Growing up Colored

Chapter 8? Doomsday at the Park
(1966 WPGC Glen Echo Commercial Soundbite Courtesy - AM and FM Morningside)


Photo/Coutesy - The National Park Service
Glen Echo, my favorite amusement park on earth, except today. .

 

"Let me hold your tickets", the boy stood directly in front of me blocking my way. "Huh, wha...?" I didn't understand what he meant. "Let me hold your tickets, gim'me your tickets", he held out his hand, waiting. I clutched my ride tickets in my hand, "I ain't giving you my tickets", he was a lot smaller than I was, so I wasn't afraid of him, even though he looked a couple of years older than me. As many fights as I'd gotten into with Donnie Carter, I knew he would be no problem for me to handle. "You saying no to my man?", he gestured as though there was someone there with him. I looked around but didn't see anybody.
"What are you talking about?", I asked. He spread his arms open wide like a bird spreads it's wings as though he were about to take flight and repeated,
"You saying no to my man?!" He said it sternly, but not loudly, we were standing in the middle of the park. We were standing in the middle of Glen Echo Amusement Park, in Glen Echo, MD. I was there with my church, Providence Baptist and as far as I was concerned, Glen Echo was "The Greatest Place On Earth". The church sponsered a Sunday School trip each year. At first we'd take cars to beaches or parks, then as more money was raised through bake sales and the like, we were able to hire buses to travel further away from home. I had just gotten off the "Jungleland" it's referred to as a "Dark Ride", one of those old ride-through dimly lit, haunted attractions based on a mixture of painted African savages, jungle beast, ghosts and ghouls. Jungleland was my favorite ride, second only to "The Whip" and this guy was taking away from my savoring the moment.
"I don't see no man", I said as I looked around. Just then, from around the corner of the building came this gigantic dude, he must have been at least fifteen years old, six feet tall, two hundred pounds. I was only ten years old at the time. This big guy just stood back and never said a word, he just kept tapping his hip, then I noticed that strapped to his hip was a hawk-billed knife. All the tickets I had were in my hand, the boy stuck out his hand and I gave them to him without further ado.


Photo/Coutesy - "Joy Rides"
"The Whip" flat ride, a staple for fun at Glen Echo.

We'll get back to those guys in a minute, now jump forward two years. My class was taking the annual seventh grade field trip and we had decided to visit Washington, D.C. and Glen Echo. While in Washington, we went into the Washington Monument, visited the Smithsonian Institute and also got in a few hours at Glen Echo. That day, when I arrived at the park the first thing I wanted to do was ride the "Whip". I had been coming to the park since I was nine years old with the church and had been on this ride so many times by then that I had to show off for my classmates who were visiting the park for the first time. I had already been on "Jungleland" with Carolyn Washington, my supposed girlfriend at the time. In between screams I snook in a kiss or two and I was sitting on top of the world. So when it was time to ride the Whip I got in a car alone, the cars could sit three people, and I propped my feet up on top of the dash and leaned back in a relaxed pose. The safety bar was suppose to latch (the sign read, "Keep the Safety Bar Latched at all Times", I pulled it to me but I didn't lock it. The ride operator didn't seem to mind so away we went. I was as cool as cool could be, known to my classmates as "The Walking-Talking Dictionary", "Mr. Dictionary" and then by the infamous name, "Pete-The-Pimp". I remember when they nick-named me that. We, being country bumpkins that we were, decided that if we were going to take a trip into Washington, DC, needed nicknames so we'd appear cool to the city folk once we got there, so we all picked names for ourselves. I was given the name "Pete-The Pimp". When I went home that day and told my mother what my new nickname was, she kept prodding me as to how I acquire such a title, then she asked me, "Do you know what a pimp is?". I said "sure, it's a guy who walks cool and talks cool and walks around like he he's bad". My mother said "That's not what pimp means, maybe you'd better find another nickname". I didn't underestand her concern so the name stuck, at least for the duration of our bus trip. So I sat back relaxed, ready to show everyone how cool I could be on "The Whip". Everyone else was holding on for dear life, but I was way too cool for that, I leaned back with my arms stretched out, as though I were relaxing on a park bench. As the cars began picking up speed and being whipped around the grease caked, stainless steel floor, (the grease kept the wheels cool and the whipping action even more severe), the ride operator began pointing down to the bottom of my car each time I made a revolution past him. He would cup his hands and yell something to me. I sat up erect trying to hear better each time... "Your wheel's coming off!"... What? I panicked, "What?", as I passed again... "Your wheel's coming off!", he pointed frantically to the car's wheels. I threw back the safety bar and a split second before the next whip came up I jumped off the ride and slide the entire length of the steel floor with my arms outstretched like a high wire walker trying to keep my balance as I slid. I rammed full force up against the guard rail, turned around to see the ride operator bent over laughing at how gullible I was... "You idiot, if the wheel was coming off, I would have stopped the ride", he laughed. Unaware of how close I'd come to being injured or killed, I limped off the ride, still in shock and found some grass to clean off my greasy shoes. I felt a lot less cool after that incident. But that happened in the seventh grade, let's back up to the fifth grade and the problem with having had my tickets stolen from me.


Photo/Coutesy - "Laff In The Dark"
Part of Jungleland's track included this spinning cylindar that made it appear as if the car was tilting upside down.

 

I found my mother and didn't bother telling her what had just happened to me. She asked how I could have used up all my tickets so quickly, but forked over more money. I bought more tickets, jumped on the whip and was coming off the ride when the two boys approached me again. They blocked my way. "Let me hold your tickets", oh no, not again, I thought. I looked first at the little guy then over at his big body guard, I handed over my tickets without saying a word. By now, you'd have thought I would be walking around with tickets visible to the world, but no, I wasn't that smart. I ran to the park entrance and found two security guards sitting there, once was munching on a banana, the other looked like he was sleeping. "Hey, two boys just stole my tickets!" they just sat there and looked at me, "Two boys a big one and a small one just stole all my tickets". The guard who was eating the banana was holding onto the gate with one hand and looked up and asked, "Do you see them now?" He waved his hand out across the park and I turned and sure enough, you could see the entire park from where we were standing. "No Sir, I don't see them", I answered. "Well if you see them again, come and get us and we'll kick'em out of the park"All of a sudden I felt lost and alone. Since we were at the park with the church group, I started looking around for one of the older boys. I saw Frank Banks walking toward the Whip. I ran up to him and told him about my being robbed twice today. He confidently said, "Give me your tickets and stick with me, they won't bother you anymore." All of a sudden I felt great, as though a heavy weight had been lifted off me. Frankie would take care of everything. We hung around together for a good fifteen minutes, when we decided to ride Jungleland together. We rode the ride, we had some laughs, we got off the ride and just like clockwork those guys were in front of me at the exit again. It was as though they were watching my every move. The big guy stood about ten or fifteen feet back from the little dude while he stuck out his hand, "Your tickets, lem'me hold 'em". "I ain't got no tickets", I said it with a knowing smirk on my face and thinking, man are you in for a big surprise. He said, "Where they at?" He knew I had tickets, I always had tickets."My Man's got'em!" I said with pride. I had a man backing me up now, just like he did. I pointed to Frank, who was standing right beside me. The little guy turned to Frankie without missing a beat and held out his hand, "Let me hold your tickets", he looked rightup at him.

Photo/Coutesy - "NovaPics"
These tickets were getting harder and harder to hold on to. .

"Naw, you ain't getting my tickets", My hero, Frank stood right up to him. "You saying no to my man?" This guy had his script down pat, and he was sticking to it. Frank looked around and said, "Yeah, I'm saying no to your man, I don't see no man", Frank knew the scoop and was ready for him, but he hadn't gotten a look at his man because he stayed in the background until just the right time. "So you saying no to my man, here's MY man right here" and he pointed over to the big guy. Frank got his first look at the humongous giant of a boy, looked over at me and without uttering a word, struck out running across the park. In what seemed like cat-like reflexes, the big guy moved in front of him and blocked his path, he grabbed Frank by the shirt sleeve and escorted him back to the Jungleland exit ramp where we had been standing all that time. The little fellow snapped his fingers and gestured for Frank to hand over his tickets. Frank reachewd in his pocket and dejectedly handed him my tickets AND his. I hung my head down and Frank walked off in the opposite direction never saying another word. I didn't ride anymore rides that day. I spent the remainder of the day trying to track down Buster to extract my revenge on these guys. I knew that if anyone could handle these guys Buster was the guy for the job. I never did locate him that day, the day I got robbed three times, a day that will live in infamy.
Chapter 9- The Ridge

 PostScript
Blacks weren't always welcomed at the park. There were marches and protests in 1960 which led to the integration of the park in 1961. I would be remiss if I did not mention all the struggles that took place which allowed me and my friends and family the opportunity to enjoy Glen Echo. As I recall, even though the Promo from WPGC mentions the pool, I believe that the pool was closed down once Blacks were allowed in the park. At least whenever I was there, the pool was chained shut. When Marshall Hall Amusement Park integrated, they actually cemented over the swimming pool. Read - Determining The Facts for more information

1966 WPGC Glen Echo Commercial Courtesy - AM and FM Morningside