In simpler times, when Conneaut Lake Park was the hit of summer

Fri, May 16 2008

— Darrell Grim, Hermitage

My memories of Conneaut Lake Park are numerous. My father worked at what used to be Cooper-Bessemer in Grove City. We went every year to the company picnic where we received a lot of tickets to the rides. My older brother and I, after stuffing ourselves at the picnic, would head for the rides. I was scared to death to ride the Blue Streak, but my brother finally convinced me to try it. After one ride, and catching my breath, I rode it again and again. I remember on one occasion that we had exhausted our supply of tickets and my quite weary parents were happy to go home. However, a man walking by gave my brother and I each a handful of tickets. So, off we went to expend more energy while my exhausted parents were left to wait for us to use them up.
I remember the cotton candy that just made me more hyper. I remember getting sick and barfing on the Tilt-a-Whirl. I remember being scared in the Fun House and trying to find my way out in the mirror room. I remember the rocking staircase and the ride down the slide on the burlap bags. I remember being frightened and then thrilled as I took my first pony ride.
In later years I remember going there with my high school sweetheart. We went to the haunted house and smooched in the dark places. We rode the little train, and yes we smooched on there. We rode the Ferris wheel and smooched at the top, even before Elvis mentioned it in his song. We also have been smooching as husband and wife for the past 41 years.
I remember going there with my wife, my brother and his wife, and my sister and her husband. I vividly remember my brother-in-law getting off of the Wild Mouse with a face as white as a sheet saying he would never ride it again. I remember going there with my mother-in-law who wouldn't ride anything but the merry-go-round.
I remember as part of my job, taking children who had special behavior and family problems to the park. It was there that they could let go, have fun, and not worry about the dysfunctional families that waited for them when they returned home. I remember seeing the smiles, the laughter, and the genuine childhood behavior come out of them as they involved themselves in activities only dreamed of by them.
I guess you can say the Conneaut Lake Park will always have a place in my memory and my heart. I feel as if a very dear friend has passed away.

Kristine J. Clark, Butler, Pa.

I have been told for many years (56 to be exact) that my great, great grandfather sold the property that Conneaut Lake Park was built on. His last name was Shipman. He was my grandmother's father. (Stella Shipman Fales)
My twin and I were born in Conneaut Lake … not in the Meadville Hospital, but in our grandmother's home on Water Street. The home is still there ... My mother was up visiting her mother when she went into labor.
We grew up in Butler. Many a trip was taken to grandma's house in the summer. We would do our chores and then by the end of the day, take the ferryboat to the park. That was so special! My Uncle Dana worked in ticket sales while paying his way through college, so we went to his office for a handful of ride tickets that were to last the length of the time we were there!
Years later my twin and I would go back and stay at the Conneaut Lake Hotel … no A/C but we loved it. So many memories made at the park. When I had children it was an annual drive to Conneaut Lake Park till it closed down! Memories not to be lost and plenty of pictures to show the fun times my children enjoyed at the Park!

Dan DelliBovi, Westminster, Colo.

I remember as a kid back in the 1980s, my dad would treat the entire family to a Sunday afternoon at Conneaut Lake Park. As a very traditional Italian family, we would eat dinner at about 1 p.m. I couldn't wait to get done eating, so we could head up to the park around 3 p.m. or so. I long for those days ... they were indeed, "simpler" times. Thanks for the memories, dad!

Celeste Hynick

My favorite memories of Conneaut Lake Park were the company outings that GATX had every year that our whole family went and enjoyed. I rode the roller coaster and all the other scary rides with my dad. However, my favorite memory was how much my mother became a kid again, spending all of her time in the arcades playing Pokerino with a twinkle in her eye. I live now by the Atlantic Ocean. Every summer, I become a kid again just like my mother in the arcades and relive my memories of Conneaut Lake Park.

Linda Gaffey

I am sad to hear that Conneaut Lake Park will no longer be available to the community. For me it meant the last day of school and the annual trip to celebrate the beginning of summer. My friends would all get together and ride the Blue Streak, try for the ring on the merry-go-round, eat French fries with lots of vinegar, flirt with the boys and just be girls. It was a time of innocence when parents didn't need to worry about our safety - the good old days. Times do change.

Frank L. White, Gulfport, Miss.

I remember when Conneaut Lake Park was the place to go: High school Class Day … fireworks … walking the boardwalk ... riding the little power boats on the lake … french fries at the corner shop … the Blue Streak … trying to grab the brass ring on the merry-go-round. I could go on forever talking about this wonderful place that I enjoyed so many days of my life so many years ago. It's a sad day to see it gone now forever.

Kamiel Platteborze

I was saddened to read the article about the damage and loss at the park. I now live in Florida, but my memories of simpler times there are very precious. My family also went to the Park for the Westinghouse days. We would have a picnic and my brothers and sisters and I would ride til we all got sick. The Blue Streak was never my friend, I couldn't ride it without getting dizzy and ruining the rest of my day. But I remember it all - the midway with its fries in a cone, the fun house that wasn't really scary and the beautiful scenes from the lake. My question is this, is there no way to help keep the park alive? Is there something in our sense of preserving history that would carve out a way to save all our memories? I hope so.

Sandy Brown

The wonderful memories that we all must have of the park ... from getting to go to the park on the last day of school, if we passed, to the Steel Car picnics and, of course, the Bessemer Picnics ... but to go to Dreamland Ballroom when the big acts were performing was a dream ... to walk out on the balcony and smell cotton candy and popcorn in the air … to just pinpoint one happy memory at Conneaut Lake Park would take writing a book because each time was an adventure ...

Rob Williams, Paradise, Calif.

My early memories of Conneaut Lake Park are filled with family, fun, swimming, and wild, exciting rides. I rode the Dodge’em cars with my aunts as they dodged and were spun around. I was so excited when I grew tall enough to drive myself. I have a vivid picture in my mind of standing in line waiting to ride the Blue Streak. And I remember that the Blue Streak definitely beat out Idora Park’s Wild Cat as the best roller coaster in the region. I spent many a summer’s day at that park. My family and our extended family picnicked often at the park, driving up from Brookfield. We attended company picnics, as well, when relatives’ jobs landed us free all-day ride passes and hotdogs. As I got older, I found friends whose families had cabins up at the “The Lake.” We swam, attend dances, water-skied and enjoyed the rides all through my teen years. I am disappointed that Conneaut Lake Park has closed down and won’t reopen. It provided me with some of the best of my childhood memories.

Joan Spangler Tucci, Virginia

My walk down Memory Lane of Conneaut Lake was just a little different than the ones listed. My girlfriend and I worked at Packard Electric. After working our afternoon shift, we got in our car and drove to our little weekend getaway spot in Conneaut Lake … we had a small reserved cottage for the summer at Truman's, directly across the street from the Hunting and Fishing club. Before arriving at our cottage, we would stop up the road at a corner hot dog stand where they had the best "foot long hot dogs" around. Trust me, the food was always a burger or something to eat on the run … not much time for food.
In the mornings after a night of dancing, drinking and meeting a lot of people (especially from the Pittsburgh area), we would head for the beach … at the beach club was usually a band playing, soooo we enjoyed a lot of sun, dancing, an occasional boat ride and maybe a walk through the park (in bathing suits, I might add) … We weren't interested in the rides, we were looking forward to meeting the opposite sex … what else, naturally!
We were just 21 years old and of course looking for the fun to never end over the weekends … We hit every bar that was in Conneaut Lake and usually they all had bands to dance the night away. This part of my life will never be forgotten … Great friends, young love, laughter and good times at our little corner of the world … Conneaut Lake will live on in my heart forever! I've lost touch with my friend, but maybe she will read this column and contact me in Virginia.

Val James

I remember as a child my school would arrange for class field trips to Conneaut Lake
Park. Rain or shine, we would go in May to the park. I always loved to ride in the last
seat of the Blue Streak because that seat would lift slightly off the track, or so it
felt like it and I just thought that was so cool. The only uncool thing about the last
seat was getting hit in the face by someone who got "sick" further up and the wind would
blow it back.
My parents would take us many a summer up there to swim at the lake. And the many years, Westinghouse would host a picnic there and we would go and ride the rides from opening to closing. It’s a shame to see it all end. My children and grandchildren would have loved it. It seems like all the "little" amusement parks of years ago are gone, not just in the Shenango Valley, but the whole country, making way for the big ones that cause us to travel many miles to go to. Oh well, the good old days!

Archie Needels, Elmira, NY

Conneaut Lake Park was a big part of my growing up years in the Shenango Valley. I, like many readers, also remember the annual "Westinghouse Picnic." This would have been in the late 1940s. We would all go to the park and have that little tag around our neck that allowed us free rides on everything in the park, all day long. There was no bigger thrill for me in those years. The lines were long at every ride, but I would patiently wait, and ride the Dodgem Cars over and over. In my adult years, we decided one year, that since I live away, for our annual visit with my siblings we would meet at the Park and stay in the beautiful Conneaut Hotel. We had always viewed it from a distance as young people (while we were enjoying the beach on a warm, sunny summer day) and were awed by it's apparent elegance. So my wife Kay and I, and my sister Elaine and her husband Allen, rented adjoining rooms, and let me just say it was quite an experience. If you ever want to know what it was like to stay in a hotel in the early 1900s, well, we found out. It wasn't exactly what we are used to in the way of accommodations these days, but it certainly was an adventure.

Renata Harakal Thomas

One of my memories is when Westinghouse, would have family day. My mom and step-dad would gather up us girls and not tell us where we were going. My mom would just say on a picnic. She would make fried chicken and potato salad and such. We would meet my step-dad's family there, our stepbrother James, Grandma, Grandpa Grannison, Uncle Bob and Aunt Hess and his kids. My older sister and I would run around to get on everyone of those rides, the Blue Streak, Devils Den, etc., go back to the picnic tables and eat and go ride again. The last time I was at the lake was when I was 11 or 12 years old, early 1970s. Those were the days of family fun.

Jim Kiester, Northride, Calif.

I was saddend to hear about the fire. I remember also, the sights sounds and aromas of the park. I looked forward every summer to the Westingouse Picnic and spending all day there. Once it got dark the park took on a "magic" of its own with all the lights. As I grew older and worked at Westinghouse, I would still look forward to going there. I can remember the first time my grandfather took me on the "Blue Streak" and how I would look forward to the "Dodgems Bumper-Cars" and then when I was old enough to drive one myself. I remember how thrilled I was to take a ride around the lake in one of those beautiful speedboats. I've never forgotten those years.

Russell J. Fowler, Jamestown, NY

My fondest memories of Conneaut Lake Park were the company picnics Steel Car use to send my family on. One summer afternoon my uncle, now residing in NY, came visiting with us for awhile during the summer back in the 1980's. He was not a roller coaster enthusiast at all. I, being an enthusiast of the word "fun" convinced him to, well not convince...I begged, to give it at least one whirl. We did. We rode the bes seat in the house of course, the front. I remember asking him during the ride if he was having fun, and his words were quite striking: "Shut the @#$% up Rusty!!"
The last summer ever got to go there I had an embarassing situation occur. The last ride, thank God, I was in that same front seat and had just gotten back from another fun run around the wooden coaster when I got up and my pants ripped. Don't ask me how but I'd rip another 100 pairs to ride onthe Blue Streak again.
I would hope if anything the park is turned into a museum, or maybe the state could buy it (hint hint) it would be a tragedy to have to turn the Streak into a pile of junk. CLP was and still will be the best amusement park, USA.

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