The only thing which never changes is change. I’ve received many requests to write about various establishments, houses, and people associated with our Town. The list is quite long, and as I have time, I work at researching details and facts on all of them. Some are easy to find while others seem to be endless in the hours I spend. And, sometimes, there is so much available, it can’t be contained as a single one page article.

Remember, the purpose of these articles is to document things which are slowly fading from memory in our Town, not a tome to be published as a detailed history. This is the case when we talk about the Trade Winds.

In my youth, it was the place to go to hear outstanding music and bands while sharing good times with great people. But, this was a newer reincarnation of the previous venue of the Trade Winds which I will talk of here. In the future, I will write about the music and times at the Trade Winds from the mid to late 1960’s, but for now, let’s focus on the Trade Winds Restaurant, which is where it began.

Back in the late 1950’s, the Trade Winds Restaurant on Little Britain Road was a premier venue for dining. If you were heading out for a fabulous time on the town with your spouse, significant other, or a date you wanted to impress, this was the place to go. If you were hosting a bridal shower or business luncheon, the Trade Winds would be at the top of the list. It was also open for business lunches and hosted many prominent people.

The setting, across the road from Washington Lake was beautiful. Remember back then, the area was not as developed as it is today, more of a country setting, away from the nearby city. During the summer months, it had to be spectacular in the evenings dining across from the lake.

As the 1950’s came to a close and the 1960’s opened on a new decade, there was change in the air and there were strong winds blowing, sweeping in with a new music, rock ‘n roll. But this didn’t occur overnight, or just when the Beatles performed on Ed Sullivan. The change was heard daily on the air waves of AM radio as the DJ’s of those years began playing the new tunes, mingled with the older music. Your Hit Parade would soon be gone. Gradually the sounds would change the sound stage to what I knew in my teenage years.

Tony and Frank Peterzak recognized the changes occurring in our culture and the impact they were having on our community and they began changing the soul of their establishment to provide the people in our area with a new, quality entertainment venue. First, there was live entertainment on the weekends, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Recognizing the new sense of liberation of the women, a ladies night was included in their repertoire on Wednesdays, which, while an accommodation to the what was then considered the fairer sex, it also drew many men as well, who took advantage of the opportunity to meet and socialize as singles, not having to lay out their hard earned cash to do so as they would on a date. And, proper attire was always in place. Men must were a jacket in the evenings to be admitted. No exceptions. Ties were optional, but more often worn as not.

Sensing the untapped social phenomena which was unfolding before them, the Trade Winds began offering more music, newer music. Now, rather than only live entertainment on the weekends, Wednesday kicked off the musical group for the week and the concept of a “house band” became common. Especially bands which played this new thing called rock ‘n roll. And the next step? Host acts which would become major icons of the emerging music scene. Many of these names have carved their niche into the archives of rock and roll, while at that time, were really unknown. They were struggling to reach the pinnacle of success they were headed towards and we were able to hear them on their way up.

In my next, and follow up article in a few weeks, we’ll provide the details on some of these groups and share a few of the “inside” stories of their performances here.