| ||||||||||
 
Dr. Ronald P. Rogers CHIROPRACTOR Support for your body's natural healing capabilities 270-384-5554 Click here for details 
  
Columbia Gas Dept. GAS LEAK or GAS SMELL Contact Numbers 24 hrs/ 365 days 270-384-2006 or 9-1-1 Call before you dig 
Visit ColumbiaMagazine's Directory of Churches Addresses, times, phone numbers and more for churches in Adair County Find Great Stuff in ColumbiaMagazine's Classified Ads Antiques, Help Wanted, Autos, Real Estate, Legal Notices, More... 
|
Carol Perkins: Beech Bend Park Carol Perkins remembers the glory days of Beech Bend Park in Bowling Green, KY. A safe place for kids, with admission only ten cents, not a whole week's paycheck to enter. A place with scary rides like the Ferris wheel, and scary thrilling rides like the Wild Mouse. A place she'd like to take her grandkids to, to consume Beech Bend the way she di many years ago. Carol Perkins next earlier article: Skate Key By Carol Perkins Beech Bend Park Beech Bend Park, just a few miles outside of Bowling Green, was my Disney World. It came complete with a zoo, skating rink, thrill rides, an Olympic sized swimming pool, pavilions for dancing, stock car races, and tents with teddy bears and hula dolls hanging along the sides, enticing a guy to "win one for the pretty lady." All these wonderfully exciting attractions were rolled into one grand park that didn't cost a week's paycheck to enter. The admission fee was only ten cents When the park first opened in the late forties, the price to get in was only 10 cents! When my dad made the turn onto the lane lined with stately beech trees that led to this wonderland, my fingers clasped the leather seats in anticipation. Cars would often be lined up back to the highway, but in a matter of minutes I could see the grand arch of the entrance. We kids bounced up and down in the seats yelling, "We're here! We're here!" Several times during the summer, my family jumped into our blue Mercury, threw a picnic lunch in the back seat and headed for Beech Bend. During the late fifties and early sixties, when I was just the right age to have freedom (but not too much of it), Beech Bend was in its heyday. The park was immaculate and flowers graced the grounds much like they do at Disney World. Parents didn't worry about safety of their kids at Beech Bend Parents didn't worry about their children wandering around the park with their buddies. Beech Bend was a safe place for the family. My dad parked the car down near the river under tall beech trees. Picnic tables were scattered about for families to spread their dinners and afterward parents would sit around and talk while the kids enjoyed the park. Most of the Sunday afternoons, our relatives came too, so we cousins hung out together while our parents strolled through the zoo, walked through the park, or sat in porch swings waiting for us. Couldn't not ride the Wild Mouse Every time we went, I knew I was going to end up riding Beech Bend's main attraction, a roller coaster called The Wild Mouse. I didn't want to ride it. (After all, I was a first-class chicken.) Yet, I couldn't not ride it. I dreaded to hear the clicking of "the mouse" as it inched to its highest point. I just knew that it was going to jump track and hurl me to the river. When it dropped, twisted, and turned, I vowed if I ever got off that piece of junk, I would never ride it again, but, with every visit, I would succumb to peer pressure and get back on. Every pre-teen girl's fantasy was to ride the ferris wheel with a cute boy; however, when she did, he was sure to rock the seat to show his fearlessness- and to test hers. The boy continued to rock while the girl shrilled, positive she would splatter all over the crowd below. "Let me off!" I yelled more than once to the guy operating the Ferris wheel. He never did. Although I rode it often, I never liked the Ferris wheel. Mr. Garvin bought the Ferris wheel from Chicago World's Fair Even when my daddy rode with me, I was afraid it would break. (Mr. Garvin, the founder, bought the Ferris wheel from the Chicago World's Fair) What I did like was the Tilt-A-Whirl. Being slung from side to side at a rapid speed did not scare me. I wanted to be on the outside so I wouldn't be mashed, but would smash against others. The swings were fun, too, although I did worry about losing my shoes as my feet dangled in the air. The bumper cars were a safe way to drive recklessly, even though my car did not always go in the directions I planned. By the time I straightened out my wheel, BAM! I'd be hit from the side or the back; but every once in a while I would land a clear shot at someone and plow head-on into him. It was exhilarating! On the way to the car, as I ate my final snow cone and/or cotton candy, we walked through the zoo because Daddy loved the animals. I found them stinky and tired. It was a time before most cars had air conditioning At the end of the day, we crawled into the back seat of the car and fell asleep as Daddy drove home. This was a time of no air conditioner, no interstate, but cheap gas. Growing older did not mean out-growing Beech Bend. During high school, and even in college, my girlfriends and I went to Beech Bend often during the summer with a good friend whose mother had worked at the park for years and was almost like part of the Garvin family. We would lounge around the pool or sometimes skate. but mainly, we looked for handsome guys. Those were lighthearted days. As parents, Guy and I took Carla and Jon there a few times, but the park was beginning to look unkempt and some of the rides had been closed. Sometimes letting go of places that were so much a part of your growing up is hard to do. Now, I hear that the park is thriving, especially the racetrack. I haven't been back to Beech Bend, but maybe next summer Guy and I will load up the grandchildren, a picnic lunch, park down by the river and take them to ride the kiddie rides. Would enjoy riding the Cup and Saucer again Now that my Wild Mouse days are over, I think I could enjoy riding the Cup and Saucer with them as they consume Beech Bend the way I did many years ago. About the author: Carol (Sullivan) Perkins is a lifelong resident of Edmonton, KY, in Metcalfe County where she taught high school English at Metcalfe County High School until her recent retirement. She is a now a freelance writer. is married to Guy Perkins and they have two children: Carla Green (Mark) of Brentwood, TN and Jon Perkins (Beth) of Austin, TX and six grandchildren. Her latest book, Let's Talk About, is a collection of over 70 of her works, and she is presently working on the second book in this series. Carol's ties to Adair County go back to Breeding where her grandfather, Rufus Reece, and her grandmother Bettie Strange, began their married life and later moved to Metcalfe County. You may contact Carol at cperkins@scrtc.com or write at P.O. Box 134 Edmonton. If you would like a copy of her book, you can order through email. Watch for her next story on Sunday, March 15, 2009. This story was posted on 2009-03-22 12:44:39
Printable: this page is now automatically formatted for printing.
Have comments or corrections for this story? Use our contact form and let us know. More articles from topic Carol Perkins:
Carol Perkins: Skate Key Carol Perkins: To The State CAROL PERKINS: Hit the slopes View even more articles in topic Carol Perkins |
 
115 Jamestown St. Columbia, KY. 270-384-2496 
  
   
 Provided by the Adair Co Fiscal Court and the Adair Co. Emergency Mgt. Agency 
|
||||||||
|
| ||||||||||
|
Quick Links to Popular Features
Looking for a story or picture? Try our Photo Archive or our Stories Archive for all the information that's appeared on ColumbiaMagazine.com. | ||||||||||
|
Contact us: Columbia Magazine and columbiamagazine.com are published by Linda Waggener and Pen Waggener, PO Box 906, Columbia, KY 42728. Please use our contact page, or send questions about technical issues with this site to webmaster@columbiamagazine.com. All logos and trademarks used on this site are property of their respective owners. All comments remain the property and responsibility of their posters, all articles and photos remain the property of their creators, and all the rest is copyright 1995-Present by Columbia Magazine. Privacy policy: use of this site requires no sharing of information. Voluntarily shared information may be published and made available to the public on this site and/or stored electronically. Anonymous submissions will be subject to additional verification. Cookies are not required to use our site. However, if you have cookies enabled in your web browser, some of our advertisers may use cookies for interest-based advertising across multiple domains. For more information about third-party advertising, visit the NAI web privacy site.
| ||||||||||
