Search

Thank you Joshua Clark of Branson Tri Lakes News for doing an article in the March 6th issue about the recent release of the diving bell book. The book is available now at amazon.com

Elsewhere on the forums is a YouTube video that is about ten minutes long that discusses the diving bell book. It was funny to see it done from the view of someone familiar with the attraction, and someone who is too young to have experienced it. Thanks, John for doing the video!

I'd like to thank John for doing this piece on the diving bell book! It turned out great, and was nice to see it done from both the perspective of someone who was familiar with the attraction, and someone who was too young to remember it. Funny stuff they did here! Go to amazon.com and buy the book! It is done with humor and will be a fun and interesting read!

The miller at Sullivan's Mill wrote a little book, Ralph Hooker, first SDC Marshal, wrote one. A Bio was available on Shad Heller at one time. There have been pieces done on Jack and Pete and Miss Mary. I'm sure there would have to be others.

I was on park for several opening days, maybe 3 or 4 between 2011-2017. It wasn't too bad except for the year Outlaw Run opened. Man, I had NEVER seen such a crowd. The line for the coaster went from the ride all the way up to the town square area. Totally crazy! I just walked down to the front of the ride that day to see what it looked like and met Terry Wayne Sanders there who was working crowd control. We had a nice chat and caught up, but a short visit, because it was a full house down there.

Those I have spoken with say Ives was a good fellow to work around. That footage in the diving bell is pretty cool. Kerry Chester, lead maintenance man at the diving bell told me he worked the effects panel in the back room for those shots where water is flooding in the capsule.

Kerry Chester, who was lead maintenance man at the diving bell, was able to come up with a more efficient way of getting that rock slide in the Flooded Mine to work. He got recognition in the company news letter for doing the work. It was a cool effect. I know use of strobe lights is pretty much a thing of the past because some people have bad reactions to the strobe. The mine has changed to some degree since I first rode it as a kid of about 7 years (that was in the late 1960s.) There used to be an office scene showing a clerk falling through a floor that was collapsing due to rising water. That was pulled years ago probably in the mid-1970s.

I took part in end of day activities when I worked at the park, 1978-1984. I remember cannon firing each night. They held a end of day hoedown or round dance in an effort to get everyone on park to the town square so they could close the rides and shops. They also promoted getting into the restaurants for supper time before the big hoedown. After the dance everyone sang America the Beautiful, then the cannon would fire and the official day on park was done. It was a nice way to end the day.

I was looking at video of the new restaurant and it appears to have metal siding. Kind of bums me out. The restaurant is very country contemporary looking. The video showed the light fixtures hanging from the foyer ceiling, and I didn't see 1880s anywhere. However, time marches on and the park has to accommodate over 2 million folk per year. Change must occur. The high quality is still there. I am chomping at the bit to get to see the new Rivertown area. Of course, I spent most of my time on park in that area at the diving bell, 1979-1984. Pretty much everything I remember in that part of the park has been wiped clean and all is new there. The only building original to the 1977 opening of the Deepwoods...later Riverfront...now Rivertown, is the old Wagon Works Barn, now called the White River Warehouse, which is adjacent to Tom and Huck's River Splash. March 17th is just a sneeze away. I'm excited about 2020 for SDC!

Thanks! I can tell you, life sometimes throws curveballs. I have been a busy fellow the last few years on the FB social media pages. I actually had to stop joining pages because I was getting stretched too thin. Also, I only have limited resources in my library and wind up posting the same things on several pages. I've had to slow down posting in the last few months. I think it is funny, too, how some folks get all wrapped up on a subject and go off into rants on FB. A few days ago I posted a 1969 photo of students at UA/Fayetteville protesting the Vietnam War and anti-war people and veterans went wild on each other. Administrators had to pull the photo from the two pages I posted it to. They said the chatter was too controversial. I post things that relate to Ozark history and folklore, and administrators have had to pull my posts on ghosts, strange creatures (like Bigfoot) and UFO encounters in the Ozarks because people post the wildest comments and get nasty with each other. I'm honestly just posting things to briefly discuss some tidbit of history and folklore. I don't really try to create any controversy. Anyway, most folk like the old photos and the history pieces I put out there. So I will keep posting.

I worked at the float trip in 1979. It was really a great ride. Family friendly, gentle, funny at times. Loved being surrounded by nature. It would be nice if they could bring it back in some fashion. I remember years ago someone had the idea of a theme of Bigfoot, and called their ride "The Creature on the Creek." I think that would be cool!

So...it has been a long time! Thanks, Steve, for starting this thread! I have got to say, when I started revising the draft for the diving bell book, I didn't realize how much more information I was going to include in it. The pre-amazon version needed a complete update. The book has over 260 pages, over 130 illustrations, and weighs a pound! Due to the cost of printing it in full color and having so many illustrations, the amazon price is higher than I had hoped for but I tell you honestly that if you are a fan of this old attraction or really want to know more about what it was like to ride it or work at SDC, this is the book to buy. I released the book a couple of days ago, and spent that evening going through all my social media contacts to do the initial promotion. Today I contacted a buyer in the SDC Merchandising Department and asked them to consider selling the book in shops on park this season. We will have to wait and see what they say. They have not carried too many books in recent years. I personally have only seen a handful of titles in a rack or two in the Ozark Marketplace the last few years. Anyway, the project is out now, and it does contain many illustrations not seen in the original or posted by me in social media. I contacted many of the former "Junior Dugans" and asked them to contribute illustrations. A few of them did, and what they gave me permission to use is really fantastic. Two of the original 11 chapters had to have complete re-writes, and all the other chapters have new or different information in places. I am in the process of contacting media outlets with a press release and hope a few newspapers, radio, and TV stations will carry the story about the book being out. On a side note, I must sincerely apologize for not posting here in forever, but as most of you know I keep pretty busy posting on FB pages that relate in some fashion to Ozarks history and folklore, or SDC and Branson tourism related topics. Steve made me an administrator of the SDCFans  FB page, so you'll see my posts there frequently. Feel free to visit any of those pages I contribute to and share the info about the diving bell book with anyone you think might be interested in it. Thanks for your support! God bless!

I know I have requested this before, but here I go again! Any photos of the diving bell? Things out of your family scrapbooks, 1977 to 1984. The old Deepwoods area is the Riverfront area today, so any photos out of that area? I was at the diving bell as JUNIOR DUGAN 1979-1984, and love seeing old photos of the attraction and its employees. Good times indeed!

Howdy, all! Been a long time since I have visited the full SDCFans Website! Just saw this stuff about Lost River posted on the FB page, so I stopped by here to see what else I could learn. Looks like a rehab of the ride to me. Probably what you all have figured out, too. I hope they don't remodel too much and take away some of the old parts of the building that date back to 1977 and the diving bell period when I was at that attraction. I am sentimental. Anyway, I have to always be very complimentary to SWOOSH for the MiG photos and reports. He does a pretty good job covering changes at the park. Keep it up, SWOOSH! Thanks for your work. Anyone who hits the park in the coming weeks, please keep us up to date as well! -JUNIOR, TOO

Good updates, all! It would be great to have you post some photos on the SDCFans FB page as well...we need contemporary shots to offset all the old time stuff I have recently posted.