We had another off-season tour at Cedar Point today, and with the park picking up the lunch tab, we're going to give the entire amount we charged, $1,500 total, to Give Kids The World. That's gotta be the fastest we've ever raised money.
For me it was a chance to connect with some people at the park. Under the regime of a new CEO, it's interesting to hear them talk about the upcoming season, with the kind of enthusiasm that I haven't heard in years. There are so many good people in that organization, and I think they're well positioned now to be as successful as they want to be. It was also good to catch up, because I consider many of them friends.
The lighting and night time stuff that they're working on for this summer is going to be pretty impressive. New lighting for Giant Wheel, Power Tower and Millennium Force is long overdue, and they're going to turn the entire length of the main midway into a continuous dance club. It should look really fantastic when it's ready in June. And that hideous screen is finally coming down!
It's weird to think about the relationship I have with that place. Fourteen years ago, I was just a punk kid with a Web site, but later I made friends there, and would go to their weddings, or they would be in mine. It hasn't really been about the sites in years. I've enjoyed an outsider status with a lot of peeking under the covers at times, even doing contract work for them on secret projects. I enjoy just the right amount of engagement, I think, where I can get involved with the park without it being to an extent where it's no longer interesting to me.
And really, that's a scenario I enjoy with much of the industry. I don't work in it, but I work around it, if that makes sense. I don't know, maybe I should be working in it in some capacity, but I often wonder if that would ruin it for me, the way it did with radio. God knows the pay wouldn't be as good, but I know firsthand that money doesn't buy happiness.
In any case, I really look forward to summer. This is going to be a big chance for me to reconnect with the geeky side that kind of subsided while moving about, having a child and soaking up the awesomeness of the Evergreen State.
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