sershen & Zaritskaya (Mar. 2021) 

Saturday, June 25, 2022

The Big O - Ozark's Wendy, Darlene and Ruth
Give You Your First Glimpse of "The Last Resort"

Now throw your hands up in the air
and wave 'em round like you
just don't (BEEP) care.


COLD OPEN:
CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW! 

"Way Down We Go" - Kaleo
(Sept./Oct. 2015, highest chart pos. #1
Billboard's Alternative Songs and Rock Airplay,
scenes from Netflix TV series Ozark





Kicking off the show,
that was the Icelandic
rock band Kaleo with
"Way Down We Go,"
a 2015 hit single from
their first album A/B,
and scenes from our
Netflix crime drama
 TV series Ozark


Hi, I'm Wendy Byrde, wife of Ozark star Marty Byrde and mother of two.
Formerly Chicago residents, we're now living the good life, operating
a restaurant and other businesses in Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri,
the Midwest's premier lake resort destination.






A little about me? Well, let's see.
I do some P-R work for political
campaigns, do some lobbying
for a casino project and
dabble in real estate.

 Oh, and I also help hubby Marty with his career in money laundering...


help him cover it up and lie to the FBI...


 help negotiate deals with a murderous Mexican drug cartel...
and help smooth things over with an equally murderous local
 heroine producer and crime boss and his hot-tempered wife.


 



Yep.... I guess I'm just
your typical American
soccer mom. 






And I'm Ruth Langmore (below)... a young Ozark woman who
belongs to a family of (BEEP) low-life white trash criminals.

 My diddy's just outta jail and already (BEEP) robbin' gas stations and such.





As for me, I manage a strip club
and (BEEP) kill people when
it becomes necessary. Taking
all that into account, I'm still
the (BEEP) most upstanding
member of my clan and one
of the most honest, morally
straight characters on Ozark.
That should tell you what
you're (BEEP) workin'
with if you decide to
watch the show.  




Like me, folks around these parts don't do a lot of (BEEP)
smilin'. Take my neighbor, for example - farm woman
Darlene Snell (below)... wife of the heroin producer
and crime kingpin Wendy mentioned earlier. 


This (above) is a pic of Darlene flashin' the (BEEP) biggest,
brightest smile I ever seen on her. Say "cheese," babe...
or "poppy fields." Don't make no difference, hon. 



Ruthie and I welcome you
to this sneak preview of
our new radio show

  The   
 Big 

coming soon to
Shady's Place
and S-P-M-M
Retro Radio.


In this case, the big O stands for Ozark, the name of our
wildly popular and critically acclaimed Netflix series.


On our radio show, we'll present songs used in the soundtrack
of our TV show, plus great songs with titles that start
with the letter "O." See how it works?





By now you know that Marty
and I have our hands full
dealing with bad hombres
as we conduct our risky
business in the Ozarks.
Complicating our lives
further is my teenage
daughter, Charlotte.
We discovered that
she's been lying to us,
hanging out with a
local bad boy and
smoking a ton
of weed.

CLICK TO
START VIDEO!

I'm playing an "O" song that relates to what's happening with Charlotte.
It's classic folk-rock by Midwestern natives Brewer & Shipley from the
spring of '71, the biggest hit of their career-- "One Toke Over The Line!" 


"One Toke Over The Line" - Brewer & Shipley
(Apr./May 1971, highest chart pos. #8 Cash Box/#10 Hot 100)

 

Up next, a Leiber & Stoller song
first waxed by The Drifters in 1958.
The more successful version was
laid down in '63 by Dion DiMucci,
the swaggering singer/songwriter
who fronted the 50s vocal group
Dion And the Belmonts. Out on
his own in the 60s, Dion became
one of the most popular American
rock and roll performers of the
pre-Beatles, pre-British Invasion
era. Dion's here to sing one of his
biggest solo hits, a song that made
the top 5 during Christmas season
 in 1963. It is also the first of our
featured songs ripped directly
from the soundtrack of Ozark.

 CLICK TO START
THE VIDEO NOW! 

When it rains it (BEEP) pours on Ozark,
and Dion's got the song-- "Drip Drop!" 


"Drip Drop" - Dion
(Dec. 1963, highest chart pos. #5 Cash Box/#6 Hot 100




Now here's another song from
the soundtrack of Ozark, this
one recorded by a (BEEP)
awesome Southern and
 Country rock band from
Springfield, Missouri. 

CLICK TO START
THE VIDEO NOW! 

Check out The Ozark Mountain
Daredevils doing their signature
song, an international hit single
that topped the U.S. chart in the
spring of 1975-- "Jackie Blue!" 


"Jackie Blue" - Ozark Mountain Daredevils
(Apr./May 1975, highest chart pos. #1 Cash Box/#3 Hot 100,
performance on British TV show Old Grey Whistle Test





Our next featured "O" song
is a ditty written and originally
recorded near the end of 1957
by Country star Don Gibson
along with Chet Atkins. 

CLICK TO START
THE VIDEO NOW! 

In his unique way, Johnny Rivers
covered the song and made it his
own. Here's Johnny, live at the
Whisky à Go Go, performing--
"Oh Lonesome Me!" 


"Oh Lonesome Me" - Johnny Rivers
(from Feb. 1964 live album Johnny Rivers at the Whisky à Go Go

That's all we got. We hope you liked this sneak peek
at our new SPMM radio series.  Stick around. Coming up
on the flip side of Gary Owens' news, Ellie Appleton presents 

 Yesterday Once More 

... a sneak preview of her new series, plus a look at other new shows
premiering soon on S-P-M-M Retro Radio... the station with personality.

START VIDEO!
In parting, I swear on my
diddy's life (sentence) that,
one way or another... I'm
gonna shed the curse of
my family name, blow
this (BEEP) pop stand
and make somethin' of
myself. Playin' us off is
Blondie with a song that
inspires me to do that.
Now for Wendy Byrde
and Darlene Snell, I'm
Ruth Langmore urging
you to catch our show

  The   
 Big 

coming real soon
to Shady's Place.
See ya then!


"One Way Or Another" - Blondie
(July/Aug. 1979, highest chart pos. #24 Hot 100,
#7 Canada, perf. on Dutch TV series TopPop


Sunday, June 19, 2022

E! (as in Ettline) True Shady Dell Story


It's Father's Day...


time to honor 

JOHN ETTLINE

"Every Dell Rat's Dad."

John didn't have kids of his own but, as every Dell rat knows,
he was a genuine father figure and would have made a great dad.



Hi, friends!  Dell Rat Tom back with
you today to bring you a very special
Father's Day tribute to John Ettline.
 Instead of posting Paul Petersen's
"My Dad" song as I have done on
this occasion the last several years,
 I proudly present a Shady's Place
exclusive. My good friend and
contributing editor Jim Sieling
has returned to share pictures,
memories and little known
facts about John Ettline's
life and death.



As Jim begins his story below, you might be confused at first, as was I.
Turns out, Shady Dell owner John Ettline's father was also named 
John, and John's mother was named Helen, the same name as
the woman John married, our dear Helen of the Dell.

Jim and Nancy Sieling

Above is a picture of our friend Jim and his wife Nancy, one of
John Ettline's nieces.  Over the years, Jim and Nancy have made
numerous significant contributions to my Shady Dell related blogs,
and I'll be forever grateful to them. In this Father's Day tribute
to John, you will see never before before published pictures
of Jim and Nancy and get to know them and other
members of our Shady Dell family.


I'm sure you've heard of the E! True Hollywood Story.


For Dell rats, old and new, here now is the
E! (as in Ettline) True Shady Dell Story
as told by our good friend Jim Sieling.

"MY TRUE STORY" - THE JIVE FIVE

JIM SIELING: Strange fact - Shady Dell owner John Ettline’s father
was also named John (John Loid Ettline), and John's grandfather 
and great grandfather were named John as well! 

Helen Louise Pape & John Loid Ettline
(Note father's resemblance to "our" John!)

 The John Loid Ettline family lived on Park St. in York. He and his
wife Helen Louise Pape had eight children - four boys and four girls.
 John Frederick Ettline, who would one day become both famous
and infamous as the owner of The Shady Dell, was the oldest
of the eight. As the parents lived on Park St. until they died,
I assume John F received all his grade school education
in York and graduated from William Penn High School.
He served in the Army in the 2nd World War in
 Europe and I found a purple heart in Nancy’s
memorabilia which I assume is his. 

I first met John in about 1950 (plus or minus). My mother,
who grew up in Glen Rock, somehow got to know the
Ettlines of York and went out with one of the Ettline
boys a couple of times in the 1930’s.

SHADY DELL CIRCA LATE 1920S/EARLY 30S

 I remember my father and mother taking me over to see this (I think new or
maybe remodeled) place that had opened up (or about to be opened up)
called The Shady Dell and being shown around by the owner. I was
around 8 years old at the time and don’t remember much but I do
recall the big house and outside all these brightly colored lights
strung out between the house and trees. I remember there were
tables outside under the lights and a place to dance. Really neat. 

"PARTY LIGHTS" - CLAUDINE CLARK 


Who would have thought that 20 odd years later
I would marry the Dell owner’s niece?


In 1959, I got to know a new girl, age 16,
who had just moved into my neighborhood.

Nancy Eppley - age 16, 1959
John Ettline's niece 
 
She was the daughter of Louise Ettline Eppley,
one of John’s sisters. 

Jim Sieling - age 17, 1959

I was hooked. Nancy stole my heart that summer
and, after 13 years of being friends, we were married. 

"TO THE AISLE" - THE FIVE SATINS 

(above & below) Jim and Nancy Sieling

In the Ettline family, I believe the closest contact to the
Shady Dell, via her Uncle John, was Nancy.


 For whatever reason there was a strong bond between them. 


 Before our marriage, Nancy would often visit with John and help out.

VIEW OF DELL FROM STARCROSS ROAD WITH
SHADY DELL ROAD SIGN VISIBLE (2018)

 Did you know that John was always worried that the “Dell Rats”
(not his words) would leave the street messy, and every morning
he would go out picking up any litter left on the street from
the night before? Nancy fondly remembered going out
with John in his red Jeep picking up trash. 

In the basement of the house there were a room or two where John
and Helen would let girls that were being abused stay over in safety. 

(ABOVE AND BELOW) SHADY DELL BASEMENT (2010)

After John’s death, Nancy told me about the rooms in the basement
for the women’s protection while showing them to me.
They were very well kept and clean. 




I'd like to insert an important
tidbit at this point, Jim.

 Folks, if what Jim just reported is true,
then it is possible that John and Helen
housed runaway women and girls in
their basement as well as in the third
floor attic, perhaps both places at once!
In 2008, Nancy's cousin, Shirley Dreyer,
another of John's nieces whom, as Jim
informs us, is "the unofficial historian
of the Ettline family," contacted me
with the following revelations:

 
SHIRLEY DREYER:  Did you every wonder why he (John)
always carried around the "billyclub"? My father told me years
after I was married and I was shocked to learn the reason.
It seems Uncle John also housed battered women in his home. 

SHADY DELL'S 3RD FLOOR ATTIC (2012)

SHIRLEY DREYER: There was a 3rd floor in his home and that is where they
stayed until they could find other shelter. So you might say it was, most likely,
the first home in York prior to Access York and other agencies available to
 women who needed to get away from their abuser. Daddy said he did not
tell me when I was younger because it was a possibility that word would
get out to the wrong people and he wanted to protect his brother.
So I guess that is at least one of the reasons for the "billyclub".

JIM SIELING: It is pure speculation on my part, but this is what I suspect
may have occurred: John & Helen saw the need to help young girls/women
in need from abuse. At first, the natural solution would have been up in the
attic and it may have been used for a time. It was a nice spacious solution.

SHADY DELL'S 3RD FLOOR ATTIC (2012) 

However, it may not have been finished off and there likely
was no heat in the attic. The attic was probably very cold
in the winter, particularly if it was not insulated.
 
(ABOVE AND BELOW) DIFFERENT ANGLES OF DELL ATTIC (2012) 

 In the summer, the attic was probably unbearably hot with the heat just
radiating down from the roof. Certainly no air conditioning was available
(and a window unit, if available, would have been a big clue that someone
was living there). Anyway, it makes sense to me that at some point
they moved their women support area to the basement.

 Please remember, John’s seven younger siblings saw him as an
enigma - he kept his affairs private and they knew little about him.
When I married into the Ettline family, I soon learned that John
was a little aloof from the rest of his siblings and did not
attend many of the family events. (He was probably
too busy running the Dell – I don’t think
he had any backup). 



The big question among family members was
whether John and Helen were actually married.
(I’ll bet John liked that they didn’t even know
if he was married or not. They must have had
a private wedding). Note: we did discover
their marriage certificate after his death. 



Also, I do not know if you as a Dell Rat knew that the Ettlines were pack rats.
When cleanup started after John’s death, it was impossible to get to the 2nd
floor without digging our way up the stairs, let alone getting up to the attic.
Perhaps the clutter only happened after Helen’s death but, at the very
least, I suspect they would have used the attic for storage way before.

STAIRS LEADING DOWN FROM 3RD TO 2ND FLOOR (2012) 

 When John died all upstairs rooms, stairs, and hallways were packed solid.
The stored ‘stuff’ probably started in the attic and worked it’s way down
to the second floor. At some point John was sleeping on the first floor –
no easy access to the 2nd floor. (I do remember the family cleaning
 crew remarking that no Ettline family member had ever been on
the 2nd or 3rd floor before}. After Helen died, Louise Eppley,
John’s sister, would help out in the snack bar. When John
died, she was the executor of his estate.  

JOHN ETTLINE

I believe John came to stay with Nancy and our family in the spring of 1992.
He had been living by himself at the Dell, was out checking for mail or the
paper, and was sideswiped by a car, knocking him over and hurting a leg.

There was never any legal action taken, but I do not know if it was a
hit and run or not. After getting out of the hospital or rehab, he stayed
at our house until he could walk better. Nancy gave him a quota of a
certain number of daily laps he had to take around the dining room
table to exercise the leg and keep him moving. 



Jim, pardon me for interrupting you again,
but I need to say that this part of your story
is disturbing and comes as a shock, not only
to me but, I'm sure, to other Dell rats as well. 
It makes me sad to realize that elderly John
 Ettline, a man we admired so much, was
struck by a car outside the Dell and sent
to the hospital. This is the first time I am
hearing about the incident. Now that you
have given us a clearer picture of the last
years of John's life... it is upsetting to
know how difficult they were for him.



John spent most of his final years alone, without Helen,
and having to deal with rowdy, disrespectful troublemakers
that hung out at the Dell during that period. Then, to top it off, 
he was hit by a car and taken out of his home for treatment
and rehab. From what I gather, he never returned to the Dell,
the place he loved, the place he fashioned for generations
of young people to enjoy. John was a great man who 
spent his life helping and bringing happiness
to others. He deserved better. 

 JIM SIELING: At the time John was here at our house recuperating,
our oldest son was a senior in high school. He and his younger brother
spent a lot of time talking (mostly listening) to John. They were
enthralled by the stories he had to tell. Our oldest son had a
high school graduation party here in our barn, and John was
certainly in his element greeting everyone as they arrived.



(at right --
Louise Ettline Eppley,
John's sister and
Nancy's mother)

As spring ended and John was
in pretty good shape, he moved
out to live with his sister Louise.
(I’m afraid he always felt like
he was imposing here and
didn’t feel comfortable).

 Louise didn’t nag him to stay
active and he died peacefully
in his sleep in 1993 at her house.
(Louise died in February, 2012.)



John’s memorial service was held at his gravesite and someone in his family
was given a letter from one of “The Dellions” who did not want to speak
at the service. Nancy asked me to read it which I did. The original letter
was written in long hand on the front and back of an 8 1/2” sheet of paper.



 Concerned that I might have trouble reading the handwriting out loud,
I typed it out for easier reading. I am amazed to discover that Nancy
had saved a copy of both the original and my typewritten version.

Nancy Sieling
(faithful friend of The Dell)

Nancy died on September 30, 2020, a month after she
had open heart surgery followed by a major stroke.  




Jim, I know I speak for all the readers when
I express to you how sorry I am for your loss.
 Nancy was a genuine friend who was very
generous to me over the years. She donated
Dell related pictures and memorabilia for
me to share on my old Shady Dell blog,
material that I continue to use here at
Shady's Place.  I will always remember
her kindness. Nancy's death serves as a
reminder of how important is for us to
get our cherished Dell memories sorted
out and published while there's still time.


The tribute to John written by anonymous
"Dellions" and read at John's service, is priceless. 


There, in that letter, is what I have been saying all along, what I have been
expressing to readers over the last 14 years. It is proof in black and white
that John Ettline was absolutely revered by the young people who knew
him, thousands of teenagers in York and neighboring counties who made
John's Shady Dell their home away from home in the mid twentieth century.

Thank you very much, Jim Sieling, for sharing boyhood memories
of your first visit to the Dell and meeting John Ettline more than
70 years ago, along with the touching story of how you met,
fell in love with and married Nancy, the Dell owner's niece.


 The facts, anecdotes and pictures you contributed for this special
Father's Day salute are valuable pieces of the puzzle. They help
 connect the dots, fill in the blanks and shine light on mysteries
surrounding John & Helen and their Shady Dell. Some of
your disclosures are troubling and heartbreaking but,
because they are part of the Dell's long, rich and
 colorful history, they needed to be told.


  You are a friend of the Dell and a friend of Shady's Place,
Jim, and your contributions are greatly appreciated.

Jim & Nancy - wedding day, 1972

In closing, I would like to dedicate this song
to you and Nancy and to Helen and John.


LOOK HOMEWARD ANGEL - THE MONARCHS 


HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, JOHN.

WE LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU!