Any Memories of Springlake?

[Patchy Proot]

I grew up in the Wildwood subdivision off of NE 55th and Kelly. I was a kid during the 60's and have lots of memories of going to Springlake. I know a lot of you who grew up on the northwest part of town went to Wedgewood a lot, but I could walk to Springlake from my house in about 30 minutes. I loved that place. You would pay one price and get your hand stamped and ride all day and night. The Big Dipper and the Wild Maus would be illegal to operate today. I remember you had to brace yourself on the Big Dipper when it made its first turn after taking the 'big dip'; it dang near broke your neck! I always felt that some day the car I was riding on the Wild Maus was going to go flying off the tracks. Man, that was a wicked ride. Did any of you ever ride the Alpine Skyway and jump off once it crossed the lake and made its turn to come back? We did it all the time. My favorite inside ride was the Galaxy. I would ride it over and over. And the bumper cars! Can't forget those! Man, oh man, you would slam somebody on the side and their car almost flipped over! And how about the Fun House with all those crazy mirrors and those holes in the floor that would air blast you a good one? Wow. Those were the best days of my youth.

My aunt worked for the now long gone Oklahoma Journal newspaper. Every summer they would have their annual employee picnic at Springlake. That was a summer event I looked forward to every year. They would have barbecue catered to the picnic area and we could stay at the park all day and ride all we wanted.

I remeber a little of the few times I went to Wedgewood, but I don't recall their rides even coming close to the thrills that were at Springlake. I do remember that go cart track which was just west of Wedgewood at one time. That was later in the seventies when I was a teen. Those were really cool to ride. That was just past Meridian there on the NW Expressway. Back then I think everything past the go cart track was just fields. Wow. That was a long time ago.

[SOONER8693]

I do. We lived between Covington and Garber, in the oilfields near Enid. When we got to come to Springlake was like the most exciting thing in the world. When I was about 7 or 8 I saw Johnny Cash there with my folks. He was so young, he was considered a rock and roll singer at that time. The Big Dipper was the best. I really loved the fun house with the big slides inside. Attended numerous Easter egg hunts there. Springlake was cool before the era of the mega theme-amusement parks.

[Patchy Proot]

When I was about 7 or 8 I saw Johnny Cash there with my folks. He was so young, he was considered a rock and roll singer at that time.

Wow! Thanks for jogging my memory! I forgot all about the concerts they had there at the amphitheatre. I saw the 3 Stooges there with Mo, Larry, and I think it was Jo. Curly and Schemp had passed on already, I believe. I also remember my Dad taking us there because he wanted to see Roger Miller who had a couple of popular songs at the time. As I remember now I am pretty sure I discovered my first crush there when I was about ten or eleven on a girl who was waiting in line with me at the bumper cars. Boy, oh boy. The days of youth

[kevinpate]

Might take a look at dougs blog and book at
http://www.okctalk.com/okc-metro-are...ght=Springlake

[FRISKY]

More info:
Metro Technology Centers - The old Springlake Amusement Park

[NikonNurse]

My grandfather operated the big dipper. My uncle was killed on it (way before I was born). But I went quite a bit as a kid..loved the little dipper and the awesome fun house with the slide and the air holes that blasted you as you walked through.

[papaOU]

[QUOTE=NikonNurse;151779]My grandfather operated the big dipper. My uncle was killed on it (way before I was born).

There were times we did nothing but ride the Big Dipper. Always warned not to stand up during the ride. The story was a man did stand and was decapitated. Said to have been a sailor, was that your uncle?

[mrbob]

Springlake was great. I hunted easter eggs there as a kid. Went almost every weekend to the pool in my teen years. Mom would drop us off an come back 6 hrs later. Heck for a couple of bucks you had a wonderful time, food and all. I saw Rick Nelson and brother David. Beach Boys, Conway. The family did the Fourth of July also and had picnic's at Springlake. Damm I miss that place. Sometimes the family would do the Zoo and then across the street to Springlake. What a day that was. My dad was always flirting with the women out there, I guess that's where I get my girl watching from. Haha Don't tell Mom he would say. Heck no, guess where my money came from. LOL

[Prunepicker]

There's something about wooden roller coasters. Maybe it's the way they
beat you to death and how they sound like they're about to fall apart.

Some of the cars are at the MetroTech. So are some of the carousel horses
and carts.

[phinzup]

I spent many an hour at Springlake back in the day. We used to have family picnics at Lincoln Park, go to the Zoo, and then to Springlake in the evening. The Zoo used to close at sundown back then. We got locked in once and had to squeeze through the bars at the gate to get out and back to the family. Used to be a lot of picnic areas where the Lincoln West Golf Course is now.

Loved the Big Dipper, the penny arcade, and the fun house. When I was really young I was afraid to go down the big slide in the fun house.

The swimming pool was the best pool I've ever been in. And the scenery too.

Back in the late 50's my grandparents lived just to the west of Springlake and my cousins and I would go down to "Springlake creek" and go skinny dipping. Not sure if that was the actual name of the creek, but that's what we called it. It ran kinda east and west, and is just to the south of where the Big Dipper used to be.

Went to many concerts and 4th of July fireworks displays there as well. Really was a shame to see it fade away.

[Prunepicker]

I liked playing yard darts. Mom would give them to us a couple of
hours before dinner if she wanted chicken.

[NikonNurse]

[QUOTE=papaOU;267077]

My grandfather operated the big dipper. My uncle was killed on it (way before I was born).

There were times we did nothing but ride the Big Dipper. Always warned not to stand up during the ride. The story was a man did stand and was decapitated. Said to have been a sailor, was that your uncle?

Details were limited to the small children but yes, Jerry had a few too many and stood up on the ride. Never heard the decapitated part but as I grew older and rode it myself, you could just guess.

[NikonNurse]

On a lighter note, my mother was photographed with Anita Bryant for the paper. She also saw the Beach Boys there. My favorite part was the awesome funhouse with the slides, the spinner and the obnoxious air blasters in the floor.

[NikonNurse]

[QUOTE=papaOU;267077]

My grandfather operated the big dipper. My uncle was killed on it (way before I was born).

There were times we did nothing but ride the Big Dipper. Always warned not to stand up during the ride. The story was a man did stand and was decapitated. Said to have been a sailor, was that your uncle?

I'm not sure if he was a sailor, but we were told he was standing, had been drinking, etc.....it was many years before I was born...

[sgt. pepper]

i remember my parents talking about seeing johnny cash at spring lake.

[Generals64]

Springlake:.........."What a place"..........We used to stand where they blew the air on the girls....WOW:..........How about the sack slide, the Penny Arcade....Their swimming pool was one of the best even when they put the dolphins in there...Tell me why?.....I use to love the penny arcade...The Dig Dipper is supposed to still be alive at another small amusement park in the midwest. bumper cars...could go on and on.

One of the reasons Conway Twitty moved to OKC was Springlake and how the people treated him. They (Springlake) always had big name acts....We kept hoping for The Beatles.....Kids will dream.

see ya next time:..........................

[LordGerald]

I only remember Springlake in the dying days...in the late 1970s, early, early 1980s. My brother and I had the run of the place. You could ride the Big Dipper, get off, run through the line, and get back on. I used to love the "big dip" at the beginning. The ascendence up the hill, the anticipation. Great fun. Too bad it got run down...

[jmarkross]

Springlake had a classic old-style Penny Arcade with all sorts of archetypal machines--it was a good one...I like the thing that made aluminum disks where you placed a big pointer of alpha-numeric characters to fill the spaces and stamped out sweet nothings for your girlfriends to cherish...Harold made one just like it for Maude in the movie and she threw it in the water--so she'd always know where it was...

[Steve]

All of you are going to love Doug's Springlake book. It's great fun, and I'm very happy I got an early look at it.

[Doug Loudenback]

Good stuff, guys! I'd have included some of your comments in the book but it's a done deal now and can't be changed, but several great anecdotes came from contributions volunteered by at least one OkcTalk member through PMs here. Others came by e-mails and comments in my Springlake blog article. The book will be in local book shops on October 13.

Steve was a great help ... he showed me some research tips that were invaluable ... and was kind enough to write the Foreword ... and made lots of helpful suggestions.

The book cover and the Introduction pages are shown below. Although there may be slight editing changes to them (I don't have the changes made via telephone with the Arcadia final editor), the Introduction to the book shown below is at least substantially if not completely accurate.









Don't worry ... the book's 6 chapters following the Introduction have far fewer words and lots of photographs assembled or collected by Springlake's owners over most of the park's life, so it won't all be so "wordy" as the above!

[jmarkross]

Saw Bobby Vee there...singing "Rubber Ball"...girls went wild--he was pretty short--like about 5'5"...circa~1961

[Steve]

I am much more in Doug's debt than he is to me... I'll provide all of you with the inside scoop on what I'm talking about in the next couple weeks.

[flintysooner]

Doug's book, Springlake Amusement Park, may be pre-ordered at Full Circle Bookstore.

[MsProudSooner]

Bless my parent's heart, they drove me and my friend 90 miles so we could see Bobby Vee and The Everly Brothers at Springlake.

[CCOKC]

My dad's business had their company picnic there every year. I could spend hours going through the fun house. I can still smell those gunny sacks going down the slide. Oh, good times.