New Years Eve just ain't the same anymore. Dick Clark is gone, Guy Lombardo is gone, how can we enter into the New Year without hearing and watching Dick Clark drop that crystal ball, followed by Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians. Lombardo's orchestra played at the "Roosevelt Grill" in the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City from 1929 to 1959.
I saw him on one occasion in Dayton, Ohio at what I think was called Miami Shores. A river South of Dayton. I had my own boat then that my Dad and I had built, The Dood, and often took it down to Miami Shores to go up and down the river. He had his boat in town for a race, and I happened to be down in the pit area and had an occasion to see him working. Lombardo was also an important figure in hydroplane speedboat racing, winning the Gold Cup in 1946 in his record-breaking speedboat, Tempo VI, designed and built by the legendary John L. Hacker. He then went on to win the Ford Memorial competition in 1948 and the President's Cup and the Silver Cup in 1952. From 1946 to 1949, he was the reigning US national champion. Before his retirement from the sport in the late 1950s, he had won every trophy in the field.
Seems like Dick Clark has been around forever. I remember him from both radio and television. His New Years Eve show was a major part of the the celebration, it was an institution. He passed away on April 18, 2012.
New Years, many years ago always consisted of "Kippers" and Guy Lombardo, and then Dick Clark became a big part of the night. It will never be the same without them.
