Lakeside Amusement Park footage from the WDBJ7 Archive; includes shots from the Shooting Star roller coaster being built in February 1968 to the flood in 1985 that damaged much of the park to its closing in October 1986.
3:52 - "K92 FM!" followed by "Bettie Davis Eyes" on the radio...talk about a flood of memories...and that giant slide! Man I miss that place and those times.
I went to Lakeside "all the time" between 1955 and 1959. What a magnificent place for a young kid! There was no admission charge. Rides were a nickel, except the coaster, which was a dime! Swimming pool was fantastic, I can even remember hearing Chuck Berry in concert. What a place----wish it was still there!
We could hear the wood and rails clacking on the "Shooting Star" in the evening after bedtime at 9pm. (They didn't stop running it until after 10pm.) It echoed thru the woods to our house, a mile away. Sometimes, we could hear the music from the concerts too!
Remember this place well. Whenever Conway Twitty came to town, momma would load up the car and head to Salem from Coleman Falls, Va. She would give my brother and me $5 each to buy the all you can ride ticket. Well actually it was a piece of string with a clasp you put around your wrist. This was back in 1974-75.
My high school class of 1976 made a trip to this amusement park! I remember riding the carousel, the spider, the scrambler and that rollercoaster! It was made out of wood and went so fast. Rode it once and that was all. It's a shame the flood ruined it.
Lakeside's closure came after a perfect storm: The Flood of '85, a lawsuit that came from an employee being decapitated by the roller coaster, the family members who owned Lakeside handing it back and forth to each other for tax reasons, and then finally a growing movement to have a summer fair (now the Salem Fair) come in, with the people who ran the fair pushing for a no-compete clause.
My first rollercoaster ride ever was in the back seat of the Shooting Star! I lost my glasses somewhere along the way. Had to borrow my brother's glasses in order to drive 40 miles back home. His eyes weren't quite as bad as mine, but at least I could see the traffic... Without glasses, I could only see the painted lines on the pavement -- couldn't see cars, traffic lights, etc. Gee.... 😺💕🐾
