Published: 14 Sep 2023

From The Previous Chapter:

Remembering about his talk with Adeline, Mr. Ken told Wayne that he and Chris would have to coordinate with her to clean up Mackenzie and Phillip’s apartment. Mr. Ken told his Estate Master to have Chris hire a remediation company to go in there and clean the place and throw away anything Adeline tells them to. He added that he, or Dennis, could go over there, if they had the time, to meet her and see if there was anything else that needed to be done.

When the phone conversation was over, Mr. Ken told Wayne that he expected to be extremely busy the next two nights, so to tell the boys he would not call.

The Cove was quiet that night as the boys were happy that they’d all gotten to talk to their ‘dad’.

The three youngest Covers were walking down the stairs and going to a Momma Maria breakfast while their ‘dad’ was back east, and already at his Edgewood Amusement Park, with Ben Walthers, talking with Jason Zimms.

“I wonder what ‘dad’ is doing right now?” asked Matthew, to no one in particular.

“I bet he is talking to Jason about the park and how they are going to go about getting the place all cleaned up, and the rides inspected and working properly,” offered Charles.

By then Momma had placed their breakfast in front of them and told them, “Eats, eats!”

Mr. Wayne was sitting where their ‘dad’ usually sat in the morning at the table, and he was reading the morning newspaper and smiling to himself at what the boys said and how Momma tells the boys to stop talking, and to eat their breakfast.

An hour later, Billy and Robert came down and almost had the same kind of conversation. But Billy knew to stop talking and start eating, as soon as Momma Maria put his breakfast before him.

Robert finished saying what he did about how his dad was probably planning on how they were going to clean up the park, and would get the reporters involved to see how they are having all the rides inspected by outside professionals and them doing the repairs, so the public would know that the rides would be safe. The man’s son then started eating his Momma Maria breakfast.

Again, Mr. Wayne sat there listening while he continued to read the morning newspaper. He knew the Cover boys weren’t too happy that their ‘dad’ would be gone for three days, as he went to Edgewood, along with Ben Walthers, to consult with Jason Zimms on getting the amusement park ready for a First of July Grand Opening. But, for the most part, the boys were getting used to his traveling ways.

Ken Thomas and Ben Walthers arrived at the Edgewood Amusement Park well before the 7:30 time-frame Mr. Ken suggested to his Three Finger Entertainment (TFE) President, while on the charter plane. Jason Zimms, the park’s Operations Manager was already there, with the hot coffee made, warm breakfast tacos at the ready, and Krispy Kreme donuts waiting for them.

“Welcome to Edgewood,” offered Jason, as he met the men at the operations building entrance, and shook their hands. He showed them into where he had set up a conference room for them to use while they were there, and where the hot coffee, tacos and donuts were waiting for them.

“Thank you, Jason, for having this ready for us,” commented Mr. Ken. “We both only had time for something off the hotel’s breakfast bar, so this will surely hit the spot.”

Mr. Ken and Ben poured themselves a cup of hot coffee, took a breakfast taco, then the two men sat down at the conference table and Jason joined them. The three men talked about what Jason had done so far.

Jason told the men that after he had the previous full-time employees fill out their W-4s, he learned where they used to work. Then he assigned them to start cleaning out their areas. He told his bosses that the administration people boxed up all of the old Edgewood office files and created new ones beginning as of Saturday.

Jason told Mr. Ken and Mr. Ben that he had the accounting and revenue personnel begin establishing the payroll ledgers effective that Saturday. The operations manager added that he had them copy Edgewood’s old payroll files onto a flash drive and then delete the old file and start a new one using the new W-4s. Jason added that he told the women to use the person’s previous pay rate, as they needed that in order to complete the entries and start the pay process.

Mr. Ken and Mr. Ben looked at one another and then Mr. Walthers told Jason that was one issue that they both had totally forgotten about. The President of TFE told the operations manager that it was quick thinking on his part, and that the previous employees wouldn’t expect anything less, and that they shouldn’t pay them anything less.

Mr. Ken spoke up and told Jason that while they’re there, they’ll take a look at what the employees are being paid, and then he and Ben will decide if they should receive a higher pay scale. But for now, he thanked the man for his forward thinking.

Mr. Ken and Mr. Ben ate another breakfast taco and then they both had a donut. By that time a few of the admin people had arrived and Jason wanted to introduce them to his bosses. Mr. Ken said he’d meet them now, but that he wanted to speak to all of the employees at 8 a.m. and to spread that word around.

Jason did introduce the four ladies who were working in the main office for Edgewood. And while the six made small talk, Jason went out to the other divisions and spread the word for everyone to head to the operations building to meet the new owner and the President of Three Finger Entertainment, under whom they now reported.

At a little past 8 o’clock, Mr. Ken addressed the full-time employees of Edgewood.

“Good morning, everyone … My name is Ken Thomas and I am the new owner of this park. Beside me is Ben Walthers. He is the President of Three Finger Entertainment under which Edgewood and four other parks that I own are affiliated.

“It was unfortunate that the park … that it had that ill-fated accident with the Rocket roller coaster last year. I had looked to purchase this same park the year before that accident, but the owners … they wanted way too much money for what I considered was a poorly maintained park. (There were murmurings heard from the employees.)

“Be that as it may, that is how I viewed this park back then, and even though I made an offer, the owner refused it. If I had purchased the park back then … the Rocket, as well as the Para-Drop and the Swinger would have been immediately shut down and eventually torn down. The Para-Drop and Swinger now will eventually be torn down.

“As for the Hey-Day … it too would also have been closed … but it will now be in the process of being restored it to its former glory, and being made into a destination ride for the older generation of guests who will surely remember it from back in their day.

“Continuing … one thing I want you all to know up front is … is that I do not tolerate … I do NOT tolerate the use of illegal drugs. If you use them at home, I cannot do anything about that. But … if your use at home, interferes with your ability to perform your duties here … you will be gone. There will be NO second chances.

“As for the use of alcohol, the same thing applies. I also do not want to find any alcohol in your personal spaces, meaning your locker, here at the park. I enjoy an alcoholic drink, when I am out relaxing, but I do not drink and drive, and I do not drink to an excess that it will interfere with my work performance the next day.

“If you come to work … and are impaired from a hangover, or have alcohol on your breath you will be sent home. That will be your first and ONLY warning, because the next time you will be given your pink slip.

“These measures might sound harsh on your first meeting with the new owner … but I want you all to know that these rules … they are well known and they are enforced at my other four parks and you will not be treated any differently.

“Ben and I … we are going to be pouring millions of dollars into Edgewood to transform it and get it back into the public’s good graces. And to do that … you and the part-time employees that we will eventually bring back on will be tasked to clean, rake, paint, sweep, wash and anything else that is needed that will convert Edgewood into a showcase park that gives the impression that it was just built.

“Ben here … he has already contracted with a number of amusement ride inspection and repair companies. They should begin arriving tomorrow through Thursday. They know which rides they are responsible for, and they will go directly to work after they set up. None of you should be tasked to work on or around that ride until the company releases it back to Jason.

“Then and only then will the ride need to be cleaned, washed, polished, painted and anything else done to it, like maybe replacing lights, to get it ready for our Opening Day. Once the majority of the rides are ready, the state inspectors will then be called in to certify the rides before we open.

“While all that is ongoing … the concession stands, food booths, game stalls, kiosks, etc. will all need to be cleaned. I understand that when the park closed last fall, that none of the oil was drained from the fryers and the air vents are all still gummed up with old oil and grease.

“As I walked around the park eighteen months ago, I saw way too much trash was under and around the rides and collected in corners and the trash bins … they looked like they never have been cleaned. Those days are over. The tall grass and weeds around all the rides, as a matter-of fact, anywhere in and around the park will be cut and raked and put in the dumpsters that will soon be located around the park.

“The trash will also be raked from under the rides and from around them. The trash cans will be washed and painted if necessary. We will purchase pressure washers and rotating surface cleaners to be used to clean in front of any food concession areas and then they will be used to clean the restrooms inside and out. We are going to clean this place up and make it shine for its Grand Opening on the first of July.”

Mr. Ken was then interrupted by someone calling out asking how much they were going to be paid to do all this work.

“That my friend is a great question. When you signed your W-4s, Jason told Ben and me… that he had the finance personnel research what your pay rate was as of the last day you worked here. That is going to be the pay rate you will be paid during this startup period. Ben and I have no comparable pay scale to use right now to determine a fair wage, but … we figure if what you were receiving last September was acceptable … it will be a good start.

“But Ben and I … we promise to review all pay rates and we will make adjustments as we see necessary. And… we promise … we will back date the rate to last Saturday. So, please … work with us on this.

“Jason … he tells me that the big freezer still has huge amounts of hamburgers, hot dogs, soft pretzels and everything else that was sold here, when the park closed last year, still in it. We are going to try to get a state inspector over to certify that the product is still safe to eat.

“And if he will … after we get the employee cafeteria cleaned and it passes inspection … we are going to serve you that food … free of charge. You will only have to pay for your drinks because we will have to contract with the soda companies to supply the CO2 and syrup mixes and possibly the soda machines if we can’t get the ones in the cafeteria cleaned.”

Ben then said something to Mr. Ken and he smiled at the telling and told Ben he’d rectify that right now.

“Ben tells me that I keep mentioning Jason’s name, but … but I have failed to properly introduce him. Well, let me take care of that now. Jason Zimms … whom you have undoubtedly met already if you filled out your W-4s … he is your new Park Operations Manager.”

But from the back of the gathered employees, came a voice that said, “I won’t work for anyone other than, Braxton Carter. He’s standing right over there. He was the operations manager for Edgewood for the longest time and there’s no reason why he still shouldn’t be our operations manager, now. We don’t need no new one!”

Mr. Ken was taken aback by the lone outburst, but he recovered quickly and said, “Well, I’m sorry to hear that. But Jason … he has fourteen years of experience as the assistant operations manage at Fantasy Fun Park. And before that … he worked his way through all of the departments there, so he comes with a wide breadth of knowledge and experience.”

But the lone voice continued and said, “But we don’t know him and … and we shouldn’t have to work for someone … for someone who doesn’t know how we do things here at Edgewood.”

“Who may I ask are you, sir?” asked M. Ken.

The man didn’t answer, but Jason walked over to Mr. Ken and whispered into his ear that the man was the main mechanic for the Rocket and he met him when he inspected the park.

“Does anyone else feel like that man in the back does … and doesn’t want to work for my designated Operations Manager, Jason Zimms? … Speak up! … Anybody?

“I want you all to know that as the owner and the President of TFE, we, that is myself and Ben … we … we choose who are going to be the key personnel here at Edgewood. So … let me know now. Is there anyone else who will not work for Jason here … or anyone else we may bring in to run a department in the future?” Anyone?

“I want you all to know that I am not a Six Flags … or a Cedar Point … and I do not have a tremendous number of investors involved in Three Finger Entertainment. I own it outright!

“So, I want you to know that I am spending my own money here … to transform Edgewood … into what it should have always been. And with that … it gives me the right to pick and choose who will be my key people here! For right now … only the Operations Manager has been named. The people who were in charge of the other departments still have their positions. For now.

“Now … I may have come across as a bit overbearing just then … but I have millions of dollars riding on making Edgewood a success. And I want you to be a part of that success. But you … you have to want to be a part of that, too … unlike that man back there. So … again … I ask … is there anyone who does not want to work for Jason … or anyone else we may bring in as one of our key personnel?”

The gathered employees looked around at one another and none of them was willing to step forward and join that man who was very vocal about not wanting to work for the new operations manager.

“Thank you for wanting to work with us to bring Edgewood back. You, sir, since that is your decision not to want to work for my ops manager … I’ll have security escort you to your locker where you can retrieve your things. They will then take you to administration where you will turn in your Edgewood credentials and then you will be escorted off the premises. Your final pay check will be sent to the address you put on the W-4. Security, please take that man to his locker!

“Ladies and gentlemen … we all have a lot of work to do … if we want to get Edgewood ready to open on the first of July. Jason … he will orchestrate, over time, the redevelopment of Edgewood into a top-notch amusement park with all of your help. It will not happen overnight. And we will be hiring additional help to get this done, so if you know anyone who might be looking for a job for at least the next 50 some days, which includes Saturdays and Sundays, have them come out and apply.

“What we, together, will accomplish in these next 54, or so, days will just be the beginning of the transformation of Edgewood into a first-class destination vacation spot. As for working hours … you can work your usual 40 hours, but over-time will be available, so if you want to work more … then that will be up to you. But also know this … that you might be asked to work where we need you and not necessarily in your office, or warehouse, etc. Please give it your all. Ben … do you have anything you want to add?” finished the new owner of the Edgewood Amusement Park.

At the schools, the Cover boys talked to their friends about their ‘dad’ being gone.

For Phillip it really didn’t mean anything for him. He was used to only having his mom, and she was gone so much this wasn’t anything new for him. He knew he still had Mr. Wayne and his big ‘brothers’, and he knew he could still go and visit his mom if he needed to. He was thoroughly enjoying living with Mr. Ken and his ‘brothers’, and everything he had to do at The Cove, and he was looking forward to the ten-day trip once school let out for the summer in four weeks.

Robert and Billy took Mr. Ken’s being gone in stride. Robert understood his dad’s focus on his business interests, but especially his amusement parks. He knew his dad had to be away to maintain a presence with all of his endeavors, so he was OK whenever Mr. Ken had to go away.

Charles wasn’t concerned about his dad’s absence. The man has been away before and he came back and the teen knew he will be going away again, because he has business interests that he has to stay on top of.

Matthew was the one who was the clingiest. He wasn’t always that way, but ever since his dad, his biological dad that is, came to get him and took him away and the twins were taken away, he felt that he could be gone, again, anytime soon, too.

The pre-teen loved being at The Cove and Mr. Ken was the only man who paid any real attention to him, and made him feel as if he had a ‘dad’. He also hoped that one day that the owner of The Cove would make him his son, too.

Ben Walthers talked to the Edgewood employees about what he envisioned Edgewood would be in the near future. At the end of his talk, he supported Mr. Ken’s announcement of them needing additional people to help push them across the finish line for them to open on the first of July.

The TFE President told them they would be advertising for workers, men and women, and they would primarily be cleaning, raking, painting, washing, cutting the grass and weeds, moving heavy things and everything else that will be needed to get Edgewood ready to open. He asked them to spread the word that Edgewood was hiring.

Mr. Ken, Ben and Jason took one of the golf carts and drove around the park. Jason told them how he would systematically work from the back of the park to get Edgewood straightened up. The ops manager explained he’ll have them pick up trash, rake under and around the rides, have the grass and weeds cut, and paint whatever needed to be painted, power wash the restrooms and in front of the food stands.

Jason told them he also needed to have all of the electrical systems inspected and repaired as necessary and he wanted to replace all the burned-out light bulbs or maybe eventually change them all over to the new LEDs.

The new ops manager then said that all of the plumbing throughout the park also needed to be inspected and everything that needed to be repaired should be done now, while the entire park was down. Jason then asked Mr. Ken if he would be allowed to build the four new restrooms as he had done at the other four parks.

Jason then stopped the golf cart at one of many foods stands at the park. He asked the men to go with him inside because he wanted to show them what he was up against. Inside Jason showed them the state of the fryers, exhaust hoods, storage shelves, serving counters and the soda dispensers. Jason told them that most of the food stands looked like that one did. He then asked them to consider buying all new food service equipment for the entire park.

The men continued their inspection of the park and the bosses did stop at a few more of the food stands along the way to see if what Jason told them was true. They were appalled at the condition of the food service equipment, whether it was a fryer, grill, soda dispenser, serving counter, or storage shelves. The men now knew that Jason was right and they needed to start calling restaurant supply companies to see if they had what they needed.

Ken Thomas put Ben Walthers on that task, who then called back to his team at the office building to see if they had contacts they could call, while he called the local suppliers to see what they had. In the meantime, Mr. Ken had Jason and Braxton Carter go to the local box stores to buy as many rakes, shovels, work gloves, trash bags and six of the all-important 3200 psi pressure washers, or higher, and rotating surface cleaners and anything else Jason thought he needed.

Mr. Ken, for his part, called the local trash companies to see if they could deliver four or five 30-yard roll-off dumpsters to the park. He explained what would be placed in them, so the company could price them accordingly. Since it was still early in the day, the company representative told him they could have two delivered today and they would deliver the other three tomorrow. Mr. Ken told them to have the driver find him or Jason Zimms and one of them would sign the work order.

Mr. Ken then got with Edgewood’s public relations people. He wanted them to advertise, via radio and the newspaper, for part-time workers, men or women; that some jobs could turn into full-time positions; the park would need to get Edgewood ready for their opening day. He told them to say something to the effect that all applicants would be screened for drug use.

The owner then got with the personnel team and had them begin to call the park’s teenagers who worked last year to tell them that they can come in and work after school for a few hours, time permitting, and over the weekends. He told the callers to tell the teens that they would be doing manual work and would be getting dirty.

Mr. Ken then made his way to the wardrobe area. He talked to the seamstress and the women who were responsible to maintain the park’s uniforms. He asked them what condition the outfits were in and what they needed to maintain them. He learned that the uniforms were barely hanging together and that if they got one more season out of them, they were lucky. Mr. Ken thanked them for that information, and asked them to do what they could to get them through at least this season.

The new owner of the Edgewood Amusement Park then walked over to the warehouse. There he found Jason already had them taking inventory of everything and anything they were responsible for. That included game prizes, refreshment stand supplies, (i.e., cups, straws, lids, napkins, cash register tapes, sterile gloves, tongs and more.), souvenirs, t-shits, and everything else found in the shops, Holiday decorations, pens, paper, computer supplies and more.

His next stop was the parks Development, Enhancement, Repair, and Restoration (DERR) Work Center where the multiple shops – electrical, mechanical, plumbing, carpentry, landscaping could be found. When he walked in, he found the individual sections played off a main open area they each used to work on major projects. When he looked into the individual divisions, the men weren’t doing much of anything.

Mr. Ken first asked to talk to the lead electrician. When the man told him that Jason hadn’t given him any specific duties to perform, the owner of the park asked him if he knew of any electrical problems within the park. The man said he did, so Mr. Ken asked him why, as the lead, he didn’t assign himself and his men to get working on fixing them. The man took the hint and all eight men got their tools and went out into the park.

The parks’ owner took the same tact at each of the other shops and found that none of the leads had any initiative to get needed work started and done. He told the leads to get their crews to work and to make sure they made progress, as he would be checking up on what they did.

Later, when Mr. Ken and Ben got together to exchange information, Ben told his boss that they may not be able to get all of the food stands outfitted with brand new fryers, grills, etc. by Opening Day. But that the majority of the equipment would be there by the end of July. Ben then told Mr. Ken they had to decide if they wanted Coke or Pepsi products in the park. He added that either one agreed to provide brand new dispensers for all of the concession stands and employee cafeteria and they would have them installed for the first of July.

Mr. Ken asked if there was a way that they could have them both. Ben said that was an unusual request, so he asked if there was a reason, he wanted to do that, because both suppliers would want a very valid purpose for doing so. Mr. Ken asked him if he could think about that.

The new park’s owner then told Ben Walthers what he found in the repair shops. Ben couldn’t believe that the men were so aloof. Mr. Ken told him he believed that the attitude came from how the previous owners treated the entire park and the lack of leadership from Braxton as to why the park was is such dismal condition.

Mr. Ken told Ben that they will probably need to find new leads and possibly new men to fill out the shops because when the park is in full operation, those shops will be extremely busy. Ben suggested they bring in a man from each of the other four parks to work as the new leads. Ben explained that after what the employees heard this morning, either one of them would bring in the key people they wanted and then they’d see if any more people would jump ship.

Mr. Ken said he liked that idea and told Ben to make some phone calls. He told him to bring in at least a total of two electricians, plumbers, carpenters, landscapers and mechanics, from the other four parks. He told Ben to let the park operators talk amongst themselves who they can spare, but that we need them by the weekend.

He told Ben to let them know they didn’t have to send their best person, but someone who can lead a bunch of workers who need a strong take charge manager. Also, to let them know they will be here for at least thirty days and maybe a bit longer, until we get Edgewood open.

Mr. Ken then took out his cell phone and called his Real Estate Manager. He told the man to find a nice corporate short-term furnished rental apartment in the Edgewood area for Jason, for at least two months. He then told him he will also need ten more apartments for at least a one-month rental, with the possibly of an additional week or more. He told the man Jason would go over there and check the place out before we sign any contracts.

That first morning at Edgewood was a busy one for the three main bosses at Edgewood, especially Ken Thomas and Ben Walthers. They were both glad they had arrived because they both took care of little issues that Jason wouldn’t have gotten to until later in the week.

When Jason and Braxton, the previous ops manager, came back from the big box stores with all the landscaping tools and pressure washers they needed to clean up the grasses, weeds and trash, etc., Mr. Ken had Jason go with him and Ben to lunch.

At lunch the men discussed with Jason what they’d done while he was away. Jason was thankful for the help and apologized for not thinking about all those issues. Mr. Ken told him he knew he had what it would take to get the park cleaned up and ready for Opening Day, but he also needed a behind the scenes manager to handle issues, as they had that morning.

The President of TFE, Ben Walthers, asked Jason, what he thought of Braxton after he spent a few hours with him getting the needed equipment to clean the trash, grass and weeds and everything else from around the park.

Jason told the men that he felt that Braxton had the knowledge to do the job, but he lacked the energy, or the drive to lead. Jason qualified himself by saying that Braxton doesn’t like to make waves and upset the workers, which he thinks is one reason why that man wanted him to be the ops manager, because they could do what they wanted.

Mr. Ken asked Jason who was Braxton’s assistant, and was he there in the mix. Jason said he was there, but was keeping a low profile. Ben asked him if he knew why. The new ops manager said he thinks the man was hoping to at least keep a job, but he didn’t know which one he’d get.

As the three men ate their lunch, they talked about Tucker Clark, who was Braxton’s assistant, and what position he could fill at the park. Jason said he talked with him on Sunday and learned the man had the same type of experience as he had and had worked in virtually all of the departments of the park, so he knew his way around Edgewood.

Ben asked Jason if he could use two ‘right-hand’ men during this transformation period and, at the end, decide which one he wanted, as his assistant. Jason thought about that for a few moments, and then told the two men that it would allow him to use them on the administrative aspects, like payroll, human resources, ID requirements, ride training, game attendants, janitorial assignments and many other areas, of getting the park ready.

Then, without asking his boss, Ken Thomas, Ben told Jason to do it. He told Jason to sit down with both men and tell them what he wanted them to do, since they both knew what needed to be done. Ben also told Jason to tell the men that he would want updates twice a day on what they’d done, and to keep him in the loop on any problems.

The two big bosses then told Jason about what Mr. Ken found in the repair shops. Mr. Ken told Jason that he has to watch those men carefully, and that he may have to replace some if not all of them. The owner of the park told the new ops manager that ten men from the four other parks will be there by the weekend, and he is to tell those repair guys that they are the new leads and to watch how that goes. Ben said he should expect more defections as they had this morning.

They also told Jason about the corporate rentals Mr. Ken was setting up, the 30-yard roll-off trash containers to be delivered later that afternoon, the situation with the wardrobe, the problem with getting new food service equipment that would be resolved by the end of July, the need to decide on Pepsi or Coke, the calling of the teenagers who worked there last year to start coming in after school and on weekends and the advertising to hire many more part-time men and women for day work to get what Jason needed done.

After lunch, the first thing Jason did was call Braxton and Tucker into his office. He told them what he wanted them to do, and he assigned them specific areas to handle. He told them that the areas would rotate, so the other could catch something that might have been missed. The new operations manager reminded them that this was what it is like starting a brand-new park, so they had to think outside the box and innovate.

The next thing Jason did was call the state inspectors office to see if he could get an inspector out to the park to tell him if the food remaining in the freezers was still edible. When he explained that he wasn’t going to sell it, but if it was still edible, he was going to serve it to his employees free of charge, they made the appointment for late Wednesday morning.

Jason was happy he had the food service workers focus their efforts on cleaning the employee cafeteria first. He wanted that ready for the state inspector, so if it passed inspection, they could begin serving lunches to the employees, so they didn’t have to leave the park. He now had to get his bosses to decide which brand of soft drinks they would serve at the park.

Jason found six men not really doing anything, and he assigned them to learn how to operate the pressure washers and rotating surface cleaners, and to start pressure washing the areas around the food stands. The rest of the other men and women standing around he had start at the front of the park cutting down the tall weeds, raking trash, collecting it all and putting it into the garbage bags he’d bought earlier that day.

After he’d gotten all the workers doing something, Jason went looking for Ken Thomas and Ben Walthers. When he did find them, he heard them talking about changing the name of the park. That totally surprised him. When they saw him at the door, they invited him to sit down and join them in the discussion.

Jason asked them why they wanted to change the name. Mr. Ken told him about the condition of the wardrobe and that they would need to replace it. He added if they were going to do that what better way to also change the name of the park at the same time.

Ben Walthers jumped into the conversation and told Jason that they had also discussed changing the name because of the reputation that Edgewood had over the years and their hope was that a new name change and their transformation of the park would go hand-in-hand with a change in the public’s attitude about the park.

The three men discussed different names. They came up with: Wood Forest, Forest Glen, Forest’s Edge, Forest Wood, Forest Magic, Forest Timbers, Wild Forest, Wild Timbers, Adventure Forest, Adventure Timbers, Wild Adventures, Fantasy Forest, Forestland, Forest Mountain, Mountain Forest, Twisted Forest and Forest Ridge. Then the three men came up with other adjectives they could possibly use such as: Escape, Scenic, Holiday, Treetop, Eastern, Lone Pine, and Ranch.

They agreed they should let their minds rest for now and come back to that naming exercise later at dinner, or maybe tomorrow. For now, they decided they’d go outside and check on what the rest of the employees were doing. Mr. Ken said he really wanted to see how much the repair shop men had accomplished. Ben also wanted to walk around the park and prioritize in his mind what needed to be done and when.

Jason called Arnie Arnold at Crystal Lake and asked him to send him the restroom construction plans. He told the man he wanted to begin planning to add four brand new restroom buildings to be built during the coming winter. Jason knew he had to get a local architect to review them and bring them up to the local code and then the two of them would have to site the four new buildings, so the sooner he had those plans the sooner he could get started.

Jason knew he would then have to submit the plans for approval to the county, then once approved he would have to advertise for bids, go through selecting the contractor and then sign contracts. In the meantime, Mr. Ken told him to find demolition companies to tear down the Para-Drop and the Swinger, as they were the two rides that they both identified as being unsafe.

As Jason was talking to Arnie, the two 30-yard roll-off dumpsters arrived and Jason wanted to show them where in the park he wanted them located. Initially he was going to have them both placed at the back of the park, but he had the team members working at the front, so one had to go there. It was good he did, because as soon as he did, the bags of trash, weeds and grass went directly into it. He then placed the other one at the back of the park. The second driver told him the other three dumpsters would be delivered in the morning.

Mr. Ken did his own walk-around trying to see what the electrical, mechanical, plumbing, carpentry and landscaping crews had been doing. When he saw three of the electricians, they were acting as though they were working on something, but in reality, they hadn’t done much. Mr. Ken walked over to them and asked them to explain what they’d done since he sent them out.

None of them spoke at first. So, Mr. Ken pointed to one of them and asked him to tell him what they accomplished throughout the day. It appeared they’d only worked on two small tasks, that it should have taken one man to do. He told them he will talk to them tomorrow morning and that they’d better come prepared to work, and to tell the other men the same thing.

Mr. Ken found some of the men of the other groups not doing very much either and he was not pleased at all. He asked them the same questions he asked the electricians and he got the same indifferent type of response. He essentially told them the same thing he had told the first group and for them to tell all their colleagues to come to be ready to work tomorrow.

The Park employees left around five o’clock that day and they all clocked out through the operations building. Jason was there thanking them for their hard work, and that he was looking forward to seeing them tomorrow. Many employees said ‘Thank you’, but there were a few disgruntled ones who just smirked or totally ignored him.

Later that evening, the three men ate dinner together. They talked about what happened during the day and how they intended to handle the assignment of work tomorrow. Mr. Ken told the other two about finding the main repair trades taking their good old time in accomplishing as little as they possibly could. He told the two he intended to have a meeting with them first thing in the morning. He asked Jason to be there, so he knew how he might have to handle those men in the future.

Ben said he heard from two of the ride inspection and repair companies. He told his companions that part of the teams should arrive tomorrow and they would begin setting up. Mr. Ken was curious as to which of the rides they would be working on and when he learned that one would start working on the ride called The Wooden Coaster, he was happy.

The owner of the park knew that the coaster was in good shape, as he inspected it himself with Jason and had ridden it last year with the boys. But he wanted it to be in great shape, and was looking forward to talking to at least one of the supervisors, as to what he wanted done.

The men then talked about the Park’s name change. Ben brought out the list he made earlier when they talked and they review it. After some discussion the three all agreed to delete the following names: Wood Forest, Forest’s Edge, Forest Wood, Forest Magic, Forest Timbers, Wild Forest, Wild Timbers, Adventure Timbers, Fantasy Forest, Wild Adventures. They also decided to not use the other adjectives, such as, Escape, Scenic, Holiday, Treetop, Eastern, Lone Pine, and Ranch in trying to come up with a name.

The names that remained were: Forest Glen, Adventure Forest, Forest Mountain or Mountain Forest, Twisted Forest and Forest Ridge. They all agreed that each name represented where Edgewood was located and should be readily accepted by the public. They all decided to sleep on it and talk about it some tomorrow.

It had been a long day and they all headed to their rooms. Mr. Ken looked at the time and knowing it was still early back home he knew he could call his ‘boys’ but he decided not to. He’d told Wayne that he wouldn’t, so he decided to use that time to mull around in his mind some of the issues he saw today at the park.

At the Cove, Charles and Matthew went to the dentist that afternoon, after they had their Momma Maria snack. Phillip had seen the dentist earlier when he first arrived at The Cove, so he stayed home and worked on his homework and then he practiced on his guitar.

Later in the Study, Mr. Wayne reminded Phillip he would see Doctor Doug tomorrow, Bill would see the good doctor on Wednesday and Matthew would see him Thursday. He then told Matthew and Robert that they would see the dentist tomorrow and anyone with a cavity would be scheduled to go back. He told Matthew he would go back on Wednesday, since he was seeing Doctor Doug on Thursday.

The boys were disappointed that their ‘dad’ didn’t call them that Monday night, while they sat in the Study. Mr. Wayne reminded them that their ‘dad’ had said he wouldn’t call, because he would probably be extremely busy talking with Mr. Walther and Mr. Zimms about what needed to be done at the park. So, he told them they needed to get over it and just go up to their rooms and relax before going to bed. He told them he’d be up shortly.

The Covers slept well, even though they knew their ‘dad’ was not at home.

The saga of Three Finger Cove continues. Let Chowhound know you are reading his story: Chowhnd at Gmail dot Com

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