By Drew Olson Special to OnMilwaukee.com Published Jul 05, 2009 at 11:03 AM

Depending on your age and how much of the local product you ingest, you probably remember your first trip to Summerfest.

But, do you remember the first Summerfest?

Mary Feller does, and she's got proof. In 1968, Feller was a 16-year-old girl from Antigo visiting Milwaukee when she and a cousin stumbled into the very first Summerfest.

Feller grabbed a program that day -- July 27 -- and kept it. She carried it with her, tucked in a plastic bag inside her purse, to the festival grounds last week.

"We didn't know what we were getting into that day," Feller said. "We were just wandering around and kind of stumbled into it. But, I kept the program. Look at the prices."

Admission to the first Summerfest was $1.25 or just 50 cents with three 7-Up bottle caps (7-Up was the major sponsor).

Other tidbits from the program:

* That logo sure looks like a certain plant,doesn't it?

* The slogan "Wet, Wild and Away" refers to a dance group that performed at the festival.

* The Vox sound system was provided by Uncle Bob's Music, which is still in business and still providing sounds for bands.

* The master of ceremonies was Tex Meyer, from radio station WRIT.

* The featured bands included Freddie Cannon, The Robbs, the Destinations and The Next Five. Performances were at 2 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

 

 

Drew Olson Special to OnMilwaukee.com

Host of “The Drew Olson Show,” which airs 1-3 p.m. weekdays on The Big 902. Sidekick on “The Mike Heller Show,” airing weekdays on The Big 920 and a statewide network including stations in Madison, Appleton and Wausau. Co-author of Bill Schroeder’s “If These Walls Could Talk: Milwaukee Brewers” on Triumph Books. Co-host of “Big 12 Sports Saturday,” which airs Saturdays during football season on WISN-12. Former senior editor at OnMilwaukee.com. Former reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.