There was an article going around Facebook recently listing 10 things people who grew up in Oshawa could relate to. Of the 10 I was able to relate to seven items. It got me thinking about when I grew up in the Oshawa. I was a teenager of the 1980s and here's a list of eight things I believe most of Oshawanians who grew up in the 80s could relate to.
1) Teen dances at the Red Barn. When I was around 16-years-old my buddies and I would spend every Friday night at the Red Barn aka The Red Shed. Usually used as a BINGO hall the Red Barn became a teenage dance hall filled with all the hot tunes of the day where teens could congregate, dance, laugh and hopefully meet that true love. I have fond memories of making the rounds of the Red Shed with my buddies checking out who we would ask to dance. I was also present the night of the battle betweend the metal heads and the funkers. Back then most people who went to this dance fell into the category of a metal head (i.e. - listening to heavy metal bands from Motorhead to Motely Crue) or funker (listened to rap music - as I was a metal head I cannot name any of those bands). There were the odd new wavers and goths but they tended to hang out elsewhere. Not only did these two groups have different tastes in music they also dressed differently and even danced differently. Well, one thing lead to another and for the week leading up to one Friday night there were rumours everywhere about a big fight between these two groups. Apparently there were even funkers and metal heads from Toronto coming into the Shwa to take part. I can remember during the night metal heads coming up to another saying they'd fight if they had to. My friends and I ended up being part of a group of people locked into the Simcoe Street Burger King while police got things under control. Apparently fights went on through to the wee hours between these two groups. According to my sources the metal heads won that night.
2) Fiesta and partying at the Civic Audoitorium. Every year Oshawa holds it's own type of Caribana in the form of Fiesta. It's a week long celebration of multiculturaism within the great metropolis. My friends and I would usually end up at the Oshawa Civic Auditorium listening to some cover band and drinking piss warm beer out of platic cups. But hey it was the thing to do.
3) Curly's. The night I turned 19-years-old my buds and I headed to Curly's to drink bear and load up on five cent chicken wings. Curlys was one of our favourite joints. If there wasn't a hockey game playin on the TV then there was a band taking to the stage. The band I remember most was a group of musicians called The Stumbling Blind. My bud's and I loved those guys. I remember being at Curly's the night Calgary beat The Montreal Canadiens to win the Stanley Cup. A good time was had by all, except for our one friend who is a die hard Habs fan.
4) It would be negligent of me to mention Curly's and not mention the anchor of Oshawa pubs - The Tartan Tavern. The Tartan Tavern would become my second home. In fact, it was the last bar I ever drank at prior to entering recovery. I'm sure there are tons of us who experienced singing along to Cat's in the Cradle as it played on the jukebox while we drank pints into the wee hours of the night. Although my friends and I were regulars at the Tartan the night that most of our generation went was Thursday night. There'd be a line up out the door. The Tartan also had a room in the back where a band would play and people could dance. I preferred the front room myself.
5) Illusions. Illusions was what I would call the first 'dance club' that came to Oshawa. It was downtown (now the home of a flooring store) and it was huge. Illusions was one of the first fad bars that came to the area. It was popular for awhile and then slowly faded into obscurity. It changed names a few times, once being called The Purple Onion, but then disappeared altogether.
6) Downtown, old-style, movie theatres. There was The Regent, The Odeon and the Parkwood (or something like that). The term blockbuster came about beause people would be lined-up around the block waiting for movies. This was the case in 1977 when Star Wars came to The Regent Theatre. I remember the line-ups for that, Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T. and several others. These theatres played a big part in my current love of film.
7) General Motors. One cannot talk about Oshawa and not meniton GM. Despite the controversy that surrounds this company today it was a mainstay of my childhood and teen years. The factory I remember most was the one at Adelaide and Ritson (currently the site of CostCo, et al), With GM comes Parkwood, the home of GM Canada's founder Colonel R.S. McLaughlin. Parkwood was the first home in North America with it's own bowling alley and has been the site of many the flick and commercial.
8) The Oshawa Times. Prior to the garbage newspapers we have today that are given to us for free and filled with ads, there was the Oshawa Times. A legitimate newspaper that people actually paid for. As a kid myself and lots of my friends appeared on the pages of this local paper during its coverage of local events.
Ah fond memories of the Oshawa. One thing most people do not realize. The only people who can call it The Shwa are those of us who grew up in it or live in it now.
Dave the Dude
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