Volume 2, No. 14. July 26, 2002
A three-quarter
effort
In her
eagerness to make everything 75 Sunday to celebrate three 75th anniversaries
at Kennywood, the West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, amusement park’s Publicity
Director Mary Lou Rosemeyer seized on an old Kennywood photo she saw advertising
parking for 75 cents. That idea was vetoed. “They told me, ‘do you
know how many quarters the parking attendants would have to carry?’”
she said.
But
many of her other ideas were embraced and a one-day celebration for the The
Racer roller coaster, the Turtle tumblebug ride and Kiddieland turning
75 this year turned into a 75-fest at the suburban Pittsburgh amusement park.
Quarter-pound hot dogs sold for 75 cents throughout the park. Some games cost
75 cents. A $110 print of Kiddieland in one of the park’s stores was reduced
to $75.
The
park also rewarded anybody 75 with 75 cent general admission (a $7.25 savings)
or $7.50 ride-all-day ticket (a $20.45 savings). Who could be 75? Any guest
born in 1927, born in 1975, weighing 75 pounds or measuring 75 inches high.
The park set up two scales to measure people. “It was so funny because
the girls weren’t real strict,” Rosemeyer said. “If the guest
was a little over they’d say, ‘Take your shoes off.’ Or if the
weight was off, they’d tell them to try the other scale.” Because
of the special pricing, three of the front gate’s computerized registers
were re-keyed for the 75 crowd.
Meanwhile,
three separate birthday parties were raging inside the park. Operators handed
out raffle tickets to everybody riding The Racer, the Turtle or
the Kiddieland rides, and a drawing at the end of the day gave away “goofy
prizes,” Rosemeyer said, like Turtle balloons that had been part
of the festoons at the Turtle, and 75 cartoon video tapes to 75 different
children at Kiddieland. Employees also dove into the spirit of the day, wearing
special name tags and buttons, and the Kennywood Marching Band playing “Happy
Birthday” Dixieland style. “We played stump the band at the parties,”
Rosemeyer said, “and each time somebody named a song, the band members
would confer then play ‘When the Saints Go Marching In.’”
The whole day was a morale booster for employees and a hoot for guests, Rosemeyer said. “People stopped me on the midways throughout the day and thanked me for doing it because they were having so much fun,” she said. The celebration also generated lots of press—perfectly timed for the late-season push—with every TV newscast on hand. “I’d love to think of a way to do it again,” Rosemeyer said. “There’s always an anniversary you can find.”
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