My Dad, His Friends, and Free Roller Coaster Rides

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Unknown photographer: roller coaster at Central Park Gardens Amusement Park, Rockford, Illinois (1921-1942); first called 'Jack Rabbit' then 'Thriller.'
Rockford, Illinois: Central Park Gardens Amusement Park's roller coaster. (ca. 1930)

Quite a bit has changed since my childhood. Even more has changed since my father's.

Human nature, on the other hand — how and why folks do what they do — details shift, but the basics don't. Like kids taking crazy risks, and adults acting with dubious wisdom....

More at A Catholic Citizen in America.

(Maybe the amusement park ride operator had a heart of gold. But the free rides ended for my father when his mother found out.)

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