Shout-out for the Giant Dipper, Belmont Park, still rolling at 100 in Mission Beach

It was a proper party for a -year-old Cake of class and balloons Add mimosas salmon quiche and an array of breakfast treats Also essential The birthday subject had to be resuscitated about years ago But friends who brought it back to life and sustained it were there to celebrate Mission Beach s Belmont Park is officially a centenarian Friday Giving praise Tuesday were San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria park general manager Steve Thomas and members of the Save the Coaster committee from the s and s Decades ago the committee persuaded the city to save the park from demolition The Giant Dipper Mission Beach s timeless wooden gravity machine How Belmont Park was saved The fight to preserve a seaside treasure And in these divided times the amusement park is an apolitical respite Gloria suggested on Belmont Park Day in San Diego Folks don t seem to be getting along as much the mayor stated But when you come here that kind of all washes away and you can just have a wonderful time with your family with your friends great kinds of memories that will last a lifetime We need more of Belmont Park in our lives GM Thomas spoke first at the morning celebration He mentioned that he visits entertainment parks across the nation to bring ideas back to our city Dollywood in the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee caught Thomas eye It was extremely authentic to the area in terms of theme food and music That authenticity meant much to Thomas Belmont Park is the quintessential San Diego experience he disclosed It s who we are We ve been providing a hundred years of just neighborhood fun and memories And what we do here is provide those memories We love to do it with that San Diego feel Back in when the park opened San Diego s population was about the size of Escondido s Gloria pointed out Among the city landmarks that didn t exist yet were the Old Globe Theater El Cortez Hotel and the Museum of Art in Balboa Park Nor had the Star of India arrived or the Padres become even a minor league club Since that time the park has had roughly million visitors Thomas commented The -foot-tall Giant Dipper roller coaster has taken visitors on over million rides As a person who enjoyed the park as a child Gloria declared it was a cheap and easy way for his parents to entertain their kids Though it was special to him as a child it wasn t then what the improved version is now No one else in the country has anything as good as this he explained This is a truly exceptional place I m grateful that we can take this time to acknowledge it to celebrate it and then to look forward to another years Two members of the Save the Coaster Committee remarked about the centennial I m stunned mentioned member Judy Swink Her memories centered on efforts to make this anniversary workable All the work that we did over a -year period to kind of hold the line while we were waiting to see what would come next Swink announced And we held the line until the city could come up with a new operator to complete the restoration It s an icon of Mission Beach and it needed to remain here disclosed Swink who strongly believes in historic preservation Committee member Cathy Scott recalled how her great grandfather ran the wooden coaster decades ago With his strong Norwegian accent he had trouble finding other work The family visited him at the park took the trolley and spent the day playing in the sand and riding the roller coaster Scott declared Scott a journalist and author of best-selling books on crime mentioned helping to save the coaster was very personal for her part of her family history Once again Tuesday -year-old Dale Chamberlain looked up at the coaster he had ridden It was right after World War II when he first visited the park with his parents It wasn t until he was that he got to ride on the coaster not just admire it Of module my dad rode with me Chamberlain recalled And from then on you know every time I got an opportunity when we come down here I sought to ride the roller coaster then I think it cost us cents It was the first climb and dip that sold him That s what you constantly are waiting for that first drop he reported Chamberlain described the sensation It s like riding in an old rickety horse-drawn you know hay truck or a few truck that s good hitting all the dips and crevices in the road or in the dirt or whatever And it gives you that same sensation he declared Another of his fondest memories of the Mission Beach spot is the Plunge where he learned to swim He took a swim class and even jumped off the old high dive Spencer Meinburg general manager of the Plunge noted in his remarks that the pool has so far hosted more than birthday parties Chamberlain also reminisced about digging holes in the beach sand and cooking hot dogs Eleven-year-old Tinsley Aho creating her own Belmont Park memories Tuesday described the ride while standing in line There s like a bunch of adrenaline when you re going up and then right when you re falling down you kind of like lose your stomach she disclosed But it s really good It s a really fun ride I recommend it