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John Allen
1st coaster:
The Zephyr-NOLA.
ACE, MACC [VA *0,1,3]
WoodenCoasterClub@hotmail.com
Chris Allen
ACE, MACC [VA *2,*5]
1st coaster:
Scooby Doo-PKD,
at 23 months old, with his Aunt.
Chris Schmitt
ACE, MACC [VA *0,1]
1st coaster:
The 1960s predecessor to The Lady Bug Kiddie Coaster presently in City
Park-New Orleans.
Distinguishing trait:
Wears Saints insignia while coastering!
Kathleen Yantz
ACE [NY]
1st coaster:
__tba__
K.Y. always carries ACE information!
********* Notes: *********
*0 "First
Coaster" ridden in NOLA!
*1 Ex-New Orleanian.
*2 New Orleans ancestors.
*3 U.N.O. (LSU-N.O.)
*4 L.S.U. (LSU-B.R.)
*5 Strong New Orleans "wanta-be"!
*6 Lifetime New
Orleanian.
Many "Wooden Coaster Club" organizers have
strong ties to Louisiana, as shown by footnotes.
******************************
Events Past:
An astute ACE member noticed the ACE jacket worn, imprinted with the name
"John Allen," at MACC Screamfest'93. That ACE member said to
another: "He's dead"!
John Allen's retort: No, I just look dead from riding so often today!"
Reality Check:
The "John Allen," famous for designing & constructing wooden
roller coasters, is regrettably dead. His name lives on as a symbol of the
state of the art coasters of his day, the dedicated coaster riders, and the
resulting evolution of coasters. John Allen was the forefather of coasters,
without whom we'd never have seen the great wooden coasters, nor the
super-coasters of today!
Dedication
Although John Allen, the co-founder of the Wooden Coaster Club, is no known
relationship to the "John Allen" who designed & built wooden
coasters, it was fitting for enthusiast, John Allen, to instigate the first
truly Wooden Coaster Club, and to dedicate it to the memory of the great
coaster designer named John Allen.
Nearby the Origins of ACE:
While the enthusiast, John Allen, moved from Louisiana to Virginia just
before the 1975 coaster marathon at Kings Dominion which ultimately lead to
the formation of the American Coaster Enthusiasts [ACE], he only saw media
coverage in Richmond of that nearby event. He wondered, upon seeing that
media coverage, how he might have known and participated in such an event.
It was not until California ACE member, Richard Tuck, introduced him to
MACC's first Screamfest, years later that this interest was renewed.
Although John Allen had ridden and loved the Pontchartrain Beach Zephyr for
decades, while growing up in New Orleans, he'd missed the nearby origins of
ACE, which made him more determined than ever to introduce potential
coaster enthusiasts to the hobby and its exhilaration.
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