EAST FAREWELL
NEWS
Thursday, July 31,
1958 Vol. C683
LOCAL
NEWS
FERRIS WHEEL GETS STUCK ON FUN
PIER
East Farewell – It was the worst possible breakdown that could
have occurred. The most prestigious ride on the Fun Pier, the 150
foot tall Ferris wheel, got stuck in mid ride last Sunday. The disaster was
compounded by the fact that it occurred during the height of the summer season
with the Pier packed with patrons. The event happened at 7:30PM when wheel
operator, Jason Reynolds, routinely started the wheel on an apparently normal
ride. The wheel was not completely full, Reynolds estimated it to be about 60%
full which is customary for the time and day. After he engaged the wheel it
started and within 30 seconds he knew there was a problem. “I heard a grinding
that was not right and then there was a bang and a screech and then it stopped.
I saw some smoke coming from the power box so I immediately killed the circuit.
That stopped the wheel dead. I ran to the box with a fire extinguisher and was
able to open it. It was full of smoke but there was no fire I could see, I
spray the extinguisher anyway and that cleared out the smoke. I saw the belts
were all busted up and I knew I was going to need some help,” said Reynolds
later.
The Wheel was
stuck with about 25 people on it, the very top basket was full of teenagers and
several of the other baskets had families, children and one had an infant. Needless
to say, the Police and Fire departments’ were called and arrived quickly. At
first the Fun Pier was not closed down but the Ferris wheel was roped off. Once
the scene was accessed the entire Pier was closed down much to the dismay of
many people. The Fire Department has a latter extension truck but it only rises
to 60 feet. The truck was pulled alongside the wheel and the lower baskets were
able to be rescued. The baskets on the top half of the wheel, six baskets
total, had people in three of them. System engineers were on site, Conner
Farrell and Edwin Parnell began work on the power box almost immediately after
the accident occurred. Two hours after the accident Farrell and Parnell were
able to rig up a manual crank of sorts and with the help of the winch on the
back of the ladder truck were able to slowing crank the wheel and almost
miraculously move the wheel around slowly and bring the upper baskets down to
earth. Thankfully, there were no injuries and only a few tears. All the riders
were looked at by medics on the site and all were able to walk away. Perhaps a
little shaken but all in one piece.
“We have to
give enormous credit to the Fire Department and the Police for all the work
they did. And a great thanks to Collen and Edward for figuring out the manual
assist. I would like to publically apologize to all our guests and try to
assure them that this was a very, very, almost unheard of occurrence and we are
very sorry for any inconvenience, fear or pain that may have occurred,” said
Fun Pier owner, Hugh Lendel, grandson of Fun Pier builder Sid Lendel.
The Ferris
wheel was closed down, obviously but after the rest of the Fun Pier opened for
business as usual on Tuesday at 12 noon. All rides had been inspected and all
amusements, arcade games and the like had been reviewed and recertified by
State officials. Lendel would not give a timetable out as to when he expects
the Ferris wheel to be repaired. “It will be done as soon as possible, but we
have to get the best manufacturers engineers here for analysis and
repair of the wheel. Nothing but the best, no cost will be spared,” said Lendel
in an interview on Monday morning.
Jason Reynolds
looks up at the stuck wheel
SPORTS
TRAVELERS WELD STEELERS IN THE SUMMER NIGHT
East Farewell – The evening fell on East Farewell on Saturday
and the lights came on in Travelers Park. Night games are showing up much more
this season, especially in the mid –summer. Last year there were only three
this year there will be six. Saturday’s was the first. It is a beautiful scene
with the field washed in the light and the evening sky slowly yielding to the
dark of night. The game was sold out long ago, before the Travelers slipped
into their disheartening losing streak that they only recently have been able
to pull themselves out of with a two game win streak. The Travelers wanted to build
on that momentum and they accomplished that goal with flying colors on Saturday
night. The Travelers were able to dominate the Youngstown Steelers, 10-2.
The game
started off well for the Travelers as pitcher, Joey Alfred, was able to retire
the side, three up three down. The Traveler’s bats did not go to sleep after
last week’s game, right from the start the Travelers took command. First up,
Ralph Francis singled. Dale Dunham walked and Bobby Watson singled, loading the
bases for slugger Johnny Cloos. It had been a long time since the Travelers
were able to set up the perfect scenario, not since 1956 have the Travelers
been able to put the first three runners on base and lead up to cleanup hitter,
Johnny Cloos. Cloos lives for this situation and he rarely lets them pass
without fireworks. He did not disappoint on Saturday. Cloos took Steelers
pitcher, Bart Diamora, deep into the count and connected with a low fastball
and sent it into the center field stands for his first grand slam of the year.
The Travelers did not stop there. After Cloos, Tony Dimero squeaked a single by
first base, Frankie Jones, and was able to steal second. Joey Brown sent him to
third with a sacrifice and Arty Archibald brought him home with another single.
The bleeding finally was stopped when Billy Sweet hit into a double play to end
the inning.
The first
inning was explosive for the Travelers and the Steelers were unable to mount
any sizable comeback. They were able to scatter two runs, one in the fifth and
one in the eighth. On the other hand, the Travelers were able to add to the
score with single runs in the 4th, 5th, 6th
and seventh. The Travelers were able to finish with a season high 21 hits.
The Travelers
will continue their home stand next week as they host the Erie Eagles on
Saturday afternoon. The game begins at 1:30 in the Travelers Park.
NATIONAL NEWS
DJs BACK AT WORK
AT WINS – AT THE MOVIES
DJ’s
return to work on radio station WINS – New York’s top-40 station (along with
WMGM). According to an agreement, announcers will receive a guaranteed minimum
income of $17,000 a year in commercials fees – $4,000more than the old
contract.
At the movies –
Kings Go Forth – Frank Sinatra,
Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood
The Key – William Holden, Sophia
Loren, Trevor Howard
Marjorie Morningstar –
Gene Kelly, Natalie Wood
Witness for the Prosecution –
Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton
Indiscreet – Cary Grant,
Ingrid Bergman
The Bride – Brigitte Bardot
The Case of Dr. Laurent –
Jean Gabin
King Creole – Elvis Presley,
Carolyn Jones
The Vikings – Kirk
Douglas
Many, many
thanks to www.mrpopculture.com for
contributing to this section of the East Farewell News.
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