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Sackett's Nightclub Building Holds Fading Memories of Radford University Nightlife in the 80's
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To see some recent photos of the old Sackett's nightclub location in Radford, please visit this link!
Sunday, August 22, 2004
By RALPH BERRIER
THE ROANOKE TIMES
The building still sits on Main Street in the east end of town, as gray and tired as an old soldier. A silly-looking ocean pier is painted along the entirety of its outer wall - an amateur graffiti artist could not have concocted a more humiliating mural - recalling the structure's most recent incarnation as a failed fish house. The Radford University students who live within walking distance of this sad old place today surely cannot know that this ugly, aluminum-sided fortress was once a mainstay of Radford's nightlife. This place was Sackett's, home of the annual "End of the World Party," a semester-closing event that was as much a ritual of spring as final exams and graduation. Those who were around Radford in the 1980s and early '90s surely cannot forget Sackett's nightclub, which struck the balance between being a college nightspot and a townies' hangout. Every Thursday was college night, when twentysomethings armed with college IDs crammed the dance floor and bellied up to the bar to drink cheap beer. Every other night, Sackett's was open to the general public, who enjoyed country dancing, bikini contests and live bands.
Sackett's was part of the fabled Radford club scene, which included The Bus Stop, Lucky's and Chancey's. All except Chancey's are gone. A bar called Riley's operates on the old Lucky's premises, but it doesn't play host to bands the way Lucky's did.
Sackett's was primarily a dance club, although its adjoining restaurant - the Station House - was popular for its weekly Mexican buffet. The place was run by a local character named Levi Jones - a burly, bearded fellow who later opened the Scoreboard, Radford's first sports bar.
Sackett's also was popular with local police, who always had a field day rounding up dumb, drunk college kids during the "End of the World" weekends. Still, the annual spring parties drew students from across the state and even spawned a similar "Beginning of the World Party" when the fall semester began.
Probably the last time I stepped in Sackett's was in 1990, when I was working for The News Journal in Radford. I had been drafted as a "celebrity judge" (which were clearly in short supply in Radford) for a Miss Hawaiian Tropic bikini contest, one of the typically tough assignments newspaper reporters are often asked to undertake.
Many fine bands played there over the years; the last I saw probably was the Waxing Poetics, a college-rock group from Virginia Beach who played a Halloween show in drag along with Blacksburg stars Not Shakespeare.
Like Sackett's, those bands are merely memories.
When you drive past the old building next to Macado's, the one with the grass growing through the broken pavement, try to see it not how it is, but how it was, a bustling, packed nightclub that gave college students and townies alike a place to dance, imbibe, have fun and enjoy being with their best friends.
Ralph Berrier: 540-981-3338,
[email protected]
Read Ralph's article about Radford University's other classic 1980's night club, the Bus Stop, by clicking here.
Please follow us on Facebook to get all the latest info and updates!
To see some recent photos of the old Sackett's nightclub location in Radford, please visit this link!
Sunday, August 22, 2004
By RALPH BERRIER
THE ROANOKE TIMES
The building still sits on Main Street in the east end of town, as gray and tired as an old soldier. A silly-looking ocean pier is painted along the entirety of its outer wall - an amateur graffiti artist could not have concocted a more humiliating mural - recalling the structure's most recent incarnation as a failed fish house. The Radford University students who live within walking distance of this sad old place today surely cannot know that this ugly, aluminum-sided fortress was once a mainstay of Radford's nightlife. This place was Sackett's, home of the annual "End of the World Party," a semester-closing event that was as much a ritual of spring as final exams and graduation. Those who were around Radford in the 1980s and early '90s surely cannot forget Sackett's nightclub, which struck the balance between being a college nightspot and a townies' hangout. Every Thursday was college night, when twentysomethings armed with college IDs crammed the dance floor and bellied up to the bar to drink cheap beer. Every other night, Sackett's was open to the general public, who enjoyed country dancing, bikini contests and live bands.
Sackett's was part of the fabled Radford club scene, which included The Bus Stop, Lucky's and Chancey's. All except Chancey's are gone. A bar called Riley's operates on the old Lucky's premises, but it doesn't play host to bands the way Lucky's did.
Sackett's was primarily a dance club, although its adjoining restaurant - the Station House - was popular for its weekly Mexican buffet. The place was run by a local character named Levi Jones - a burly, bearded fellow who later opened the Scoreboard, Radford's first sports bar.
Sackett's also was popular with local police, who always had a field day rounding up dumb, drunk college kids during the "End of the World" weekends. Still, the annual spring parties drew students from across the state and even spawned a similar "Beginning of the World Party" when the fall semester began.
Probably the last time I stepped in Sackett's was in 1990, when I was working for The News Journal in Radford. I had been drafted as a "celebrity judge" (which were clearly in short supply in Radford) for a Miss Hawaiian Tropic bikini contest, one of the typically tough assignments newspaper reporters are often asked to undertake.
Many fine bands played there over the years; the last I saw probably was the Waxing Poetics, a college-rock group from Virginia Beach who played a Halloween show in drag along with Blacksburg stars Not Shakespeare.
Like Sackett's, those bands are merely memories.
When you drive past the old building next to Macado's, the one with the grass growing through the broken pavement, try to see it not how it is, but how it was, a bustling, packed nightclub that gave college students and townies alike a place to dance, imbibe, have fun and enjoy being with their best friends.
Ralph Berrier: 540-981-3338,
[email protected]
Read Ralph's article about Radford University's other classic 1980's night club, the Bus Stop, by clicking here.