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Volume 1, No. 8. May 18, 2001

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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