Published: 30 Jan 2025

From the Previous Chapter:

Before the two said good night to one another, Phillip again thanked his ‘dad’ for everything he’d done for him and for thinking about his safety by giving him his coin. The young Cover then asked if he would ever get to talk to his mom. ‘Dad’ Ken told the boy that he would let this issue settle for a few weeks before he contacted his mom to see if she would meet with her son, and talk to him about her decision, so he would fully understand why.

Phillip thanked his ‘dad’ for thinking about doing that and then said that he was tired and that he better get to bed. The two hugged and the boy headed to his bathroom to drain his dragon while Mr. Ken headed down the stairs. Chief was nowhere to be seen, as she was still staying by her young brood, so Phillip would be sans a roommate that night, again.

When the young Cover arrived at his school that Tuesday, his friends and classmates said to him that they thought he was going back to living with his mom. Phillip told everyone what his ‘dad’ told him and his ‘brothers’ to say, with his mother’s continuing medical situation and new job hours that it would be in his best interests to remain at The Cove, until his mother had her medical problems all sorted and her job had steady hours.

All of Phillip’s friends and classmates accepted the young Cover’s answer. They then asked him how long he would be staying with Mr. Ken. All the young Cover would tell them, tongue in cheek, was that they were stuck with him until he graduated from high school. Everyone laughed at his response.

At the high school, the boys knew their ‘dad’ would be busy with his Fall Meeting beginning Wednesday, so they knew they needed to ask him about going to the football game that coming weekend. The trouble with that game was it was an away game and they hadn’t gone to any in the past.

At the office that Tuesday, after Ken Thomas had a quick meeting with his Group Managers, he asked Ben and Nelson to stop in his office. Once the three men were seated around the little conversation pit that Mr. Ken thought was good for that type of thing, Ken Thomas told the men why he invited them into his office.

“Ben, Nelson … the boys and I, we, along with three other friends, stopped at the Four Corners Amusement Park last night. The crowd was very large and it appeared that they were enjoying themselves. But what I want to talk to you about was the food stands.

“We all ate there and the thing … the thing that we all noticed was how good and bad the service was, from the people working the food kiosks. Some of us had our food presented nicely, while asking if there was anything else we needed. Then there was the food that was … well, for lack of a better word, was thrown down in front of the person and the drink served without even a thank you.

Nelson was going to respond, but Mr. Ken put his hand up saying not to, as he had more to say. Nelson looked at Ben, as to say what else could have gone wrong.

“Guys … we also ate the churros, funnel cake, soft pretzels and cotton candy. What we found was that the funnel cake with strawberries was very messy and that we needed more napkins. So, here I suggest that the strawberries should be whole, or cut up in big pieces, and not in that runny glaze that runs all over the people’s hands.

“We also had the soft pretzels, and a comment from one of the boys was, ‘… the park should offer different dipping sauces for the soft pretzels, as only offering mustard didn’t hack it.’ To be honest, we’ve eaten the soft pretzels at the Outlet Mall and the boys … they thought there should also be something else to possibly dip them in. Their suggestions would be to offer, caramel, a sweet glaze, cream cheese, honey mustard, nacho cheese and ranch dressing sauces. Oh, and one last suggestion was that we should also serve chocolate churros along with the cinnamon ones.

“Nelson … I know you had a difficult time setting up the park, essentially, all by yourself, and you did a great job for us. Please don’t take these ideas, or suggestions, as a knock on what you did. These are helpful comments, so we can learn from and hopefully improve what you’ve presented to our guests.”

Nelson was going to argue that those were what was being served at the other parks, so why not there. But Ben knew what the owner of the Park was saying, so he grabbed his arm to keep him from saying something that he’d regret later. Ben then told Mr. Ken that the two of them would sit down and review the foods being served, and to see what they could do to improve the service and the menu with what he told them today.

The three shook hands as they left the owner’s office

After Ben and Nelson were gone, the man went and sat in his office chair and there he thought back about what Mackenzie had done to her son. He wondered what, if anything, he could do to ensure that eventually the woman would reconnect with her boy. His mind worked overtime trying to ascertain if one of the people he knew could point him to a way he could ensure that it would happen.

It then dawned on him, what he would need to do. So, he called on his good friend Jules Diamond. When the owner of Diamond Security Services came to the phone the two had a friendly conversation, and then Ken Thomas got down to the real reason why he called.

Ken explained to Jules what transpired over the weekend, between him and Mackenzie Flores that concerned her son, Phillip. He asked Jules if he could conduct a general investigation on Ms. Flores, but explained that he didn’t need a full background probe of the woman. The foster dad told the security man that he wanted an occasional observation of her comings and goings, specifically after work and when she was off.

Jules Diamond said that he could have one of his detectives perform an occasional check on the woman’s activities, after he learns of her work schedule; particularly when she would have multiple days off. Mr. Ken thanked his friend for doing that for him and asked him to just keep the file for him until he felt if he really needed it. Jules Diamond agreed to do that and then their call was over.

That Tuesday evening at their usual after dinner meeting, Robert was the one who asked his dad about them going to the game. But when his dad learned that it was an away game, the man wasn’t too keen on wanting them to go. The teens argued that it was just another game played at a different field.

‘Dad’ Ken told them that he was hearing what they were saying, but with his very important meeting beginning tomorrow he didn’t have time to think it through right then, and he wasn’t inclined to let them go this time around. He told them that maybe they could go to the next away game, but not this time.

Of course, the teens were disappointed. It was Billy, though, who told his ‘brothers’ that they probably should have talked to him sooner than at the last minute before he was slated to be fully occupied at his fall meeting of his park operation managers for four days.

That Wednesday, after the Labor Day weekend, Ken Thomas’ amusement park operation managers began arriving for the annual Three Finger Entertainment Fall Meeting. This is when Mr. Ken was scheduled to meet with all of his park operation mangers to discuss the status of Three Finger Entertainment (TFE) Ltd. and all of its park operations, his desire to affect some changes to all of the parks, review issues that he observed during his inspections and implement corrective actions.

That fall meeting was very ambitious as there were now six amusement parks under the Three Finger Entertainment, Ltd. banner. Mr. Ken’s plan was to get everyone on the same page providing the same level of entertainment, service and fun, while maintaining their parks at the optimum level of squared away park grounds, cleanliness and efficiency.

The list of agenda items he wanted to cover included:

1. That the park employees know who Mr. Ken Thomas and Mr. Ben Walthers are
― That they follow their directions without question when at the park

2. Provide special polo shirts for ops managers and lead supervisors
― What colors for whom in order to quickly identify supervisor/leaders

3. Elicit from the operations managers what additional rides they feel their parks need
― Brainstorm new ideas for doing things at their parks

4. Spook-Tac-U-Lair and Celebration of Christmas Wonders discussion
― Additions and/or changes

5. Workers who project a bad work attitude or ethics, or ignore safety rules/regulations
― How to correct their inappropriate behavior/deal with them/discipline

6. Clean parks continuously
― Power wash in front of food stands at least every other week
― Power wash ride queues every two to three weeks
― Pick up trash daily
― Clear tall grass and weeds often around rides/park
― Buy extra trash cans and wash them and exchange dirty for clean

7. Protocols for people using Go Pros, quadcopters and other video equipment on rides

8. Ascertain if the parks could establish an early ‘behind the scenes’ tour
― Start an hour earlier than regular opening time?
― Show workshops?
― Show/Explain major ride controls and more
― Point out special or exotic plants/trees

9. Take them out to visit Four Corners Amusement Park
― Nelson Sanders to conduct tour, explain growing pains, future plans

With the extent of the agenda, the managers would have a lot to discuss during their meeting that ended up on Saturday with their visit to Four Corners, and with everyone heading home on Sunday.

Mr. Thomas led off the meeting, that Thursday, with the discussion of the park managers needing to ensure that all of their key personnel knew who he, the parks owner, and Ben Walthers, the President of Three Finger Entertainment were. He used examples of times during his visits to the parks where employees had no idea of who he was and one employee arguing with him over a spilled drink that should have been replaced without question.

The park managers knew from the tone in Mr. Thomas’ voice and the way he stressed the need for the primary supervisors to know who he and Ben were that there was no need for any discussion on that topic and for them to move on to the next item on the agenda.

Before they moved on Ben stressed that their pictures and titles would need to be prominently posted throughout their operations building, in order for their associates to be able to recognize them when they saw them during their visits.

All of the managers believed that a distinctive polo shirt for them, their assistants and the lead supervisors was warranted. They weren’t too sure if the interim supervisors needed to be identified, as such. They then started a debate on what colors they should use for the different people.

Ben let the managers banter about what colors the polos should be, and if there would be a design, or logo, on them. To end the discussion, the President of TFE told them that they would make that choice for their own park, since it would be coming out of their operating budget.

That made them all chuckle and then they made a note of that for when they returned home. But Ben Walthers told them that they would probably want the new polos to match what colors their park was using.

The agenda item that all of the park managers were looking forward to was the one where they got to tell the bosses what rides they felt would better enhance their park. The park’s owner and the President of TFE took copious notes and told the managers that they were not promising them anything.

The two men did tell they them that they would be looking at future expansions of their parks, and since they were all getting coasters next year, with the exception of Crystal Lake, which was getting a water park, they would probably see new flat rides the following year and they would use their input as a potential shopping list.

The group had the same type of examination of the Spook-Tac-U-Lair and the Celebration of Christmas Wonders events held in their parks each Halloween and Christmas season. The managers exchanged unique initiatives they each implemented at their parks during those events, that the others managers could possibly use. The group then brainstormed ways they felt would enhance both events, and again the bosses took abundant notes and told the managers they would consider their recommendations after their meeting.

After examining that agenda item, the group decided to end their day and meet later for dinner and some friendly banter amongst themselves. They met and talked about their own parks problems, and what they had enjoyed ever since Mr. Thomas had bought their properties.

The next day Ben started the meeting off by reviewing what they generally covered the previous day to see if anyone had something they wanted to add. The President of TFE did have the managers briefly go over their ride wish list before turning the meeting over to Mr. Thomas.

For the next item on the agenda, Mr. Ken used his example of the spilled soda at Crystal Lake, where the food stand manager wouldn’t replace a spilled soda, even after he personally verified it happened. The parks owner went on to say how the food manager didn’t know who he was, and that he had to call in the area supervisor to get everything sorted out.

Jason Zimms, who was Mr. Ken’s Resident Administrator at Crystal Lake Amusement Park at the time, joined in that discussion. He brought a new perspective to the incident and backed up what Mr. Ken had to say. He did relate that the food manager was reassigned, and eventually the man quit saying that he felt that he was being singled out.

The discussion ended with Ben telling the park managers that neither he nor Mr. Thomas would tolerate any employee who would question a park policy, and not follow through with replacing a ruined soda, or food item, as required and argue with them, or a supervisor.

This issue elicited a lot of response from the group. The managers brought up loads of instances where guests had complained about those issues, but didn’t remember which employee wouldn’t help them. The group discussed ways they could identify the food kiosk worker who doesn’t, or won’t, honor their policy. In the end, they all decided they would have to come up with a local method, and then share what works with one another.

The next agenda item was something that Ken Thomas had very strong feelings about. And this issue dealt with the park’s attractiveness to their guests. He began introducing the subject by recounting his late summer visits to the parks.

Mr. Ken told the managers that their parks began the year all fixed up and looking good. But then he recounted how during his last trip he found a few of the managers had become lax in maintaining their attention to detail, when it came to cleaning the areas around the food stands and ride queues, while not painting areas that needed touching up, nor picking up the trash around the park, both inside and out, and forgetting to cut the tall grasses and weeds around the park.

The owner of the six amusement parks expressed his disappointment with those park managers who had dropped the ball and he let all of them know that it was his and Ben’s wish to never see that happen again. He stated unequivocally that their jobs were on the line if they didn’t perform to their expectations. He ended the discussion with the offer to sit down and talk with any of them about what he expected, and if they felt their position was in jeopardy.

The meeting room was stunned into silence, after Mr. Thomas’ statement about their jobs being on the line. It took a few moments before Arnie Arnolds, operations manager at Crystal Lake, spoke up and said, “Mr. Thomas … that was just your way of getting our attention about this topic, right? Because it sure got mine!”

Ben looked at his boss and Mr. Ken knew he needed to respond.

“Arnie … everyone … yes … I did want you to understand that I take the way we present our parks to the public, our guests, very seriously. If … no, when … when we continuously present a clean and inviting environment to our guests … our guests … they will feel welcome and when they feel that way; they will also know they and their family can feel safe and secure, while they are there in our parks.

“And that all begins from the time our guests arrive in the parking lot, walk through the entrance turnstiles, march up to our food stands, enter our ride queues, ride our wonderful attractions, utilize our spotless and clean smelling restroom facilities, all the while walking around our beautiful and well-maintained parks.

“And that all begins with you! You … you are where it all begins. You are the director, the band leader, the maestro who conducts your team to accomplish what I want the parks to be, and to look like. That is your charge … as the parks operations manager, besides ensuring that everything else runs smoothly and safely,” finished Mr. Ken.

Ben then spoke up. “Jason … he has two right hand men. There is no reason that you can’t have two assistant ops managers, too. Find another person who has the desire to learn about park operations and, in the meantime, delegate to your assistant what Mr. Thomas is adamant about, which is a park that is neat, clean, orderly and well-maintained. Now, let’s take a break and when we come back, we’ll start on a new topic.”

The managers all gathered in small groups during their break and talked amongst themselves about what Mr. Thomas and Ben wanted from them. It was Jason who told them what he had to deal with at Edgewood when he arrived. He pointed out what he was able to achieve by rallying the employees to what was needed, and he impressed upon them that it was supposed to be that way all the time.

Arnie Arnolds, from Crystal Lake, told the other managers when Jason was at his park how he got the park employees to buckle down and get it clean and straightened up, and then once it was that way it was easy for them to maintain it. The man explained that with weekly and bi-weekly schedules some of the teens would come in for the extra hours, and take care of those issues and that it never became a problem he had to worry about.

When the break was over, Mr. Ken started the discussion on the next agenda item. He stated that when he and his ‘sons’ visited the parks last summer, the question came up about whether or not they could use their GoPros and quadcopters. The owner of the parks wanted to discuss with all of the park managers the use of those devices, and to establish a consistent TFE wide policy for their and other video equipment used on rides and within the parks.

The park managers all agreed that they didn’t have any problem with his boys using those devices, while they were in the parks, because they knew they were responsible individuals. But Mr. Thomas wanted to know what policy they wanted to have in writing so that they could show other guests who ask if they could also use those types of recording devices. That brought about a protracted discussion as to how they wanted to handle that question.

Since they all had different ideas, they agreed to check the internet that evening to see what other major parks, such as Six Flags, Cedar Fair, Disney and Universal, to name a few, allowed and then they would continue their discussion the next day.

Proceeding to the next item on the agenda, Mr. Thomas wanted the managers’ feedback on an idea he had. He asked them what they thought about creating a ‘Behind the Scenes’ tour of their park, to be offered before the park opened in order to showcase specific aspects of park operations and show the public, for a nominal fee, things that might interest them in seeing what’s behind the ‘curtain’.

The owner of the parks reasoned if the park managers could create this new ‘Behind the Scenes’ tour, it would generate an interest in people’s curiosity, as to what is actually in the back lots and how the park gets itself ready for the daily operations. Mr. Thomas also discussed that this could be a new source of revenue for the parks that, if successful, could be expanded to include other areas later on, and add additional tours per day.

That topic brought about a lot of discussion from all of the park managers. They wanted to know how they would go about implementing such a tour, and what they should include in it. Ben told them that the beauty of the “Behind the Scenes” tour would be what they thought it should be. The President of TFE told them to talk to their park maintenance, public affairs, ride and food managers and get a feel for what they felt could be included.

Mr. Ken told them to talk to the trusted teenagers who work for them, and get a feel from them for what they would want their friends to see. The park’s owner felt that the opportunity for others to see something, that they wouldn’t normally get to see, could be the starting point for them and they may even find someone in their midst who would jump at the opportunity to put it all together.

Mr. Ken then threw out some ideas they could consider. He told them that the people might be interested in seeing where the staff uniforms are kept, repaired and washed. He mentioned a walkthrough of the maintenance areas, to show them the large number of spare parts that was kept on site.

Ben then suggested they show during the tour the areas under the coasters, the motors that drive some of the rides, and if they had special flora and fauna, they could point those out.

With those inputs from Ben Walthers and Ken Thomas, the managers wrote those ideas down and then the park managers began mentioning what they could showcase at their parks. With all that said the managers now all had a good idea of what to showcase. Now they were all on board to try to develop a new park walk around excursion at their park, that would be offered before the park opened for the day. All they had to do next was find a good person to develop such a tour.

Before they finished for the day, Mr. Ken reminded the group that when they sent out the agenda for the Fall Meeting, he wanted them all to see his newest park, the Four Corners Amusement Park. He told them that tomorrow they would all head over there in the early afternoon after they completed their morning agenda. The man then reintroduced the park’s operations manager, Nelson Sanders, and told the gathered managers that he would give them a tour, explain the problems he had creating the Park, and explain what was planned for the coming months.

After a wonderful Lakeside Hotel breakfast, the park managers met in their meeting room at eight o’clock. The President of TFE recapped what was discussed during the previous day’s meeting and asked if anyone had anything they wanted to add before they moved onto the day’s agenda.

Not getting any additions to yesterday’s topics, Ben Walthers led the discussion on the only item on their agenda for today, which was the question about the use of GoPros and quadcopters, and other recording devices, in their amusement parks.

The managers told the President of Three Finger Entertainment that, while doing their overnight research, they found that GoPros were not allowed for use in all Six Flags and Cedar Fair parks along with Holiday World, and many other smaller parks. They additionally reported that some coaster groups have done videos that they’ve seen on YouTube from those parks, so they figured those parks must have some sort of written exceptions, and they would have to contact them directly in order to learn what they do.

Continuing, they added that Busch Gardens and SeaWorld, along with Universal and Disney all have successfully adopted a hands-free camera policy that allows their guests to use properly secured GoPros, as well as some common GoPro accessories, such as the Karma grip, Seeker backpack, head strap, and chest harness.

Before making a decision about the GoPros, the meeting addressed the question about the flying of quadcopters at their parks. They all agreed that as a private property owner, according to the FAA, they have the right to that column of air, or airspace below 500 feet, over their property, which is considered to belong to the landowner.

The mangers decided to address the quadcopter question first. They told Mr. Walthers that they had discussed that issue last night after doing the research and knowing how well Mr. Thomas’ sons had done in flying their quadcopters over their parks, they would make the policy that the guest had to request permission in writing in advance and give a legitimate reason for the flight. Both bosses were in agreement with that policy.

As to the question of the use of GoPros, the park managers wanted to allow them on a case-by-case basis, as a starting point. They reasoned that if Universal Studios, Disney, Busch Gardens and SeaWorld could allow their use, as long as the user has a chest harness, they could also allow them as well, as long as the guest asks for permission from upper management prior to its use on any ride.

The group, in order to allow the GoPros use, recommended that the user would then carry some sort of permission slip, card or wrist band showing the ride operator they had received permission to use it. Everyone agreed with the person carrying the card, or using the wrist band, was a good way to keep questions down at the ride and the lines moving.

The managers also agreed that each park could change that policy to meet its daily needs according to the size of the attendance that day, and outright prohibit them if their use becomes a hazard. Again, both Mr. Thomas and Mr. Walthers agreed to what the park managers felt was a workable solution to the agenda item.

Ben Walters then requested that each operations manager send him a copy of each of their policies for quadcopters and GoPros, etc., for his records. He told them that they also needed to post a prominent sign before their guests entered the park telling them that there was a policy. Stressing that this way the public had no excuse that they didn’t know.

With the main agenda item taken care of, Mr. Thomas asked the assembled managers if they had anything else they wanted to discuss. He quickly reviewed each agenda item individually and asked if they had any other thoughts, or concerns, about what they discussed, or decided.

Not hearing any further discussion about the agenda, the man then enquired if any of them had an issue, or something else, they wanted to take up with Ben, or him. Mr. Ken encouraged them to bring it up and let everyone hear their issue, as they might be thinking the same thing.

Mr. Ken saw Julia Rennartz and Joseph Shartz talking between themselves, so he asked Julia if there was something the two of them wanted to ask. Julia was hesitant to say something, until the others chided her into speaking up.

“Ahh Mr. Thomas … Joe and I were wondering … ahh, that over time you pulled Jason from his park to work for you on inspecting Crystal Lake and Edgewood, and then eventually as your administrator when you bought Crystal Lake. Then you hired Ben to be your President of Three Finger Entertainment, and after that you took Nelson away from Arnie to lead your new Four Corners Amusement Park.

“The two of us were wondering if … if you were now looking to take one of our assistants … well, take away one of our assistants from us to help Nelson at Four Corners,” finished Julia Rennartz, the ops manager at Discovery Kingdom.

Mr. Ken was going to answer her question, but Ben asked him if he could take it.

After getting the nod, Ben began. “Julia, we all knew that Mr. Thomas … that he was looking to hire one of us to be his new vice-president to oversee all three of the parks that he owned at the time. Little did we know that he was looking to buy Crystal Lake and Edgewood at that same time.

“Everyone, some history for you. Our boss ultimately bought Crystal Lake, but he passed on Edgewood, and with the purchase of Crystal Lake he decided to establish Three Finger Entertainment, Ltd. Then, instead of hiring one of us to be his vice president to help him oversee three parks, he now asked me to be the President of TFE, and essentially take that responsibility for overseeing and operating all four parks away from him.

“Everyone … with the purchase of Crystal Lake, Mr. Thomas assigned Jason to be his contract administer to oversee that purchase. In the meantime, Edgewood, as we all know, had its coaster accident that ultimately led to its demise giving Mr. Thomas the opportunity to bid on, and eventually gain control over that amusement park.

“With the purchase of Edgewood, Mr. Thomas … he had promised Jason that he would be the operation manager for that park and immediately had him go there, and take possession and control of the newly acquired park.

“And I must say he has done a tremendous job in getting that park ready for its Grand Opening, and in less than sixty days, no less. And let me tell you that was a daunting job, with what that park looked like when Mr. Thomas bought it.

“Now, as for Four Corners. Mr. Thomas had always planned on building a small amusement park at his Four Corners property. The park was to have a few children’s rides, some midway games, and a train that went around the area. But what you will see later this afternoon … well, it has morphed into a little more than what he envisioned.

“And that brings me to the rest of your question, Julia. And the answer is, No! We are not looking to take one of your assistants away from you. We are hoping that there is someone in the group of people that he has hired that is looking for a bit more responsibility, and will be willing to train as his assistant,” finished Ben Walthers.

“However,” now spoke up Mr. Ken, “as you all know there are always circumstances that can arise. Nonetheless, if we can’t find someone who is willing to train as his assistant, we may come out to you and ask your assistants if anyone of them would be willing to relocate here and help Nelson. But … we will not require any of them to move. Ben will just have to, I guess, fill in,” now laughed Mr. Ken, who was joined in by the other people in the room.

Julia and Joe both thanked Mr. Thomas and Ben Walthers for being up front and being so honest with them. The others also thanked them for the little history lesson, as they never knew what really transpired back then, with the purchase of the two parks, and the creation of Four Corners.

It was a little after eleven o’clock when the group closed the Second Annual Three Finger Entertainment Fall Meeting. Ben handed out maps to everyone so they could drive their rental cars over to the Four Corners Amusement Park. The group decided to have lunch there at the hotel and afterwards Mr. Ken asked everyone to try to arrive at the park at the same time so Nelson could begin his presentation.

It was close to one-thirty when Nelson Sanders gathered the park operation managers together and began telling them how the Four Corners Amusement Park came about. He told them all about the growing pains he encountered, with not even having an office to start with.

After explaining how he got what they were seeing along with the temporary cold storage unit and secure revenue trailer, Nelson told them of hiring his first employees of adults and teenagers and going through initial training for the rides.

As the group walked through the park, which was in operation that Saturday, Nelson talked about the few rides, and the games they had. He told them of the initial growing pains and then how the public flocked to overflowing crowds.

Nelson then told the group about the future plans, which included the train, presently being installed and the miniature golf course being sacrificed in order to have a proper operations building built. He also indicated that when the building was built, that the bosses would consider adding a few more adult rides to round out the park.

The ops managers asked loads of questions, as they walked along, and the one thing that they all wanted to know was if they could ride the Speedway. They all commented at the uniqueness of the ride and they wanted to experience it for themselves and, if they liked it, then possibly ask Mr. Thomas, or Mr. Walthers, to add one to their park.

Nelson used his position as the Four Corner park’s manager to get his VIPs to the front of the line on the Speedway. There were only five of them and there were eight cars and seeing it was still early in the afternoon, their crashing the line didn’t disrupt the queue too much.

Ken Thomas and Ben Walthers were following behind the group and letting Nelson take command of what he wanted to show, and say about the Four Corners Amusement Park. But when they saw the park’s manager move the group to the front of the line at the Speedway they were surprised. The two hurried to the ride to watch their reaction to the family ride.

The operation managers were taken by surprise, as they experienced the Speedway. They loved the quickness of the turns at the end and the smooth flow of the cars through the straight sections of the ride. When they got off the attraction, and they saw the two bosses, they all, to the one, asked them if they could have one for their parks.

With the question hanging in the air, Ben Walthers looked to Ken Thomas with a question in his eyes, as to whether they should go out and purchase five Speedways for the parks. The owner of the parks knew that the Speedway was an exceptional family ride and even though the parks were getting major coasters, most families with young children wouldn’t be able to ride them.

So, the owner of the six amusement parks smiled and then told the President of TFE to go ahead and buy them. He added that they could use those additions in advertisements, as a way for young families to also experience a new ride in the spring. Hearing that now put a big smile not only on Ben’s face, but also on the other park manager’s faces, as they were happy that they would now be getting a new family ride in their parks.

The group shared their comments about what they saw at Four Corners and what they hoped it would eventually morph into. They all said they wanted to visit it next year to see how Nelson had worked his magic.

With their visit to Four Corners, as the last agenda item, the park managers were now free for the remainder of the day, as they were all scheduled to fly out the next day to return to their respective parks.

Before heading back to their hotel, the managers all thanked Mr. Thomas and Ben Walthers for an informative and productive meeting. They expressed their gratitude to him for allowing them to voice their opinions on what they felt was needed at their parks along with what changes or additions they felt were needed to the Spook-Tac-U-Lair and Christmas Wonders celebrations. They then thanked them for the purchase of the Speedways for their parks.

It had been a long three days for Mr. Ken and when he arrived back at The Cove he was looking forward to a relaxing evening. Unfortunately, he had five boys at home that had other plans for him.

It was a Saturday night and with Momma Maria not there the Covers usually went out for dinner, and thus ‘dad’ Ken needed to take his brood of boys out to eat. He really would have liked to have sat around the house and relaxed, but he knew his ‘boys’ hadn’t seen him since Wednesday night, and they would want to be around him for a few hours, at least, while they ate.

Knowing how crowded Four Corners was since he left it early that afternoon, the Covers went out to IHOP for dinner. ‘Dad’ Ken told the boys that it was OK to have breakfast for dinner, and that the International House of Pancakes did offer other meals than just breakfast.

While the boys ate, they wanted to know what happened at the meeting. ‘Dad’ Ken didn’t tell them everything that occurred, but he did tell them about the decision to have special polo shirts for the key personnel at the parks, that they decided on rules for the use of GoPros and quadcopters, and they talked about what new rides the managers wanted to see at their parks.

‘Dad’ Ken did tell them that when the managers saw the Speedway, and then rode it, they all wanted one for their parks. The man then revealed that he relented and told his President of TFE to go ahead and buy one for each of them.

The boys laughed that he had not only bought them expensive roller coasters for next year, but was also buying each of them a flat ride that cost upwards of two-hundred-thousand dollars apiece. Their ‘dad’ told them that, “It was only money”. The boys all laughed.

Later that evening, before the boys went to bed, ‘dad’ Ken talked to Phillip, and asked him how his guitar lesson went today. Phillip told his ‘dad’ that Mr. Bindy was the best thing he ever did for him. The young Cover told the man that he never knew that there was so much to learn on the guitar, and that he doesn’t think that he’ll ever learn it all. The boy then hugged his ‘dad’ to thank him for getting him the guitar lessons.

‘Dad’ Ken then stopped in to talk to all of his ‘sons’ before heading down to his own retreat to get a good night’s sleep. In Charles’ room his son asked his dad if he would take them out to breakfast in the morning. The dad knew that it had been quite some time since he’d done that, however he really didn’t want to do that after eating out the past three days at the hotel.

“Son … ahh, let me take a rain check. OK? I haven’t had a chance to catch up what’s been happening in the area, and I would love to read the morning newspaper,” somewhat begged the teen’s dad.

Charles looked at his dad’s face and saw the pleading in it and told him that he would give him his rain check, but that he was holding him to taking them out next weekend. Dad Ken smiled at what he heard, and the two hugged, and the teen’s dad told his son to remind him. Charles told his dad, “Oh, I will,” and then he laughed.

Billy, Robert and Matthew heard their ‘brothers’ laugh, and then went to Charles’ room to find out what that was all about. There they heard about their ‘dad’s’ request for a ‘rain check’ not to take them out to breakfast tomorrow, but would take them out next Sunday.

Phillip was returning back to his bedroom after using the bathroom before going to bed, when he saw all of his ‘brothers’ standing in Charles’ room. So, the youngster stopped and asked why everyone was in there.

“Phil … I asked dad to take us out to breakfast tomorrow, but, get this, he asked for a ‘rain check’,” announced Charles, with a big smile on his face. “So, I gave him one. But he promised to take us out next Sunday,” continued the smiling teenager.

Phillip thanked his ‘brother’ for telling him why everyone was in his older ‘brothers’ room. Then, the young Cover, with a yawn, told everyone goodnight, and headed to his own bedroom.

‘Dad’ Ken took that as a chance to tell the rest of the boy’s good night again, and then gave them all one last goodnight hug. The man then headed down to his own retreat where he hoped he would get a good night’s sleep, in his own bed, after staying at the Lakeside Hotel the last four nights.

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

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