In this online presentation join Christopher Struble, local historian and Taylor Duweke, noted documentarian, for an evening on the history and recent updates to the Harbor Springs Club Manitou/Ponytail property.
From 1929 thru 1954 the Club Manitou was an extremely popular mid-west supperclub, nightclub and casino. During Prohibition and the Great Depression, the club was run as a speakeasy by the Purple Gang, Detroit's most notorious organized crime gang. It provided high stakes gambling and alcohol for Midwest's wealthiest summer resorters and featured a hidden basement and tunnels for the storage of alcohol as well as escape routes. Later, under new ownership, the 1940's and 50's saw the club remain as a dining and dancing establishment with illegal gambling continuing in its back rooms. Due to the gambling, in 1953 the state removed the club's liquor license and the Club Manitou closed in 1954.
After the building sat idle from 1954 to 1962, another club was born with a completely differerent clientele and serving absolutely no alcohol. The Club Ponytail, one of the nations premeire live music/dance club venues for teens and young adults, opened its doors. In its heydey the Club Ponytail featured some of the top pop musical artists in the world. Acts such as The Beach Boys, The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Bobby Vinton, Del Shannon, The Temptations, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, Marvin Gaye, Bob Seger, Bobby Vee, Martha Reeves and The Vandellas, Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs, The Kingsmen, Freddie Cannon, Dee Dee Sharp, The Four Tops, and Roy Orbison all performed on the Ponytail stage. Many locals fondly remember their teenage years attending concerts at the Ponytail.
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Presenters:
Taylor Dueweke has been to prison, twice, since becoming a documentarian— by invitation of the warden, of course. For Taylor, sometimes non-fiction storytelling turns into non-fiction story-investigating. After he began asking about a new murder suspect, the State of Massachusetts reopened their cold, 50-year-old, serial killer case— The Boston Strangler. His research into the unsolved murders earned him the crown of “expert” from GQ Magazine. Aside from detective, his other roles include audiographer, producer, fixer, and (the most fun) a development director. Taylor took the Emmy-nominated documentary Birth of a Movement on tour around Boston Public Schools where taught students the history of racism in cinema.
Christopher Struble is the owner of Petoskey Yesterday, and is an aficionado of both Petoskey and Hemingway. He is a long time member of the executive board & current President of the Michigan Hemingway Society. Stop in and see Chris at his store Arlington Jewelers 306 East Lake Street, Petoskey.
