Sun 9/28 @ 1-5PM
It’s now been 56 years since Euclid Beach Park hosted its final season, way back in 1969, to the cheerful strains of the summer’s #1 tune, “In the Year 2525.” Clearly one of the things that wouldn’t be alive in “The Year 2525” was Euclid Beach Park! (If you didn’t like that tune — and I didn’t — other big (and more upbeat) hits of that summer included “Hot Fun in the Summertime,” by Sly & the Family Stone, “Get Together” by the Youngbloods, and Tommy James & the Shondells’ “Crystal Blue Persuasion.”)
Those songs were playing as the last summer of revelers rode the Flying Turns, the Carousel (now ensconced in its own niche at the Western Reserve Historical Society) and the Rocketship Cars, munched on Humphrey Popcorn Balls, hung out at the dance pavilion that was a feature of all the old amusement parks, and tried to keep the hell away from a lake so polluted you had to shower after setting foot in it. That, along with general economic decline, racial conflict and increasingly sparse public transportation, was a factor in its demise, as bigger, splashier and less homey parks, such as Cedar Point, replaced the old-school ones.
Still, there’s a shrinking generation that recalls Euclid Beach fondly from their youth, perhaps even met their spouse there. So each year, these old fans host Remembering the Sights & Sounds of Euclid Beach on the site of the park at East 156thand Lakeshore Boulevard. There are markers indicating where all the long-gone attractions once stood; displays of Euclid Beach history; photos, books, videos, music, souvenirs and t-shirts available for sale, along with Humphrey popcorn balls and Weber’s premium custard (another treat from the olden days); the Royal E Enterprise food truck; and best of all — rides of the Rocketship Car. The kids won’t remember Euclid Beach, of course, but they’ll love that. And you can take a walk on the recently built pier by the small beach where now, finally, it’s clean enough to swim.
Even if you don’t remember Euclid Beach, it’s a fun event to get a whiff of what amusement parks used to be like. Get more information here.
euclidbeach.org/sights-and-sounds