Winter Wrecks Bushkill Park

Everyone has heard the saying: Into each life a little rain must fall. In the winter that rain could possibly be snow. But in the town where my sisters live, Easton, Pennsylvania, they've gotten more than a little snow this winter. They've had 62 inches fall, so far, this season. 

Just last week a major winter storm dumped 22 inches over 2 days. That's a lot of snow and it has caused the people in Eastern Pennsylvania a lot of problems. 

Monday afternoon I came home and found this picture on my Facebook page. 

What you're looking at is a building that has collapsed because of the weight of snow on it's roof. The structure was standing on the property that used to be Bushkill Park. At one time It housed the amusement park's carousel. 

This was the park I used to go to when I was a little kid. I'm talking from the time I was a toddler until I was a teenager. 

The park has been closed for decades and the carousel was sold long before it closed. But a lot of reminders from the days when the park was in it's prime are still around. If you look to the left side of the picture you'll see the facade of what used to be the oldest operating fun house in any amusement park in the US. 

Winter's destruction of the old carousel building is just the latest a series of damage the effects of weather and floods have had on a badly deteriorating property. I haven't seen it myself in decades but from what I read on the internet the old park is in ruins.

But still I have many many memories of riding the carousel trying to grab the brass ring. The building where they happened is now nothing but a pile of lumber forced to the ground by a crippling blanket of snow. I hate to see it in that condition. I'm sure it will soon be cleared away and there will be no sign that a wonderful carousel once thrived there.  

I have added a You Tube link below that will show video of the Bushkill Park carousel when it was still running back in 1988. The video also shows other parts of the park as well. The carousel footage starts at the 1:49 mark. 

Bushkill Park Carousel Starts @ 1:49 mark

I know there are a lot of my readers who are not from the Easton area and this post doesn't really mean much to you. 

But the foundation of my love for amusement parks is partly built on my memories of experiences at Bushkill Park. And my current fascination with thrill rides, one of "factors" in my life these days, is just a continuation of my enjoyment of the rides in Bushkill Park, including the carousel. 

Just like I wanted to do when my grill got blown off my car port away a few weeks ago, Winter has had a destructive effect on something I care about. When will this long season end?  

Well, the "official" start of Spring is only 30 days away.