November 2004                                             The Megaphone                                                        Page 2

French Lick

by Bob Hinshaw

An article written by Cindy and posted in the Den on Sunday 24.2004 about French Lick IN. sure brought back memories to Mary Ruth and me and we would like to share our memories with you.

During the late 40's and through the 50's and early 60's we were  both  privileged to go to the French Lick Hotel for Indiana Kiwanis conventions, Indiana Pharmacy conventions, Federated Women conventions and college class reunions.

The road leading to the Hotel took you through beautiful farm land with acres upon acres of white fences, reminded us of the horse farms you see in Kentucky. As you arrived at the Hotel, if you looked north you would see a large white house, high on a hill over looking all of French Lick and West Baden. That was the Ballard estate, and was the home of the owner of about all he could see. Most of it evaporated during the depression.

French Lick was world famous not only for its gambling, which brought the very wealthy from Europe as well as the U.S., and with this crowd came the criminals and they say that people starting out in Vegas and Reno were welcomed to share ideas, it was also famous for the therapeutic springs that filled the atmosphere with an odor of rotten eggs and tasted like it. For that reason the Hotel had all the shops with-in its front doors and there would be no reason to go down town, so there was no down town. In the lower area was a massage parlor of which Mary Ruth and her women friends partook of their service and they haven’t been the same since!    

During the years we visited the Hotel all gambling equipment had been destroyed and that meant we attended the meetings, enjoyed our friends, relaxed and ate. The food was excellent, and the meals were served by black waiters dressed in white matching uniforms with black bow ties and black shoes. At that time in history segregation was not enforced, so the waiters were brought in by train from Chicago and the coaches were their living quarters. After the evening meal the lights dimmed and the waiters delighted all by carrying Baked Alaska (candle lighted) on their heads and dancing around to the tune of “The Cake Walk.” I can hear it now and boy was it a show.

This now is nothing but a wonderful memory. Maybe in the foreseeable future the towns of West Baden and French Lick will again have their glory in the entertainment field. At least two millionaires, Donald Trump and Larry Bird have expressed a desire to re-establish this glory by the renovation of the Hotel into a gambling casino. I’ve heard the Trump’s Casino division has declared bankruptcy but who knows about Trump and I’ve heard no more from the Bird conglomerate.

Bob Hinshaw '40

Final Epoch

by Cindy (Benedict) Odom

Travel on the railways,
Group of attendants convey.
Removed from time,
An Era passé,
A remembrance of yesterday.

Poem and Photo By . . .

Cindy (Benedict) Odom '69

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