Album Notes

East Farewell was incorporated July 13, 1902 by the Lendel brothers, Sid and Lou. They were
working for the Mighty Keystone Railroad as surveyors and line planners. The railroad was trying
to establish passenger service along the main line that ran across the state, connecting the East Coast to
the Midwest. The Lendel brothers picked a site that ran along a pristine lake, later named Lake Charles
after Sid’s son. The railroad was looking for a location that was approximately half way down
the line to place an iron foundry to produce rails for the lines expansion. The location was perfect for a
small town that would help the railroad and attract workers, businesses and the well-heeled railroad
executives for summer retreats.

The Lendel brothers were visionary town planners. They designed East Farewell with all the best
municipal facilities of the day. They designed a complete water system as well as a full sanitary sewer
system. They laid out a street grid system with wide streets centered around the train station. Lake Shore
Drive circled Lake Charles and offered stunning views of the lake as well as prime real estate locations.
Main Street intersected Lake Shore drive at the train station and proceeded south to finally intersect with
Route 11 the main east-west highway in the state.

Unfortunately, the Lendel brothers were better planners than businessmen. They went broke after investing
a modest fortune in building East Farewell. The railroad, however, did extremely well and after building
the Iron Works it bought out the Lendel brothers and proceeded to expand the town.

The album, “East Farewell” picks up in the early 50’s as the town is on an upswing. The railroad business
is booming. The town has a strong economic base of the Iron Works and many small support businesses,
bars and restaurants. The town has also parlayed the beauty of Lake Charles and somewhat remote location
into a lucrative vacation destination business. Boarding houses like Mrs. Mallard’s line Lake Shore Drive.
accommodating visitors like Mr. Pitts, whose reputation is somewhat dubious. Natalie, Mrs. Mallard’s
daughter, sings, dances and entices at the Lost Oasis, a local bar. Jake the Bartender doles out sage advice.
Bernie and Sue fall in love. Slick Rick grumbles about his situation. In the end Natalie finds fulfillment
and happiness with the realization of the true beauty of the town.

JD Carroll uses the folk/rock genre to create the small town feel. Some of the songs will make you think and some will just make you smile. The atmosphere of the album is aimed at the sound of the late fifties, early sixties.

You can follow the everyday goings on of the town by logging onto “The News of East Farewell” on the Creative Ventures web site.
Listen, enjoy and have fun.