December Battle of the Bands

December represents ‘the most wonderful time of the year’.  When I think of ‘the most wonderful time’ I am easily transported back to the mid 80’s. I had just completed my first year of college and set off to find that perfect summer job. I found that perfect summer job working for the Sun Valley Resort in Central Idaho.

There is something magical about the Sun Valley area. I don’t know if I can quite put my finger on what it is exactly. Celebrities have found this hidden magic there as well and many have made the area their part-time homes. I could tell you a few stories, but I won’t. See, that’s part of the magic of the place. You might be a celebrity, but everyone knows that you also live there and they don’t make a big deal out of it.  In fact, one of the first people I met was a celebrity - and it didn’t even occur to me until just LAST YEAR that this person was a famous actress. My first job was in housekeeping at the Lodge. One of the guests was this sweet old lady who insisted on staying in the same room every year (she visited at least once a year) The room was our smallest room with two twin beds. She’d offer me treats and the like whenever she was in the room when I just happened to be the one cleaning her room. I knew her name but her celeb status wasn’t even on my radar - especially since she was so down to earth. Back in those days we didn’t have a thing called Google. I literally cried when I found out who she really was, because she had made such an impact on me.  (okay, I’ll tell you her name.. But you will have to do your own research!  Her name was Ann Sothern)

Speaking of down to earth - you simply have not lived until you have experienced the 'Trailing of the Sheep'. Each spring sheepherders herd their sheep through town on their way to the high country. Every fall, they make the return trip to the lower country.

I guess I could tell you a bit of history about the place. In the 1930’s Union Pacific Railroad Chairman W Averell Harriman set out to find the perfect winter destination in America. In 1936, he found this wonderful place, and Sun Valley Resort became the very first Ski Resort (or winter destination) in America. That same year, the world’s very first chairlift were installed on Proctor Mountain (also part of Sun Valley area). In 1937, the first Inn was built.

Ernest Hemingway completed For Whom the Bell Tolls, while staying in suite 206 of the Lodge in the fall of 1939. Averell Harriman had invited Hemingway and other celebrities, primarily from Hollywood, to the resort to help promote it. Gary Cooper was a frequent visitor and hunting/fishing partner, as were Clark Gable, Errol Flynn, Lucille Ball, Marilyn Monroe, and several members of the Kennedy family. Hemingway was a part-time resident over the next twenty years, eventually relocating to Ketchum ("Papa" and his fourth wife are buried in the Ketchum Cemetery). The Hemingway Memorial, dedicated in 1966, is just off Trail Creek Road, about a mile northeast of the Sun Valley Lodge.  I would spend many of my afternoons visiting the Hemingway Memorial, sitting on a stone bench reading a book, or simply taking in the beauty of the surroundings. There is a little creek that runs directly in front of this memorial, and while the benches are really only a few yards from the road, you wouldn't know it. The back side of the memorial is part of the local golf course.

During World War II, the resort was closed in 1942 and converted to a convalescent hospital for the U.S. Navy (Pacific Theater), which was operational in July 1943. It re-opened to the public in December 1946.

After the war, the resort's clinic operated on the third floor of Sun Valley Lodge until the Sun Valley Community Hospital was built in 1961. While the third floor was used as the clinic, the fourth floor was the operating and recovery rooms. I will tell you from personal experience the fourth floor has paranormal activity.

After my first summer, I returned to college where, much to my parents chagrin, I promptly dropped out of my classes and made my way back to Sun Valley. I would spend the next 11 years there. One could say that I truly fell in love with the area.  I could share many stories about movie producers dialing my phone number wanting to speak with Mr Eastwood (not a prank! We had the same phone number with different prefix) Or the time my car broke down and I had to go door to door asking to borrow a phone to call for help, and Richard Dreyfuss coming to my rescue, or how a certain actor that I had a crush on as a young teen turned out to be an arrogant piece of … work. Or even the time Diana Ross and Michael Jackson were in town and they had a store close so they could shop in privacy. Or I could tell you about visiting the set for the movie Pale Rider.  But those are all stories for another day.

Oh shoot. I got carried away and almost forgot - we’ve got a battle today!

Sun Valley was featured (and promoted) in the 1941 movie Sun Valley Serenade, starring Sonja Henie, John Payne, Milton Berle, and bandleader Glenn Miller. Scenes were shot at the resort in March 1941. Sun Valley transfer local and future gold medalist Gretchen Fraser (her husband was also an Olympian skier - both lovely people that I am honored to have met) was the skiing stand-in for Henie.

The movie features many of Glenn Miller favorites, including “In the Mood”, “Moonlight Serenade”, and “Chattanooga Choo Choo”.

But since I’m talking about this wonderfully magical place, today song choice is:

‘It Happened in Sun Valley’

Today, I’ve got three different contenders for you to choose from. Listen carefully and choose the one you enjoy the most!


Contender # 1 Jo Stafford w/Paul Weston's Orchestra & The Starlighters






Contender # 2 The Fraser Hayes Four







Contender #3 The Glenn Miller Orchestra





Please vote for the contestant that you like best in the comments.  You may have heard by now, I am moving this weekend. Please don’t let that stop you from casting your vote. Voting will end on December 21, 2017 at 6pm EST with results being posted on December 22 (or as soon as I have internet connected)

By the way, the perfect location for the best view of the area for photographs (in my opinion) is along the road above Clint Eastwood's home.

I’d like to encourage you to visit the other bloggers participating in the battle of the bands as well. You can find a current list on Stephen’s blog (you can also request to join the battle of the bands blog hop on his blog).