My name is Chuck Wilcox and I worked on the Midway at Idora Park from the summer of 1970 through the summer of 1975. I'm writing this because I want to give people an idea of what it was like to work at Idora Park. A lot has been written about Idora Park, but not from the perspective of someone who worked there.

   I consider myself very fortunate to be one of the people who got to work on the Midway. I want people to know about some of the people who worked there and the great times that we had. I want people to know what the bosses were like at Idora Park, like Pat Duffy Jr., who owned part of the park and helped run the games, and George Goodman, the manager of the games. George ran the games during the summer, and during the winter he worked in Florida as a chauffeur.

   When I worked on the games, I got paid around $0.40 an hour. I know a lot of people are going to look at that and say that wasn't much but in 1970, the minimum wage was only $1.60. I was mature for my age—and for that, I give the credit to my mother—and I started working when I was 13-going-on-14. Working at Idora Park was more fun than work, even though I was there six days a week from 11:00 in the morning until 11:00 at night. Working there was a lot of fun, but we also learned social skills and the value of money.

   On slower days, we were allowed to ride the rides on our break, and if we wanted, we could bring a lunch or we could buy that great food. I lived on those famous Idora Park French fries and the hamburgers and hot dogs they sold on the Midway. Of course, we played in the Two Penny Arcade.

This blog is dedicated to the people I worked with at Idora Park. Ann, who worked the cash cage on the arcade, and the lady who worked at the penny arcade whose name escapes me, treated all of us like we were their kids. Jean, who ran the cotton candy stand underneath the airplanes, lived across the street from Idora Park in a little brown house. Her cotton candy was the best ever made, everyone said so. Pat Duffy was a very fair and understanding boss. If we had questions or problems, we could always go into the office and talk to him. He didn’t mind at all. Toward the end of the season, Pat Duffy would send us to Cedar Point on our day off. He would pay for the bus ride up there and the admission cost.

   For many of us, it was our first shot at a little bit of independence and responsibility. For me, Idora Park was a magical place where I grew up.

 

“Anytime’s a good time, a good time for everyone. Rediscover Idora Park and you’ll rediscover fun.”

​