Hi.. just discovered this board. I was born and raised in newark, weequahic section. lived there 1955-69, yes, thru the riots and all. my grandfather owned and operated Club Harold on Bloomfield Ave and I am looking for stories about it, so if youo have any memories of it, please e-mail me.
Also looking for memories of Fabyan Cabana Club... no one has any and were it not for the photos i have of me in the pool and on the swings i would wonder if i just didnt imagine its existence.
thanks. JrzeeyGrl55@aol.com
Welcome, GoldyLox. I like that nick, but we use our names here so people will know who we are. I regret to say I have never been to the Club Harold. Those Bloomfield Avenue guys used to chase us Orange Street guys back into the park.
I knew it well! Not as a member, but I grew up down the street. As kids we almost lived at "Valley Fair" and your jukebox was on the other side of the fence from the Fabyan Place entrance parking lot. In its later years, we broke in and stole some stuff.
Was the Club Harold upstairs from Visco's Sporting Goods on Bloomfield Ave, west of Park Ave, on the right side going up? If so, there's a story I heard from the late 60's or early 70's.
Seems this motorcycle club (Hells Angels or some such) had a party there one night. They created a ruckus, assaulted a security guard and did some damage to the place. They were tough customers, that is until they they met up with hell's cops, who responded en masse to the disturbance (the late Joe Freid among them) and kicked the livin' s**t out of them, to the point that the president of the club went downtown and apologized to the Police Director, saying they'd NEVER come back to Newark. They haven't been heard from since.
