Zingo for sale on ebay

[RecycleMichael]

I don't think there is a real hate of Robbie...but there also isn't just a love of him because his family owned an amusement park.

I grew up at Bell's and probably spent 20 nights a year there for fifteen years of my youth. The business his father ran was quite different than what it turned into the last few years.

Frankly, it wasn't safe for my family anymore. The cops were there breaking up at least a couple of big crowd fights each year. It also had more closed and broken areas than open and running rides. The best example was the miniature golf course. It was the visible part that fronted the street and had been closed and decrepit for years. How hard is it to keep a miniature golf course open?     

I think the county handled it terribly, but everywhere else had new barns and fresh paint and Bell's showed it's age. I think it also suffered by being midtown. Almost every other amusement park I can think of is on the outside of town on the highway (think Six Flags, Frontier City, Silver Dollar City, etc.).

[Hoss]

I'm very surprised at the "hate on Bells" theme here. I expected at least a little support for the Bell family or at least for Robbie. I have known the family for over 30 years.
While I have lost contact with Robbie, I still consider him a friend. That may make me a little biased.  

As for the lumber, all the structural members are center cut. Strong stuff!

While I hate the way Randi Miller and the 'fare board' treated the park, Robbie's no angel.  I had several run-ins with him as I was growing up (and he was a manager out at Bells).  Once instance required me popping him in the mouth for making advances to my then-girlfriend while at the park.  The other following instances were likely related to this original incident.   

[Conan71]

I'm very surprised at the "hate on Bells" theme here. I expected at least a little support for the Bell family or at least for Robbie. I have known the family for over 30 years.
While I have lost contact with Robbie, I still consider him a friend. That may make me a little biased.  

As for the lumber, all the structural members are center cut. Strong stuff!

I went to high school with Robbie and I've been a defender of theirs ever since this all started with the county.  I simply think as long as it's taken to cash in on the promise of Bell's returning in another community, it's created doubt and cynicism whenever something else comes up about them relocating or being close to a deal, especially after the embarrassment they caused the Wagoner county commissioners.  Driving by the hulking piles of rusting ride equipment in Gun Boat Park is yet one more thing to create doubt.

[Smokinokie]

I went to high school with Robbie and I've been a defender of theirs ever since this all started with the county.  I simply think as long as it's taken to cash in on the promise of Bell's returning in another community, it's created doubt and cynicism whenever something else comes up about them relocating or being close to a deal, especially after the embarrassment they caused the Wagoner county commissioners.  Driving by the hulking piles of rusting ride equipment in Gun Boat Park is yet one more thing to create doubt.

Yes, there were a few deals that fell through. I was hopeful about something East of town but that fell through as well.
Hoss, I'll bet I know you! I vaguely remember that incident.

[Hoss]

Yes, there were a few deals that fell through. I was hopeful about something East of town but that fell through as well.
Hoss, I'll bet I know you! I vaguely remember that incident.

Summer of 1986 through about the summer 1988?

[Smokinokie]

Summer of 1986 through about the summer 1988?

Man, that sounds about right but the memory isn't what it used to be. Heck, it never was that good to begin with!
I may just be remembering the story and not the incident. Happens with age and mileage.
There were many memorable incidents involving friends and that place. I used to have a great picture of the park with snow covering everything but it's been lost to time.

[Hoss]

Man, that sounds about right but the memory isn't what it used to be. Heck, it never was that good to begin with!
I may just be remembering the story and not the incident. Happens with age and mileage.
There were many memorable incidents involving friends and that place. I used to have a great picture of the park with snow covering everything but it's been lost to time.

First incident happened in the middle of the park, in the walkway between the logride and the skeeball/arcade where it starts to really grade downhill towards the Himalaya.  He came up while I was standing there with my g/f (she was a senior at Jenks; I was one year removed from HS and she was a looker..had hair long as Crystal Gayle) and he came up and gave her a pat on the tush.  He got a crack in the mouth, so I hoped he was cupping to get the best possible value as the next strike would have been a kick that raised his voice an octave.  I got kicked out of the park, and I thought she was going to stomp a mudhole in him.  My friends got quite the kick out of that incident.

[Smokinokie]

First incident happened in the middle of the park, in the walkway between the logride and the skeeball/arcade where it starts to really grade downhill towards the Himalaya.  He came up while I was standing there with my g/f (she was a senior at Jenks; I was one year removed from HS and she was a looker..had hair long as Crystal Gayle) and he came up and gave her a pat on the tush.  He got a crack in the mouth, so I hoped he was cupping to get the best possible value as the next strike would have been a kick that raised his voice an octave.  I got kicked out of the park, and I thought she was going to stomp a mudhole in him.  My friends got quite the kick out of that incident.

Thanks for the laugh!

[Hoss]

Thanks for the laugh!

Oh, to be nineteen again...I was quite a troublemaker in my day for sure.

[tulsabug]

Robbie's mother is the head of the Republican party here isn't she?

Maybe she can have them build a huge grandstand out of it.

Yea - to replace the one the Allies blew up!

[Smokinokie]

Yea - to replace the one the Allies blew up!

Was that supposed to be funny?

[Townsend]

Was that supposed to be funny? It wasn't.

Probably eye of the beholder type stuff.  I don't really consider the Zeppelintribune to be grandstands.

[tulsabug]

Was that supposed to be funny?

Wahwahwah. The Bells are a group of idiots, I don't care if you are "friends" with them. And Sally Bell does deserve the comment, she's a tool of the highest degree.

[tulsabug]

Probably eye of the beholder type stuff.  I don't really consider the Zeppelintribune to be grandstands.

That part of the Zeppelin Field would be considered the grandstands, though admittedly they did build some temporary ones on either side when needed.

[Smokinokie]

Wahwahwah. The Bells are a group of idiots, I don't care if you are "friends" with them. And Sally Bell does deserve the comment, she's a tool of the highest degree.

Sounds like someone got banned from the park or fired and can't get over it.