The Last Splash

The Last Splash
Riders Say Goodbye to Kennywood's Log Jammer
By: Kristen Keleschenyi

It was a bittersweet weekend for Kennywood fans as it marked the end of another summer season and the final voyage for the Log Jammer. The powers that be have decided that the ride, installed back in 1975, will be removed to make room for something new. Their decision drove thousands to the park on an unseasonably warm September weekend to board a log one last time and take that plunge into a plume of Monongahela spray .

But for some, the final goodbyes did not go as planned. A number of malfunctions forced the closure of the ride a few times during the weekend causing a flurry of angry, desperate posts on social media. Many were upset that people were not told sooner about this being the final season for the Log Jammer, without a lot of time to enjoy it before it was gone.

Kennywood's Director of Public Relations and Social Media, Nick Paradise, says it has been an ongoing rumor that the ride was going to close. Management has been considering the removal of the ride on and off for years, with fans speculating just when the end would come.  But the decision became official just last week and did allow for many to experience the thrill one last time.

"We thought this weekend would be better than nothing, although I do wonder if the social media backlash would have been not so big had it [the announcement] been in the off season just because people aren't thinking about it as much," said Paradise.

The weekend was set up to be the perfect opportunity for the Vivis family,  from White Oak, to take their final ride. Amber and Walt had already planned to take their boys, Noah, 12, and Brody, 7, to the park with tickets they had to use since it was the final weekend for the season. Amber has fond memories of the ride during childhood summers spent at the park and was sad to hear it would be going away.

"It's been there as long as I can remember, it's one year younger than me so it's the nostalgia part of it that makes you think, 'Oh no, not the Log Jammer.'"

When they first arrived at the park on Saturday, buzz in the parking lot was that the ride was closed. Sure enough when they got into the park they saw for themselves - no line, no logs, no splashes. Later in the afternoon, once the ride reopened, Amber said the line was like nothing she had ever seen before. It didn't seem like the family of four would get their final ride in until around 9 o'clock when the line was a little shorter, so they took a chance. When they were three groups away from hopping on a log, the ride once again had to be shut down.

"All of a sudden you could hear some chattering and the kids working came back and said, 'it's broken. You can wait or you can leave,'" recalls Amber, who was surprised to find out that when the ride is shut down all the water drains out. "I thought there was water in there all the time."

The family waited for a few minutes, hoping the ride would once again be up and running. While watching people, who had been stranded when the ride was shut down, walking down ladders just to get off the ride, they decided to call it a night.

"The kids were disappointed," says Amber, " but I think Walt and I were more disappointed."

Paradise said, "It's a constant process for the maintenance team. These are very sophisticated, complicated  and sometimes sensitive machines. Sensitive I say because safety is so important, even the slightest thing off can trigger it to stop and not go back up until the computer systems say everything is ok."

For a ride like the Log Jammer, 42 years is about the typical life span. Although the wooden coasters have been at the park a lot longer, each year roughly 10 % of the lumber is replaced. Nothing on the coasters dates back to their debut, which for the Racer was 1927.

"It becomes a tough decision. Do you make a massive investment to potentially rebuild the entire ride essentially, or do you look toward the future, and we've decided to do the later."

Paradise would not speculate on what could possibly take the 'Jammer's' space, but does say removing the ride will open up that corner space in a park that is landlocked. In order to put something new in something old has to go, and for a place like Kennywood,  with many historic rides, it is a constant challenge.

Unlike the Vivis family, Melissa Morris, from Swissvale, and her son, Xavier, got their final splash on Sunday. Xavier just started liking roller coasters and fell in love with the Log Jammer.

Xavier says, "I like the big splash at the end."

Melissa laments, " We were really hoping it was going to have another couple of years so he could get used to it before he went on to the Racer or the Jack Rabbit. It's a good middle range ride for a little kid."

Paradise knows and appreciates that Pittsburghers are passionate about the things they love, whether it's their sports teams or their amusement parks.

"While we know it's hard right now, we think ultimately in time people will understand and accept the decision and be happy about what eventually comes in."

Many who have memories of their splashes on the Log Jammer, whether it was their first, last, or ones shared with special people, Melissa says , "This is the most Pittsburgh thing ever. It's this limping, disgusting, ancient ride, but whenever it's time to say goodbye everybody comes out for the wake. We're all here."

No Not Again

Why do we have to talk about this every year? This is a comment I overheard a 15-year-old say to a friend about the upcoming 9/11 lesson in their high school World Cultures class. I was shocked! So many thoughts ran through my head. So many things I wanted to say to those kids who had no clue. But in all fairness, it's not their fault.

Everyone was talking this week about where you were and what you were doing when the events of 9/11 unfolded. My oldest interviewed me for a homework assignment. I gave my personal account of how my traffic reporter job in Virginia was altered because so many tunnels and bridges were shut down as a safety precaution, due to the number of military bases in the area surrounding Virginia Beach. We were basically telling people to stay off the roads. It was scary driving into work for my afternoon shift, staring at my surroundings wondering if the next terrorist target was nearby.

My husband and I attended a wedding on a military base days after the attacks. It was supposed to be a beach wedding, but that particular beach remained closed. The ceremony and reception were done inside with a view of the sand and water and armed guards who lined the shore. The bride was simply happy to be having her wedding at the location at all. Luckily, the non-military personnel restrictions were lifted and guests were allowed on the base.

There are a few things that really stand out for me about September 11, 2001. I remember getting a call at work from my husband telling me he just talked to his dad who lived in Somerset County. He said that a plane went down not far from his home. (This was before the crash of Flight 93 was confirmed.) I was incredulous. I thought it was a random plane, a coincidence, something unrelated to the other events happening in New York and Washington D.C. How could a small town, in rural PA have anything to do with this masterfully crafted terrorist attack? Later that evening, my husband would see people he knew on the national news being interviewed about the crash.

I remember a passionate conversation with my brother, who was 24 at the time, and his desire to sign up for military service. He was ready to kill some terrorists and he wasn't taking any names. He never did sign up, but I did admire him at the time and felt a little proud that he wanted to follow in our dad's footsteps and fight for our country and the freedoms we lost that day.

Exactly one month prior to 9/11, my husband and I went on a cruise. We flew to Georgia then to Ft. Lauderdale to board the ship. We flew without a care in the world - without taking our shoes off, without measuring our shampoo, without personally being x-rayed.

I remember flying back to Norfolk with a couple friends and hearing a bunch of thuds coming from underneath the plane. It was obviously suitcases shuffling around, but it was rather loud. I remember asking what all that noise could be and our one friend said nonchalantly, "It's probably just the plane falling apart." We all had a chuckle, being the cynical bunch we were, never for a second imagining the heartbreaking events that would happen in the sky for real in a few short weeks.

I guess looking back on 9/11 it is easy to see how kids wouldn't want to talk about it each year. It is sad and depressing and not exactly the kind of topic you want to get into only a few weeks after school has begun. And I probably didn't give Dec. 7 the proper attention it deserved when I was in school. If you were not there and did not live through it, it is hard to comprehend the emotion and impact of such devastating events.

But it is important to talk about 9/11 every year. It's a day that shook our nation to its core and it became our A.D. We define things as pre 9/11 or after 9/11. Life changed - even something as simple as listening to the radio changed; as songs deemed violent got less airplay and patriotic numbers increased. Kids need to know this as they will write the book for dealing with their own national crisis some day.

I can only hope the teen who didn't want to talk about the events of 16 years ago took something away from his classroom lesson this week. I, too, wish we didn't have to talk about 9/11 each year, but ignoring these anniversaries, no matter how tragic, would do us all a disservice. For only in knowing where we've been can we have any gratitude for how far we've come.

                                      Postcard from college trip to NY -year 1995

Lucky 13

My daughter is about to turn 13. Thirteen... I can hardly wrap my head around it. As a mom, I think you go into over drive at times and don't dwell on the milestones because they are just plain sad. My kids are not babies anymore and haven't been for a while, but it is those milestones that really drive the point home.

My middle child is the only girl out of my three kids and was a surprise from the beginning. Because my husband and I did not want to find out what we were having, I was convinced she was another boy. The afternoon I went into labor, at a Midwifery Center in Virginia, I had briefly achieved a moment of zen in a jaccuzi hot tub when I frantically said, "Get me outta here. It's time!"

Seconds after my daughter was born, my midwife said, "It's a girl!" and I said, "Are you serious?" Holding my little girl for the first time was a warm moment I will always treasure. Hours later... the crying began. For 9 months she pretty much cried. She had a brief window in the morning where she would be the sweetest baby in the world, but then around 2 p.m. Waa, waa, waaaaaa!

I would rock her and sing songs to her. I even changed up the lyrics of "Daydream Believer" by the Monkees from 'Cheer Up Sleepy Jean' to 'Cheer Up Nora Leigh'. Nothing worked.

Our doctor though it might be a couple different things. Maybe a dairy allergy. So I gave up dairy products while I was breastfeeding. (I never got back into drinking milk but my love affair with cheese certainly intensified.) Then we tried Zantac for possible acid reflux. Her crying lessened slightly, but not as much as we had hoped. We did not go out to restaurants in the afternoon, we limited social activities and when my husband came home on his dinner break, I would join in the crying.

But something happened around nine months that changed everything. She started walking! Her personality shifted from whiney baby to pleasant toddler. She smiled when she woke up. She was rarely sad. She was sunshine and sweetness and it made the months prior melt into a distant memory. I loved this little girl from the start, but I was thankful the tide had changed.

She never was really into dolls growing up and had a slew of favorite stuffed animal friends from a kitty to a turtle to a koala. I think my favorite Halloween costume was at age 4 when she dressed up like Diego, a male cartoon character who saved animals. It didn't matter that he was a boy. She wanted to be an animal rescuer with a backpack and she was the cutest one in town.

Now 13 years later, I look at this confident young lady. She is so much more personable than I was at this age. I was so timid and shy. (Nothing like I am now.) She is not afraid of going out there and getting it done and doing her best. During a recent Tamburitzan performance, part of her costume fell off, but she didn't miss a beat. She danced in her slip and owned it. At her age I would have frozen stiff on the stage unable to move.

Now she is a new member of her school's colorguard squad. Yes, she is tiny but she can twirl a flag like a boss. Even if she only does it for a year, the dedication and determination she has shone would make it worthwhile. Watching her socialize with this group of new and old friends makes my heart happy. I cannot wait to see what she does next.

So as we get ready to celebrate #13, on the same day her great-grandmother passed away eight years prior, I cannot help but feel a little sad. I wouldn't mind holding that miserable baby one more time just to whisper in her ear and tell her all the things she'll do once she stops crying. But instead of thinking about the past I'll try to celebrate all the things this little girl is and how her independence started from the moment she took her first steps. She's been walking toward her future since she put on a little pink pair of Mary Janes with a velcro strap, and has never looked back.

                                                 Nora dressed as Diego for Halloween