Golf outing

Photo taken by Curt Gunther

 

To This State Fair Queen, They Were Commoners

 

To This State Fair Queen, They Were Commoners

By Marc. D. Allen

The Indianapolis Star 

November 16, 1995

    She doesn't brag about the day she met the Beatles. Doesn't carry around pictures or consider it a defining moment of her life. She even skipped their concert. "It was just a thing on my schedule that I needed to do that day", she says. "And now, as I look back on it, how stupid that sounds, but that's the way it was."

     She's recalling September 3, 1964, Cheryl Secrest-Simpson, now 48, married for a second time and living outside Denver, Colorado, was 17-year-old Cheryl Garrett, back then, Queen of the Indiana State Fair. Her duties included meeting, greeting, and appearing on the stage to introduce the acts at the fair, which included the Osmond Brothers, Andy Williams, Tennessee Ernie Ford, and the Beatles. 

    The Beatles failed to make an impact on Cheryl, who grew up in Peru, Indiana. Every other girl photographed even in rough proximity to the Fab Four looks positively hysterical. Not Cheryl.  "I guess I was a small-town sheltered girl," she said in a telephone interview. "I didn't know that I was supposed to be all excited and that this was it, the thing to do. If I would have been from a larger city, maybe their popularity would have been more on my back doorstep. But it wasn't that big of a deal to me."

     She estimates spending 15 to 20 minutes with John, Paul, George, and Ringo at their press conference. "Ringo was exceptionally nice. He was kind of joking around. I guess he thought I was nervous," said Seacrest Simpson. "As I look back on it, to think that these young men had such popularity, you would think their heads would have been way up in the clouds. But they weren't. They're people, and they were very nice, very nice to me. That was a fun, nice press conference, but the nicest person that I met was Tennessee Ernie Ford. He was just a jewel."

     Incidentally, she didn't appear on stage with The Beatles. They suggested she skip that honor. "They were afraid for my safety, leaving the stage and then going out into Indianapolis," says the mother of two sons. "They said kids would want the gloves I had on that I shook their hands with. They said they would just tear you apart."  She gave the gloves to her cousin from Chicago and kept a few photos for herself. 

    She didn't even go to the concert that night, although she had tickets to sit in the governor's box. "I had an opportunity to go out with an old flame that evening who lived in Indianapolis", Seacrest- Simpson says, laughing a can you believe it laugh. "So I went out with him instead".

Paul and Lizzie

 

I remember Lizzie telling me that the only time she met Paul after the Beatles had broken up was in 1989 at a press conference in Indianapolis.   Here is the photo of that meeting!  Doesn't Lizzie look happy?  

It has been 3 years since she left this world and I don't think a day doesn't pass by without me thinking about her.   I find a new John photo and I think, "I gotta send this to Lizzie."   

We were all blessed by her friendship here -- go back and see all the amazing comments she left on this site.  Lizzie's legacy lives on and on across the universe.  

The BEATLE Girls

 This is the final story from the Beatles visit to Indianapolis, taking place on September 4, 1964.  It was originally published in the Indianapolis Star newspaper on September 2, 1984.

We loved Them Yeah, Yeah, Yeah (part 3)

By Bonnie Britton

At Allison Experimental Corp. on the far west side, a leased turboprop awaited the departure of the foursome and their Support Team on September 4.

30 or 40 people. Most of them were relatives or friends of police assigned to Beatle's security and members of the media, who kept a respectful distance behind barriers on the runway apron. Betsy Williams of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, now Betsy Miller, and six friends were among those waiting for a glimpse of John, Paul, George, and Ringo. They were the B E A T L E S, at least that's what their home sewn. Navy blue jumpers proclaimed.  "And two-foot high, white letters, one per jumper," the mother of two teenagers said in a recent telephone interview.  "I'll never stop being a Beatles fan. You know how it is.  You don't just like them. You love them."

 A former Hoosier, Betsy, learned of the Indiana State Fair shows from a friend. "I don't know if the tickets were even on sale yet."  She said she convinced her mother to drive the seven friends to Indianapolis "if we paid our way."  They came. They heard, and over breakfast the morning after the Beatles concert, they learned the location of the Beatles chartered airplane. Summoning a taxi, the seven girls told the driver where they were going, but instead, they were taken to the wrong airport. A call to the dispatcher sent them to another hangar. A guy came out and said, "There are no Beatles here," but as the taxi was turning around, he put out roadblocks. Figuring roadblocks meant Beatles; they paid the driver and sneaked through the surrounding cornfields looking for an entry point. "We tore up our stockings. We were a mess". She said they were invited into a house near the airfield to clean up and peered through the fence at the plane. "Luckily, several guards helped us get in", but only after eliciting a promise from the girls that they'd behave. "If you'll be good, we'll let you come over", they told them.

Scheduled to leave Indianapolis at 10:30am, The Beatles didn't even arrive at the airport until after 3:30pm, long after the rest of their entourage, small by today's standards, had arrived.

 Their lunches from the airplane were distributed among the sideline crowd, which was growing limper and sweatier by the hour as the temperature climbed to 90 degrees. Behind the barriers, the group's road manager talked to Betsy, the second, E, in, B E A T L E S, and asked which Beatle was their favorite. "Four liked Paul best."  When the Beatles climbed from their limousines, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, dressed in dark suits, walked to the plane without glancing at the crowd. McCartney, however, strode to the Harrisburg seven, smiling and pumping hands. Alvina Britton of Greenfield was the last Hoosier to shake McCartney's hand that day. He winked and asked," Okay, Mum?"

 Says Betsy, ."The seven of us were so excited. I don't remember if others were impressed when we returned home. For a long time afterward, we were like a little club. We used to listen to their music for hours and tried to piece together a letter to them by tape recording words from their records."

 The last reunion of the B E A T L E S was at a get-together after high school, arranged by Betsy's Mother.  As her interest in the Beatles subsided, everything went into the attic, "including a tape of us on TV, on the news, shaking hands with Paul, and it all disappeared," she said sadly. After the Beatles, Betsy never fell for another group.  The disillusioned time descended. "As the Beatles married, you realized that you weren't going to be anybody special in their lives."

Baby I'll drive you in my car

Honestly, I have always questioned the truth behind this story because I have never heard anyone say that they saw Ringo at the dinner or any other claim of it happening besides the officer who says he took Ringo for a late-night drive.  It is a great story that could have happened very well, right?

This story was published in the Indianapolis Star newspaper on September 2, 1984. 

We Loved Them Yeah Yeah Yeah (part 2)

Written by Bonnie Britton

More than 25,000 people, most of them teenage girls, paid to watch the Beatles at the fairgrounds. Jack Marks, at the time, an 11-year veteran Indiana State Police Trooper, got paid to watch the Beatles.

 He called drummer Ringo Starr "just a poor kid a long way from home". His assessment of the other Beatles is less kind. "They were more demanding. Paul McCartney and John Lennon seemed smart-alecky."

 It was early in the morning of September 4, after the grandstand show, that we got them back to the Speedway motel. He recalled the security people relieved because we've gotten through with no problems, no riots, like in many places,

On the way to their rooms, the troopers look down at the pool from the second floor. "One of us says, 'There's old Ringo,' and somebody suggests,'Let's go throw him in the pool.' He convinced them not to toss Ringo in. (He couldn't swim, according to at least one fan magazine), and they joined the Beatle poolside when one of the troopers proposed taking a ride before going to bed. Ringo said, according to Marx, "I could go with you" and climbed into the back seat of the car.

 Their tour took on Speedway, Meridian Street, Monument Circle, and the governor's mansion. "I mean, what could you see at night?"

 Ringo was hungry, so Marks suggested that they go to his house in Noblesville, rouse Marks's wife from bed, and have her fix breakfast. Marks had forgotten, however, that their Morgan horses were going to be shown at the State Fair. When they arrived, a light was on in the barn.  

With a little prompting, Ringo told Doyne Marks, who was grooming the animals, "Get in the house, make us some breakfast." She wasn't too impressed, Marks said and told Ringo that she was busy and he would have to get his own breakfast.

 Instead, they fixed coffee at home, then went to the former Ben's Island Restaurant north of Carmel. Several diners recognized the Beatle and asked for autographs. "I told them, 'Let him eat in peace, and he'll give autographs later.' When we were finished, he signed autographs, shook hands, and kissed some kids."

 Ringo's absence from the Speedway Motel hadn't gone unnoticed. "When their manager woke up, Ringo was missing, and when we came back, Sheriff Major Alva Funk went into orbit. The deputy on duty told him Ringo left with some troopers and a car."  In retrospect, Mark said he could understand that Ringo was a" high-priced piece of property" and that their early morning escapade caused some justified concern. 

"He was just a young kid, 23, and they'd fly into a city, get locked in a room, do a show, and get back on a plane. He was just thankful to get out."

Marks, who drove one of the three Oldsmobile limousines that carried John Paul, George, and Ringo to the airport, said the Beatles manager came out to their plane just before takeoff with the message that Ringo asked to see him. "He just wanted to say 'thanks' for a good time, that he was treated well and appreciated it." Marks said.

 Although he probably spent more time with Ringo than anybody in Indianapolis, Marks failed to get an autograph or take pictures. The Marks children were instructed not to tell their friends about the Beatle visit. "I think it was a year before our daughter told her best friend," he said. Even in conservative Indiana," he added, "we had visions of people digging up the driveway if they found out he'd been here."

 They do, however, still possess a coffee mug, now broken, that Ringo drank from that morning, the chair in which he sat, and half a package of cigarettes the Beatle left behind.

To this day, Marks remains pertinently unflapped by the historic assignment. After all, he says there were other celebrity encounters, and Tennessee Ernie Ford, who also appeared at the fair that year, even gave him a record album.

When Elaine Met the Beatles

 

In celebration of the 60th anniversary since the Beatles performed in Indianapolis on September 3, 1964, I will share some stories that I found published in the Indianapolis Star newspaper on September 2, 1984 (to celebrate the 20th anniversary).   

We Loved Them Yeah Yeah Yeah (part 1)

Written by Bonnie Britton

"Was it really 20 years ago?" Elaine May Conley, now 35, wondered recently in her northside home. A matted, framed black-and-white photograph in the living room shows her poised and smiling, seated among four dark-haired young men with large microphones positioned to catch every word. 

The picture was taken at a press conference in the communications building at the State Fair on September 3, 1964, minutes before the start of the two nearly obliterated by screaming fans Beatles shows at the Colosseum and the Grandstand.

An admirer as far back as "I Want to Hold Your Hand,"  Elaine was desperate (her words) to see the Beatles up close, so she labored over an entry in an  "I want to meet The Beatles because..." contest sponsored by the Indianapolis News.  "I knew there had to be a way." Without telling her mother, she mailed the letter with three words less than the 50-word limit.

 "I want to meet the Beatles because they have a special magic when they perform. The oppressing world crises and other problems can be temporarily forgotten. I'd love to meet the four young men who can make everything seem a little brighter."

 When hers was chosen from more than 3000 entries, it was like Bye Bye Birdie (in the movie Anne Margaret swoons when she wins a visit from an Elvis esque character) . However, she wasn't allowed to tell anyone until the next day, when she was declared the winner in print. "That was the hardest thing in the world."

 Once her friends knew, her home became a madhouse and the telephone receiver hardly touched the cradle. She chose a black crepe dress for the press conference. (John's favorite color), and remembers it as a very formal affair, not allowed to take photographs of the Beatles or ask for autographs.

 She nevertheless stated, "What can you say about euphoria? They were as good-looking as I thought they would be; they were polite and very satirical. They offered biting comments. I shook hands with each one. How long did it last? Somewhere between half a second and 20 years.  Maybe five minutes altogether."

After delivering an original editorial cartoon to The Beatles and exchanging a few words with them, she stood to the side during the rest of the press conference. Escorted from the building in a daze, she plummeted with questions from reporters who couldn't cram into the room.  "For a long time after, I was touched a lot," she said, laughing.  Rings worn while shaking hands with John, Paul, George, and Ringo became holy relics bestowed on lucky friends at Thomas Carr Howe High School.  She devoted herself to acting and earned the lead in Beauty and the Beast. A newspaper headline proclaimed, "From Beatles to Beauty."

 Though dry-cleaned after the press conference, the black crepe dress still possessed mystical powers. A year later, she wore it to the bus station to send off a friend and met Michael Conley, then a University of Cincinnati student, whom she later married during her freshman year at Indiana University.

 Things were cooking politically. The drug scene was beginning to get going. "The Beatles went way overboard, and I didn't have time for them any longer. I was a little embarrassed by it all."

 With her Mementos stored away, Elaine mentally mothballed the whole Beatles experience. "Then, on December 8, 1980, I was watching Monday Night Football when the network flashed news of John Lennon's murder to viewers.  I cried. They were so much a part of my life growing up, and they would never have a chance to be together again. People don't realize how much of your life you invest..."

 Two decades later, their influence still lingers. "Although I'm embarrassed to admit I've missed every Beatles question in Trivial Pursuit."

 A part-time elementary school teacher and mother of an 11-year-old son who breakdances and an eight-year-old daughter crazy about Olympic gold medalist Mary Lou Retton, Elaine thinks she's more tolerant of today's fads than perhaps parents of the 1960s were of popular music, idols, and crazes. She marvels at her daughter's Olympic heroine, who is a dedicated athlete, some of whom are just 16 years old. "At that age, we were really in dreamland."

We want The Beatles

 Indianapolis - 1964

Hope you all had a good fire prevention week

 

Fire prevention week was from October 4-October 11.  I hope you all remained safe and healthy.   The Beatles here are in Indianapolis in 1964 helping to spread the word about fire safety.   

Ringo and security in Indy

 

The Beatles and a golf cart

September 3, 1964 - Indianapolis   At least John isn't the one driving!

Hang in there John

Racing around the speedway

the State Fair

Photo removed at the request of the copyright holder

July 13, 2017

Beatles and Beauties

Here was a reason to try to be the winner of a beauty contest in your area---it would help your chances of meeting the Beatles!

Hello Indiana!

Press conference time again

The Beatles are here!

It is time for these Indianapolis Beatle fans to celebrate!   The Beatles had made it to their city and life couldn't be any better!

Another typical press conference

This photo is property of the Indiana State Archives whom I did contact and have written permission to post this photo.

I really think it is neat that the stuffed animal the fan gave the Beatles can be seen in the background of the beauty contest winner photo.   I think the Beatles received it and posed for the photos and then shoved it off to the lady in the background when the beauty queen came up for photos.  

Four!

I love this frame from when the Beatles were in Indianapolis in 1964.   Notice the people way in the back trying to get a look at the Beatles?

Concert memories from the Beatles at the State Fair

To read more about the Beatles concert in Indianapolis, I recommend two books.   The first is Some Fun Tonight vol. 1 by Chuck Gunderson.   In this book, you can read the great (true) story of when Ringo left the Speedway and went cruising around Indy with a police officer and ended up at his house and met his daughter!   It is worth reading!

The second book came out this summer.  It is called All Those Years Ago and it is by David Humphrey.   It is all about the Beatles Indianapolis concerts and has a ton of fan memories and interesting information.   You can purchase your copy here.  

The Beatles performed 2 shows in Indianapolis.   The first one was inside the Coliseum and the second was outdoors in the bandstand.   I believe that all of the photos I have seen are from the Coliseum.   There is also a great film that shows this concert.   What I recall about the film is that it shows an ice cream vendor not doing his job, but listening to the Beatles.

Concert memories (collected from many places online)

"I was a 9 yr old boy going to see the Beatles that summer at the Indiana State Fair. However, I have very good recall of this, my first concert. I remember walking around the fairgrounds and seeing girls with Beatles buttons with words on them ‘I Love John’ ‘I Love Paul’ and such. There weren’t many girls wearing ‘I Love George’ or Ringo buttons though. My father was a pediatrician and was the doctor of the ticket manager of the State Fair and he got 4 tickets and sent his 11 yr old daughter and son to this along with our older cousin and her friend. (Very cool, dad) 

The Beatles came out and played the east end of the Coliseum, which for people that saw concerts there in years following was maybe the only time anyone played this end. The west end became the common location. I think John beginning to sing ‘If I Fell’ and the screaming became so loud I had to put my fingers in my ears. I mean, there is loud and there is Beatles loud. I think the beginning of my hearing loss began on this day Since this time I have seen many major concerts but none even began to come close to the fervor of this hot summer day inside the Coliseum.

There were men in white coats running around with stretchers picking up girls who had fainted and carrying them off hurriedly. Lots of girls, thousands, maybe I was the only boy in the place. And many were out of control. I just stared at them wondering what was the big deal.

It is interesting that the Beatles would later comment on this concert that it was “quite quiet” only I don’t know if they had started drugs by this time or had earplugs in because it was anything but quiet. It was unbearably loud and it never stopped, relentless.

I mostly remember just looking around at the girls who were screaming. I was in a bit of shock that someone could lose control like this over a bunch of guys up there singing. But, the impression was everlasting: THESE GUYS WERE C-O-O-L.

After this I remember guys began wearing Beatles boots. I thought they were pretty cool but parents frowned upon them because they looked like something ‘hoods’ would wear.

After the concert ended, we exited the southeast corner of the Coliseum. As we walked away there was a sudden shrilly, high pitched scream that went up and I turned to see what had happened, only to find a surge coming towards me that to this day kind of gives me chills. It was the feeling being trampled underfoot and it was not pleasant. I looked up and there was a surge of girls then the Beatles were running right past us, within 3 feet, and got into a black car that was parked nearby. I have a memory of one of the Beatles brushing against me slightly as the cops cleared their way for them. It was thrilling in a sense, but it was over in maybe 10 seconds. But how thrilling can it be for a 9 year old, anyway? Wish I’d been a few years older.

This is one of the memories you have in your lifetime that cannot be erased and I would say that nobody will ever cause a commotion and stir that the Beatles did. And the decibels of the screams given Elvis, especially Michael Jackson, don’t approach the levels given the Beatles.

One of a kind. Originals." The best. –Larry R.

"I was at the concert in the early evening. I remember lots of sailors were there in white uniforms. We were sitting up high in the stands, indoors, and had a good view of the stage and whole crowd. I don’t know directions, but the stage was to our left. It was the first time I had been back to the Coliseum since the horrible explosion the year before. What impressed me the most about the Beatles was how polite they were and professional in their performance. They bowed all together after each song. Their hair seemed so long and you could see why they were called mop-tops. It seems funny now to think how much fuss was created by their appearance. There was a lot of screaming, but not right near us, as we were mostly adults in that area, and we could hear the music well enough. It was a wonderful show, and I’m so glad to have seen the Beatles live."—Ruth

"I was inside the Coliseum that day in Indy. My buddy and I had front row seats. The Beatles were all dressed in gray Nauru jackets and pants. I don’t possibly know why the fab four thought the crowd was “quite quiet”.
The thousands of screaming girls were so loud and it never let up…we could barely hear the songs they were playing, yet we were only 30 feet away from the stage! It was a moment in time I will never forget!" –Eric J.

"At the first performance inside, they started letting the crowd into the lobby. But were not letting anyone go to their seats. A lot of pushing and shoving. Saw a guy's arm break a window glass. Remember at least one kid knocked down. Fortunately they quickly yelled to let them go to the seats. It was pretty scary. I was 16. Could have been a tragedy. I was ready to leave!
Glad my older brother talked me into staying! It was a great thrill to see The Beatles live!" –James B.

"My father was the MC for the second show in the grandstands, WIBC morning DJ Bouncin' Bill Baker. We lived on the north west side of town behind Broadmoor golf course. We had a police escort to the concert from our home and when we arrived in my fathers Greenbrier van painted up with WIBC logos and Bouncin Bill Baker signs all over a crowd swarmed the van thinking that The Beatles were inside.  My brothers and I loved it, but my mother was a little worried. I was only six but I remembered it well and sitting in the second row from the stage, girls kept pushing everyone as I stood on the wooded chair to get a better look. My father came out on stage wearing a green Nehru jacket and a Beatles wig, which Ringo took off his head when they came out! My older brother was fortunate enough to meet all The Beatles back stage in their dressing room. It was a great memory of a magical evening, I’m still hoping to find someone who might have taken a picture with my father on stage that night and get a copy for our entire family. We still have a complete roll of Beatle wallpaper from the radio station left over and other memorabilia, which my sister is avid collector. A very fond memory! " My Best Brad W. Baker

"I  was at the early show in the Coliseum and I was one of the screaming girls. I really loved the music so I tried not to be so loud that I couldn’t hear anything. It didn’t matter though, everyone around me and my friend were so loud we couldn’t hear much else. My father drove us up from Lexington, Ky. and we barely got there in time for the seating. I remember Jackie De Shannon wearing a bright blue fringed disco dress right before the Beatles came out. When they came out and started singing it was so surreal I couldn’t believe I was really seeing them in front of me. The memory maybe a little faded but some parts I remember so well. We couldn’t get tickets for the second show but my Dad let us hang around the fence by the tunnel where they were driven out to the stage area in a black limo. I was a huge George fan and he actually waved at us as they drove by, it was magical, there are no other words. After that my friends and fellow outcasts at our preppy school had Beatle parties where we shared bootleg records and videos not yet released in the states. Someone’s dad went to Europe and brought them back for us. It was huge in my life to be there and some of my best memories." –Jean

"My mom and I went to see them! My dad thought it was ridiculous to pay $5 bucks a piece for our tickets...it was awesome!" –Charlie H. 

"I was 11 years old, We saw the Beatles at the Grandstand show. My Mom told me & my sisters not to scream, but I did anyway" – Sally P.