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[Parson B Ready]

Oh by the way, the first few days on the job I helped to train Terry!

How cool is that...you helped train a SDC legend.  Kind of like the Mordecai Ham to Billy Graham.  (Mordecai Ham was the Evangelist that led Billy Graham to the Lord).

[sanddunerider]

always good to pass on knowledge.

[pintrader]

I myself have never seen a Diving Bell pin except for the one on display in the HH.  I started collecting in 2008 and soon found out it was a lot of fun, but not as easy as I thought it would be.  Collecting the SDC pins always makes me feel like I am taking a little bit of the city home with me.  Speaking of training people!  Has any past or present SDC employees ever worked with or remember a guy named Randy Stowe?  He started working at the city in 1976 selling snow cones down by FITH.  Today he is the Entertainment & Events Supervisor for SDC.  I went to High School with Randy and he took me a few times to SDC when he first started working for them.  I ran across him last fall at SDC but didn't have much time to talk with him because of a job interview he was giving.  Just wondered if anyone knew him?

[Junior]

Pintrader, I've known Randy Stowe since 1978. When you talk diving bell around here, you might as well just say Randy Stowe. Randy indeed did start at the little cart concession that was across from the diving bell in 1977. In 1978, he worked as a "Junior" at the diving bell, and a robber/conductor at the train. Same thing in 1979. In 1980, he was lead man (manager) at the diving bell, and served in that capacity in 81 and 82. Then, it was back to the train for one season in 83. Back in 84 as lead at the diving bell, and as the lead man later in 85 at the new Lost River, and later on at the tobbaggan ride. He worked his way up to his present position slowly. Ah, the stories I could tell about Randy! But I won't, not here anyway. Randy is one of the finest people I've ever known or had as a boss. In 1981, I was second lead (assistant manager) at the diving bell, and served under him. We did indeed train Terry Sanders in the 1980 season. We trained many, many others over the years, too. Most people associated with the diving bell are long gone, having moved on to other things, like me. Randy, Russ Maulden, Kerry Chester, and Terry Sanders are the four guys that made a career out of SDC. Russ and Kerry were maintanence men at the diving bell, and both serve in similar capacities as managers behind the scenes. Russ emphasized sound and lighting for SDC productions. Everyone knows what Terry is up to as he is the most well known of the four people mentioned here. Randy is a fine family man with several kids and a great wife, and deserves everything good that has come along for him in life. I last saw him and visited about 3 hours with him at SDC in December, 2007. I wish only the best for him. I hope he has several more years with SDC because he is one of those guys behind the scenes that knows what it was like to work there in the old days when Jack, Pete and even Miss Mary still roamed the streets from time to time to check on how things were going. 

[sanddunerider]

thats a great story junior..  thanks for sharing.  I just i could remember all the info you guys share with us.

[pintrader]

Yeah thanks a lot Junior!  I figured you remembered him, because in the short time I spoke with him he mentioned your name.  It surprised me he didn't know about the sdcfans site when I spoke to him.  But as soon as I started talking about older times at SDC and the Diving Bell your name came up along with Jeff Kimes.  Jeff was a person I also went to school with back in the day.  Randy said the next time I came down to SDC to get a hold of him and we would eat lunch or something.  I think I might take him up on that.  He might just have some of those good old stories to tell about the city and past citizens (Junior) that a person could use as blackmail  .

[Junior]

Jeff Kimes is another guy I could talk about here to some degree. I associate him primarily with Fire In The Hole and the street troupe. Jeff did a great job with everything he did at SDC. Regarding blackmail...sorry, man...not much you could nail me on that I have not confessed to already! Those old days of long ago were fun, picking up girls, popping a top, and, well, smoking things you cannot buy in a retail store...but those days are gone, faded into memories of a different era. Glad I survived intact. To the best of my knowledge, no one got hurt. Since then, I've been washed in the blood, had different careers, married, kids, grandkids, and, as ole Hank Williams Jr. once sang in a song: "cornbread and ice tea took the place of pills and 90 proof." Yes, I, along with my old rowdy friends have settled down!