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Sunday, June 30, 2002

By the Associated Press

EASTON -- Only a dozen years ago, Bushkill Park was falling into disrepair and people feared it might close.

But new owners and volunteers then came to the rescue of the small Northampton County amusement park, and it celebrates its 100th anniversary this month.

Those who know it best say Bushkill Park has persevered because of its old-fashioned look and feel.

The fun house entertains with a simple rotating wooden barrel that makes humans feel like hamsters; the haunted house scares with a few relics such as "Dead Dan," who pops out of a coffin; and the bumper cars pay tribute to sock hops and poodle skirts.

"It's a really neat throwback to simpler times, kind of the good old days, if you will," said Jim Futrell, author of a new book, "Amusement Parks in Pennsylvania."

Like many of Pennsylvania's amusement parks, Bushkill Park was started by a trolley company, the Easton and Nazareth Rail Co., which built the park in 1902 near the end of its line.

Neil Fehnel, who co-owns the park with Sam Baurkot, said the idea was that people would ride the trolley to the park and the company would have a source of income on the weekends.

Fehnel, a professional clown who goes by the name Balloons, bought the park in 1990. Since then, Fehnel and his partners, with the help of volunteers and donations from community businesses, have restored many of its attractions.

Among other improvements, the swan ride was refurbished with new lumber and steel, and an antique carousel was bought and restored.

The park, in Forks, opened for the season last month.