Conneaut Lake Park meets eligibity status as National Historic District!

The historic Blue Streak rollercoaster at Conneaut Lake Park

I am thrilled beyond words for one of the parks that is closest to my heart, Conneaut Lake Park!  This is a super step toward preserving this wonderful, historic space.

Just saw this posted by CLP on Facebook:

Here's a sneak peek at a release we're sending out. This is some of what we've been working on in the "off season." It just validates what we know and work so hard to prove: this park deserves to be preserved!



CONNEAUT LAKE PARK MEETS ELIGIBILITY STATUS AS NATIONAL REGISTER HISTORIC DISTRICT


Conneaut Lake, PA – In this, the Park’s 120th anniversary year, it is cause for additional celebration a...s the Park was just informed that it has met the eligibility status to be deemed a National Register Historic District by the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission (PHMC). According to its website, the mission of the PHMC is to “preserve the Commonwealth's memory as a teacher and champion of its heritage for citizens of Pennsylvania and the nation.”


Conneaut Lake Park is tied for 10th oldest operating amusement park in the nation (source:NAPHA) and has won awards and support from several organizations such as Preservation PA, National Amusement Park Historical Association, American Coaster Enthusiasts, and the National Carousel Association.


The eligibility status allowed the Park to apply for a $25,000 grant (via the Conneaut Lake Institute) for the Blue Streak through the PHMC’s Keystone Historic Preservation Grant Program; grant recipients will be named in 5 or 6 months.

Inserting the Photos in the Book...

is arduous work.  Moreso than I had thought in the beginning.  But I'm almost done.  The publication of "The Cotton Candy Roadtrip" is probably a scant few weeks away!


A bit of the exterior art from Conneaut Lake Park's "Devil's Den"


I have three more parks to "photo up", then all the photos will have been inserted.  Then I have to see how many more pages all those photos will add to the book.  Then figure out, more than likely, how many photos I'll need to omit in order for the book to stay around 300 pages...

Silver lining to the whole photo thing: I'll also be putting out a coffee table photo book sometime in the summer...

Kiddieland's German Carousel on Ebay!!!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kiddieland-German-Auto-Carousel-1950s-Museum-Quality-/320674607341

I buy the Powerball twice a week.  I mean, someone has to win it and it might as well be me.  Because I've got plans.  Big plans.

One of those plans has to do with this particular Ebay auction.  I urge you to click on the link above and feast your eyes on the crowning jewel of the rides which ran at my beloved Kiddieland for decades, the German Carousel.  Kiddie-sized, colorful, rarest of the rare.  To scan through all the photos in the Ebay listing is like entering the time tunnel back to your childhood, where you could amble onto one of the mini sportscars and pretend you were Speed Racer.

So, please send all the positive vibes you can for this ride, that it ends up in the right hands, with someone who truly treasures it and will care for it for decades to come.  Like me.  If I win the Powerball this Wednesday, I will purchase this carousel (there - you have it in writing) and gift it to the first park that can prove to me it will give it a good forever home.

Knoebel's, are you reading this???  Del Grosso's, would you be interested???

Prayers for Dan

If you're reading this, I'd like to request that you send some prayers and healing light to my dad, Dan Turlow, who's in the hospital with his congestive heart failure.  Thank you.

Disneyland, circa 1957

http://www.wimp.com/disneylandwas/

While scrolling through Facebook posts today, I noticed one of my favorite storybook parks, Children's Fairyland, posted this fabulous little film of Disneyland back in the very early days.  It's a treasure and it filled me with so much love for vintage parks at that very moment that I had to share.

The glorious Skyride!  Captain Hook's ship!  Monstro looking even MORE menacing!  And let's not forget the Monsanto House of the Future!

Happy Valentine's Day to one and all!

Children's Fairyland remembers two of its heroes.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/oakland-tribune/ci_19928216

To think that this fantastic children's fairytale park owes so much to these two men is overwhelming.  Such detail and heart have gone into the design and spirit of this place - it's palpable as soon as you enter its storybook gates.  Please take a few moments to read the article above and, if you can, give a donation to the park in honor of these two fine men.

Choosing pictures for the book. Not to diminish the weight of "Sophie's Choice", but...

I'm in the throes of choosing photos to include in my book.  Publishing will occur very, very soon.  I'm reading through all 300+ pages, combing through to see what images I definitely need to add.  It's been arduous, mostly because I have literally thousands to pick from.

What makes this time a little easier is knowing that once "The Cotton Candy Road Trip" is published and out, the next project will be the coffeetable book offering of the "best of the best" of the photos, taken not only at the 40+ parks, but at a number of honorable-mention parks and places.  So I know that, although I am fastidiously limiting my photos in the main book to about four per park, there will be another way to show of amazing ride vehicles, vintage structures, and those heavenly carousels.  Not to mention the mechanical fortune tellers...

Wish me luck on this leg of the "Road Trip".  It's been a trying one.