News-Journal from Mansfield, Ohio • 22

Thursday, July 10, 1986 News Journal, Mansfield, O. 1 -C TV9-C Asbestos10-C betas: weekend Kings Island now 15, but looking better than ever By John Futty News Journal y7f a7' 7 -di lx-AW- itftf 7 A'Tm Kr TA' Vv These include "The Screamin' Demon," the nation's first steel roller coaster to travel backwards and forwards through a 360-degree loop; "King Cobra," America's first stand-up looping roller coaster; "White Water Landing," a soaking river raft ride; "Kenton Cove Keelboat Landing," a log flume ride through the treetops; and the legendary "Beast," the longest, fastest wooden roller coaster in the world, taking passengers on a four-minute ride through torturous turns, down agonizing plunges and into dark tunnels. In honor of its 15th anniversary, Kings Island spent $2 million to introduce three new rides and a 180-degree movie theater in the Coney Mall section. The new rides are "Skylab," a 90-foot wheel made up of 15 enclosed cars that whirls passengers upside down in a high-speed circle; "Zephyr," a chair swing ride that hurls riders 50 feet out into space; and a new, enlarged "Dodgem" in which 40 fibreglass cars ram into each other. The rest of Coney Mall, which is similar to a turn-of-the-century amusement park, was renovated and spruced up for the anniversary.

According to Ruth Voss, manager of marketing and communication for Kings Island, that seemed appropriate. "Because we are celebrating our 15th season, and the old Coney Island was literally transplanted here at the beginning, we thought we would improve that part of the park for nostalgic reasons," she said. "People love that part of the park, especially old-timers who like to come back and remember how it used to be." Since no major thrill ride was added this season, it is considered an "in-between year" by Ms. Voss. "I've been here 11 years, and every other year since I've been here we've spent $4 million on a major thrill ride," she said.

"But even in an in-between year, we spend a good $2 million on improvements." Next season, the tradition will continue with the $4 million addition of a steel roller coaster that will turn its passengers upside down six times (more than any other coaster in the world) and break coaster speed See Coney Page 6-C KINGS MILLS, Ohio In 1971, Cincinnati's century-old Coney Island was closed, and many of its attractions were moved to an area of quiet farm land north of the city on Interstate 71. The old rides became part of a new amusement park called Kings Island. The $30 million amusement park boasted 65 rides and attractions when it opened for business in the summer of 1972. Now, 15 years later, there are more than 100 rides and attractions at the park, which is surrounded by a hotel and campground, the Jack Nicholas Sports Center, the College Football Hall of Fame and an outlet shopping mall. Kings Island has welcomed 35 million guests since its opening, and the crowds get bigger every year.

They are attracted by a clean, colorful, masterfully planned entertainment center that possesses some of the best thrill rides in the nation. The evidence of planning begins when you enter the front gates and step onto International Street, a European-style boulevard of shops and restaurants with a dramatic fountain stretching the length of the street and leading to a replica of the Eiffel Tower. The 330-foot tower, which has become the park's trademark and a southern Ohio landmark, is one-third the size of the actual structure in Paris. Encircling the Eiffel Tower are four themed areas Oktoberfest (complete with German food and music), Rivertown (a scenic area depicting life in the riverboat days), Hanna-Barbera Land (a kiddy-ride area where Yogi Bear, his cartoon friends and the Smurfs roam) and Coney Mall (containing the old Coney Island attractions). Each area has its own specialty foods, live entertainment and breathtaking rides.

The rides are what Kings Island guests go home talking about. When the park opened, it thrilled visitors with "The Racer," a twin-track wooden roller coaster that reaches speeds of 60 mph. The ride remains one of the park's most exhilarating and popular (one of the trains even travels backward now), but Kings Island has been adding state-of-the-art thrill rides ever since. f-fn! "trails. 4 a "-iy.

$2 Skylab, a 90-foot wheel that propels 15 enclosed passenger cart In high-speed circles at a variety of angles (including upside down), is one of three new rides installed at Kings Island's Coney Mall to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the theme park. (Photo from Kings Island) 'Carousel' marks theater's birthday ster's Freedlander Theatre. Tickets range from 11. 50 to $12.50. Many performances are sold' out, so patrons should call (216) 263-2345 for ticket information and reservations.

Lexington Presbyterian Church, 35 w. Church Lexington, hosts its annual ice cream social Saturday at 5 p.m. Full meal available. Proceeds benefit the projects sponsored by the women of the church. in 1945, are "If I Loved You" and "You'll Never Walk Alone." The show later became a popular movie starring Shirley Jones and Gordon Ma-cRae.

The large cast of north central Ohio performers has been in rehearsal since April under direction of Tim Groth, with Colleen Roseberry serving as producer and Marty Cecil handling the choreography. The 70-member ensemble includes Nick Trolian, a veteran of the Galion High School drama department, as Jigger Craigin; Mark Roseberry of Galion as Billy Bigelow and Nancy Herman of Galion as Nettie Fowler. Denise Day of Shelby is cast as Julie Jordan; Kathy Zeiter of Mansfield portrays Carrie Pipperidge; Bryan Hunt of Ashland plays Enoch Snow and JoAnn Johnson of Bucyrus has the role of Mrs. Mullings. A live orchestra, under the direction of Randy Mann, will accompany the famous songs.

GALION The Galion Community Theatre will celebrate its third year of existence by presenting the Rogers and Hammerstein musical "Carousel" this weekend in the Galion High School auditorium. The musical will be staged today through Saturday at 8:30 p.m. Reserved seat tickets are $4, and are available at the school ticket booth or by calling 468-6500. "Carousel" is the third production for the Galion group, which was founded in the spring of 1984 by Galion High School students. The fledgling community theater opened with "The Sound of Music," which sold out two weeks in advance.

Last year's production was "Brigadoon." Set in a New England town in 1873, "Carousel" tells the musical story of a bitter carnival barker who hopes for a better life when he marries a shy girl, only to see the relationship lead to tragedy. Among the memorable songs from the show, which opened on Broadway may OSU-Mansf ield Dinner Theatre continues its production of thejTiusical, "Cabaret," Friday in Eisenhower Cafeteria, with a buffet dinner at 6:30 p.m. and the show at 8:15 p.m. The production concludes with a performance Saturday night. Tickets are $17.50, with reservations required at 755-4334.

Renaissance Theatre Summer Film Series presents "Rebecca," Alfred Hitchcock's Oscar-winning 1940 mystery-romance, Friday at 7:30 p.m. in the 138 Park Avenue West, Mansfield, tfieater. The series continues with "The Stunt Man," the 1980 thriller that earned an Oscar nomination for Peter O'Toole, on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $2 at the door. Ohio Light Opera presents Gilbert and Sullivan's "The, Yeoman of the Guard" Friday at 8 p.m., Offenbach's "La Belle Helene" Saturday at 8 p.m.

and Kalman's "The Gypsy Princess" Sunday at 2 p.m. in the College of Woo- KingWOOd Center, 900 Park Avenue West, Mansfield, hosts the Ohio Lily Society's 22nd annual Lily Show in the meeting hall Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and the Ohio Hemerocallis Society's annual Daylily Show in the exhibit hall Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m. Free and open to the public.

Etc. "Renewing friendships" was the most important reason for older grads, while younger grads wanted to compare changes in their lives with those of friends and to let former classmates "see me as I am now Action line Do you have a problem with city hall? Call the City Action Line, 526-4802, weekdays from 3 to 5 p.m. for help in resolving it. reunions than those who didn't fit in, according to a study reported in Psychology Today. However, said researchers Douglas Lamb and Glenn Reeder, there is no difference in the current levels of happiness between those who came and those who didn't come to reunions.

Among those who chose to attend, older grads had different reasons than younger grads had, the researchers found in a study of 1,500 people who graduated between 1921 and 1984 of the University of Illinois, who was co-chairman of the study's panel on information. "But we have not made such strides in software design, and that is the bottleneck that's killing us in our efforts to bring new systems, particularly large systems, to market quicker." Planning to attend? Chicago Trlbun People who were happy and popular in high school are more likely to attend class Auto photos MANSFIELD Owners of pre-1970 automobiles are invited to have their vehicles photographed in the parking lot of Bank One, 800 Ashland Road, on Saturday from 3 to 7 p.m. for a full-color book. The "Graffiti Night Photo Car Contest" will be conducted by P.B.D. Commercial Photography of Lucas, which eventually will offer the book for sale.

There will be no charge to have cars photographed. Tripping up computers Chicago Trlbun The programs or "software" needed to run computer systems haven't kept pace with advances in computer equipment or "hardware," a study by the National Research Council has concluded. "We have had very much improved productivity, by orders of magnitude, in computer hardware design over the last two decades," said Thomas Everhart, chancellor.