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Tap Dancing through Magnolia’s Memory Lane: Fieldhouse, Fun Frolic, and Camp Denny

By Mary March

The Fieldhouse

 

The Fieldhouse, also known as the Magnolia Recreation Center (now called the Magnolia Community Center), was a home away from home for many kids.

 

Walking from school at Our Lady of Fatima to take classes at the Fieldhouse, which was adjacent to Catherine Blaine Junior High School, was a ritual for me in the 1950s and 1960s. My lifelong friend Marsha Klontz remembers walking together, often stopping on the way for licorice or penny candy at Rexall Drugs or Meredith’s 5- and 10-cent store (1).

 

Once we arrived at the Fieldhouse, a whole world opened up to us. Mary (McCarthy) Davis, a Magnolia childhood friend with whom I recently reconnected, remembers: “There was a huge gymnasium with a collapsible wall, which could open up to double the size. Usually, it was boys on one side and girls on the other” (2). Girls were offered an array of classes, from tap, ballet, tumbling, and volleyball to knitting, rope climbing, and ball handling (a kind of rhythmic dance tossing small rubber balls).

Fig. 1. Arnie Aizstrauts, director, and Jan Primm, assistant supervisor, at the Magnolia Recreation Center.

Courtesy of Dick Batley and Magnolia News. July 20, 1961.

Boys mostly had seasonal sports to choose from, as well as a class called model building. Arnie Aizstrauts ran the boys’ program. Older boys could try out for the traveling rec teams that played teams from all over Seattle. Magnolia was often undefeated and won city championships: “Magnolia had the best-trained teams in the city of Seattle.” Arnie taught the boys “discipline and the fundamentals of basketball” and was remembered as a “tough, no-nonsense supervisor” (3).

 

In contrast, Jan Primm, the woman in charge of the girls’ program beginning in 1958, was a warm, easygoing, encouraging, and friendly supervisor. Amazingly, she taught almost all the girls’ classes—up to 150 students in 1961 (4). It seemed to us as if she could do anything.

 

Jan Primm devoted her life to the Fieldhouse during the years she spent there. Mary Davis remembers, “We all loved hanging around the office and talking to Jan while she worked. I don’t know how she got anything done. I always thought it was funny that she smoked cigarettes and taught sports classes” (5). Besides sports, Mary Davis remembers taking tumbling, baton twirling, and tap dance classes. She even remembers the steps to her “On the Good Ship Lollipop” number: “Shuffle right, ball change, shuffle left, ball change, slap, slap, slap” (6).

 

My classmate Shelley Pannell recalls Jan as “happy, patient, positive, and very giving.” Shelley, her sister Leslie, and her brother Gary were latchkey kids—since both their parents worked, they spent a lot of time at the Fieldhouse after school. Jan shared snacks with them, Shelley says, and would even give them a ride home sometimes after dark (7).

 

Jan was also the creative director and organizer of the annual spring dance shows (8). The spring show was the culmination of all the work from the year’s classes, complete with costumes, music, and a program involving dance, tumbling, and rope climbing. It was always great fun for the participants and parents—with as many as five hundred parents and friends in the audience each year.

 

My mother, Teresa March, was the piano accompanist for all the dance classes and spring shows. She worked closely with Jan, whom she described as a kind, friendly, patient person and a skilled, versatile teacher with “lots of rhythm” who knew how to connect with the kids.

 

Imagine corralling 150 or more young adrenaline-fueled girls, getting their costumes on, and making sure they understood when they were performing in the lineup. With Jan Primm at the helm, along with her “mom helpers,” the shows always delivered, despite unexpected occurrences like kids forgetting something important or getting sick. I remember getting to wear lipstick, dressing up in different costumes, hearing lots of excited squeals in the changing room, and experiencing the thrill of performing in front of an enthusiastic audience.

Fig. 2. “Magnolia Circus Time” program from the annual spring dance and tumbling show presented by the Seattle Park Department (now called the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation), Magnolia Fieldhouse, May 10, 1963.

Courtesy of Leslie Pannell and Marsha Klontz.

Fig. 3. Leslie and Shelley Pannell in tap dance costumes (left), and Shelley and Leslie Pannell in tumbling costumes (right).

Courtesy of Leslie Pannell.

Jan Primm and her classes had a huge influence on many of our lives. Shelly Pannell, Jill McKinstry, and Laurel Anderson were referred by Jan to the YMCA, where they took gymnastics with George Lewis, “the Father of Washington Women’s Gymnastics” (9). Laurel competed nationally and went on to become a gymnastics coach (10). Mary Davis says, “I considered majoring in athletics in college so I could run a center just like [Jan] did. Later in life, I was a member of the advisory board for our local Recreation Center and coached the volleyball team for middle school girls” (11).

Fig. 4. Cathy Taft (left) and Liz McCarthy (right) in costumes for “Stumbling,” the advanced tap performance from the Dance Variety Show in 1973.

Courtesy of Cathy Taft.

After getting their start at the rec center, both Cathy and Liz continued in dance. Cathy joined a dance group that performed at the World’s Fair in Spokane in 1974. She even had a solo: hula hooping and tap dancing at the same time! Cathy also danced in yearly musicals at her high school as well as in college (12). Liz McCarthy went on to have a thirty-year career in theater as an actor, singer, and dancer in Seattle, New York, and regional theaters across the country. She also taught tap dance at Seattle’s Cornish College of the Arts (13). Both attribute their continued interest in dance to their early experiences at the rec center.

 

Because of Jan’s passion and dedication, dance became an integral part of my life, a constant source of joy and inspiration both as a spectator and a student. Unbeknownst to us at the time, Jan was laying the foundation for a healthy lifestyle, emphasizing the connection between exercise and well-being, which has stayed with me throughout my life.

 

Sadly, in the mid- to late 1960s, Jan became ill and returned to her home in Sausalito, California, where she eventually passed away. But her legacy on Magnolia will never be forgotten.

Magnolia Recreation Center special events

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There were numerous activities and events that took place at the Magnolia Recreation Center in the 1950s and 60s: Easter egg hunts, Backward Day, treasure hunts, Halloween and Fourth of July celebrations, and sprinkler parties in the summer. These were often publicized in the Magnolia News: “There will be a sprinkler party Friday, July 8 at 2pm at the Magnolia Recreation Center. Boys and girls who wish to participate should wear bathing suits. If the weather is such that the sprinkler party cannot be held, there will be a scavenger hunt” (14).

 

Community members would plan fundraising events at the rec center with fun themes that encouraged children to dress up, family-friendly activities like roasting marshmallows, and prizes and games aplenty.

 

Some of us, representing the Magnolia Recreation Center, were even on TV in a Christmas show (fig. 6).

Fig. 5. Halloween activity at Magnolia Recreation Center. Left to right: Theresa LaRussa, Shelley Pannell, and Monica (LaRussa) Wooton. Magnolia News. Circa early 1960s.

Fig. 6. Article featuring girls from the Magnolia Recreation Center practicing for KIRO TV’s Christmas special. From front left, clockwise: Patty Hanni (white hat), Barbara Jensen, Laurel Anderson, Jill McKinstry, Shelley Pannell, Sonia Hatfield, Sue McCarthy, and Mary March.

Queen Anne News, Magnolia Edition. December 18, 1963.

Fun Frolic

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The Magnolia Recreation Center, for many years, participated in the annual city-wide Girls’ Fun Frolic, which was co-sponsored by the Seattle Park Department and The Seattle Times. This event began in 1922 and ran at least until 1963. Originally held at Carkeek Park, it moved to the Green Lake Park Playground, and finally in the mid-1950s, Woodland Park became and remained the Fun Frolic venue.

 

A costume parade traditionally began the Fun Frolic, followed by a full schedule of field events, picnic races like potato sack, relay races, games, and the city championship softball game. In some events, preliminary competitions took place at home playfields before the day of the Fun Frolic. Finalists were announced in The Seattle Times. For example, in 1962, Vicky Rosse, Mary McCarthy, and Mary McQuaker were finalists in the pitching competition, so they represented Magnolia. Winners received gold, silver, and bronze medals, trophies, or plaques (16).

Fig. 7. Practicing at the rec center for Fun Frolic games.

From left: Leslie and Shelley Pannell (first row), Carol McKinstry and Mary March (second row), Monica (LaRussa) Wooton and Melinda Kegley (third row).

Courtesy of The Seattle Times, June 14, 1964, p. 37.

Fig. 8. Fun Frolic schedule from 1960 (17).

Girls competed in various events at Fun Frolic:

 

Squares: Bouncing a ball in different squares and clapping hands, tapping toes, clicking heels, or stomping feet while bouncing. This event was only for girls aged eleven and twelve.

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Balance: Simultaneously walking and balancing a wooden stick on the palm of the hand. The course included turning and walking backwards. Girls ten and under could participate. In 1962, Monica (LaRussa) Wooton and I were finalists in this event. Monica ended up with a medal (18). Luckily, we are still friends.

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O’Leary: Singing the song: “One, two, three O’Leary, four, five, six O’Leary, seven, eight, nine O’Leary, ten O’Leary postman” while bouncing a small rubber ball and doing various maneuvers with arms and legs at the same time. This event was designed specifically for girls twelve and under.

 

Cartwheels: As shown in figure 10, this event was more than just doing a series of cartwheels. Girls had to be precise in the placement of their hands and feet within the circles. It was difficult, but Shelley Pannell won the event in 1962 or 1963 and was thrilled to receive the gold medal for Magnolia (19).

Fig. 9. Fun Frolic instructions for cartwheel event from 1960 (20).

Camp Denny

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The Magnolia Recreation Center participated in Seattle's Camp Denny program. O. O. Denny Park (named after Orion Orvil Denny), was donated to the City of Seattle in 1922 by Mr. Denny’s widow, Helen. Camp Denny, located near Juanita, about five miles north of Kirkland, began in 1927 “as an outdoor camp for Seattle children…‘to experience life in the green forest’” (21) and ran until the late 1960s, when King County took over maintenance of the park (22).

 

In the summer of 1941, about 1,800 children, ages 10 to 14, paid 71 cents each to attend the 24-hour overnight camp. In 1957, the price went up to $1.50 and in 1963 it increased to $2.50. As a Seattle Times reporter wrote, “Well, that’s inflation” (23). The cost was $5.00 in 1969. The fee included all meals, bus transportation to and from, and all the activities for one afternoon, one night, and the following morning. The campers were picked up and dropped off at the Magnolia Rec Center.

 

Girls and boys stayed at separate camps, but they enjoyed similar activities consisting of a morning flag-raising ceremony, picking blackberries to eat for breakfast, swimming and going down a waterslide, playing stand-up checkers, riding a laid-back horse on a bridle path, singing, listening to ghost stories in the cabins, putting on skits, and roasting marshmallows and hot dogs over a campfire. The most popular and exciting activity was riding the “cable car” zip line. The kids climbed up the stairs to the twenty-foot wooden platform, sat in the rope chair, told the helper how fast they wanted to go across (“purple death” being the fastest), and hung on for dear life as they were whisked across a two-hundred-foot cable line attached to a big tree (24).

 

Mary Davis remembers: “We all rode the bus and sang songs while driving there and back. We thought the camp was SO far away! There was a bunk house where we slept on wooden bunk beds in our sleeping bags, and a cafeteria where we ate our meals. The big excitement was a zip line up in the woods” (25).

Fig. 10. Camp Denny daily program schedule from 1957.

Image source: “O. O. Denny Camp Season.” Bulletin to Recreation Coaches. 1957:3. Seattle Municipal Archives. Box 3, Folder 7. 5801.02.

Fig. 11. High Point girls on the famous Camp Denny zip line, 1949. The Magnolia campers got their thrills using that zip line for years.

Courtesy of MOHAI, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Collection,
2000.107.178.11.031949.

Fig. 12. High Point girls on the enormous water slide that Magnolia campers
used when they attended Camp Denny.

Courtesy of MOHAI, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Collection, 2000.107.178.11.04., 1949.

Camp Denny was an experience that few of us who were lucky enough to attend will ever forget. They packed a lot into this short time away from our parents in the summer. It felt more like a week, rather than just one day, jammed with a variety of fun, very “neat” or “keen” adventures.

The Magnolia Recreation Center after the 1960s

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During the 1970s and 1980s, the Magnolia Recreation Center expanded in scope. In 1972, new classes included modern dance, cooking, guitar, drama, and macramé. Hula hoop contests became popular events in the 1970s (fig. 13). Adults could participate in evening activities such as candle making, dog obedience, photography, wood carving, and home budgeting (26).

Fig. 13. Article featuring hula hoop champions, siblings Mike and Cathy Taft.

Magnolia News. August 22, 1973.

The annual dance shows continued to showcase the local talent and draw eager audiences. Cathy Taft, still a Magnolia resident, shared a page from her scrapbook (fig. 14) about the 1973 Dance Variety Show.

Fig. 14. Scrapbook page on the 1973 Dance Variety Show featuring a photo with Cathy Taft (second from the left), Liz McCarthy (third from the right), and others.

Courtesy of Cathy Taft.

In the mid-1980s, youth programs consisted of piano, pottery, pickleball, babysitting, aerobics, fencing, karate, and drawing, among other classes. Then workshops on pumpkin carving and making Christmas decorations were added, along with a “Tiny Tots” program (27).

 

By 1999, the rec center was called the Magnolia Community Center, and there was a dizzying number of classes and activities offered, from computer classes to classes for senior adults on bridge, watercolor, pickleball, excursions, and hiking. Seattle Parks, with Birds Connect, has offered birding classes through the year, some still at Discovery Park. Middle school dances, indoor soccer, and fitness lecture talks in the evening were also added (28).

 

Eventually, after many years of seemingly endless discussions and planning meetings, an outdoor swimming pool was constructed on the east side of the Magnolia Community Center property. The Lowery C. “Pop” Mounger pool finally opened in June 1998. The pool was named in honor of Mounger, a longtime Magnolia resident and civic leader who “supported youth recreation” by “sponsoring numerous Little League teams and sports programs” (29).

 

Magnolia residents past and present have been very lucky to have access to the diverse programs and activities offered at the Magnolia Recreation Center, now Community Center. It has become an integral part of the community, fostering connection, well-being, and fun for residents of all ages.

Mary March regarded the Magnolia Recreation Center/Fieldhouse as her second home when she was growing up, partly because she had to be there when her mom was playing the piano for the dance classes. Mary was signed up for all the dance classes. She still has tap shoes around in case she gets the urge to take a class. During the past year, her line dancing shoes have been getting a workout. Luckily, no shoes are required for barre classes at the gym in Edmonds. She hasn’t done a cartwheel in many years, but never say never.

Notes

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  1. Marsha Klontz. Telephone interview with the author, 31 Jan. 2025.

  2. Mary Davis. Correspondence with the author, 18 Feb. 2025

  3. Jim Eicher. “Magnolia Youth Sports,” Magnolia: Midcentury Memories, Magnolia Historical Society, 2020, pp. 196–97.

  4. “Rec Center Boasts Two Top Leaders,” Magnolia News. 20 Jul. 1961, p. 1.

  5. Mary Davis. Correspondence.

  6. Mary Davis. Correspondence.

  7. Shelley Pannell. Telephone interview with the author, 2 Feb. 2025.

  8. “Rec Center Boasts Two Top Leaders.”

  9. Lee Bjella. “George Lewis, The Father of Washington Women’s Gymnastics,” Washington State Gymnastics History, 2015, https://wagymnasticshistory.com/historygeorge.html.

  10. Shelley Pannell. Telephone interview.

  11. Mary Davis. Correspondence.

  12. Cathy Taft. Correspondence with the author, 7 Mar. 2025.

  13. Liz McCarthy French. Correspondence with the author, 7 Mar. 2025.

  14. “Bathing Suits in Order, Sprinkler Party Friday,” Magnolia News, 7 Jul. 1960, p. 1.

  15. Magnolia Community Center brochure. Fall 1985. Seattle Municipal Archives, Box 2, Folder 5, 5807.04.

  16. “Names of Finalists for Girls Fun Frolic Events Announced,” The Seattle Times, 24 May 1962, p. 13.

  17. “Girls’ Fun Frolic Bulletin,” Seattle Park Department, Division of Playgrounds, Seattle Municipal Archives, 1960–1962, Box 20, Folder 13. 5801-02.

  18. “Names of Finalists for Girls Fun Frolic Events Announced.”

  19. Shelley Pannell. Telephone interview.

  20. “Girls’ Fun Frolic Bulletin.”

  21. “O. O. Denny Park – Park History,” City of Kirkland, 2025, https://www.kirklandwa.gov/Government/Departments/Parks-and-Community-Services/Find-a-Park/O.O.-Denny-Park.

  22. Alan J. Stein. “O. O. Denny Park,” HistoryLink, 5 Dec. 2002, https://historylink.org/file/4036.

  23. “Youngsters Enjoy Fun Outdoors at Small Cost,” The Seattle Times, 7 Jul. 1941. Seattle Municipal Archives, news clippings folder 1937–1970, Box 3, Folder 5, 5801-02.

  24. “Camp is in 36th Year,” The Seattle Times, 7 Jul. 1963, Seattle Municipal Archives, Box 3, Folder 5, 5801-02.

  25. Mary Davis. Correspondence.

  26. “Magnolia Rec Center and Playfield, 1962-1972,” Seattle Municipal Archives, Box 139, Folder 2. 5801.01.

  27. Magnolia Community Center brochure, Fall 1985, Seattle Municipal Archives, Box 2, Folder 5, 5807.04.

  28. Magnolia Community Center brochure, Fall 1999, Seattle Municipal Archives, Box 2, Folder 5, 5807.04.

  29. “Seattle Public Pools: History & Amenities,” Project: Seattle Pools, StudyLib, 2002, www.studylib.net/doc/8448767/seattle-pool-history—project-seattle-pools.

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