roller coaster: Browse The Strips
Sunday, July 7, 1985
Wednesday, July 19, 1989
Sunday, July 7, 1996
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Sunday, July 6, 2014
Wednesday July 18, 2018
Lynn's Comments: When I was a teenager, The Pacific National Exhibition grounds were a short bike ride away. My friends and I would ride over the Second Narrows Bridge and around the bend to where we could see the big arc of the rollercoaster. We'd go to the park even when the fair wasn't on, and without too much in the way of security, we could roam around quite freely. One time, there was an opening in the fence around the roller coaster, so we went under the huge track and looked up at what was, for its day, one of the scariest rides in Canada. We looked at the way the ride had been engineered and how the struts had been anchored to the ground. This was exciting. The best part of our adventure was finding stuff that people had lost while they were on the ride. I found a hat, glasses, some loose change and a toy or two…but the funniest find of all was a set of dentures. We could only imagine the anger and frustration of the person who got off the ride…without their teeth!
The day dad took us on the biggest Ferris wheel we'd ever seen, my brother, Alan, and I were stuffed with snacks, corn on the cob, and our favourite: cotton candy (which we called "candy floss"). I was the one with the cast iron stomach, but this day was different. By the time we had ascended to the top of the ride, I was feeling woozy. At the first descent, I was a bilious green. As the chair ascended, my pyloric valve gave way, and I jettisoned a load of carnival chow over the handrail onto the heads of the couple below. It was good to have missed my dad, but the thought of dealing with the victims in the chair ahead, unnerved him greatly. The ride didn't stop for accidents like this, so we endured the cycle--expecting to be taken aside by the people I'd barfed on. They would be getting off first.
As the ride came to a halt, Dad, the least confrontational man on the planet, prepared for the worst. Fortunately, the couple fled to the nearest bathroom without looking back. Relieved, Dad sighed and said, "You're lucky, Lindy. Those folks were understanding. My guess is--they definitely have kids."