View Full Version : Any Memories of Springlake?



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Patchy Proot
07-03-2008, 10:25 PM
I grew up in the Wildwood subdivision off of NE 55th and Kelly. I was a kid during the 60's and have lots of memories of going to Springlake. I know a lot of you who grew up on the northwest part of town went to Wedgewood a lot, but I could walk to Springlake from my house in about 30 minutes. I loved that place. You would pay one price and get your hand stamped and ride all day and night. The Big Dipper and the Wild Maus would be illegal to operate today. I remember you had to brace yourself on the Big Dipper when it made its first turn after taking the 'big dip'; it dang near broke your neck! I always felt that some day the car I was riding on the Wild Maus was going to go flying off the tracks. Man, that was a wicked ride. Did any of you ever ride the Alpine Skyway and jump off once it crossed the lake and made its turn to come back? We did it all the time. My favorite inside ride was the Galaxy. I would ride it over and over. And the bumper cars! Can't forget those! Man, oh man, you would slam somebody on the side and their car almost flipped over! And how about the Fun House with all those crazy mirrors and those holes in the floor that would air blast you a good one? Wow. Those were the best days of my youth.

My aunt worked for the now long gone Oklahoma Journal newspaper. Every summer they would have their annual employee picnic at Springlake. That was a summer event I looked forward to every year. They would have barbecue catered to the picnic area and we could stay at the park all day and ride all we wanted.

I remeber a little of the few times I went to Wedgewood, but I don't recall their rides even coming close to the thrills that were at Springlake. I do remember that go cart track which was just west of Wedgewood at one time. That was later in the seventies when I was a teen. Those were really cool to ride. That was just past Meridian there on the NW Expressway. Back then I think everything past the go cart track was just fields. Wow. That was a long time ago.

SOONER8693
07-04-2008, 07:02 AM
I do. We lived between Covington and Garber, in the oilfields near Enid. When we got to come to Springlake was like the most exciting thing in the world. When I was about 7 or 8 I saw Johnny Cash there with my folks. He was so young, he was considered a rock and roll singer at that time. The Big Dipper was the best. I really loved the fun house with the big slides inside. Attended numerous Easter egg hunts there. Springlake was cool before the era of the mega theme-amusement parks.

kevinpate
07-04-2008, 07:18 AM
Might take a look at dougs blog and book at
http://www.okctalk.com/okc-metro-area-talk/12571-springlake-arcadia-book-help.html?highlight=Springlake

FRISKY
07-04-2008, 09:54 AM
More info:
Metro Technology Centers - The old Springlake Amusement Park (http://www.metrotech.org/campuses/sl-history/history-photos.html)

NikonNurse
07-04-2008, 01:16 PM
My grandfather operated the big dipper. My uncle was killed on it (way before I was born). But I went quite a bit as a kid..loved the little dipper and the awesome fun house with the slide and the air holes that blasted you as you walked through.

Patchy Proot
07-04-2008, 01:57 PM
When I was about 7 or 8 I saw Johnny Cash there with my folks. He was so young, he was considered a rock and roll singer at that time.

Wow! Thanks for jogging my memory! I forgot all about the concerts they had there at the amphitheatre. I saw the 3 Stooges there with Mo, Larry, and I think it was Jo. Curly and Schemp had passed on already, I believe. I also remember my Dad taking us there because he wanted to see Roger Miller who had a couple of popular songs at the time. As I remember now I am pretty sure I discovered my first crush there when I was about ten or eleven on a girl who was waiting in line with me at the bumper cars. Boy, oh boy. The days of youth:calvin2:

sgt. pepper
07-07-2008, 08:18 AM
i remember my parents talking about seeing johnny cash at spring lake.

Generals64
08-25-2008, 05:44 PM
Springlake:.........."What a place"..........We used to stand where they blew the air on the girls....WOW:..........How about the sack slide, the Penny Arcade....Their swimming pool was one of the best even when they put the dolphins in there...Tell me why?.....I use to love the penny arcade...The Dig Dipper is supposed to still be alive at another small amusement park in the midwest. bumper cars...could go on and on.

One of the reasons Conway Twitty moved to OKC was Springlake and how the people treated him. They (Springlake) always had big name acts....We kept hoping for The Beatles.....Kids will dream.

see ya next time:..........................

Steve
08-25-2008, 06:34 PM
All of you are going to love Doug's Springlake book. It's great fun, and I'm very happy I got an early look at it.

LordGerald
08-25-2008, 06:35 PM
I only remember Springlake in the dying days...in the late 1970s, early, early 1980s. My brother and I had the run of the place. You could ride the Big Dipper, get off, run through the line, and get back on. I used to love the "big dip" at the beginning. The ascendence up the hill, the anticipation. Great fun. Too bad it got run down...

Doug Loudenback
08-25-2008, 10:20 PM
Good stuff, guys! I'd have included some of your comments in the book but it's a done deal now and can't be changed, but several great anecdotes came from contributions volunteered by at least one OkcTalk member through PMs here. Others came by e-mails and comments in my Springlake blog article. The book will be in local book shops on October 13.

Steve was a great help ... he showed me some research tips that were invaluable ... and was kind enough to write the Foreword ... and made lots of helpful suggestions.

The book cover and the Introduction pages are shown below. Although there may be slight editing changes to them (I don't have the changes made via telephone with the Arcadia final editor), the Introduction to the book shown below is at least substantially if not completely accurate.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/springlake/springlakecover.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/springlake/springlake_p8.gif

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/springlake/springlake_p9.gif

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/springlake/springlake_p10.gif

Don't worry ... the book's 6 chapters following the Introduction have far fewer words and lots of photographs assembled or collected by Springlake's owners over most of the park's life, so it won't all be so "wordy" as the above!

Steve
08-26-2008, 12:15 AM
I am much more in Doug's debt than he is to me... I'll provide all of you with the inside scoop on what I'm talking about in the next couple weeks.

flintysooner
08-26-2008, 04:24 AM
Doug's book, Springlake Amusement Park (http://www.fullcirclebooks.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productID=0738561797), may be pre-ordered at Full Circle Bookstore.

MsProudSooner
08-26-2008, 11:24 AM
Bless my parent's heart, they drove me and my friend 90 miles so we could see Bobby Vee and The Everly Brothers at Springlake.

CCOKC
08-27-2008, 12:10 AM
My dad's business had their company picnic there every year. I could spend hours going through the fun house. I can still smell those gunny sacks going down the slide. Oh, good times.

Doug Loudenback
08-28-2008, 12:12 PM
I've majorly updated my Springlake via Arcadia blog post to include 21 pages from the 128 page Arcadia book so that you can get a good "look and feel" there. I didn't ask Arcadia if it was OK to do this, but, hey, I wrote the damn thing! So, enjoy ... AND BUY! :bright_id

A "signing" party has not yet been set, but it will likely be on or soon after October 13 when the book hits the stores.

In this forum, I again extend my special thanks to PapaJack for giving anecdotal stories which enlivens the text, a bunch. Thanks again, PapaJack!

Doug Dawgz Blog: Springlake via Arcadia (http://dougdawg.blogspot.com/2008/04/springlake-via-arcadia.html)

Enjoy!

grantgeneral78
08-28-2008, 03:41 PM
Yes I remember Springlake very well, a friend of mines parents worked in the office at the park. I spent one summer working there in the penny arcade, it was a total blast. All the rootbeer you could drink for free what a perk! and the check wasnt bad either.

Also worked the putt putt green.

oklahoma2000
08-28-2008, 11:21 PM
Does anyone remember eating the frog fries?

dotbird
10-30-2009, 09:31 AM
Don't remember the frog fries. But here's a neat Springlake story. When my Dad was a photographer at the Oklahoman and Times, he took photos of Conway Twitty at Springlake amphitheater. Got up on roof of the dressing room at back of stage and, when Conway turned to the left for a profile, got a great shot of the band and the audience. Years later, when I showed my wife the photo, she spotted herself and her sisters in the audience. Small world! He also got a closeup shot of Conway with his guitar inside the dressing room. I just loved Springlake...the fun house, bumper cars and roller coaster. Was it me or was there something special about going through the tunnel or whatever you call it when the roller coaster ride first began? That, and pulling back into the station. (In other words, I did not care much for the stomach-butterflies ride itself!)

kevinpate
10-30-2009, 09:59 AM
Does anyone remember eating the frog fries?

What do you serve up with frog fries? ... Rib-lits

FRISKY
10-30-2009, 10:53 AM
What do you serve up with frog fries? ... Rib-litsWe used to order those at Lily's pad...

circled9
10-30-2009, 11:05 AM
Very interesting. My family moved to California in 1960 and when I returned in 1994, Springlake and Wedgewood were gone. Young people look at me like I am crazy when I ask what happened to them so at least I now have answers to half of my question.

My last Springlake concert was this young kid named Marty Robbins. Not sure if El Paso had come out by then or not but I do remember him doing A White Sport Coat and a Pink Carnation.

RealJimbo
10-30-2009, 02:43 PM
Ah yes. Lots of Springlake memories. We often went there as a family to see the 4th of July fireworks. I went with friends to see Roger Miller, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Beach Boys, The Osmond Brothers and some odds and ends of novelty acts. That was great. Later on I went with friends to ride the rides and see the "peep shows" in the arcade. They seemed really daring at the time. For a penny you would look into the eye piece and turn a handle while cards inside flipped past your view, animating a dancing lady or a woman in a swimsuit, etc. then the light inside went out and you had to put another penny in. Later I worked in the T.G.&Y. Stores Co. office and we had our annual company picnic there. I'll never forget it. Side note, my dad and his brother who grew up just outside of Tuttle, OK as kids, they rode their bicycles there one time and dad thought they were going to die before they got back home that night.

Dustin
10-30-2009, 02:57 PM
We used to order those at Lily's pad...

Thats right down the toad from house!

papaOU
10-30-2009, 03:18 PM
Thats right down the toad from house!

The place closed when you were but a tadpole..............

FRISKY
10-30-2009, 04:36 PM
Thats right down the toad from the house!That's in Calaveras County isn't it? I hear things are really jumping there.

papaOU
10-30-2009, 11:37 PM
[QUOTE=NikonNurse;151779]My grandfather operated the big dipper. My uncle was killed on it (way before I was born).

There were times we did nothing but ride the Big Dipper. Always warned not to stand up during the ride. The story was a man did stand and was decapitated. Said to have been a sailor, was that your uncle?

mrbob
11-03-2009, 04:30 PM
Springlake was great. I hunted easter eggs there as a kid. Went almost every weekend to the pool in my teen years. Mom would drop us off an come back 6 hrs later. Heck for a couple of bucks you had a wonderful time, food and all. I saw Rick Nelson and brother David. Beach Boys, Conway. The family did the Fourth of July also and had picnic's at Springlake. Damm I miss that place. Sometimes the family would do the Zoo and then across the street to Springlake. What a day that was. My dad was always flirting with the women out there, I guess that's where I get my girl watching from. Haha Don't tell Mom he would say. Heck no, guess where my money came from. LOL

Prunepicker
11-04-2009, 08:42 PM
There's something about wooden roller coasters. Maybe it's the way they
beat you to death and how they sound like they're about to fall apart.

Some of the cars are at the MetroTech. So are some of the carousel horses
and carts.

phinzup
11-06-2009, 12:44 PM
I spent many an hour at Springlake back in the day. We used to have family picnics at Lincoln Park, go to the Zoo, and then to Springlake in the evening. The Zoo used to close at sundown back then. We got locked in once and had to squeeze through the bars at the gate to get out and back to the family. Used to be a lot of picnic areas where the Lincoln West Golf Course is now.

Loved the Big Dipper, the penny arcade, and the fun house. When I was really young I was afraid to go down the big slide in the fun house.

The swimming pool was the best pool I've ever been in. And the scenery too.

Back in the late 50's my grandparents lived just to the west of Springlake and my cousins and I would go down to "Springlake creek" and go skinny dipping. Not sure if that was the actual name of the creek, but that's what we called it. It ran kinda east and west, and is just to the south of where the Big Dipper used to be.

Went to many concerts and 4th of July fireworks displays there as well. Really was a shame to see it fade away.

NikonNurse
11-06-2009, 01:37 PM
[QUOTE=NikonNurse;151779]My grandfather operated the big dipper. My uncle was killed on it (way before I was born).

There were times we did nothing but ride the Big Dipper. Always warned not to stand up during the ride. The story was a man did stand and was decapitated. Said to have been a sailor, was that your uncle?


Details were limited to the small children but yes, Jerry had a few too many and stood up on the ride. Never heard the decapitated part but as I grew older and rode it myself, you could just guess.

NikonNurse
11-06-2009, 01:38 PM
On a lighter note, my mother was photographed with Anita Bryant for the paper. She also saw the Beach Boys there. My favorite part was the awesome funhouse with the slides, the spinner and the obnoxious air blasters in the floor.

Doug Loudenback
11-07-2009, 12:24 AM
These are all such great memories, guys and gals. Wish that I had them when writing the book so that they could have been included.

kevinpate
11-07-2009, 03:25 AM
These are all such great memories, guys and gals. Wish that I had them when writing the book so that they could have been included.

Sooo, maybe: Springlake II - Another Lap Around the Track ?

Doug Loudenback
11-07-2009, 07:44 AM
No, I've used up all most all of the pictures available. No #2.

papaOU
11-07-2009, 11:53 AM
I remember our family going on a picnic at Lincoln Park and then head over to Springlake. Sometimes we would stop by a drive-in on about 9Th and Walnut to get broasted chicken.......

grantgeneral78
11-07-2009, 05:15 PM
I need to ask my mom if she has pics of me working at springlake still

Prunepicker
11-07-2009, 05:36 PM
No, I've used up all most all of the pictures available. No #2.
Then start a 3rd book. Any other questions.

papaOU
11-07-2009, 10:50 PM
I need to ask my mom if she has pics of me working at springlake still

Rowdy 55 has some photos taken at Springlake. I don't think they are photos OF the park but of family and friends. One is in front of the spook house. Did Springlake have only 1 spook house? The Ferris-wheel was and still is the scariest ride anywhere!!!!

papaOU
11-08-2009, 02:31 PM
I bet I've met a thousand people who have the same story.

Their parents told them not to ride the Big Dipper.

They did anyway and their folks found out about it.

How?

The kid woke during the night screaming and holding on to the bedpost.

RealJimbo
11-09-2009, 10:31 AM
I remember our family going on a picnic at Lincoln Park and then head over to Springlake. Sometimes we would stop by a drive-in on about 9Th and Walnut to get broasted chicken.......

Mmmm...that was the best chicken ever! And just around the corner on NE 4th, east of Walnut was Pulliam's BBQ. That was the best BBQ ever!

Prunepicker
11-09-2009, 11:25 AM
Pulliam's! Oh yeah!

Here's a recipe that claims to be Pulliam's sauce. It doesn't say anything
about how long it had to sit in the window, bubble and ferment LOL!

I'm going to try it. It's been so long I doubt if I'll remember.

Pulliam's BBQ Sauce

1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil
1 small Onion - finely chopped
1 small clove Garlic - minced
1 14-ounce bottle Catsup
1/2 Cup prepared Chili Sauce
3 tablespoons Dijon Mustard
1 tablespoon English Dry Mustard
1 teaspoon freshly ground Black Pepper (original recipe called for 1
Tbl. black pepper)
1-1/2 teaspoons Cayenne pepper
2 whole Cloves
1/4 cup Red Wine Vinegar
1/4 cup Lemon Juice
1/4 cup Brown Sugar (packed)
1/4 cup A-1 Steak Sauce
2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
1-1/2 teaspoons Soy Sauce
3/4 cup Beer

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat.
Add onion - cook 1 minute.
Add garlic - cook 4 minutes. Do not brown.
Stir in remaining ingredients. Heat to boiling - reduce heat and simmer
uncovered 25 minutes.
Remove whole cloves.
Makes about 2-1/2 cups.

Recipes from the Restaurants of Oklahoma City.

RealJimbo
11-09-2009, 12:16 PM
Pulliam's! Oh yeah!

Here's a recipe that claims to be Pulliam's sauce. It doesn't say anything
about how long it had to sit in the window, bubble and ferment LOL!

I'm going to try it. It's been so long I doubt if I'll remember.

Pulliam's BBQ Sauce

1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil
1 small Onion - finely chopped
1 small clove Garlic - minced
1 14-ounce bottle Catsup
1/2 Cup prepared Chili Sauce
3 tablespoons Dijon Mustard
1 tablespoon English Dry Mustard
1 teaspoon freshly ground Black Pepper (original recipe called for 1
Tbl. black pepper)
1-1/2 teaspoons Cayenne pepper
2 whole Cloves
1/4 cup Red Wine Vinegar
1/4 cup Lemon Juice
1/4 cup Brown Sugar (packed)
1/4 cup A-1 Steak Sauce
2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
1-1/2 teaspoons Soy Sauce
3/4 cup Beer

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat.
Add onion - cook 1 minute.
Add garlic - cook 4 minutes. Do not brown.
Stir in remaining ingredients. Heat to boiling - reduce heat and simmer
uncovered 25 minutes.
Remove whole cloves.
Makes about 2-1/2 cups.

Recipes from the Restaurants of Oklahoma City.

Thanks a million for that! I'll make it up and see if I can remember. I ate ribs from there many times around 1967 - 1969. I swear Mr. P put more or less of the same sauce on your ribs (on a bread wrapper) depending on whether you wanted hot or mild. Ha.

Generals64
11-12-2009, 08:10 AM
You know, when something is Immortal (Springlake, Ho-Ho's house etc.) people save bits and pieces when they begin to tear it down. I wonder if anyone has any pieces of Springlake stached in their attic, or their parents attic?????...

Prunepicker
11-12-2009, 09:25 AM
You know, when something is Immortal (Springlake, Ho-Ho's house etc.)
people save bits and pieces when they begin to tear it down. I wonder if
anyone has any pieces of Springlake stached in their attic, or their parents
attic?
I have some bricks from Ho Ho's house!

kevinpate
11-12-2009, 09:40 AM
I have some bricks from Ho Ho's house!

LOL, I think I still have my brick from when they removed the fireplace from my hometown Pizza hut. Has worked there a few years, hung out there before and after for several years. The manager had saved back a few bricks for some of us. Fond memories of that old store.

Generals64
11-12-2009, 01:40 PM
I have some bricks from Ho Ho's house!

================================================== ============
So do I;....I have a brick from The Redskin Theater....and "Ta-Da" one from U.S. Grant Highschool of yester year.....

capt_john_97
06-03-2011, 06:38 PM
Sad to say my mother would never let us go to Springlake. She always said we would get stabbed.....she would never let us have lawn darts either...same logic I guess.

skyrick
06-03-2011, 08:38 PM
In the summer of 1965 or 1966 (had to be one of those years because I had money from my Oklahoma Journal paper route) we were bored, Pat McCarty, Mike White, Jimmy Williams and I. We all had some money but no one had a parent home to give us a ride to Springlake; there weren't as many 2 car families then.

Someone, I think it was Pat, had the great idea of WALKING to Springlake! We all lived in the Hill St, NW 33rd, NW 34th strip of N. Western, so at about 10:30 am we told our parents we were going to Memorial Park for the day and were going to eat lunch at Pat's house, walked down to NW 36th and turned right for about 2 1/2 miles!

I would have been 11 or 12, Mike was the youngest at 9, and Pat was the oldest at 13.

It seemed like it took forever to get there, but we rode rides all afternoon. We headed back home about 3:30 and I got home about 4:30.

Apparently Pat had told his mom what we were really doing, and she was fine with that. Sometime after we left the park though, an accident happened on one of the rides and some kids were hurt, none seriously. Mrs. McCarty then called all of our parents to ask if they had heard from us yet. This was the first Mike's, Jimmy's or my parents knew about our shenannigans. When I got home they were so relieved I wasn't hurt that they forgot to be mad.

jmarkross
06-04-2011, 06:17 AM
Sad to say my mother would never let us go to Springlake. She always said we would get stabbed.....she would never let us have lawn darts either...same logic I guess.

She was right...

capt_john_97
06-04-2011, 07:58 AM
about which springlake or the lawn darts? lol

jmarkross
06-04-2011, 08:27 AM
about which springlake or the lawn darts? Lol

both.

Prunepicker
06-04-2011, 09:38 AM
I liked playing yard darts. Mom would give them to us a couple of
hours before dinner if she wanted chicken.

capt_john_97
06-04-2011, 10:06 AM
jmark you are probably right. She was a wise woman

jmarkross
06-04-2011, 10:36 AM
jmark you are probably right. She was a wise woman

Used to hang out at Springlake in the 60's...had one buddy that got a minor poke in the parking lot there from a shiv...Jarts were from that era as well--remember seeing a few perforated calves back then...

Larry OKC
06-06-2011, 12:52 AM
Didn't live here growing up so memories are very distant. Think i only went one time and remember the fun house. there was a rotating barrel you had to walk through and some sort of spinning contraption like a giant record player that would sling you to the outside edge????

jmarkross
06-06-2011, 04:53 AM
Springlake had a classic old-style Penny Arcade with all sorts of archetypal machines--it was a good one...I like the thing that made aluminum disks where you placed a big pointer of alpha-numeric characters to fill the spaces and stamped out sweet nothings for your girlfriends to cherish...Harold made one just like it for Maude in the movie and she threw it in the water--so she'd always know where it was...

ljbab728
06-06-2011, 09:37 PM
Didn't live here growing up so memories are very distant. Think i only went one time and remember the fun house. there was a rotating barrel you had to walk through and some sort of spinning contraption like a giant record player that would sling you to the outside edge????

The fun house also had some very tall slides where you had to sit on sacks to slide down. And don't forget the holes in the floor that blew air upwards. That was always fun because the girls actually used to wear skirts then. LOL

RadicalModerate
06-30-2011, 01:34 PM
I remember seeing an Upcoming Show poster for Johnny Cash.
I think it was back in his "Ring of Fire" period.
I was pretty impressed. Even if I was only about 11 years old.

Visiting Springlake Amusement park was one of the highlights of our annual visits to OKC.
The Fun House was one of the best parts. The Swimming Pool and The Roller Coaster were the other two best parts.

Did you know that the Vo-Tech people kept one of the old cars from the coaster and put it on some sort of "memorial" thing? I actually saw this take place while I was one of the crew working on converting the former owner's house into office space for the Vo-Tech administration back in the late 80's.

Rumor had it that Jimmy Hoffa was buried under the concrete used to fill in the old school, built-in hot tub/Jacuzzi on what was previously the back patio.

SOONER8693
07-01-2011, 11:36 AM
I remember seeing an Upcoming Show poster for Johnny Cash.
I think it was back in his "Ring of Fire" period.
I was pretty impressed. Even if I was only about 11 years old.

Visiting Springlake Amusement park was one of the highlights of our annual visits to OKC.
The Fun House was one of the best parts. The Swimming Pool and The Roller Coaster were the other two best parts.

Did you know that the Vo-Tech people kept one of the old cars from the coaster and put it on some sort of "memorial" thing? I actually saw this take place while I was one of the crew working on converting the former owner's house into office space for the Vo-Tech administration back in the late 80's.

Rumor had it that Jimmy Hoffa was buried under the concrete used to fill in the old school, built-in hot tub/Jacuzzi on what was previously the back patio.
I saw Johnny Cash live at Springlake, and his big hit at that time was "Ring of Fire". I think I was 10 or 11 at the time, so that would have been in 61 or 62. I went with my foks and older brother and his wife. Little did I know I was seeing a legend.