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Pine Hollow Jamboree
For the Pine Hollow Jamboree, it all got started with an
idea a fellow by the name of Woody Woodell had in Mercer County
Pennsylvania. Woody had been entertaining folks for a while as
you will see, but when he was in Sharon, Pennsylvania, he started
a Saturday night feature over WPIC from 7:00 to 8:00pm that was
first sponsored by Schuster Coal and Ice.
Woody was all of five feet eight inches and wore his Stetson hat
at the studios of WPIC and WPIC-FM on Pine Hollow Boulevard (where
the show took its name from) and played the part of emcee and
manager of the show. Like many of the jamboree radio shows of this
era, the audience was invited to come on in and see the show in
person. And after the show started, the crowds did indeed come and
fill the studios, spilling out in to the library and lobby.
Outgrowing the studios, Woody moved the show to the Elk's auditorium
in Farrell and even began to charge an admission fee. That didn't
stop the crowds from coming as the audience kept growing as did the
number of acts performing on the show. They soon outgrew the Elk's
auditorium and then moved to the Reynolds auditorium that was
on Sharon-Greenville Road. By that time, they wrote that the Pine Hollow
Jamboree was playing to crowds of 1,200 to 1,300 every Saturday night
with folks driving in from the distant towns of Emelenton, Oil City,
Canton, Cleveland and even from West Virginia. Hillbilly music fans would
drive for miles to hear the music in person, don't you know?
The acts that Woody Woodell had on his show were performers and groups
that were from places such as Sharon, Youngstown, Ashtabula, Erie and
other towns in the area.
Timeline and Trivia Notes
Pine Hollow Jamboree cast members:
- Woody Woodell
- Ridin' Rangers
- The Western Rhythmaires
- Sunshine Rangerettes
- The Jolly Rhythm Boys
- The Dodson Family
- Denver Bill
- Mary June and Shorty Mays
- Ray Hilliard
- Walter Dalton
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Woody Wooddell and The Ridin' Rangers
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