Successful Book Debut this Weekend and the Kennywood Holiday Lights!

The book debut yesterday at the GOCC Party at Kennywood went wonderfully! It was a great day. Kennywood played host to the event and it was an honor to be able to debut the book in the over a century old Parkside Cafe at Kennywood. (The book is available through the drop down menu near the top of the page)

The project is the culmination of years of taking photos, lots of writing, researching along with interviewing over twenty different important folks from ride manufacturers/designers such as GCI, Gravity Group, PTC, Mike Boodley, Steve Okamoto, Charlie Dinn and others, along with amusement park legends such as Dick Knoebel, Paul Nelson of Waldameer, Murl Clark of Dutch Wonderland, Andy Quinn of Kennywood and others such as Rick Sebak of WQED. The 152 page book with hundreds of photos provides a great insight into the history of Pennsylvania amusement parks and a practical blueprint towards visiting the parks of the state with the most wooden roller coasters. Also covered are very neat landmarks around the parks such as the Yuengling Brewery, many state parks, historic landmarks and other cool things.

Great Pennsylvania Amusement Parks Road Trip Book Buying Options

For the book by itself $21.95 USD For the book and our 2014 Calendar $30.00 USD For only the 2014 Calendar $11.50 USD

The way in which this book has come together and had a very successful debut at the party, we could not be happier. It is with great joy that I can tell you this. The project has been in the back of my head for a very long time, but I never had the time to do it. I was blessed with an injury and subsequent chronic condition that gave me the sitting time to be able to complete this finally and it was a blast and really kept me together. I could not be happier. 

Enough talk about the book though. Even though the weather forced the Kennywood Holiday Lights to not open for the public on Saturday Night, the wonderful folks at Kennywood still turned on the lights over a short period for us to enjoy, including the light show over the FROZEN lagoon. What a strange sight to see compared to the way the water looks in the evening with the beautiful Racer and Jack Rabbit lights reflecting upon the water during the summer. They even turned the lights on their beautiful Dentzel carousel. It is always a treat to just be near that carousel, let alone see the dazzling lights at night.

The lights were simply spectacular!

I love the toy soldiers! Always one of the coolest lit things at the park

The landmark windmill on the way out. Overall, it was a really great day. Kennywood was a great host for us and the debut of our book was wonderful. If you are interested in the book, you can get it through the drop down menu near the top of the page. Thank you!