Memories of radio broadcasts at crowded drive-ins

I thought of one of Yogi Berra’s funny sayings when I went to the Root Beer Stand in Corbin the other night. Yogi, referring to a restaurant, said, “Nobody goes there any more. It is always too crowded.”

Don Estep is publisher of the News Journal.

The Root Beer Stand is always crowded, and there are several reasons for it. For one, you don’t have to spend a lot to get a good meal. You name it, I like their hotdogs, hamburgers, French fries, onion rings, to name a few.

One of the things you’ll hear from people who have moved away and are coming back here for a visit is, “Let’s go to the Root Beer Stand.” It is a very popular place, and has had celebrities like John Calipari eat there.

We don’t have as many drive-ins as we had when I was in my teens. Back in the 1950’s and 60’s we had several drive-ins in Corbin. There was Gerry’s, the Wing, Hungry Hound and the Dairy Dell. Our past time in the summer was to circle the drive-ins, spend an evening at the Drive-in theater, go bowling or participate in city league softball and hang around the Lunch Queen.

After graduating from college, I worked as a disc jockey and sports announcer at radio station WCTT. During the summer of 1962 on some Saturday nights Phil Taylor and I broadcast from the roof at Gerry’s Drive-In. It was like a scene from Happy Days.

It was a thing back then. Just before I came back to Corbin, Nick Clooney was doing the same thing as a DJ, broadcasting from Chevy Chase in Lexington. Everybody was out in their cars listening to the radio, and we were there to take requests and talk to those who drove by.

In addition to broadcasting from Gerry’s, I also broadcast city league softball games. Some of the games were played behind the Hungry Hound and some at Rotary Park. Not only did I broadcast, but I also played on Bill Crook’s softball team.

My buddy Bill was always deep into softball, but back then it was guys from the community playing against each other.

One day when Bill and I were out driving we spotted a big guy working on road construction. Before I could blink an eye, Bill stopped the car and asked the guy if he played any softball.

To our surprise he was a University of Kentucky basketball player. I think his  name was Dick Broderson, who stood about 6’8” and weighed about 270 lbs.

He said he would like to play and Bill signed him up. He could hit the ball out of the park and into the weeds behind the Hungry Hound. Unfortunately, it was during one of those games that my close friend and co-worker Johnny Reeves slid into second base and broke his ankle.

When I wasn’t playing I broadcast some of the games on WCTT. I’ll never forget the fun I had. I could go on and on, but. The Root Beer Stand trip got me to thinking about the good times back then. And like All in the Family, “Those were the days my friend.”