Memories of Riverside Park

By Kathy Coy - Pemberville, OH

My favorite memories of Riverside Park are from when my Dad played on a softball team in the early 70's on the field that is still there.  Findlay was like a metropolis to those of us who grew up in small towns.  I was the oldest of four kids, and when Dad had a game, we were allowed to wander around the park instead of watching that "boring game". Back in those days you could just let your kids wander around without worrying about them too much.  Since I was the oldest I was to watch out for the younger kids.  At that time Riverside had all kinds of exciting things for kids including park rides.  It was like a carnival.  The rides I remember were the "paratrooper" ride, the ferris wheel, carousel, boat ride and of course the train, which is now at the Little Red School House.  We didn't have a lot of money, but sometimes we would have enough to ride a couple rides.  But for the most part, we did the free things -swings, slides, merry-go-round, and just walking around taking in all the exciting sights and sounds of the activity going on.  It was so exciting and we would hardly wait for game night.  Sometimes Mom worked and sometimes she watched the games.  I'm sure she was always glad to get us out of her hair for a couple hours.  Every time I walk through the park, I think about all the fun we had there as kids.