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Rockingham Park Memories - Salem NH
by Keith of Retro PlanetRockingham Park Grandstand Fire Pictures 1980
July 29, 1980 was a dark day for Salem, NH. Early that morning a devastating fire tore through the Rockingham Park grandstands. It would be 4 years before “The Track” would open again, and some would say it was never the same. From age 10 on, I lived very close to Rockingham Park and have lots of memories of it from before and after the fire.When we were kids we used to sell sandwiches and lemonade outside the main gate during the busy summer thoroughbred meet. In the winter (the trotters season) we would climb through the mountains of snow that were created from plowing the enormous parking lots. Years later and after the fire, we would occasionally sneak out of work to place a few bets on a friend’s horse, Maguru, (later nicknamed Maglueru ). I also had a friend who was married at the park. I didn’t know it at the time, but when we were selling lemonade, my future father-in-law was out front with his taxi. When guys had a good day betting, they would ride home in style in his Crown Victoria, rather then take the bus.
My mother worked in the clubhouse and it’s also where a lot of my friends had their first jobs. At least in my world, there were endless connections to Rockingham Park, so when I heard there was a fire at the track I grabbed my camera and ran over and captured these pictures. But this blog is really about all my memories from before and after the fire, not the fire itself. Looking through my pictures just got me thinking about all my connections and memories from Rockingham Park.
Here are a couple of interesting items that I hope will remind you of some of your Rockingham Park memories that you can blog about.
The track kitchen was a dining hall down in the stables where trainers, jockeys, owners and gamblers looking for an edge would go for breakfast and lunch. It really was an interesting place with great food and lots of character and characters. The gamblers were called clockers, always looking for some inside info or hoping to overhear something that would help them out at the betting windows.
Fight night was a unique Rockingham Park event. One night a week, during the summer meet, a boxing ring was set up over by the stables for a night of boxing. I don’t remember how they matched up people—maybe some stable grudges were settled there—but it was entertaining with an almost carnival-like atmosphere.
These days the trotters are still around but the live thoroughbred racing is gone, except for simulcasts from other tracks. I would guess that unless they get some sort of slot machines or other gambling, Rockingham Park might not be long for this world, given the size of the property. If I were a betting man (and I am), I would say that unless things change we will probably see something like an Ikea in its place someday. I like Ikea, but that would be a shame.
Posted
Monday, April 21st, 2008 at 6:26 pm EST by Keith
Read more in New England Memories
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:29 am
Great but sad pics. My old man owned and drove trotters there in the 60’s and 70’s and I fondly remember the track kitchen. Also used to visit a lot with the grandparents and uncles for the summer Thoroughbred meet.
May 31st, 2008 at 7:52 am
Nice memories. I rmember that morning. I was on my way to work at Digital on Northeastern Blvd. It was overcast, almost foggy. Walking to the building from the parking lot there was a lot of debris falling from the sky that came from the fire. We didn’t kno what was happening until one of the managers said there was a “fire at The Rock”.
I also worked at the track for a summer as a security guard in the lower grandstand and also the stables. Got to meet some of the “regulars” and looked forward to seeing them when I was working.
The boxing matches were held in a ring right in the back of the kitchen. A couple of friends actually climbed through the ropes to have a go at some of the boxers they would bring in from Lowell (Christian brothers???). Neither friend had much to offer, in fact I think one was knocked out (Jimmy?).
I also remember a Rockingham fire that happened in the early 60’s in the barn areas. I was with my dad on Route 28 (only 2 lanes then) and we were in the Depot area. There were horses running down the road.
Some of the good times were sitting in the grandstand with friends trying to figure out what to put our $2 down on, hanging out at “the corner” until they fenced us out, watching Dano direct traffic with a hardhat on, Roy trying to explain what was in his trunk.
June 26th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
I worked at “The Rock” as a beertender in the lower grandstand , i was there for 4 summer meets while I was in college and the education I got at the rock has been every bit as valuable as the one I got at UMass Lowell.
Characters abounded ! I worked between “jughead” and “Johnny the Polack ” (not very pc in those days). They worked together for over 25 years and hated each others guts and me stuck between them . Lots of mob guys from R.I. - people from every walk of life .
Bernie Smith was the Union rep - Louie Tomatos (had a bar on essex st. was a bartenderin the Club Kitchen - Jack “oh was that a five? sorry” M. had the art of short changing honed to perfection -
The fights were great featuring the likes of “Joe Boren” and other area characters . I could go on and on -
July 20th, 2008 at 11:10 am
Oh man Rockingham park memories…. I used to live behind the track on Pleasant St. At one time or another everyone in my family and a lot of my friends worked there in some capacity as busboys, waiters, dishwashers, bar-backs (for HM Stevens the concessionaire) or as ticket sellers, grooms, hot-walkers, stable hands etc. I used to work there before I was 14 when I’d walk up to the stables everyday to ask any of the trainers or grooms if they needed a hand from a strong young guy. More often than not they had all the help they needed but my perseverance eventually paid off. I got hooked up with one broke down trainer with a few HORSES and I started mucking out stalls, watering and even walking his horses around every morning for a buck or 2 per horse. He’d recommend me to a stable mate and I’d pick up work all around the barns. It was kinda fun and I got to meet and know a few people from an interesting way of life. The trainers were not always making a lot of money and often they were just boarding the horses at the track until it was time to move on. One day the trainer I was working for had his best horse running in a race and I got to walk the horse from the stable area up to the track and into the paddock. What a thrill to be part of the game! The best part was the horse won that day so it was a happy time and I got a big tip that day. After the race I walked the horse over to another barn where they had to get the horse to piss in a cup to check for drugs and such. That’s a story for another day… and then I hot walked him to cool him down and then back to the barn.
Eventually I turned 14 that summer and my working papers came through. I started working for HM Stevens as a porter supplying the concession stands with sandwiches, cups, hot dogs, and coffee first thing in the morning and then re-supplying all day… Sometimes I’d work as a dishwasher or busboy. I still got to work with the horses from about 5 am then cleanup and begin my day on the concession stands later in the morning. I worked at the track every summer and part of the fall (harness racing) until I was 17. They were adventure filled summers with too many stories, memories and characters to share here right now. But here’s a few….
There was Huey, the steward who checked us in everyday and made sure the union dues were paid
(what a joke I’m 14 what’s a union?), Everett and Stanley the commissary guys, (Stanley was a nasty prick but Everett was a decent guy who’d often sneak an extra sandwich in the count for us to enjoy later) Cye the laundry dude who provided everyone with a clean crisply starched uniform everyday, Joe the one eyed foreman who forever was saying “I look out for my boys” Elmer the bookkeeper nuff said… Jack the beer-tender, always kept a small bucket of beer after a keg change for “testing”. (A cup from the bucket was probably my first beer . Jessee the coffee guy….brewed these huge vats of coffee everyday and was never to be looked in the eye. Tony the truckdriver and Bobbie the sidekick, they did whatever needed doing with the trucks and forklifts. These guys reminded me of Lennie and George from a Steinbeck novel. Always picking on the young guys like myself. They were like classic movie pranksters laughing at their own jokes. One day Tony got a new asshole ripped for him by my mother when she found out about some of his shenanigans with me. He was all smiles after that. Oh you’re Barbara’s kid? Barbara worked for HM Stevens in various jobs and was close to management like Herb Krause the general manager and Jack McQuire the head waiter in the Clubhouse Dining room…a big deal back then. Lots of politicos and mob type connections in this place. My mother, father and Dick my step father all worked in the dining room and as cooks in the kitchens through the years. They were filled with stories of the celebrities and such and their antics and about Toodles …Jack Mcguires’ dog that he brought to work every day (the bus boys used to have to clean up after him or take him out for a walk) there was also the bitch in the hotpants … “What a nerve…no shorts allowed in the Clubhouse” ladies had to have proper attire. The Rock was a classy place in its day. I was working in the stands though and my coworkers were people like Big Ethel, Ruby with one boobie, Edna, Thorpie, Sudsie and girlfriend Jane, Rhinesie from Atkinson with the cool thunderbird and a host of characters that goes on and on. I used to run bets (14 years old) for stand ladies by taking off my uniform smock to go get Edna a ticket for the double cause one of her coffee regulars gave her a hot tip. Hot tips were all over the place and very seldom did they payout. BUT .. sometimes you could have been privy to some real inside info and a bit of hanky panky…. TRUE.
I won and lost a lot of money over my years there because it was fun to get in on the action with a $2 or $5 bet. Always had to take off the uniform jacket though because you never knew who was watching. Man this could go on all day…I should write a book. I must post again in the future with some backstretch memories, and about the day of the fire when I lost a tray of beloved Doc’s Spinach pies cause I was storing them in the commisary freezer because my refrigerator had broken down. (Still had a track connection years after I worked their) Friends Jimmy and Ronnie replaced Everett and Stanley… LATER… DANO