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Autographed panels removed from defunct Ponderosa Park
By D.A.WILKINSON
SALEM
Panels with the signatures of country music’s top performers have been removed from Ponderosa Park.
“They are in our possession,” said David Stratton, president of the Salem Historical Society.
Stratton did not disclose where the panels are being stored.
Stratton and Bruce Howell, who manages the Ponderosa property, have removed the panels from the now-closed country-and-western venue north of Salem.
The panels, some of which are on thin wood, were removed without any damage, he said.
Most of the panels were part of the back-stage walls, and over the years, entertainers began writing on them.
Someone drew the logo of the band “Alabama” on the inside of a large sliding door at the back of the building. Then all the band members signed it, the historian said.
The number of panels that were taken still isn’t clear because some are full sheets of wood, some are half sheets, and others are irregularly shaped, such as a panel that had been on the side of steps leading from the dressing rooms to the stage.
The panels will be displayed during the car-related events in the 2010 Quaker City Weekend Cruise and the Steel Valley Super Nationals at Quaker City Raceway during the weekend of June 24-27.