Buckroe Beach Amusement Park
Hampton, VA 23664
 
This link came up on Face Book:
Makes your heart go pitty-pat, doncha think?
 
- Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 09/07/18
WOWZERONI-RINI, Dave! Thank you so very much!
Buckroe Beach Resort Brochure Courtesy
of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 09/27/05
WOWZERONI, Dave!  Thanks so much!
 
WAY BACK THEN:
"Hotel Pavillion (sic) and Depot Buckroe Beach, VA" 1913 - "Arrival of an
Excursion Train, Buckroe Beach, VA"
Back of Opposite Postcard - Postmark Reads
"Sept. 11, 1913"
1915 - "Chesapeake
Boulevard, Showing hotel
and Pavilion" 
"Hotel Grounds and Bathing Pavilion, Buckroe Beach, VA"
Courtesy of Dave Spriggs
('64) of VA - 02/21/04
Thanks, Dave!
- Carol Buckley Harty
('65) of NC - 03/31/04
- Carol Buckley Harty
('65) of NC - 03/31/04
Courtesy of Dave Spriggs
('64) of VA - 10/24/03
Thanks, Dave!
Courtesy of Dave Spriggs
('64) of VA - 10/24/03
Thanks, Dave!
 
   
  1922 - "Hotel Lawn,
Buckroe Beach"
"Carusselle (sic), Ferris
Wheel and Theater, Buckroe Beach, Va."
1924 - "Buckroe Bath House"  
  Courtesy of Dave Spriggs
('64) of VA - 02/22/04
Thanks, Dave!
Courtesy of Dave Spriggs
('64) of VA - 02/11/08
Thanks, Dave!
Courtesy of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 12/01/03
Thanks, Dave!
 
 
THEN:
Buckroe Beach Amusement Park - Bonus Section - ADDED 10/26/03
 
THEN:
 The Penny Arcade at Buckroe Beach - ADDED 08/29/04
 
THEN:
 
This PC was posted on 6 July 1965. I bet that someone reading this Newsletter was in the park on that day. Apart from the nostalgic view of the entrance, I found it curious that the roller coaster was in operation, that there appear to be people in the cars, that it is mid-day ... and there is absolutely no activity at the entrance ... no cars, no people, no buses, nada. The Buckroe Bus!   This old postcard actually has survived in my possession since my childhood - an indication of how important Buckroe is to me, and the place it holds
within my heart!
 Courtesy of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 10/23/07
Thanks, Dave!
Image by Bruce Korusek (JMHS - '66) of VA,
courtesy of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 05/31/04
WOW!!! Thanks, Guys!
- Carol Buckley Harty ('65)
of NC - 04/16/03
 
"Bird's-Eye View
of Amusement Park and Chesapeake Bay,
Buckroe Beach, VA"
"Partial View of Main Pavilion, Buckroe Park, Buckroe Beach, Virginia" "Aerial View of Buckroe Park, Buckroe Beach, Virginia" Air View of Buckroe Beach, VA" 1950s - "Gordon's Cottage Court, Buckroe Beach, Virginia"
Courtesy of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 12/01/03
Thanks, Dave!
Courtesy of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 07/31/03
Thanks, Dave!
Courtesy of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 02/05/04
Thanks, Dave!
Courtesy of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 08/03/04
Thanks, Dave!
- Carol Buckley Harty ('65) of NC - 05/21/04
 
 
1952 - "Monkey Island, Buckroe Park, Buckroe Beach, Virginia" "Kiddie Land, Buckroe Park, Buckroe Beach, Virginia" "The Tunnel of Love" "Thrilling Moments
on the Cascades, Buckroe Beach, Virginia"
"Ferris Wheel and the Whip, Buckroe Beach, VA"
Courtesy of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 04/15/04
Thanks, Dave!
Courtesy of Bob Buchan ('61)  of VA - 06/08/04
Thanks, Bob!
 Courtesy of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 07/20/04
Thanks, Dave!
Courtesy of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 11/02/03
Thanks, Dave!
Courtesy of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 12/01/03
Thanks, Dave!
 
The Fun House!!! "View of Chesapeake Bay from Buckroe Park, Buckroe Beach, Virginia" Back of Opposite Postcard - Postmarked 1959 Miniature Golf Range - 1960 Back of Opposite Postcard - 1960
Courtesy of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 04/16/05
Thanks, Dave!
Courtesy of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 05/31/04
Thanks, Dave!
Courtesy of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 05/31/04
Thanks, Dave!
Courtesy of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 09/27/05
Thanks, Dave!
Courtesy of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 09/07/05
Thanks, Dave!
 
Buckroe Ferris Wheel   "HAMPTON, VIRGINIA
A view of the amusement park at Buckroe Beach, a lovely family resort."
Back of Opposite Postcard - Postmark Reads "1 July 197_?" "Greetings from Buckroe Beach, America's Friendly Park" "The Dips was opened in Buckroe Beach, VA. in 1920.
It was designed by Miller/Baker and built by PTC.
The park and coaster closed
in 1985."
Courtesy of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 12/01/03
Thanks, Dave!
Courtesy of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 11/01/03
Thanks, Dave!
Courtesy of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 11/01/03
Thanks, Dave!
Courtesy of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 11/02/03
Thanks, Dave!
Courtesy of http://members.aol.com/coasting
2/buckroe.html,
at the suggestion of
Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 10/24/03
Thanks, Dave!
 
"View of Chesapeake Bay from Buckroe Park, Buckroe Beach, Virginia" Back of Opposite Postcard - Postmarked 1959 The Park The Cascades The Cascades and Carousel House
Courtesy of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 05/31/04
Thanks, Dave!
Courtesy of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 05/31/04
Thanks, Dave!
Courtesy of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 08/03/04
Thanks, Dave!
Courtesy of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 05/31/04
Thanks, Dave!
Courtesy of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 05/31/04
Thanks, Dave!

THEN:
The gal on the extreme right
in the navy blue suit is Carolyn Haldeman Hawkins (HHS - '59).
Her father was Edward Haldeman, owner of Haldeman Marine Sales.  Mr. Haldeman passed away in Hampton
on 01/03/03 at the age of 87.
"Light House and Water Gardens, Buckroe Park,
Buckroe Beach, Virginia"
Back of postcard reads:
"A sample of whats (sic) to be found at Buckroe Beach
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay."
1967
Courtesy of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 02/05/04
Thanks, Dave!
- Carol Buckley Harty ('65)
of NC - 05/03/03
Courtesy of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 05/31/04
Thanks, Dave!


 
THEN:

Let's Jump Into The Wayback Machine.
Are you ready for a virtual ride on the Buckroe Roller Coaster?  Good.
 
First, we board the cars at the loading area .... Then, we are towed
up to the top of the first drop
by that clackety chain ....
Then .... over the top and free fall to the bottom, screaming
all the way with our arms
raised in reckless defiance
of gravity ....
Then we make the turn to the left and see the ocean as we get ready for the next drop ...

OOOOOWEWEEEE!!!!!!  THAT WAS FUN!!!!!!!!

- Courtesy of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 12/02/04
 

   WOWZERONI!!! 
David, you know I've always wanted my own Time Machine, and I really think that
this time and place would be my first stop! 
Thanks so much for these amazing, fabulous images!

The very happiest of my childhood memories revolve around the happy nights my family spent
at the amusement park from the time we moved to Newport News from Richmond when I was six years old.

The roller coaster - or dips, as we called it - was my favorite ride!  Daddy and I always tried to ride in the very last
seat, and Mama and Eleanor ('59) would sit in front of us.  Often we would ride several times without ever getting off.

As a child I always said that I wanted to be married on a Saturday in June at the nearby Buckroe Baptist Church
so that during the ceremony I could turn around and watch the cars on the dips go by.  Okay...

My second favorite ride was the Tilt-a-Whirl. I always thought it was so sad that it made my Aunt Virginia extremely
nauseated, so that she had to avoid it.  It seemed to me that this must surely rank as one of the deepest tragedies of her life.

Eleanor's favorite ride was the Bumper Cars because she got to drive herself.  Sometimes I'd ride with her. 
That was really exciting!  Nothing like a twelve-year old driver!

The real attraction for my daddy, though, was the magnificent carousel, or Merry-Go-Round, as we called it.
Had he had one of his own in the middle of his living room, he would have been a very happy man.  Again, we
would ride repeatedly, delighting in the music of the calliope.  The summer I would turn twelve, I  thought I might be
getting a bit old to ride the horsies, I grumbled something under my breath to that effect to my mother.  She
straightened me out in no short order.  She told me that my father's dignity would never allow him to ride it without
a child accompanying him, and he REALLY wanted to ride it, so I WOULD ride it, and I WOULD be happy about it,
and I WOULD not mention any such nonsense again!

OH!  Oh, yeah...  So that's the way it was, and before the next summer came, my daddy had passed away.

I wish I could ride the horsies with him again, just one more time.

- Carol Buckley Harty ('65) of NC - 04/30/03, 06/02/03

It just occurred to me that my very first date was here at the amusement park 43 years ago today - June 23, 1960. 
And I remember with a smile that had my mother considered it a "real" date, she probably wouldn't have let me go,
as I was still more than two months away from my 13th birthday.  Polly Norris' brother, Bobby ('62), called and asked
me if I could go with him to the Sunday School Picnic for Orcutt Avenue Baptist Church.
Mama thought, "Hmmm, Baptist Sunday School Picnic - what could be the harm?"
I thought, "Ooooh, date with older fella - what could be more fun?!?"
I was right.
 

It further occurred to me that one of the worst dates of my life took place here as well.  My cousin, Cheryl White,
and her then boyfriend, Gene, went to James Blair High in Williamsburg ('64).  They arranged a blind date for me
with one of their friends (whose name I will omit).  I'm sure he was a perfectly nice boy, but rarely before or since
have I encountered such a quintessential NERD!  He seems to have had great visions of spending the evening in the
Tunnel of Love.  I was horrified.  To my everlasting great relief, the Tunnel of Love was closed for repairs that night,
Praise the Lord.  He spent the rest of the evening periodically shouting, "I've been rooked!"
I spent the rest of the evening looking upwards and saying, "Thank You!!!"
I still love Cheryl, though!

- Carol Buckley Harty of NC ('65) - 06/23/03

Bill Amend's "Fox Trot" strip courtesy of http://www.ucomics.com/foxtrot/2004/05/20/ - 05/20/04

Fortunately for me, this alternative ride didn't exist at Buckroe!

- Carol Buckley Harty of NC ('65) - 05/21/04

It must have been the summer of 1964, perhaps before we graduated.  John Scull ('64) and I had gone to the park
one night after having "acquired" a few Colt 45s and stowed them on ice in the trunk of his car .... or mine ..... Hell,
I can't remember.  OK, OK, I know .... we weren't anywhere near 21, but the statute of limitations has long expired
on this one, anyway.

After making a few rounds of the park looking for any girls we knew .... or even girls we didn't know .... and a few
rounds in the trunk of the car .... we decided it was time to ride the roller coaster.  Of course by the summer of '64, we
had ridden it so many times that it had become quite tame.  Even raising your arms in the air seemed a useless
gesture of bravado ...... I mean, even the girls were doing that.  No, we needed to enhance the thrill of the ride in some
way.  So, we decided to stand up.  Given that we were a tad lubricated by this time, I really can't recall if we stood
for the first drop, but we surely stood for much of the remainder of the ride.  On the far side of the park, where you
could look across it and see the coaster loading and unloading area, we spotted Officer Friendly standing there, and
we just knew that he was waiting for us.  So, we had very little time to concoct our story in hopes of escaping any legal
action.  Having just completed a grueling year of Physics with J. K. Alvis, we decided to convince the Officer that we
were not reckless kids, but serious physics students conducting motion experiments.

So, as the car pulled into the unloading area, he met us and instructed us to follow him.  What ensued was an
extraordinary dialogue, which would have rivaled Abbot and Costello's "Who's On First" routine, as John and I,
in perfect and unrehearsed timing and coordination, began to explain how we had carefully calculated accelerations,
velocities, angular momentums (momenta, for you Latin students), rotational inertias, frictional factors, windage,
latitude, longitude, tidal effects, phases of the moon, etc., and determined beyond a shadow of scientific doubt that
it was safe for us to stand during the ride. 

What we did not calculate was that Officer Friendly apparently had not completed 6th grade and had not a clue
what we were saying.  Needless to say, he was not impressed by our presentation, however, I remain convinced
to this day that our lucidity and the power of our scientific knowledge prevented him from even suspecting that we
were both s**tfaced the entire time.  He told us to leave the park and not return that night, a hollow punishment as
we simply returned to the trunk of the car for some much-needed refreshments and recounted the story to ourselves
and rolled on the ground laughing.

We all dearly miss that roller coaster for a variety of reasons. Now you know one of mine.

- Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 09/15/03
Thanks, Dave!


 
LATER:
You might be interested
in these old pictures
of the Buckroe Beach Amusement Park
for the Old Stomping Ground web sight.
I took these pics days before they tore it down - 1991, I think.
 
- Tom Wiatt (Ferguson HS - '70) - 04/13/05

Oh, Tom! "Might be interested"?!?

The last time I went back to Buckroe in October of 2003, and I walked around looking at what had been my Favorite
Place on Earth, I wondered aloud for the 400th time, "If they had to close it, why couldn't they have just left it?
Why did they have to tear it down?!?"

Nothing could have prepared me for the brutal reality of these images. There's a lump in my throat and my eyes
are clouding - no, that's not true. There are tears streaming down my face even as I type these words.
Thanks so much for sharing these with us!

 


 

NOW:
...painted white and having lost its water gardens and stone railings...
"Here's a recent shot (November 2003)  of the lighthouse that used to be the focal point (get it... FOCAL point) on the miniature golf course at Buckroe Beach Amusement Park.   I was holding the camera behind my head, hoping to include myself in the frame, but all I got was my shadow.
Courtesy of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 06/01/03
Thanks, Dave!
Courtesy of Bill Black ('66) of GA - 02/22/04
Thanks, Bill!


NOW:
Sunday, June 01, 2003 November 2003
"I don't have any stories to attach to these images; they speak for
themselves as evidence of a lost time of innocent fun."
"Here's a recent shot (November 2003)  of the lighthouse that used to be the focal point (get it... FOCAL point) on the miniature golf course at Buckroe Beach Amusement Park.   I was holding the camera behind my head, hoping to include myself in the frame, but all I got was my shadow.

- Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 06/01/03
Thanks, Dave!

- Bill Black ('66) of GA - 02/22/04
Thanks, Bill!


 
THEN:

Let's Jump Into The Wayback Machine.
Are you ready for a virtual ride on the Buckroe Roller Coaster?  Good.
 
First, we board the cars at the loading area .... Then, we are towed
up to the top of the first drop
by that clackety chain ....
Then .... over the top and free fall to the bottom, screaming
all the way with our arms
raised in reckless defiance
of gravity ....
Then we make the turn to the left and see the ocean as we get ready for the next drop ...

OOOOOWEWEEEE!!!!!!  THAT WAS FUN!!!!!!!!

- Courtesy of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 12/02/04
 

   WOWZERONI!!! 
David, you know I've always wanted my own Time Machine, and I really think that
this time and place would be my first stop! 
Thanks so much for these amazing, fabulous images!

The very happiest of my childhood memories revolve around the happy nights my family spent
at the amusement park from the time we moved to Newport News from Richmond when I was six years old.

The roller coaster - or dips, as we called it - was my favorite ride!  Daddy and I always tried to ride in the very last
seat, and Mama and Eleanor ('59) would sit in front of us.  Often we would ride several times without ever getting off.

As a child I always said that I wanted to be married on a Saturday in June at the nearby Buckroe Baptist Church
so that during the ceremony I could turn around and watch the cars on the dips go by.  Okay...

My second favorite ride was the Tilt-a-Whirl. I always thought it was so sad that it made my Aunt Virginia extremely
nauseated, so that she had to avoid it.  It seemed to me that this must surely rank as one of the deepest tragedies of her life.

Eleanor's favorite ride was the Bumper Cars because she got to drive herself.  Sometimes I'd ride with her. 
That was really exciting!  Nothing like a twelve-year old driver!

The real attraction for my daddy, though, was the magnificent carousel, or Merry-Go-Round, as we called it.
Had he had one of his own in the middle of his living room, he would have been a very happy man.  Again, we
would ride repeatedly, delighting in the music of the calliope.  The summer I would turn twelve, I  thought I might be
getting a bit old to ride the horsies, I grumbled something under my breath to that effect to my mother.  She
straightened me out in no short order.  She told me that my father's dignity would never allow him to ride it without
a child accompanying him, and he REALLY wanted to ride it, so I WOULD ride it, and I WOULD be happy about it,
and I WOULD not mention any such nonsense again!

OH!  Oh, yeah...  So that's the way it was, and before the next summer came, my daddy had passed away.

I wish I could ride the horsies with him again, just one more time.

- Carol Buckley Harty ('65) of NC - 04/30/03, 06/02/03

It just occurred to me that my very first date was here at the amusement park 43 years ago today - June 23, 1960. 
And I remember with a smile that had my mother considered it a "real" date, she probably wouldn't have let me go,
as I was still more than two months away from my 13th birthday.  Polly Norris' brother, Bobby ('62), called and asked
me if I could go with him to the Sunday School Picnic for Orcutt Avenue Baptist Church.
Mama thought, "Hmmm, Baptist Sunday School Picnic - what could be the harm?"
I thought, "Ooooh, date with older fella - what could be more fun?!?"
I was right.
 

It further occurred to me that one of the worst dates of my life took place here as well.  My cousin, Cheryl White, and
her boyfriend, Gene, went to James Blair High in Williamsburg ('64).  They arranged a blind date
for me with one of their friends (whose name I will omit).  I'm sure he was a perfectly nice boy, but rarely before or since
have I encountered such a quintessential NERD!  He seems to have had great visions of spending the evening in the
Tunnel of Love.  I was horrified.  To my everlasting great relief, the Tunnel of Love was closed for repairs that night,
Praise the Lord.  He spent the rest of the evening periodically shouting, "I've been rooked!"
I spent the rest of the evening looking upwards and saying, "Thank You!!!"
I still love Cheryl, though!

- Carol Buckley Harty of NC ('65) - 06/23/03

Bill Amend's "Fox Trot" strip courtesy of http://www.ucomics.com/foxtrot/2004/05/20/ - 05/20/04

Fortunately for me, this alternative ride didn't exist at Buckroe!

- Carol Buckley Harty of NC ('65) - 05/21/04

It must have been the summer of 1964, perhaps before we graduated.  John Scull ('64) and I had gone to the park
one night after having "acquired" a few Colt 45s and stowed them on ice in the trunk of his car .... or mine ..... Hell,
I can't remember.  OK, OK, I know .... we weren't anywhere near 21, but the statute of limitations has long expired
on this one, anyway.

After making a few rounds of the park looking for any girls we knew .... or even girls we didn't know .... and a few
rounds in the trunk of the car .... we decided it was time to ride the roller coaster.  Of course by the summer of '64, we
had ridden it so many times that it had become quite tame.  Even raising your arms in the air seemed a useless
gesture of bravado ...... I mean, even the girls were doing that.  No, we needed to enhance the thrill of the ride in some
way.  So, we decided to stand up.  Given that we were a tad lubricated by this time, I really can't recall if we stood
for the first drop, but we surely stood for much of the remainder of the ride.  On the far side of the park, where you
could look across it and see the coaster loading and unloading area, we spotted Officer Friendly standing there, and
we just knew that he was waiting for us.  So, we had very little time to concoct our story in hopes of escaping any legal
action.  Having just completed a grueling year of Physics with J. K. Alvis, we decided to convince the Officer that we
were not reckless kids, but serious physics students conducting motion experiments.

So, as the car pulled into the unloading area, he met us and instructed us to follow him.  What ensued was an
extraordinary dialogue, which would have rivaled Abbot and Costello's "Who's On First" routine, as John and I,
in perfect and unrehearsed timing and coordination, began to explain how we had carefully calculated accelerations,
velocities, angular momentums (momenta, for you Latin students), rotational inertias, frictional factors, windage,
latitude, longitude, tidal effects, phases of the moon, etc., and determined beyond a shadow of scientific doubt that
it was safe for us to stand during the ride. 

What we did not calculate was that Officer Friendly apparently had not completed 6th grade and had not a clue
what we were saying.  Needless to say, he was not impressed by our presentation, however, I remain convinced
to this day that our lucidity and the power of our scientific knowledge prevented him from even suspecting that we
were both s**tfaced the entire time.  He told us to leave the park and not return that night, a hollow punishment as
we simply returned to the trunk of the car for some much-needed refreshments and recounted the story to ourselves
and rolled on the ground laughing.

We all dearly miss that roller coaster for a variety of reasons. Now you know one of mine.

- Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 09/15/03
Thanks, Dave!


 
LATER:
You might be interested
in these old pictures
of the Buckroe Beach Amusement Park
for the Old Stomping Ground web sight.  I took these pics days before they tore it down - 1991,
I think.
 
- Tom Wiatt (Ferguson HS - '70) - 04/13/05

Oh, Tom! "Might be interested"?!?

The last time I went back to Buckroe in October of 2003, and I walked around looking at what had been my Favorite
Place on Earth, I wondered aloud for the 400th time, "If they had to close it, why couldn't they have just left it?
Why did they have to tear it down?!?"

Nothing could have prepared me for the brutal reality of these images. There's a lump in my throat and my eyes
are clouding - no, that's not true. There are tears streaming down my face even as I type these words.
Thanks so much for sharing these with us!

 


 

NOW:
Last Remaining Landmark of the Buckroe Beach Amusement Park
 
Courtesy of F.A. Saunders (HHS - '64) of VA - 11/22/08
Thanks, F.A.!

And I'm sure everyone remembers walking along the street,  just outside that tall iron fence, and watching the
flashing Thimble Shoals Light off-shore.  Or was it the sparkling lights in what's-her-name's eyes?  Humm..
gotta think about that for a minute.   I might be confusing this locale with one of those little parking spaces
along Chesapeake Avenue..  and the flashing lights of the racing submarines. 
Hold on.. that's what I was remembering!
 
But who else knew that F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote a short story called The Swimmer which prominently features the
Thimble Shoals light?  It also references Monument Avenue in Richmond, as well as The Chamberlin Hotel
I remember seeing a photo of F. Scott and Zelda that identifies them as "vacationing at the Cavalier Hotel,"
but it was actually taken at the indoor salt water pool at The Chamberlin. 
I recognized the tiles on the column they're standing next to.
 
Whew!  Finally I can contribute a photo and a literary comment.  
Anybody can tell you I was never this bright in English Class! 

- Bill Black ('66) of GA - 02/22/04
Thanks, Bill!  You are a hoot!

My granddaughter and I were looking
at the Buckroe web site moments ago.

It gave me an opportunity to share memories with her regarding my parents. My mother used
to take the train from Richmond, where she lived, to Buckroe Beach. She told me that people
would jump off the train as it was slowing down, including herself, to find the best picnic table first.

My mother met my dad at Buckroe. Her stories of those days were always a pleasure for me to hear.
I have some really cute photos of them taken together and of her alone.

It's always a pleasure to read and be able to share!


I read the note from Pauline Shofner about Buckroe and it reminded me of another
great Buckroe story involving my mom and dad. It seems that they went on the roller
coaster in about 1954 together at my Dad's coaxing. Mom didn't want to go.
Well, if you will remember, men in those days commonly wore white shirts and ties
just about everywhere, and my dad was no exception.  When they came down the first big drop, Mom
was yelling but she noticed my dad wasn't saying anything. In her "fear", she had grabbed his tie
and was just about strangling him when she realized it at the end of the ride. Needless to say,
he survived, but I am not sure whether or not this didn't shorten his life (ha!).
But she never went on the roller coaster again.

Carol, keep up the good work. It seems as we get older
our memories of the past come back very clearly.
 
- Pauline Collins Shofner ('64) - 06/26/04
Thanks, Pauline!
- Jimmy Dick ('65) of FL - 06/27/04
Thanks, Jim!
06/28/04 06/28/04



Greetings, I am from Richmond (George Wythe class of '77). In my SOPHOMORE summer (75), MY favorite week
was spent @ Sans Souci Motel. As a kid, I loved Buckroe Park. I was TERRIFIED of "the dips".  I got your page
by searching the net. THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES.

- Doug Phipps (George Wythe HS - '77) of VA - 09/27/04
Thanks, Doug!

The Hampton Carousel
The old Merry-Go-Round from Buckroe Beach Amusement Park
(which was dismantled in 1985)
was painstakingly restored, moved, and reopened to the public on June 30, 1991.

"Carousel Horses from Buckroe Beach"

vasc.org/carousel.html

hampton.va.us/parks/
carousel_park.html

Signed Artist's Proof Watercolor by David Gill (1985)
Courtesy of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 02/10/04
Thanks, Dave!

"And for Buckroe, because one of my most vivid memories is the amateur surfer bands
with more volume than talent and hundreds of gyrating kids inside the gate
 .... and hundreds more outside the gate:  'Pipeline'."

"Pipeline" midi courtesy of http://www.tigergraphic.com/mididen/
at the suggestion of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 01/30/04
Thanks, Dave!

Map image courtesy of http://maps.yahoo.com/maps - 05/23/04


Back to Our Old Stomping Grounds

Return to NNHS Class of 1965