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1957-1986

THE LAKE AVENUE EXPANSION continued

TWISTER

During the 1970s, Ralph Lopez Jr., created a lasting legacy with his gigantic wall paintings behind the Twister of fanciful figures and huge rainbows, all in the style of America's artist laureate Peter Max. Because the Twister was already in place, Lopez had to draw, then project the images onto a wall that was approximately 50 feet long and 20 feet high before doing the paintings. Lopez also provided the ride with theatrical lighting that blinked and changed colors.

Riding the Twister, with mural painted by Ralph Lopez Jr., in the background. Undated photo courtesy of Sam Vaccaro. view larger image Action in the Auto-Skooter room in an undated photo. Photo courtesy of Sam Vaccaro. view larger image Ticket ride to bumper cars. view larger image

AUTO-SKOOTERS

In 1972, 14-year-old Kendall Kelly of Ocean Grove made an interesting discovery in the bumper car room. He and a friend worked there at $1.50 an hour, his friend selling tickets and Kelly arranging cars "so they all faced the same way, ready for the next group. One time, while arranging the cars, I noticed some change on the seat. I slid my hand to the back of the seat and found more change. To our delight, we realized that change must fall out of people's pockets when they smash into one another. From that point on, no one ever got into a car without us checking it first. Ten rides in an hour and we were living large."