Melody Ballroom
Forest Lake
The Melody Ballroom was a staple in Forest Lake, Minnesota. It was quite a ways from the Twin Cities (28 Miles from Minneapolis), but it did advertise in the Minneapolis papers. Apparently it was a straight shot up Highway 8 from St. Paul to Forest Lake. Today there is Interstate Highway 35E.
RIOT AT THE MELODY
Information for this section comes from the Forest Lake Times, December 31, 1953, courtesy Brian Tolzmann.
On Saturday, December 26, 1953, an epic gang fight took place at the Melody, involving 200 too 300 people, reported the Forest Lake Times. Apparently another venue, the Twin Lakes Pavilion in Centerville, was closed, so 50 or so troublemakers from the Cities came to the Melody instead, looking for some action. The Melody sold no alcohol, but the report was that the teens had purchased some from a “bum” in St. Paul. Fights started breaking out at about 10:45 pm inside the ballroom, with clusters of several fights that included girls. The ballroom was closed before midnight and the action surged into the street until it became completely out of hand, with kids trying to upend a policeman’s car. Reinforcements were called and five ringleaders were arrested, but the storm raged on until the kids just wore themselves out. One cop accidentally busted a girls falsie, making a peculiar sound…
In Justice Court the following Monday, five young men ranging from the ages of 18 to 22 were given separate trials and fined $50 for each count charged, for a total of $500 in fines and $40 in fees.
In the aftermath, proprietor Don Worth, who was also a special village police officer, agreed to give up that title, hire additional deputies at his regular Saturday night dances, and not allow patrons to re-enter once they were inside. He was not invited to apply for a 3.2 beer license.
Worth was later a Forest Lake city council member. He was beaten up at the Melody once in 1956, and there were numerous fights and arrests there over the years.
According to original Baldie Tommy Ogdahl’s memoirs, there was another brawl at a Forest Lake ballroom, although he didn’t mention a year or a venue. It involved a lot of blood and guts and bare-knuckle fighting, which the Baldies were known for. Could have been the Melody.
Don Worth finally shut down the ballroom in March 1958 and turned it into the Forest Lake Furniture Mart, then Worth Furniture.