Northwest Dance & Music Venues

The Country Store
The Country Store
AKA:  The Pink Panther
South Main Street
Ellensburg, Washington

Some of the bands that performed at this place during those great years of NW music were:
 

The Accents
Odus and The Savages
 

Others ?
 

The Country Store (aka Pink Panther) was a dance hall in Ellensburg located on South Main Street.  The building was originally Ellensburg's skating rink and run by the Harsch family.

In 1961 a retail store called "The Country Store" opened in the building.  The store closed in early 1965.

In the summer of 1965 Paul Goodrich and Joe Fischnaller started putting on dances in the facility.  The first band to play there was Ellensburg's own Odus and the Savages.  Other bands that played there included the Accents from Burien.

They had many dances there through the end of 1965 until their lease ran out.  The last dance was December 31, 1965.  On January 6, 1966, a heavy snow caused the roof of the building to collapse, which put an end to the "Country Store".

The picture of the building with its collapsed roof is from the Ellensburg Daily Record.

Wayne Erickson, September 2010

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Last Update:  22 September 2010
Credits: Wayne J. Erickson, Ellensburg Daily Record