N'at Man

Speaking of classic, ACE has announced that the Blue Streak was designated an ACE Roller Coaster Landmark. Expect a nice landmark plaque to be added this summer (seriously, they are extremely nice). There is some good news on the CLP Junction forum: "In todays Meadville Tribune was an article stating that Summit Township okayed the new development. Mr Sutterlein still needs to go before the county planning commission, but they usually just rubber stamp whatever the local board approves. The next step is for them to go before the court to authorize the sale of the land, which, according to the article, should happen next week."

For those trying to follow this mess, I think it's pretty simple to say that they need to sell the 3.3 acres of land. If they do that then I think they'll open. If not, they won't open. As for Stearns dropping out, I'm not sure what the impact will be. If the land can be sold then I don't think he will be missed. I can't quite figure out the guy but it's probably no coincidence that he wants out now that he can't cash his own paycheck.

Published February 27, 2007 10:35 pm - After reviewing a proposed master plan for future operations of Conneaut Lake Park, LeRoy Stearns said Tuesday he supports the plan — and will ask the court to be relieved of his duty as court-appointed overseer “within 20 to 25 days.” Stearns says it’s time to step down By Jane Smith 02/28/07 — After reviewing a proposed master plan for future operations of Conneaut Lake Park, LeRoy Stearns said Tuesday he supports the plan — and will ask the court to be relieved of his duty as court-appointed overseer “within 20 to 25 days.” The plan calls for a five- to seven-member board of directors to be appointed to assume control of the 115-year-old amusement park. “I support it 100 percent,” said Stearns of the plan prepared by the Economic Progress Alliance of Crawford County and a final copy given to him Tuesday. Stearns hopes the new board will be in place within the month and will be in charge of opening the park this summer. Before he leaves his position, Stearns said he will petition the court for three actions that he has been working on: sale of 3.3 acres of land to Greg Sutterlin; approval of an easement for Jeff Davenport of Snow Waters Development; and an easement requested by Carl Burkett of Conneaut Lake for a piece of land adjacent to property he owns. Stearns had planned to use part of the sale proceeds to open the park for 2007, noting without that money he has no funds to guarantee opening. “Maybe the board of directors will find the funds to open the park. We have no money,” he added, except for deposits for events planned for 2007, which are in an escrow account and will be transferred to the new board. “Now that I have seen a full and final copy of the plan, it convinces me they (those who developed the plan) have a way to deal with the back debt, which I am saying is $2.3 million,” he continued. “I can’t open without the 3.3 (acres) sale,” Stearns said. “I will not borrow any more money,” referring to loans that have been used to open the park for the past several years. The plan calls for: –– Leasing all business operations — Hotel Conneaut, the Beach Club, Camperland and the gift shop — to private developers. –– Appointing a board of trustees to operate core services such as the park and “otherwise support corporate obligations such as the satisfaction of debts.” –– Hiring a chief executive officer and chief financial officer. –– Positioning the park as a year-round community-based asset. –– Rehabilitating Hotel Conneaut and Conference Center –– Developing high-density residential property (condominiums). –– Developing lakeside/lakeview multi-tenant residential property. –– Expanding Camperland. –– Maintaining and managing the boardwalk and public beach. –– Expanding public access to the lake by developing and improving the quality of access to the beach and a public marina. Revenue zones identified include Hotel Conneaut. The plan said to effectively position the hotel for investments, the hotel will be closed temporarily during a transition period. Residential zones will be developed consistent with the master plan and shouldn’t interfere or conflict with other anticipated priority developments of the park. A map shows “future development” in the same boundary area of the proposed 3.3-acre sale. The plan identifies several areas as revenue zones and what’s proposed for their use. They include: –– Hotel and Conference Center — Now the Hotel Conneaut site. –– Entertainment — The Beach Club and Dock Side as well as the area across from it and down to Comstock Street. –– Recreation — Comstock Street to Route 618. –– Recreational vehicle park — Now the site of Camperland. –– Future development — The land now used for parking adjacent to Camperland. –– Future residential — Route 618 to the former Jo-Winn Trailer Park, now the Snow Waters project. –– Future retail commercial — From Route 618 to Inlet Drive, now the site of picnic groves and adjacent houses. –– Future development — A private marina on the lakefront in the area of the former Flynn House all the way to and including the Convention Center along Comstock. Mark Turner, executive director of the EPA, and George Deshner, court-appointed custodian, weren’t available for comment. Resumes are being accepted for the new board of Conneaut Lake Park Trustees. The master plan, developed by the Economic Progress Alliance of Crawford County, is seeking appointment of five to seven members. Those interested may contact LeRoy Stearns, court-appointed overseer, at 382-5115, or Mark Turner, director of EPA, at 333-2299. Once court approval is given for board appointments, resumes will be reviewed and recommendations made. The board would be responsible for hiring personnel to manage the park, but not to get involved with day-to-day operations. It is to set policies for implementation.

Published February 23, 2007 10:32 pm - The court-appointed overseer of Conneaut Lake Park has taken issue with what he sees as a sharp negative tone in a newly proposed master plan for the park. Stearns: Park’s master plan too negative By Jane Smith 02/24/07 — The court-appointed overseer of Conneaut Lake Park has taken issue with what he sees as a sharp negative tone in a newly proposed master plan for the park. The plan was presented Wednesday by Mark Turner, executive director of the Economic Progress Alliance of Crawford County and includes research from the park’s past year. And park overseer LeRoy Stearns is not pleased with what he’s seeing. He said Turner’s plan has highlighted only the negative, none of the positive things at CLP in 2006. Stearns was surprised to see the plan draft made public, saying EPA had asked for response from him and CLP manager George Deshner before it was to be revealed. Turner said Wednesday the full plan will be made public next week. It shows the park had an operating loss of $116,000 for the period from Jan. 1 to Oct. 31, 2006. In addition, Turner said had the park not received $51,762 from a fire insurance payment, losses would have been $168,000. However, a profit and loss statement prepared by Deshner to present to the Crawford County Court of Common Pleas has the loss at $103,866.86 for the period ending Dec. 31. Stearns said looking at the master plan report without telling the rest of the story is deceiving because of its “negativity.” “The more negativity there is about Conneaut Lake Park, the less apt we are to secure interest. In the 17 months of working at Conneaut Lake Park, all we hear is the negative. You don’t hear the positive, and there are a lot of positive things that have happened.” He said the loss would not have been high had they not had to spend nearly $150,000 in repairs and improvements necessary to open the park and keep various aspects of it operating. Many of the costly repairs were needed because they had been avoided for years, he said. One example was $59,000 for a sprinkler system at Hotel Conneaut. “(The work) was necessary, and by (repairing the sprinklers), we were able to open in 2006. (The sprinkler system) provided fire protection for the hotel and making the (assets of the) public trust safer is a priority.” That was — by law — to have been done in increments over several years prior to 2006, but was not. Stearns said the money put into the repairs was therefore not available to pay bills. “Instead, we invested (those funds) for the future,” he said. Another major problem the park faced was two major water leaks in January 2006. Although the park was closed, the water could not simply be shut off because the park’s system provides water “for customers who have nothing to do with running an amusement park.” He was referring to 138 homeowners in the area who receive water through the park’s system. Also, two major roof repairs were made in Camperland and to the midway food stand at a total cost of $7,288. A list of 20 items totaling $148,469.71 was outlined as repairs and improvements to the park. In addition to the repairs, Stearns pointed out many other positive items from 2006, including return of the miniature train; return of two rides, the Tumble Bug — one of only two in the country — and the Tempest, all done with cooperation of the community. Stearns said business officials have said it takes five years to turn a business around, and he said even Turner has said it takes at least two years to show a profit. Stearns repeated that he and Deshner have only been in charge for 17 months. He agrees with some aspects of the plan, including adding a chief operating officer, a chief financial officer and a board of directors — “just like any business — but with no money, we can’t do that.” Currently, Deshner is paid $50,000 and Stearns, $40,000. Stearns said both men have several uncashed paychecks because there is no money to cover them, but both men are still working. Stearns also was disappointed that the plan makes no mention of the proposed sale of 3.3 acres of lakefront property to a private developer. Stearns said that sale is expected to generate revenues to allow the park to pay off some of the debt and open in 2007. “My focus is to sell that property,” said Stearns, noting once the debt is paid, a new board of directors can be put into place to operate the park. “I am committed to making the park stable. I believe in Conneaut Lake Park and I’m working to sell the 3.3 acres,” he said. “We will set aside $300,000 (of the proceeds) to open the park this year,” he added. The rest will be used to pay down existing debt. The draft plan notes that for the park’s future, that $2.7 million debt is “manageable.”

Just a random update after stopping by 3 Sons Dogs and Suds bottle shop. One advantage of this place is that while they sell bottles they also have a wide variety of six packs. Same price but I like the organization. Also, the colored dot bottlecap pricing actually helps you spot the better beers easily. Of course there are some exceptions like the $10 12 oz bottle of Dogfish Head Raison D'etre. No I didn't buy that one but I stocked up a bit and picked up a few new to me beers. On to the pics... Here I am concentrating on the shot before I enjoy a Bell's Java Stout. Again, I'm liking the Bell's. Great Divide Titan IPA, Troegs Nugget Nectar (as if it needed more TPR time), Victory St. Victorious and Bell's Java Stout.

I worked at Idlewild Park during the summers of '92 thru '95. The first three years I was in food service working at the Italian place. I was happy enough there and we had enough fun that I didn't want to risk moving to rides and not liking it as much. My final year I had an office job in the "money room" counting money and doing some accounting. The pay was better but I missed being out in the park atmosphere all day.

I didn't get to drink any of my Penn Marzen on Fat Tuesday but instead I had a chance to visit Rock Bottom at the King of Prussia Mall. We were staying across the street for a conference so it was a no brainer. I had a Sub Zero IPA (really liked it) and an Oatmeal Stout.

LOL, more beer shirts at the beer festival than coaster shirts at a coaster event for you guys. Meanwhile, I've tried some more Bell's beers and I've come to the conclusion that they can do no wrong.

The ugly ones at Cypress are from M&V. These look like the Larson scooters at places like Hershey or IB. It looks like PGA has the Premier version. I assumed those were Larson as well. But this is a very nice addition for Idlewild. I love the old school logo and the name. While I haven't found a modern flying scooters where they will let you snap they are still fun. Plus I think they look great along a park midway. It's nice to get a brand new, quality ride that is family friendly. Kennywood Entertainment had gone the way of used or recycled rides for a while. Now they're in a situation where they have a Flying Carpet, Swing Around and Tri-Star that will probably never run again.

That still sounds odd to me. But as long as it is a Mega Disk'O size then maybe the ride will be to my liking. I'm not all that impressed with regular Disk'Os. Maybe Mark R. would know?

http://www.idlewild.com/blog/ Idlewild Fans…the moment you all have been anxiously waiting for has finally arrived – our new ride announcement! This summer, as we celebrate our 130th season, riders can earn their wings on: Flying Aces Based on a classic amusement ride from the early half of the 1900’s, Flying Aces is an updated version of the popular Flying Skooters™ ride found in many amusement parks more than 50 years ago. Idlewild’s version, manufactured by Premier Rides, Inc., consists of ten cable-suspended planes, each holding two people. As the ride begins to rotate and pick up speed, centrifugal force will swing the aircraft outward to a diameter of 100 feet. While racing along at speeds of more than 35 miles per hour, the “pilots” will able to manipulate a vertical wing located in the front of each plane. As the wing is moved the planes swing inward or outward giving our gutsy “aces” a high-flying rush of excitement. Now that’s FUN!!! Flying Aces will be located near the Rollo Coaster, in the area that has been occupied by the Trinado for the past 9 years. The Trinado has been removed for this season. Because the new ride needs a little more space (for swing out) than it’s predecessor, you will also notice a slight redesign of the Park’s midway in that area. The attraction will be themed to resemble a flight school for America’s earliest “flying aces”. All of us here at Idlewild are glad to be able to bring the fun and excitement of this timeless classic to brand new generations. We hope you’ll all agree that Flying Aces makes a perfect addition to Idlewild’s list of family-fun rides. Be sure to check back for updates on some of the other changes in store for 2007!

I can't say I had 3 VCRs going but I still have a tape of the opening of the Steel Phantom. But I do recall the buildup for Kennywood and parks like Cedar Point. I taped the media preview of Magnum but I lost it. Each channel would (and still does) show the media day footage. They'll mention it for an hour throughout the newscast and it's always the last thing they show before signing off. It was more fun in those days as far as anticipation goes. Watching the TV news or getting that copy of ACE News in the mail to find out all of the news was exciting. We know so much more which is great for the off season and planning purposes but it is like opening a gift and already knowing what's inside.

Kennywood to add new thrill ride Friday, January 26, 2007 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Kennywood is adding a new extraterrestrial thrill ride for next season, the Cosmic Chaos. The ride seats 24 people on a giant disk, which looks like a U.F.O. From a height of 50 feet, the disk travels along 120 feet of concave track while riders spin around in a circle. "This ride is definitely the best new 'flat ride' we could purchase," Kennywood Entertainment President Pete McAneny said. "The ride sensation is totally different than anything I've ever experienced." Cosmic Chaos seats riders on a motorcycle-like pedestal seat with a back restraint. With arms and legs unrestrained, riders look outward, Mr. McAneny said. The ride, manufactured as the MEGA DISK'O by Zamperla, Inc., was renamed Cosmic Chaos as part of in-house naming contest among Kennywood ride supervisors.

I like what the buyer is saying. He has a long connection to the area, cares about the park staying open and he is even going to let those leasing houses on the land stay. It's amazing to read the comments on the bottom of the article. Many locals don't want the park to change one bit yet they think that's enough keep it open. They'd rather have the park close and save some docks on the lake that they use (but obviously don't own) than have some condos built on land that the park owned but didn't utilize for it's patrons. But I guess if I had some kind of special access to a dock maybe I'd care less about anyone else but myself too if that access was threatened. To me this sale and condo building on outlying waterfront property is necessary. I'll only worry if after this sale the park falls back in to debt and needs to sell more land that is actually part of the amusement area. But until then this one time sale should eliminate the debt that built up from years of mismangement.

I'm thinking too much like Heath and Derek because I happened to try the Rogue Shakespeare Stout while watching some football today. It was good but it seemed to lack something plus it was a bit too smokey tasting. It's also probably not fair to drink it so soon after trying Bell's Expedition Stout which I really liked.

Yesterday I had some time in between the morning live broadcast of ESPN College Gameday in Pittsburgh and the Pitt vs. Georgetown game at night. Since I needed to head up north I stopped by 3 Sons Dogs & Suds in Wexford, PA. I had a dog and it was OK but I was there for the single beer selection. This place did not disappoint. Great selection and good prices. The only weird thing is that you have to group your six packs by three color coded categories based on stickers on the caps. Either all the same color or 3+3 in two colors if you want the discount. I picked up three lagers (including one Wally beer), two IPAs for a change and some stouts (including Bell's and some more expensive beers outside of the six pack). I had Bell's Expedition Stout before heading out to the Pete to watch the Panthers beat the Hoyas. Bell's Expedition Stout before heading out to watch Pitt beat Georgetown. I agree with others who rate this beer highly! Spaten Optimater (one of my faves), Great Lakes Eliot Ness and Dortmunder Gold, Dogfish Head 60 minute IPA, Stone IPA, Bell's Kalamazoo Stout & Expedition Stout and Rogue Shakespeare Stout. Next was a stop at 3 Sons for lunch and some single beers. The show gets started and the Oakland Zoo goes crazy. I started the day off at the Pete for a live broadcast of ESPN College Basketball Gameday.

We'll see if my source is correct but I'm not expecting lights and effects on the ride. I envision this ride being much like the Flying Carpet which it is replacing. A ride with it's own theme not tied to anything else. I'd have to guess that Kennywood will give this ride a unique name related to UFOs especially since it will help the opening year marketing efforts.

I was watching the morning news and they had a segment on the construction at Kennywood. They played it up as if a UFO landed at the old site of the Flying Carpet leaving a big hole. They showed the hole filled in with concrete. The park has an update on their website asking for people seeing anything unusual in the area to e-mail the park at UFO@kennywood.com. Kennywood is pretty creative in creating some hype for a flat ride like a mega Disk'O without having much of a budget. UFO, Disk'O, makes sense even if the ride doesn't have much theming. The reporter said to expect an announcement next week for the ride.

Here's some potential good news. I know this entire saga is frustrating for everyone but I do think things will work out. Park receives formal land bid; future gets a little brighter By Jane Smith MEADVILLE TRIBUNE The possibility of Conneaut Lake Park opening this year appears a little brighter that it did just a few weeks ago. A formal bid has been received from a private developer to purchase the 3.3 acres of land that was offered for sale at the end of last year. "We will be working out the details, hopefully by the end of next week," said LeRoy Stearns, court-appointed manager, after announcing the bid Friday. "As far as the opening of the park, I can't make any announcements yet," he said. "There are a lot of details to be worked out, and public input," but he said it looks good if all goes well. The park had sought proposals last month for purchase of the land. Although 28 inquiries were received concerning the advertised sale, only two proposals were received by the deadline. However, neither met the guidelines, and they were rejected. After the deadline, Conneaut Concessions submitted a proposal to lease the park, Stearns said, but that didn't meet proposed guidelines either. The guidelines were for the purchase of the 3.3 acres including the Flynn House and parking lot adjacent to it. Proceeds were to be used to pay off most of the $2.2 million debt and have money to open the park this spring. In the meantime, a private bid was submitted Thursday. After checking with attorney Christopher Youngs, Stearns said he learned that since the sale was advertised once, it didn't have to be advertised again and the private sale could proceed. Stearns said anybody else wishing to submit a formal bid may do so by sending it to Youngs at 363 Chestnut St. Meadville. Stearns said Youngs will "hammer out the details," and once that is done, he will present the recent offer the Crawford County Court of Common Please Judge Anthony Vardaro for approval. Stearns will hold a public meeting the receive input about the sale once the details are final. Until then, however, he can't release the name of the bidder, the amount of the offer or any other details. In the late 1990s, the 115-year-old amusement park fell under the supervision of the court after former trustees were sued and the park was declared by the court to be a charitable trust. It had been deeded to the Trustees of Conneaut Lake Park from it former owner to be held in "trust for the citizens of north-western Pennsylvania."

Just tying up some loose ends on this thread. Back in September we arrived at Ringsheim train station in the afternoon and picked up the bus to the Europa Park resort entrance. It was on time, no problems. When we departed two days later we headed to the Herbolzheim train station in the morning. The bus was also right on time. One thing to be careful of is that it looked like each bus on the schedule stopped at either Europa Park resort or Europa Park entrance but not both so it's important to make sure you find a bus time that matches your destination. I asked at the hotel if they had a shuttle service. They do even though it is not listed on the website but it costs 30 euros I believe. So the bus is much cheaper if it fits your schedule.

The Flying Carpet became a constant maintenance problem which is surely why it is gone. It was a good ride but it was down for periods of time every year. I'm not quite sure what the deal was with the Swing Around but it doesn't sound like it will ever run at Kennywood again. The stage below the ride was demolished and there is currently a temporary diving show theatre set up in the area. A new ampitheatre should be built in a year or two. Bayern Kurve is being rehabbed (much needed) and will probably return in the future. While I hate to see 20-30 year old flat rides removed they are reaching the end of their expected lifespan in most cases. Older rides like the Kangaroo were simple and built with solid materials. In the case of the Kangaroo it was able to be updated with sensors so it should be good to go for a long time. I wouldn't expect old rides like the Whip to go anywhere but some of the 70s and 80s rides are tough to keep running. The Enterprise was able to be rehabbed but some of these rides just weren't built to last 50 years. Over at Idlewild the Tri-Star is apparently gone as well.

Aside from anything to do with the park itself, this no sale doesn't make sense to me. There are houses all around that lake and the ones with any kind of lake view go for big bucks regardless of condition. In recent years an upscale development started on the east side of the lake after some land opened up. Those are some huge houses on some valuable land. Another upscale development not even on the lake will replace a trailer park across the road from CLP. Even if the park was already gone the inability to sell the waterfront property makes no sense to me. Did they have a sale but not tell anyone?

Santa Claus, IN (home of Holiday World in case you live under a rock) just got a mention on ESPN because hometown guy Jay Cutler will get the start as the Denver Broncos quarterback. Here's an interesting article. Note the Old Thyme Liquors reference. http://www.jcutlerqb.com/content/view/24/9/

PKI makes plenty of sense to me as the new home for X-Flight. Consider that they are stuck with Son of Beast whose future is in peril. They probably need a cheap coaster option (take from the poor, give to the rich if you will) to fill the void. The park doesn't have anything like it, the coaster has dual loading stations and can run the three trains PKI will need. It also makes sense that GL is losing a coaster. When the park was a $50 gate offering rides/waterpark/wildlife under the Six Flags banner it could support 10 coasters (even if the place was overhyped and using its 15 minutes of fame up quickly). It's now a $25 ride/water park that has lost a lot of luster. It doesn't draw enough people or bring in the money that other parks with 10+ coasters do. I am a bit suprised with the coaster choice at least from the GL perspective. Yes, X-Flight has great value for a park like PKI but CF still has to make a go of it in Aurora. X-Flight was probably the most popular at the park so do they think removing it isn't going to hurt attendance? Maybe removing another coaster would leave attendance the same. Removing Steel Venom or Dominator may have made more sense in my mind as those are probably less popular than the SLC. As an enthusiast I like both Steel Venom and Dominator more than X-Flight or Thunderhawk so it works for me but I'm not sure this move won't hurt the already hurting attendance at GL. The new waterpark will really have to start paying off for GL soon.

With the Thanksgiving holiday coming up I figured I'll have some time to sample some beers while away from work. So I finally got around to checking out the beer cave at D's SixPax & Dogz, Regent Square, Pittsburgh. The reviews were good as far as selection goes but not for price. I found that the selection was certainly good for this area and I'm guessing the pricing was improved from paying $4.50 for anything in the room if you get six to scanning each bottle and still getting the discount. That way I could mix beers of different price ranges and sizes and get an accurate price. So rather than paying around $26 my total was $19.75. For me that's reasonable to get some variety in a state where you usually are stuck buying cases of beer. But the next time I'm up north I'll have to try 3 Sons in Wexford to see how they compare. I'll start sampling these later but here's what I bought. The first four in the picture are highly rated on Beer Advocate. The last two also have good ratings but were more of a buy based on some curiosity peaked while I was in Germany. From left to right we have: Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter Victory Storm King Stout Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale Stone Arrogant Bastard Ale Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse Dunkel Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest Lager I'm not much of a pale ale fan so I opted to try the Dogfish Indian Brown just to get a taste of what they have to offer. I didn't want to give up on Oktoberfest season just yet so I picked the last bottle of Hacker-Pschorr. The good thing is not many Oktoberfest beers remained so the stock is pretty fresh. I was hoping to find a Paulaner too but this will do. Mix and match 6 pack from D's