Joyland Wichita

[john biskupski]

Saw this in today's paper http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1384747/New-images-reveal-derelict-Joyland-amusement-park-heart-America.html that could be of interest to LF photographers.

Looks a really interesting subject for a reportage for folks not too far away. Search didn't turn up any prior reference to Joyland. I suppose there must be a number of similar derelict theme park sites over here where I am here in UK too, I'll have to do some research.

[Brian C. Miller]

Wow! Nothing like that where I live. There's a site about various abandoned regions of Japan, with mining towns and amusement parks.

Somebody local needs to go after that!

[Richard Rankin]

I might try and touch base with those people and see if anyone is allowed in to take photos. That's only 3-4 hours from here.

[Ed Kelsey]

Wichita sucks big time.

[Richard Rankin]

Wichita sucks big time.

I've only been there a day or two at a time, but I'd have to disagree with that.

[cdholden]

Wichita sucks big time.
I lived there for what seemed like an eternity, five long weeks.
It seems like there a is bad mojo in Wichita when it comes to weather. Whatever the weather is like in the rest of the state, it's usually worse in Wichita.

[Ed Kelsey]

I've only been there a day or two at a time, but I'd have to disagree with that.

Yeah but you are from Missouri and that probably sucks just as bad so your perspective is questionable.

[Donald Miller]

I lived in Wichita on two separate occasions for a total of more than about twenty five years. I don't share the negative opinions of some because Wichita was a very good experience for me. My children grew up there and it provided a very good living for me in the operation of my business there.

I don't know that Joyland would allow photography. In my experience dealing with the then owners in my business, I found them quite protective of their exposure to potential liability.

[Brian C. Miller]

Cue Mission: Impossible! theme and slip in! You could also contact the person who made the video and ask them about it.

[John Berry]

I grew up in wichita, that's why I live in Seattle. If you don't like the weather, don't worry, with the wind you will have the next states weather in an hour. Heat, humidity,
can't walk on the asphalt in summer to get away from the bugs that leave a hole in you leg when they bite. A crow packs a lunch to fly over, and flys upside down so he don't have to look at it. Drive past joyland east 30 miles to Eldorado. Tornado ally. In retrospect, I would probably have a better point of view if I went back now. Just not in summer or winter.

[holmbāgu]

An equally fascinating place could be found in Topeka, KS; at the Boyle's Joyland Flea Market, and that's still open! It's all that's left of what I believe used to be an amusement park, perhaps owned by the same people?

At any rate, Ed Kelsey, I hope you are saying those comments in jest. Being a Kansan, I don't exactly love Wichita, but to say something like, "Yeah but you are from Missouri and that probably sucks just as bad so your perspective is questionable" is inexcusably ignorant & rude

[tom thomas]

Yeah Ed, we have more than one tree in Kansas and the temperatures rarely are cooler than in the Mojo Dessert. take that.

[tom thomas]

Guys, my tongue was in my cheek when I replied to Ed. I hope his was too.
I'm an ex-Kansan myself. I was so glad at 18 to get the hell out of Dodge, ie my little home town way up in NE Kansas, the Air Force was a goshsend.

I usually say when asked where I'm from." I'm from Kansas, as far away as I can get.!"

[Jon Wilson]

I grew up in wichita, that's why I live in Seattle. If you don't like the weather, don't worry, with the wind you will have the next states weather in an hour. Heat, humidity,
can't walk on the asphalt in summer to get away from the bugs that leave a hole in you leg when they bite. A crow packs a lunch to fly over, and flys upside down so he don't have to look at it. Drive past joyland east 30 miles to Eldorado. Tornado ally. In retrospect, I would probably have a better point of view if I went back now. Just not in summer or winter.

I can relate, I was born in Eldorado and grew up in SE Kansas. I love the area, but not the humidity/cold. I now live in Idaho.

[cdholden]

I usually say when asked where I'm from." I'm from Kansas, as far away as I can get.!"

"I'm from Oklahoma. I don't know about TO, but it's a good place to be FROM."

[holmbāgu]

Well, I always feel obliged to stand up against negative comments against Kansas, and often wonder why people are compelled to make self-depricating coments about their home.

There's a lot wrong with it, and I'm in the only county in Kansas that consistently votes "my way", but it's home, and Eastern Kansas is not the flat, dusty, tree-less landscape that most people envision. And please don't mention the Wizard of Oz... ;)

If you like the sky, you'll like Kansas. As Thoreau said, "There are none happy in the world but beings who enjoy freely a vast horizon."

[tom thomas]

Holm, I joke about Kansas, but that doesn't mean I don't love the place. I arrived there at 2 years of age during WWII and left at 18 to join the Air Force. I was raised in Brown County, not named for John Brown, but still his stomping grounds in Bleeding Kansas days.

I lived in Baldwin City, another town in the county that votes your way in 1965, attended Baker U for a semester until the lust for travel and a very cute French girl lured me back into the the Air Force hoping to return to Europe. I made it. My mother worked at Baker, cooking for the students, my younger brother took a BS in Chemistry there.

I always liked Lawrence too, special destination for our school trips to visit KU campus for band, orchestra, singing competitions. The KU campus is so beautiful by itself. Our band participated in KU's homecoming football game halftime ceremonies too. It was so embarassing every year to watch OU beat KU as they seemed to be matched for KU homecoming. I still detest OU and will barely mention the name OSU. I did finally realize the the OU players were better paid.

I think most people joke about their home states at times, perhaps in self defense at times before someone else cracks a joke about it. Lessens the hurt at times.

You are right about our beautiful rolling hills, heavy oak, walnut, hickory forests and lakes in the eastern part of Kansas. Let's keep it a secret. I've driven I70 west from Topeka to the Colorado border many times, day and night and still marvel about the sky, especially on a clear winter night when every star crackles instead of twinkling.

When I first arrived in Oklahoma, it was 1982 when the bottom fell out of the technical skill jobs in California and they were practically non-existant in Kansas. I'd joke that I was a New-Wave Okie, that is, a Kansan with a job.

We have I44 through Tulsa, and at the same time in early '80's, I'd see the 3rd generation Okies coming back in their Beemers, Porches, Cedes, etc dragging U-Haul trailers back to Oklahoma from California. Silicon Valley cracked apparently so they were heading to home grounds looking for jobs.

There are a few folks in Kansas, namely the church members in Topeka, who are truly an embarassment to any Kansan whereever they live. Their disrupting military funerals reinforces why I'm agnostic.

Oh, does Topeka still host the State Fair with the auto races as they once did? Is the little McDonalds still across the street from the northeast entrance? Burgers, fries, and a coke were about 27 cents way back when.

Tom

[cdholden]

Is the state fair held in multiple cities? I remember it being in Coffeeville back in the late 80s. That's on the southern end of the state, not even close to Topeka.

[mikebarger]

I'm pretty sure the "state" fair has been in Hutch for many, many years. The Topeka fair was called the Kansas Free Fair. Guess it sounds better than Shawnee County Fair.


Mike

[holmbāgu]

tom, those are some great recollections. Sometimes I'll go out motorbiking in the country and find myself in Baldwin; there are a lot of beautiful, secluded farm roads out there that you can have all to yourself if you want.

Yes, the Phelps are truly despicable people. Fortunatley, I've never met a single person who supports what they're about. I've been wanting to get into kite photography so I can take a picture into their "compound". :D

Yep, the fair is still in Hutchinson, and has been for as long as I've been around ('85).

[tom thomas]

Holm, instead of a kite, don't the missle equipped drones have nice cameras installed that could check out the compound?

Tom

[cdholden]

I've been wanting to get into kite photography so I can take a picture into their "compound". :D

Do it LF style and make us proud!
http://robroy.dyndns.info/lawrence/landscape.html

[holmbāgu]

Well, I don't want to kill anyone; they seem to do a good enough job of embarassing themselves.

I have toyed with the idea of hiring someone to go steal one of their signs from them while picketing. If you've never seen one... well, they're something else.

Ahh! I love George Lawrence's aerial photographs! His shot of San Fran is probably the main reason for my interest in KAP, although I've never made any attempt at actually doing it. LF for sure though..

[tom thomas]

Holm, I didn't mean for the drones to use the missles, I just thought that the drones had high resolution cameras to really show what's going on.

A town near here dealt with them at a military funeral recently. Their bus had four seriously flat tires and no one in town including the police would assist. The group had to call in outside tow truck to haul them off. Lots of nails in the roads there I guess.

[holmbāgu]

Haha, well I guess the suggestion of using drones for their other purpose was too tempting.

Flat tires... now that's STREET justice... :D

[tom thomas]

Here is the URL for the story. http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20101114_11_a12_cutlin105145&allcom=1

Don't mess with McCalester's heros.

Tom

[tom thomas]

And, oh I really did mean to use the missles but I didnt' want to upset.
Tom

[holmbāgu]

Thanks for the link. Very interesting indeed.

Although Topeka is pretty much a conservative town, I'm always pleased to drive by one park with a sign that says "Adopted by the Atheist Community of Topeka". Like all towns, even in the midwest, there's a lot of diversity.