Between 1930 and 1933, the carousel took a rest from its travels at Olcott Beach on Lake Ontario, and in 1933 it was sold to an amusement park on Cuba Lake in New York's Allegany County, where it remained until the park closed in 1972. The New York State Museum in Albany acquired the carousel from a private collector.
By definition, a �pavilion� is �a building often partly open and highly ornamented, used for entertainment, etc., as at a park or fair. A summer house. A building jutting out from the main part.� All, except the ornamented part, applies to the Cuba Lake Pavilion, officially named �Olive�s Palais Royale � or �Olivecrest�.
Actually, it was a firetrap. A large wooden rectangular building with a sprawling hardwood dance floor flanked by wooden tables and booths with a beer & snacks bar at one end and a bandstand at the other. A screened porch did, indeed, jut out over the lake�s coastline. And it sagged. Under the porch were locker/changing rooms for swimmers. Other than the obligatory mirrored disco ball, chintzy backdrops on the bandstand provided the only �ornamentation� in the dance hall.
Did we know that the pavilion was named �Olivecrest� and that the rides and beach area was called Olivecrest Amusement Park? Why? The whole complex was previously owned (1920�s-30�s) by Mr. Bog Olive. We were only familiar with Mr. and Mrs. Dar Barnes, the owners during the mid-fifties, and the Zoghibes, who ran the food concession at the park. But, Mr.Olive, his wife and family were the original developers.
Parents dreaded the thought of teenaged sons and daughters driving to the lake, and with good reason. Accidents happened annually, all too often during graduation weekends and prom nights. The roads were winding, the thrill of celebration was high, the drivers were inexperienced and the beer was available, given fake ID�s or eighteen-year-old pals. We all lost classmates. My classmate, Dick Kasperski, a sober passenger, lost his life at the beginning of his senior year. Where? �Dead Man�s Curve� about two miles from the pavilion.
Yet, the pavilion persisted as a tri-county magnet for teens during the summer months. High school sororities from Amherst High School rented Dar�s fusty cottages by the week, as did Olean�s high school fraternities, Alpha Zeta and the Bachelor�s Club, and sororities. The force that fueled the magnet was music: it was the infancy of rock � roll, of the emergence of radio disc jockeys and of stereo records. Things were jumping!
From Wellsville, Bolivar and Olean they commuted to the Lake on summer weekends. Some, like me, pitched tents on the hillside behind the roller-skating rink where we could change after swimming, store clean clothes and cologne, take naps and, maybe, host a girl. Many, like me, would hitch-hike into town to work after spending the night at somebody�s cottage.
Everybody danced! There was nothing sissy-ish about rock and roll. Dancing required rhythm and a degree of athleticism, especially when lifting a babe off the ground while in motion. The best dancing to the best bands was at the pavilion! Rock and roll bands had not quite smothered long-standing swing bands, so both played: one on Friday night, one on Saturday. On Labor Day and July 4th weekends, special "Battle of the Bands" events, with three bands each playing three-hour gigs, would keep the pavilion full and rocking from mid-afternoon until one a.m. Where else could you dance for nine hours or more to live music ?
Al Cecchi�s band filled the bandstand on swing nights and its version of �Perdido� accompanied most dance contests at the Pavilion. The Olean rock band, �The Rock-its�, was a sure sell-out. Favorite musicians included Mousey Gage on bass, Clyde Dickerson on sax and Wayne Lipps on drums. The local boys even cut a record !!
In the evenings, a good band could pack the place with kids eager to dance, to be seen, to flirt, to listen and to be part of the action. After several hours in the crowded, smokey and, oftentimes, hot interior, many would make a dash to the amusement park during the band�s breaks to cool off by riding the �Chair-Plane� or carousel. Others would head for the water�s edge..
WKBR radio, in Buffalo, sponsored many appearances at Cuba Lake of rising rock stars and bands. Singers like Johnny Tillotson appeared and promoted their latest singles. Sisters from Smethport would dance with brothers from Portville. High school basketball rivals would met in the summer and re-hash their February game while drinking �Teem� and feeding the juke box during the band�s breaks.