Six Flags Great Adventure (Images of America)

Six Flags Great Adventure (Images of America)

Built in 1974, Great Adventure was the larger-than-life dream of a larger-than-life personality, Warner LeRoy. The consummate showman, LeRoy had visions of a fantasy world of rides, shows, and animals in a beautiful and unspoiled woodland setting. In 1977, Great Adventure became a member of the Six Flags family of theme parks and has continued to grow ever since, with bigger and better attractions added each season. Six Flags Great Adventure revisits some of the park's past attractions, like the Garden of Marvels, Big Balloon, and Super Teepee, and illustrates the park's evolution into a state-of-the-art theme park enjoyed by a new generation of guests. Title: Book details 35 years of Great Adventure Author: Lauren Ciraulo Publisher: Suburban Date: 10/22/09 Harry Applegate and Thomas Benton are not your average theme park thrill-seekers. The pair, who share a mutual love of Six Flags Great Adventure, have not only been avid visitors over the 35 years since the Jackson amusement park opened, but have translated that passion into a photograph-based historical website, and most recently, a book of similar format. "Images of America: Six Flags Great Adventure" is a compilation of vintage photographs provided by the authors, park archives and members of the duo's website, greatadventurehistory. com. The book, published by Arcadia Publishing, also provides a comprehensive history of the New Jersey park to accompany the pictures. "We had a great foundation with the website when we decided to start the book," said Applegate, a Sayreville resident and computer scientist in the logistics department of BASF Corp. "We found that there were only five pamphlettype books about the park that existed, and thought that we should put out something substantial for its 35th anniversary." Applegate and Benton started working on the book in February, hoping to have it out on store bookshelves before the end of the theme park's season. That same month, they presented the idea to Arcadia, and it was quickly picked up. "They were very welcoming about the idea. Nothing had really been done like this. It's brought back a lot of information. People like to reminisce," Applegate said. From there, the two men faced the daunting task of sorting through thousands of pictures they acquired from the website and their own collections. However, Applegate said they found there were still voids within their photographic anthology, and contacted the publicity department of Six Flags Great Adventure in order fill in the gaps and obtain a more detailed history of the park. "Harry and Tom already host a history website that is extremely accurate, so they actually didn't need much from us," said Six Flags Great Adventure publicist Angel Aristone. "We gave them access to our entire photo catalog, and the archives were also utilized for fact checking. They would spend hours scanning in slides and going through old park fact sheets and press releases." According to Aristone, who praised Applegate and Benton for their professionalism and work ethic, all photos and promotional and marketing materials are archived in the park marketing office. Photo slides, press releases, brochures and park maps also contributed to "putting all the pieces of the puzzle together," Applegate said. "Our biggest problem was picking and choosing the photos that would go in the book," he said. "We had thousands upon thousands of pictures and maps and fliers. It's a good problem to have, but it made the selection process difficult." Benton said the book encompasses photographs from as early as 1974 to as recent as last winter. "We wanted to get the latest pictures of the park into the book and to have it be as up to the minute as possible," said Benton, a Thompson Reuters employee and Ewing resident. The book even includes photographs of recent restoration projects on the Big Wheel and the carousel, which is the oldest ride in the park, he noted. "It's really amazing to see the changes over the years. To think, the biggest roller coaster for a very long time was Rolling Thunder," Benton said. "It's exciting to see the rides get bigger and bigger over the years." Both Benton and Applegate cite the Sky Ride as their favorite at Six Flags Great Adventure, due to its unique dual cable construction and historical value as part of the 1964 New York World's Fair. Benton even purchased an original Sky Ride car on eBay. "It's a conversation piece," he explained. "I keep it in the backyard." Benton and Applegate are obvious longtime fans of the theme park. Applegate started going to Great Adventure at 7 years old when it opened in 1974 and has been a season pass holder for 31 consecutive years. He also worked as a ride operator in 1985 and 1986. Benton, also a veteran season pass holder, grew up in Brick and began visiting the park in 1979 at 10 years old. He worked several jobs at the amusement park from 1985 to