Archive Entry #8: July 16, 1992
This column’s debut in the archive occurs the day before a group of us from our church head to Gurnee, Illinois (near Chicago) for a day at Great America Theme Park. In recent years our annual theme park trip has taken us west, to Adventureland in central Iowa. But our first many journeys to those extravagant play lands were to Great America and the delightful company of the Looney Tunes characters who serve as ambassadorial hosts to the park’s thousands of guests. To this day, one of my all-time favorite pictures of myself is an 8x10 of me, Sylvester, and Daffy shot by a park staffer while Shari and I ate in a restaurant.
So I interpret it as something of a God thing that our return to Great America for this year’s trip just happens to coincide with the first weeks of my newsletter column archive, a collection in preparation for which I discovered the following column from 22 years ago, written days after one of our first Gurnee excursions.
Though there isn’t much wisdom in what you’re about to read, the “Batman” ride it references still hurtles guests through its labyrinth, which means at some point on Saturday, if you listen carefully, from me you’ll hear ecstatic cries of joy and, shortly after 10:00 p.m. as we walk to our vehicles for a long ride home, a plaintive but satisfied, “That’s all folks!”
There’s a column dedicated to the Looney Tunes coming to the archive later this month. For now, here’s how I reflected on my journey to their park in July 1992:
