Producer: Donna Ross

For more information:
• Beech Bend, 798 Beech Bend Rd., Bowling Green, KY 42101, (270) 781-7634

Thrills of Yesteryear

a salute to bygone amusement parks

Before theme parks and high-tech thrill rides, there was the amusement park, where kids could stuff themselves with hot dogs and cotton candy, lose their stomachs to the roller coaster, and then fall asleep, sticky and exhausted but happy, as fireworks burst overhead.

These are some of the memories Kentucky Life evokes in this special edition, a look at five bygone amusement parks enjoyed by Kentuckians in the past. During a cross-state journey, host Byron Crawford talks with patrons and former park workers and shows archival photos and film clips to help recapture the excitement of the old parks.

The late great places we remember:

1. Ludlow Lagoon in Northern Kentucky
2. Clyffeside Park in Ashland
3. Joyland Park in Lexington
4. Beech Bend in Bowling Green
5. Fontaine Ferry Park in Louisville

One of these parks, Bowling Green’s Beech Bend, has a modern-day successor. The contemporary version of Beech Bend is a family entertainment center featuring not only amusement rides, games, and shows but also drag and stock-car racetracks and an associated water park.