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.

[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.

[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

[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:..........................

[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.

[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...

[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!

[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.

[Doug Loudenback]

I've majorly updated my Springlake via Arcadia blog post to include 21 pages from the 128 page Arcadia book so that you can get a good "look and feel" there. I didn't ask Arcadia if it was OK to do this, but, hey, I wrote the damn thing! So, enjoy ... AND BUY!

A "signing" party has not yet been set, but it will likely be on or soon after October 13 when the book hits the stores.

In this forum, I again extend my special thanks to PapaJack for giving anecdotal stories which enlivens the text, a bunch. Thanks again, PapaJack!

Doug Dawgz Blog: Springlake via Arcadia

Enjoy!

[grantgeneral78]

Yes I remember Springlake very well, a friend of mines parents worked in the office at the park. I spent one summer working there in the penny arcade, it was a total blast. All the rootbeer you could drink for free what a perk! and the check wasnt bad either.

Also worked the putt putt green.

[oklahoma2000]

Does anyone remember eating the frog fries?

[dotbird]

Don't remember the frog fries. But here's a neat Springlake story. When my Dad was a photographer at the Oklahoman and Times, he took photos of Conway Twitty at Springlake amphitheater. Got up on roof of the dressing room at back of stage and, when Conway turned to the left for a profile, got a great shot of the band and the audience. Years later, when I showed my wife the photo, she spotted herself and her sisters in the audience. Small world! He also got a closeup shot of Conway with his guitar inside the dressing room. I just loved Springlake...the fun house, bumper cars and roller coaster. Was it me or was there something special about going through the tunnel or whatever you call it when the roller coaster ride first began? That, and pulling back into the station. (In other words, I did not care much for the stomach-butterflies ride itself!)

[kevinpate]

Does anyone remember eating the frog fries?

What do you serve up with frog fries? ... Rib-lits

[FRISKY]

What do you serve up with frog fries? ... Rib-lits

We used to order those at Lily's pad...

[circled9]

Very interesting. My family moved to California in 1960 and when I returned in 1994, Springlake and Wedgewood were gone. Young people look at me like I am crazy when I ask what happened to them so at least I now have answers to half of my question.

My last Springlake concert was this young kid named Marty Robbins. Not sure if El Paso had come out by then or not but I do remember him doing A White Sport Coat and a Pink Carnation.

[RealJimbo]

Ah yes. Lots of Springlake memories. We often went there as a family to see the 4th of July fireworks. I went with friends to see Roger Miller, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Beach Boys, The Osmond Brothers and some odds and ends of novelty acts. That was great. Later on I went with friends to ride the rides and see the "peep shows" in the arcade. They seemed really daring at the time. For a penny you would look into the eye piece and turn a handle while cards inside flipped past your view, animating a dancing lady or a woman in a swimsuit, etc. then the light inside went out and you had to put another penny in. Later I worked in the T.G.&Y. Stores Co. office and we had our annual company picnic there. I'll never forget it. Side note, my dad and his brother who grew up just outside of Tuttle, OK as kids, they rode their bicycles there one time and dad thought they were going to die before they got back home that night.

[Dustin]

We used to order those at Lily's pad...

Thats right down the toad from house!

[papaOU]

Thats right down the toad from house!

The place closed when you were but a tadpole..............