Volume 3, No. 6. March 28, 2003
Treasured
map
The first time Nicholas
visited Knoebels Amusement Resort in Elysburg, Pennsylvania, he threw a fit.
The boy has autism, and the environment proved too much of a stimulus for him.
But his parents, Sally Lewis and Henry Chiarkas, tried again, and eventually
Nicholas not only grew accustomed to the park, he grew to love it. Last year
he visited 22 times.
When he couldn’t be in his beloved amusement park, he did the second best
thing: he visited the park’s map in his home, wearing out brochure after
brochure of the cartoon-like grid. Lewis resorted to grabbing whole handfuls
of maps from the park’s brochure racks. Then, at the end of the season
she called the phone number on the Knoebel’s large “you are here”
maps. That phone number put her in touch with the map’s producer, Amusement
Media of Center Strafford, New Hampshire, a firm which provides map services
and marketing for 125 parks across the nation.
“We get a lot of calls from people about our maps in the parks, people
asking for copies or wanting to use them for personal use and web sites. We
answer quite a bit of those,” said Amusement Media President Peter Wensberg.
“This was completely different.”
Lewis’ original call was answered by office assistant Stacy Scribner, who
rode herd on the whole project. When subsequent conversations revealed that
Nicholas liked to draw on the maps, that the maps were proving to be the primary
source for his vocabulary, that he had an empty wall in his room, and that his
fifth birthday was coming up March 12, Scribner developed the ultimate gift
for the boy: a 4-by-8 foot (1.2-by-2.5 meters) laminated Knoebels map with a
set of dry erasable markers. “I”m kind of a sucker for human care
stories,” Scribner said. “She was just really nice, just trying to
help her kid out.”
Amusement Media produced the map at no charge, part of its standard contract
with its clients—the company sells sponsorships and advertising on its
maps. Because of that client relationship, Amusement Media sent the map to Knoebels,
and Joe Muscato, the park’s director of marketing, wrapped the map and
carried it to Nicholas’ home about 20 minutes away to present at his birthday
party.
“It was great, his whole family was there, the aunts and uncles,”
Muscato said. Nicholas was enraptured with the gift. “He has Knoebels memorized,"
Muscato said. "They can call out a ride, any ride, and he instantly points
to it. Or he can stand in front of it and immerse himself in Knoebels. Sally
told me that in the off season he has the maps and video tapes of himself at
Knoebels and that’s what he does. His grandmother said that when you baby-sit
for him, you’ve got to be prepared to watch the tapes. A lot.”
Typically, people with autism become wholly absorbed in an object, subject or
process. “He’s locked into Knoebels,” Muscato said of Nicholas.
“It’s fun to know that something you’re involved in does that.
We’re supposed to be making kids happy.”
THE LOOP is written and produced by Eric Minton, Minton Enterprises, LLC. To see more examples of Eric Minton's work and Minton Enterprises services, visit www.ericminton.com.
©2003, Minton Enterprises
LLC
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