Remember The Mod Mill?

I sure do. It was open from 1967 until 1970 when PennDot seized it for an expansion of Route 309. It was the former Eddy Sacks bar in Center Valley, Pa. later owned, operated and renamed by Jerry Deane.

Who is Jerry Deane?

Well to name a few of his career highlights...



* Radio Career: 1962 - WGPA, Bethlehem PA
* Newscaster 1963-WYNS, Lehighton PA
* DJ as "Bob Thompson" 1963-1966
* WHOL, Allentown PA - Morning Show 1966 - 1967
* Bill Daniels Rock Palace/Bill's Apartment: 1967 - 1970
* Owner of 'THE MOD MILL', Center Valley PA 1967-1970
* WKAP, Allentown PA - Evening Show 1971 - 1972
* Hosted 'THE HUB' , Allentown PA YM-YWCA 1971 - 1975
* Phase 5, Bethlehem PA Concert Promotion: 1971 - 1977
* WSAN, Allentown PA - 10-1AM "The Voice of the Turtle" 1972 - 1978
* Mayac Productions, Allentown Fairgrounds etc. 1973 - 1978
* 'The House of the Turtle' - Kempton PA 1975 - 1979
* WSAN Roxy Theater Concerts Business Career 1979
* Currently- TechniCom Audio & Visual, Inc. Orefield PA
(Certified Technology Specialist) Audiovisual (AV) specialist)
The WebPage is HERE

There was a reunion held at Musikfest on Tuesday, August 4th, 2009. Another was held at the Meadows in Hellertown on Sunday, November 1st, 2010. Some excerpts from The Morning Call article.."There was the Purple Owl, Mad Hatter and the Third Eye. But the Mod Mill stood out. Created from a 200-year-old grist mill at Route 309 and I-78 in Upper Saucon Township formerly owned by famed IndyCar driver Eddie Sachs, the mill was a place you could sit, talk, eat and relax as well as rock to hot local bands with names like The High Keys, Steam Machine, The Dooley Invention, The Shelleys and The Limits.

Performing was four bands who played at the Mod Mill back in the day: The Limits, The Dooley Invention, Fiasco and The High Keys. Some band members have traveled from Florida, California, and Canada to make the reunion gig.

The Mod Mill was such a special place, with its menageries of rooms — a movie room, the dance floor, a TV room, a nice quiet bar area where you could go to after meeting a girl and talk.

Stephen Molchany, one-time lead vocalist of 'The Dooley Invention' said, I met Kelly there when I was playing in Dooley Invention. We're married 40 years now, so it's a very special spot in our memory,

The place was run by the kids. Although Deane was the business manager, the kids managed the club's policies and enforced its rules and regulations.

The Mod Mill held its last dance in the fall of 1969, when the state appropriated its land to build the Center Valley bypass. "I tried to find another place we could move the momentum to, but it just didn't happen — the magic was lost," Deane says. "People ask me if it could be done again today. I really don't know, but it's something I'd do again — those three and a half years were the best years of my life, bar none."

My Memories

I used to hang out with Barry George who hosted 'Nightbeat' on WAEB when I worked at another radio station.

We'd spend a lot of time in the club.

Barry would race off at the last minute to make it in time to DJ his midnight show on WAEB when it was located at Fenwick Street near the Boulevard Drive-In on the Eastside of Allentown.

There were several teen clubs, but the Mod Mill was the best. No fights. Totally free of drug and alcohol. Jerry was very strict about that.

Jerry produced the best of the Fairgrounds concert series in the 70's when he ran Mayac Productions. Security was tight and he brought in the biggest acts in their day.

I could speak volumes, but I'll open this up to comments. Do you have any regarding the 'Mod Mill' ?

The Mod Mill Website