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The
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Volume
1, No. 8. May 18, 2001
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In this issue:
Cedar Fair goes on a shopping spree,
ACE's Escalante foils the truth-seekers,
Efteling rises above the flames,
Clown phobia hampers Santa Cruz's PR,
Indiana Beach shows character
and a Gulf World dolphin leaves a legacy.
We welcome New Arrivals at the Bronx Zoo, Newport Aquarium, Del Grosso's, Holiday World, Dorney Park, LEGOLAND, and Magic Springs, and we wish good health to Mrs. Koch.
(Scroll down the page, or click on one of the above links to go directly to a story.)
By Eric Minton
A wave of acquisition
News this week that Cedar Fair,
L.P., has entered an agreement to purchase yet another Southern California
waterpark, Oasis Water Resort in Palm Springs, came fast on the heels
of the amusement park company's shocking announcement last week that it
planned to purchase Michigan's Adventure Amusement Park in Muskegon, Michigan.
More than timing link these
two proposed acquisitions, both of which Cedar Fair said it plans to finalize
by the end of this month.
Neither park was on the market.
"They came to me," said Roger Jourden, who with his wife owns Michigan's Adventure. Similarly, Terry Durst, owner of Oasis, was quoted in The Desert Sun saying "I love the water park. It wasn't for sale. They contacted me."
Figures were not disclosed for either transaction, but both sellers indicated Cedar Fair is paying a pretty penny. "It was a very profitable deal for everyone involved," The Desert Sun quoted Durst. "They had to make me happy because I didn't want to sell it."
Jourden sounded like he's still willing to hold out. He said if the deal is not closed by May 30, he'll table it. "If I'm going to operate beyond May 30, I'm going to stay here. We've owned this for 33 years and built it to what it is today. There are lot of memories here, the kids grew up here, our home was in the park. It's hard to sell." Furthermore, the family is split, he said: "There is a difference of opinion between myself and my children about whether what I'm doing is right or wrong." Children Camille and Roger want the family to keep the park; but the elder Jourden said, "I want the freedom from the responsibility of owning the park."
Whatever the bottom-line motives of the sellers, Cedar Fair is showing an aggressive bent. Coming off a financially successful year despite sluggish attendance at some of its parks last year, "The climate is definitely good to grow the company," said Brian Witherow, corporate director of investor relations. "We do want to continue to grow the company externally through acquisitions. (Michigan's Adventures) is one of a dozen or so parks we have on our radar screen that has been somewhere along the way popping up as an acquisition possibility."
The Michigan park, with its three major roller coasters including the globally popular Shivering Timbers, saw attendance last year grow to more than 450,000, continuing a steady increase of the past few years. It's draw has expanded across Michigan, into Indiana and Ohio, a territory abutting, if not overlapping, that of Cedar Point's. Witherow said Cedar Fair does not look upon Michigan's Adventures as direct competition to the company's Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, though it has "a strong presence in its market. It's done very well for itself being in the backyard of Cedar Point." He also said the company has never targeted a park for geographical reasons.
However, Cedar Fair is becoming the dominant player in the Southern California waterpark scene. Oasis would be the company's third such property in the region after last year's purchase of Whitewater Canyon in Chula Vista near San Diego (renamed Knott's Soak City USA) and its opening of Knott's Soak City USA at Knott's Berry Farm. The 16-acre Oasis Water Park, two hours west of Los Angeles, has 13 water slides, a 600-foot lazy river and a children's activity area and boasts the largest wave pool in California.
"We've been pleased with the success we've had with the waterparks we have out there under the Knott's Soak City name," Witherow said. "We think the same kind of synergies that existed with the San Diego property will exist for Palm Springs." Such synergies include absorbing marketing and sales duties into the Knott's Berry Farm operations. Cedar Fair plans no changes for Oasis this year, which has already begun its season, but Witherow predicted that by next year the park will be branded under the Knott's name.
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The real David Escalante (right) and his two imposters stumped the truth-seakers. Photo courtesy of To Tell The Truth.
Truth
has consequences
It's hard to say who "wins" in the television game show To Tell the Truth. David Escalante, the director of public relations for American Coaster Enthusiasts and organizer of the Guinness Record Project (GRP) last fall, received a share of $5,000 because nobody thought he could be he. The four panelists and studio audience all voted for drug rehabilatation center cook Felipe Esparza as "the real" David Escalante.
To Tell the Truth producer George Sylak approached Escalante after GRP accomplished its goal of riding 40 California roller coasters in 24 hours last October. The imposters, Esparza (seated as "David Escalante Number 3") and Italian restaurant waiter Jack Hernandez (Number 1), were selected based on Polaroid snapshots. Escalante (Number 2) spent an afternoon coaching his fellow "David Escalantes" and signed a sworn affidavit stating he would not lie during the program.
He didn't have to, even though, he said of his impostors, "They were bad students." Hernandez put the "Big Dipper" in Santa Clara and cited ACE's web site as "rollercoasterexperts.com." Esparza described Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk as containing "a lot of little coasters" including the "Big Dipper" and Madusa (a Six Flags Marine World floorless steel coaster). "I had to bite my tongue," said Number 2. He dared not react and risk losing the prize.
Number 3's correct answer that GRP's biggest challenge was the van drive from park to park eventually won over the panel of questioners: that and the fact that Number 2 was "far too together" and didn't look like somebody who would break roller coaster records. Summed up panelist and comedienne Paula Poundstone about the real David Escalante: "He's clearly an Ivy Leaguer. In Number 2's spare time he plays tennis and thinks about art. Number 3, on the other hand, is a ne're do well who spent half his life with a big cotton candy stuck to his shirt."
"They were stereotyping coaster enthusiasts as geeks," Escalante said. "To not pick an Ivy League looking, together person was flattering to me and coaster enthusiasts in general." So the clear-cut winner in this particular game was GRP and ACE. Especially when, after the show's taping, producer Sylak signed on as an ACE member.
But does he play tennis?
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Preserve preservers
The famous centerpiece
of Efteling theme park in Kaatsheuvel, Netherlands, is the Pagode. The
circling structure gently rises 45 meters (150 feet) into the sky for
panoramic views of the park and the neighboring nature preserve.
Which is a good thing for the nature preserve. More than a dozen times every season, the staff operating the Pagode have spotted smoke in the forest and sent alarms to the local fire department.
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No
clowning around
A week from today Santa Cruz
Beach Boardwalk in California is scheduled to open its new 3D Funhouse,
a walk-through dark attraction. It's themed on clowns, including a giant
Bozo-like mug over the building's entrance. It otherwise would be an easy
attraction for the Boardwalk's Communications Manager Jan Bollwinkel-Smith
to promote, except for one problem. She has a fear of clowns. "Everybody
else will think it's cute," she said of the building facade. "To
me it's creepy."
It's not a serious phobia that requires therapy or medication, but it is enough to give her the creeps. "I'm not freaked out about them, but I am uncomfortable with them," she said. This trepidation of clowns goes back to her early childhood, and though she cannot pinpoint its roots, she knows its cause. "I think it's all related to the fact that they are not really what they are. And they were just weird looking."
Many park public relations people have a fear of coasters and will forego riding some of their property's prime drawing cards. Similarly, Bollwinkel-Smith will have to deal with escorting media to the Funhouse, but not in it. "I think I'll go through it once and get it over with so I can at least tell people what's in there. If the media comes, they go by themselves." She also has to forge a way to promote the attraction without letting her bias interfere. Already, a first draft of a press release used the phrase "Clown-chilling effects," but other staff thought the language too strong. "They said, 'Oh, it's not that scary.' To me it's, 'Oh, yes it is.'"
She has no problem riding roller coasters— "As long as there is not a clown on them"—and she enjoyed the Boardwalk's annual haunted house. Being startled by a skeleton or ghoul popping out of nowhere is fun; but in the Funhouse, 'The idea of a clown popping out makes me shiver when I think about it." The Funhouse also has a room of mirrors. "So it won't be just one clown, but millions of them when you look in the mirror."
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Custom Coasters' Luis Acevedo (center) and Michael Lockley (right) had to keep up with the Joneses this spring. Photo courtesy of Indiana Beach
A
mule kicking coaster
With all the "firsts" that
new roller coasters and thrill rides boast upon opening, Indiana Beach
Amusement and Camp Resort in Monticello, Indiana, has perhaps the most
unusual. The $2.5 million CornBall Express roller coaster by Custom
Coasters opens today with its very own mascot.
CornBall Jones is a big, braying mule in a train engineers' hat and bib overalls. He is a walking character that also will be featured in radio and television commercials promoting the new coaster. However, park officials stress, CornBall Jones is not replacing I.B. Crow, the long-standing mascot for the park. "I.B. Crow has been around so long and starts out all our commercials," said Tom Spackman Jr., Indiana Beach's manager. "He's really a fixture. And we have him in camping costumes, bathing suits, chef costumes."
The mule, on the other hand, is strictly an old-fashion engineer in the tradition of Casey Jones. However, he will be allowed to get away from the coaster and roam the park, depending on the day's heat index. "That's a hot costume," Spackman said. Because CornBall Jones won't make his public debut until tomorrow, Spackman had no gauge on the mule's potential Q-score, but he didn't think he would overtake I.B. Crow. "CornBall Jones is having his day on (May 18). We'll see where it goes from there."
As for the notion of creating and building a mascot for a single ride, Spackman had no ready explanation. "It was just one of those sitting-around, kicking-around ideas. We just kind of went with it." And so a ride already generating big buzz in the coaster community for its layout and integration with the 1994 Hoosier Hurricane can legitimately claim it has a character like no other.
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Eternal bliss
If progeny means immortality,
then Albert lives on in a big way. But he almost waited too long.
Albert was an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin at Gulf World in Panama City
Beach, Florida, the first resident dolphin at the park which opened in
1969. By then he was already at least 10 years old. On June 14, 1999,
he died at an estimated age of between 40 and 48, almost twice the life
span of the average dolphin in captivity, and three times longer than
those in the wild.
Though Albert had company—the marine park had six other bottlenose dolphins at the time of his death—he had not been a successful breeder. "It wasn't for lack of trying," said Christa Hild, marketing and public relations director for Gulf World. Dolphins are often prone to miscarriages, and many newborns don't live beyond the first few months.
So it was that Gulf World waited a whole year before announcing this week that Albert had successfully bred before he died: not once, not twice, but thrice. All three females in his former habitat turned up pregnant shortly after his death. Now the dolphins in that habitat number six. Allie was born October 9, 1999, and Jasmine and A.J.(as in Albert Junior) arrived last May.
Part of the sudden breeding success may have been due to new facilities, too. Gulf World embarked on a $7 million expansion that included a 1-million-gallon (3.8 million liters) dolphin habitat comprising three separate pools. The exhibit, which opened a year ago, also pumps natural seawater directly from the Gulf of Mexico lying across the highway from the park, with a filtration system that circulates more than 6,000 gallons per minute (22,800 liters per minute). Allie was born in the old pool, and the other two were born in the new habitat. All three are healthy and even taking part in the daily shows with their mothers.
Papa would be proud. Always the park's most popular performer, Albert's fame just keeps growing.
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©2001, Minton Enterprises LLC
All rights reserved
Chef Scotto, left, grilled pizza before a flock of spectators. Photo by Julie Larsen Maher/Wildlife Conservation Society
It's
a cafe!
The Bronx Zoo announces the arrival of the
Dancing Crane Café, May 17, 2001. Measurements: 17,000 square feet
(5,152 square meters), seating for 1,160 people, 17 serving stations,
50 menu items plus assorted beverages and snacks, 50 Chilean flamingos.
Delivered by The Rockwell Group architects and the Clark Wolf Company
dining consultants.
To pay tribute to the new cafe's
state-of-the-art kitchen, which includes an open-fire pizza oven, the
Bronx Zoo invited two celebrity chefs out for the official unveiling of
its new eatery. Anthony Scotto of Fresco by Scotto prepared pizzas on
an outdoor grill, while Todd English of Olive's and his executive chef
Victor LaPlaca prepared their pies in the pizza oven. Though some invited
groups didn't make it to the two-hour celebration because of traffic congestion,
the media and public got a true treat at the chefs' hands.
"We thought, 'Hey! It's New York, everyone loves pizza," said Bonnie Sevy
Koeppel, vice president, park management, of the Wildlife Conservation
Society, owners of the Bronx Zoo. "They did their unique slice of New
York." The staff were treated to some free advice from the renowned, award-winning
chefs and accompanied them on a tour of the new facilities. "They gave
us our celebrity chef seal of approval," Koeppel said. For their part,
the chefs got a kick out of the setting and asked for a return engagement.
The Dancing Crane Cafe is part of a visitor hub at the center of the zoo
that includes a Bronx Zoo retail store which opened last year, an ATM,
rest rooms, and first aid station. The new cafe replaces what Koeppel
called the "old, very old" 430-seat Lakeside Cafe and offers an expanded
menu of Italian dishes, salads, wraps, and Belgian waffles in addition
to traditional park food.
As part of yesterday's celebration, the zoo held off herding the flamingo
flock out onto the lakeside grounds until the cookout had started. Then,
they arrived in a burst of feathery pink pastel. "We staged that so people
could see them come out," said Koeppel, who wanted to drive home a key
point about the Dancing Crane Cafe. "It's what makes for the most unique
dining experience in New York: flamingos, great food, all in the middle
of the zoo. Nobody's got 50 flamingos plus this view."
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SeaMore Shark got a
man's-eye view of the predators of the deep in his first day on the job
as Newport Aquarium mascot. Photo
by Eric Minton.
It's a shark exhibit!
Newport Aquarium in Newport, Kentucky, announces
the arrival of "Guardians of the Deep," May 10, 2001. Measurements: 75
sharks, 30 species, three new tanks, seven staff adventure stations, 12
collectable SeaMore Stamps, 265 interpretive signs.
This arrival was almost waylaid
by a new arrival upon arrival. The Newport Aquarium gathered species of
sharks from all over the globe for its new exhibit. Among them were specimens
from South Africa, many never before displayed in North America. En route
from Capetown to JFK Airport in New York, one Guitarfish had three pups.
When the crate arrived in New York, U.S. Customs officials took exception
to the fact that the number of fish in the tank didn't match the number
on the paperwork; but, without evidence that the pups were not born on
U.S. territory, the shipment headed on to Cincinnati.
There, the entire 100,000-square-foot Newport Aquarium, across the Ohio
River from downtown Cincinnati, was being made over into a shark-themed
education trail as a kickoff to the aquarium's third season. "I had decided
that if we were going to do a big thrust for the third season it needed
to be sharks," said John Tighe, the aquarium's general manager. Already,
the aquarium's 85-foot-long acrylic tunnel through the 380,000-gallon
shark tank was, along with penguins, the aquarium's most popular draw.
Topping that proved a challenge. "Everybody wants to see great whites,
and that's just not going to happen," Tighe said.
What delighted civic leaders and media members on an invitation-only gala
Thursday evening before the public opening were the three new tanks and
their unusual inhabitants: Shark Pup Central, a double-decker tank with
pups and eggs; Wobbegong Kingdom, a 500-gallon walk around display featuring
the Ornate Wobbegong Shark; and Underwater Safari, an African-themed room
with a 7,000-gallon tank in the middle containing species of South African
sharks, ranging from the spry Pyjama Shark to the timid Dark Shyshark
and the aforementioned, descriptively named Guitarfish. The tank also
contains human children: kids can crawl into the tank's base and stand
up in two bubble windows for a 360-degree view of the sharks' domain.
"We wanted to have as big an impact as we could," said Tighe, and the
aquarium delivers with small but unique sharks. "I really stretched my
curatorial department to the limits with this one.
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It's
a swinging ship!
Del Grosso's Amusement Park in Tipton, Pennsylvania,
announces the arrival of the Sea Dragon May 6, 2001. Delivered
by Chance Rides.
The era of Del Grosso's, formerly
Bland's, began on a "drop-dead-gorgeous" Sunday, said Peter Gardella,
the park's general manager. "It was a perfect amusement park day," he
said. The park purchased the Sea Dragon, along with a Zamperla
Balloon Chase that had not yet been readied for riding, from Great
Escape & Splashwater Kingdom in Lake George, New York, and "Brownie,"
a carnival painter from Florida, created a new serpent scene on the ride.
"The serpent coming in and out looks so real you think it's going to eat
you," Gardella said. "This is a big league ride for us."
Meanwhile, the new name had nary a negative impact on the opening day
crowd, though some people still insist on calling the park Bland's. "Eighty
percent of the people say it's a smart move," Gardella said. The biggest
vote was tallied at the gate: "We had probably the best opening day we've
ever seen," Gardella said.
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Koch needed no volunteers for a ladies-only demonstration of new urinals. Photo by Sarah-Janette Smith
It's a toilet!
Holiday World and Splashin' Safari in Santa
Claus, Indiana, announces the arrival of new rest rooms and new urinals,
May 5, 2001. Measurements: 320 square feet (96 square meters) for one
set of men's and women's rooms, 1,040 square feet (312 square meters)
for the other set of women's and men's rooms, the latter containing four
Waterless Urinals delivered by Waterless Co. LLC.
Armed with a loaded Super Soaker
water gun, park matriarch and owner Pat Koch led approximately 30 women
on a ladies only "V.I.Pee Tour" of the new men's rest room at the front
entrance to Holiday World during last week's annual Stark Raven Mad event.
Her target: the four new waterless urinals the park installed as a water-saving
measure in order to gain Indiana Department of Environmental Management's
permission to build the rest rooms.
Will Koch, park president and CEO, described for the ladies the plumbing
methodology of traditional urinals versus the new receptacles' use of
Blue Seal trap seals to dispose of what he delicately termed "the offensive
yellow liquid." Blue Seal is an oily compound operating on the principle
that water is heavier than oil. He pointed out three other benefits to
the new system:
•No more unflushed or constantly flushing urinals;
•Less cleaning because
urine won't cling to their specially treated fiberglass walls;
•The Blue Seal trap seals off the urine odor, a particularly significant
plus for Pat Koch, who also serves as the park's Director of Cleaning
Services. "Based on my experience, I can tell you that men's urine smells
stronger than women's," she said.
Taking aim at the urinals, Pat and Will fired their water guns loaded
with blue-colored water for visibility. The water hit the back wall of
the urinal and flowed to the Blue Seal trap at the bottom of the basin.
The water fell under the Blue Seal, which, floating on top, sealed off
the water. The trap is changed every three months to renew the Blue Seal.
"They are sanitary and odor-free. They save money and save water. And
they are innovative and we like to be innovative," Pat Koch told the gathering.
Then she cleaned the urinal used for the demonstration.
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It's
a roller coaster!
Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom in Allentown,
Pennsylvania, announces the arrival of Talon, May 3, 2001. Measurements:
3,110 feet long (942 meters), 135 feet high (41 meters), 58 mph (93 kmh).
Delivered by Bolliger and Mabillard.
If all births were this easy.
"Normally people dread putting in a major ride until it's done," said
John Albino, vice president and general manager of the park. "It was a
pleasure putting this up because everything went so smoothly." From B&M's
cooperative design team to the company's penchant for meeting every deadline,
Talon was already running the first of April, despite the Northeast's
ultra-wet spring. Even the landscaping was nearly completed by the time
the local media crews and coaster enthusiasts arrived on Thursday for
a low-key opening ceremony. "We don't need a gimmick to push this ride,"
said Mark Sosnowsky, Dorney's public relations manager. "It really speaks
for itself."
And spoke loudly on the public debut two days later. Rides on the first
train were sold off as a fund-raiser for the Lehigh Valley Hospital Pediatrics
Clinic, the first and last row seats going for $1,000, the rest costing
$250. The general public tended to head straight for the ride upon entering
the park, and two full trains ran throughout the sunny, warm day. "I couldn't
custom order better weather than that," Sosnowsky said. "It was perfect
coaster riding weather." And Talon carried the day.
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It's
a stage show!
LEGOLAND California in Carlsbad announces
the arrival of "Life on Mars," April 28, 2001. Measurements: 20 minutes,
six cast members playing three characters, 500 pounds of foam (225 kg),
five daily showings. Delivered by LEGO Global Family Attractions.
Park officials describe "Life
on Mars" as "Blue Man Group" meets "Stomp" for kids. Based on a LEGO toy
line, astronaut BB-LEGO cavorts with LEGO Martians Cassiopeia and Altair
as they search for Biodum, a source of energy and life found within meteors
on the surface of Mars. The characters learn how to communicate through
sound and movement.
The same show is debuting at all three LEGOLAND parks this year. Billund
opened the show in March, and Windsor's park is expected to raise the
curtain on "Life on Mars" this month.
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It's
a drop tower!
Magic Springs and Crystal Falls in Hot Springs,
Arkansas, announces the arrival of Dr. Dean's Rocket Machine, April
19, 2001. Measurements: 100 feet tall (30 meters), 12 seats total on three
sides. Delivered by S&S Power.
A state's highest elected
official has many duties, but one of those surely not listed in the state's
constitution is being raised to nearly 100 feet above the earth and then
suddenly falling faster than gravity. "I wouldn't say riding thrill rides
are at the top of his list," said Maria Partlow, marketing director of
Magic Springs Development Company, of Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee's
role in the official opening ceremonies. "But he rode Dr. Dean
and Arkansas Twister."
Though Dr. Dean was the one new ride, and the park debuted several
new stage shows for the season, the make-over of the Arkansas Twister
drew the greatest attention. The 1977 wood coaster, moved to Hot Springs
in 1992, received a $2 million renovation over the past winter. The result
was a faster, smoother ride with more air time, and a new classic status
among enthusiasts. Magic Springs' new thrill-ride profile, along with
"chamber of commerce weather" resulted in strong opening weekend traffic,
not only locally but from Louisiana and Tennessee, too, Partlow said.
Two other additions also proved popular to Opening Day crowds: Garfield
and Odie, which the park is featuring under a licensing agreement. "Little
kids love coming up and hugging characters, but they run to Garfield squealing,
'Garfield!'" said Partlow, who noted the employees enjoyed having their
new cartoon colleagues on board, too. "Garfield's Q scores are incredible."
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Scott Heck felt honored to have a lap bar bearing Koch's autograph. Photo by Eric Minton
A humor for healing
Pat Koch stood on the stage
as more than a hundred roller coaster fans lined up to meet her. It looked
like pilgrims approaching Mother Theresa; except in this scene, the one
needing the healing was Mrs. Koch. "I'm not an attention seeker," said
the secretary of Koch Development Company who, with her husband William
Koch, owns Holiday World and Splashin' Safari in Santa Claus, Indiana.
"Actually the attention humbles me to know that so many people care about
me."
Mrs. Koch was diagnosed April 26 with colorectal cancer. She is currently undergoing chemotherapy with a portable intravenous tube and pump, and radiation therapy, which requires a daily visit to an Evansville, Indiana, hospital an hour away. After five weeks of these stabilizing and preventive measures, she will undergo surgery to remove the tumor and surrounding tissue in her colon. Then, she will undergo another round of chemotherapy.
Word of her illness spread through the coaster community quickly, and at Holiday World's annual Stark Raven Mad event last weekend, the fans handed her cards, flowers, hugs and encouragement. Many also shared with her their own experiences with cancer in their families or as survivors themselves. My own link with Mrs. Koch, beyond being industry colleagues, is my mother, who survived colon cancer that had spread to her liver two years ago. Today she is cancer free.
The similarities are striking, and not just because these are two women of the same age whom I highly respect and admire. Like my mom, Mrs. Koch is handling her illness and treatment with her indomitable sense of humor. My mom's bald head earned her the nickname "Mommy-Me" (a la Dr. Evil's "Mini-Me" in Austin Powers) from her three sons, and two days after 12-hour surgery removed three-fourths of her liver, we were belting "We Will Rock You" together in her hospital room until the nurse kicked the family out—even though mom started it!
And so it was that one nurse in the cancer ward observed of Mrs. Koch, "You're going to be so much fun." Mrs. Koch related how she first visited the chemotherapy clinic and found everybody quiet and solemn. "They were just sitting there, not talking to each other. I said, 'This is not good,' and I went up and touched them and started talking. They opened right up."
That's another philosophy the two women have in common: that sharing is essential to healing. "For me, community love and support is what life's all about, whether you're healthy or sick," Mrs. Koch said. Both believe profoundly in the power of prayer, and equally important is living as fully as the illness allows, unabashed by the bald head my mom sported or the chemo tube emerging from Mrs. Koch's gauze wrapped forearm. My mom continued her baseball card collecting activities and accompanied me on a tour of amusement parks. Mrs. Koch is still pursuing her master's in pastoral care ("I've got three papers to write," she said in resignation) and, of course, continues to oversee operations of one of the world's finest theme parks.
"At first I asked, 'Why does it have to happen in summer time?'" Mrs. Koch said. "Yesterday I realized that when I come down here, I feel good. It wouldn't be that way in the winter when this place is closed and I can't be around the people."
Mrs. Koch has so much going for her: her faith, a doctor she trusts, her own will power and spirit, a sense of humor, and a global community of people who love her. Just like my mom.
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