A fun place to work and visit:

Cedar Point, by Sandusky, Ohio, in 1969. 

My friends, and my memories.

These pictures can be clicked on to see a larger version.

I needed a job in the summer of 1969, and after a month wasted looking for a job around my town I went to the huge amusement park, Cedar Point and was hired immediately. I had just finished another quarter at college and wasn't sure I wanted to go and live in another dorm, but there was definitely an attraction in living at an amusement park. It seemed much more exciting than just living at a university. So I packed my bags and my mother drove me the approximately 70 miles away and left me. Just like the previous quarter at college, I was hoping my roommate and I would become good friends and would also show me around the place and introduce me to her friends too. Just like at college, my roommate had just moved out. At college it was because she had gotten rotten grades and was kicked out. At Cedar Point it was because my roommate was given a chance to move to the better dorms and she took them up on the offer. That was nice for her, but I was alone my first night and not too thrilled about it. I sat in my room and wrote in my diary instead of meeting new friends and having fun.

I met one girl, Gail, (on the right) who I hung out with a little, but most of my friends were guys. It seemed to me that when I gave up looking for a "boyfriend", all of a sudden I had several good guy friends.  Here's a collection of pictures of 3 of them with a little about them.

Eric B. one of my best friends at CP. He was in the group that first befriended me me.

Sugar Bear,  John was a really funny guy and who cheered many a night for us all.

Mike, who was another friend, standing in front of the CP laundry building.

 I worked in a place that sold sandwiches and was called Ross's. It was famous for its foot long hotdogs. We also sold beer, which wasn't very common. Cedar Point had a rule that all their beer was "low" beer which at the time anyone 18 or over could legally drink and/or serve it. But Cedar Point required the person be 21, which was the same age that a person had to be to buy the more potent beer. So there I was, not quite 19 yet, and allowed to handle the beer to sell to customers over 21. Not every customer was pleased with that, especially someone around 20, and who could tell I was younger than them. Sometimes I had to call a boss over to explain it to angry customers. Here's a picture of Mr. and Mrs. Ross and their two supervisors.  Everyone was trying to look silly for the picture. Mr. Ross didn't usually store his finger in his nose.

Most of the people that worked with me at Ross's Lunch, were locals from Sandusky, Ohio. My best working friend was Sally and I also liked her older sister, Linda. But at the end of the day they went back into town and I stayed on the island with just the kids who lived in the dorms.

This is Sally and Linda, taken at work. I wrote in my diary about one evening when Sally and Linda stayed late or else came in on a day off, I forget which, and we went to the Lake Eric Beach for a while. That was fun.

Here's a couple of other women who worked there. They seemed much older than me and we just were working acquaintances. Sometimes one of them would do something silly, such as how they posed for this picture.

They are holding two of the hot dogs (with tongs of course to keep them clean) and just acting goofy.

Here's a picture of three of my friends at the final party Cedar Point throws for its employees. I technically wasn't supposed to go because the little food stand I worked at wasn't an official Cedar Point business. It was a private business that was allowed to operate there. Some friends sneaked me into the party. These are the friends that did that evil deed, not to mention they even gave me beer to drink, low beer of course.

That's Preston on the left, Rudy, and another John on the right. We went back to our dorm together that night and it was the only time in my life that I was ever drunk or close to it.

I am leaving you with a picture of me taken a few months before I worked at Cedar Point. I wish I had one taken in my uniform. If you want, you can see a picture of my daughter in her Cedar Point uniform, but you will have to wait until I get it on the computer. My daughter has been working there the last three years, in Frontier Land.

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