By MARK SARDELLA

Pleasure Island closed its gates for the last time over 33 years ago. Where the legendary amusement park once stood is now the Edgewater Office Park and the Colonial Point apartment complex.

You can't go back to Pleasure Island anymore, but if you attended this past weekend's events at the Americal Civic Center, you came as close as you can to reliving the park's glorious past.

Then on Saturday, Arnie "Woo Woo" Ginsburg was celebrity guest for the "Whale of a Time Show," spinning records and signing autographs. Ginsburg is the name and the voice most strongly linked to Boston's early rock 'n roll radio scene in the late 1950s and early 1960s, hosting 1510 WMEX's "Night Train" program among other radio credits.

Both Rex Trailer and Arnie Ginsburg made numerous personal appearances at Pleasure Island during its heyday.

Put together by members of The Friends of Pleasure Island, Inc., a local group dedicated to preserving the memory of the park known as the "Disneyland of the East," both events drew large numbers of former Pleasure Island employees (many of whom were high school or college age at the time), as well as people who visited the park as kids, amusement park buffs and those simply curious about this unique era in the cultural history of the town and the region.

There were also people in attendance at the two events who had some unexpected connections to the park. Stan Davis of Andover ran a business called "Aero Advertising." Davis says he personally flew 50 flights over the North Shore in a Piper Cruiser towing a huge banner advertising Pleasure Island.

A smaller room at the Civic Center served as an exhibit hall of photographs, drawings and memorabilia from the collections of Pleasure Island founder Bill Hawkes and others. Meanwhile, the large main hall was decorated with authentic representations of many of the park's signature rides and attractions created by local artist Priscilla DiDonato Hendrick, including "The Chisolm Trail," "The Wreck of the Hesperus," the "Jenney Horseless Carriage," "The Burro Trail" and "The Moby Dick Hunt."

Hendrick arrived at Pleasure Island in 1959 at age 15 and worked there as an actor and park character until the park closed at the end of the 1969 season. "Every time you talk to someone about Pleasure Island they smile," Hendrick says, recalling what it was like to work there as a teenager and young adult. "Those of us who worked there went back on our days off," Hendrick adds. "It was really special."

From the stage, Bob McLaughlin, president of the Friends of Pleasure Island, introduced Bill Hawkes, the founder of Pleasure Island. In 1955, Hawkes was publisher of Child Life magazine. Hawkes told the audience about the origins of the park.

He and several other investors had a vision of creating a theme park along the lines of Disneyland. Between October 1958 and June 1959, Hawkes explained, "I don't know how it was done, but that park was designed and built. To me it was an exhausting experience."

Hawkes talked about the early problems that they had with the park's signature Moby Dick whale. Hawkes said that getting the whale working properly before the park's grand opening was "really tense" and "far more expensive than we had anticipated." The whale was ready to go just before the park opened, Hawkes said.

Referring to a picture he had seen earlier, Hawkes, who lives in Magnolia, noted the way that events have come full circle. "I saw a photograph, and there I am talking to the people of Wakefield — that was 1958 — telling them what the park was going to be like," Hawkes said. "Here I am back in Wakefield telling what is was like."

The first season did not meet the owners' financial expectations, and Hawkes pulled out of Pleasure Island after only one year. "Other people came in and took over and it continued," Hawkes recalled, "and now it's being revived. I'm amazed at the interest that these people have put into this."

Kicking off Friday night's main program, McLaughlin, introduced Rex Trailer and Sergeant Billy. Trailer got an early rise out of the crowd when he uttered his signature Boomtown greeting, "Howdy kids!" Trailer noted that, "All the kids are grown up." Still, when they launched into the Boomtown theme song, Rex Trailer and Bill O'Brien had many in the crowd singing along.

"We made many personal appearances at Pleasure Island," Trailer said, adding that there were about six times when Channel 4 packed up all the equipment and they did the whole Boomtown show from Pleasure Island.

Bill "Sergeant Billy" O'Brien recalled growing up in Wakefield's North Ward area before graduating from Wakefield High School in 1963. He worked at Pleasure Island's "Indian Village." It was through Pleasure Island that O'Brien connected with Rex Trailer in 1966.

Trailer called to the stage Pleasure Island's first park announcer, Ken Saunders. Saunders explained that when the park first opened there was little to be heard over the sound system. Then he and his college roommate, who worked at WNAC radio in Boston, went into the station at night. "We played around, putting some music and commentary together," Saunders said. "That's where it all happened and that's what made the park work."

Next, Trailer introduced Herb Sauve, who was working on Boomtown as an Indian character when Trailer told Sauve to go and try to secure a position at Pleasure Island. Sauve recalled that Trailer suggested that, on the way back from one of their personal appearances, Sauve should walk into the park in his full Indian costume.

"You walk in with that outfit," Trailer told Sauve, "I'll guarantee you get a job." The next day, Sauve was hired as the "Indian Sheriff," and later played Captain Kidd at the park.

Bob Harmon came to the microphone next and described how he came to Pleasure Island in the middle of 1959, after the summer stock company he had been acting with closed down. His acting coach happened to be directing the park's stable of actors in skits that summer and told him to come to work. "I became 'Dangerous Dan' the next day," Harmon said, recalling the cowboy character he played. Harmon said he provided his own horse, who got paid $50 a week more than he did.

"The other great thing that happened to me at Pleasure Island," Harmon continued, pointing to his wife in the audience, "I made a date with the most beautiful girl from Wakefield, and there she is, 42 years later, Mrs. Harmon, Diane O'Donnell."

Every former Pleasure Island employee has at least one Walter Sherman story, and the next speaker, Russ Berube, told his. "I had the privilege of working the Moby Dick ride for a couple of years," Berube said. "I also had the distinction of being one of the last ones to see Moby Dick alive."

Berube recalled that one winter, trying to save money, the park decided not to take the whale out of the water. "It froze," Berube said, "and it never worked right after that."

One day the following summer, it was Berube's turn to man the shack out on the island, where his job was to push the button that made the whale rise out of the water as the boat carrying visitors entered the lagoon.

After Berube phoned back to the dock that all was not right with the whale, Walter Sherman, the head of park maintenance and a man given to colorful verbal expressions, arrived on the scene. Sherman commanded Berube to push the button.

"The whale came up with a great big gaping hole in the back. It started to shake, and pieces of fiberglass were falling off of it," Berube remembered. "It started to shift from side to side, and finally it just fell over sideways into the pond. Walter Sherman grabbed me by the neck and in his very colorful language said, 'You killed my [expletive deleted] whale!'"

The boat crews decided to do memorial services for the rest of the day, Berube said. As they got to the lagoon, the boat captain would inform the passengers that Moby Dick had passed away. "Our final words to Moby Dick were, 'May you rust in pieces,'" according to Berube.

Berube is another employee who met his future wife, Laura, while working at Pleasure Island. "One of the sad things is that we can't go back to where we met," Berube said later. "It doesn't exist anymore."

But events like this past weekend are something, at least, for couples like the Berubes. "I think it's wonderful," Russ Berube said of Friday night's event. "I'm pleasantly surprised at the turnout." Noting that it wasn't just former employees, Berube added, "A lot of the people who are fascinated by this were never there."

Dick Mohla didn't work at the park but grew up in the neighborhood. Mohla has always been interested in Disney's theme parks, and wonders if it all started with Pleasure Island. Mohla now lives with his family in North Conway, N.H. They cut short a vacation to attend these Pleasure Island events. "We came back from Florida early because we didn't want to miss it," Mohla said.

Arthur Levine also grew up near the park, in Lynnfield.

Levine writes about theme parks and maintains that section of the web for About.com. Growing up near Pleasure Island, Levine says, "I sort of took it for granted. It was only as I got older that I realized how lucky I was to have this in my back yard."

Saturday's Whale of a Time Show featured Arnie "Woo Woo" Ginsburg spinning records, and a live appearance by the "Love Thy Neighbor Ragtime Band," which originated at Pleasure Island. Fronted by former park employees Andy DiDonato and Sam Donato, the band had the Civic center hopping on Saturday.

George Lembidakas, who attended Saturday's event, was the park's electrician for almost all of its existence. "I wired, installed and serviced all the electrical work," Lembidakis said. He also put up all the Christmas lights during the several winters that Pleasure Island opened for the holiday season. "We lit the place up and the train and the shops were all open," Lembidakis recalled.

Kory Hellmer is the woman behind the Friends of Pleasure Island web site. Every Sunday night for the last two months the committee that planned these events met at Hellmer's home in Wakefield. The committee included Sid Hodson and Jean Clark of Reading, Donald Graham of Woburn, Larry Cultrera of Saugus, Ray DiPirro of Nashua, N.H., Bill Valentine of Salem, N.H. and Bob McLaughlin, Mary K. Galvin, Priscilla DiDonato Hendrick and Kory Hellmer, all of Wakefield. Hellmer says that there were many others who also pitched in and helped out.

McLaughlin, president of The Friends of Pleasure Island, said that the group next plans to put together a traveling exhibit and is working with writer Jim Hill on a book about Pleasure Island.

But for one weekend, The Friends of Pleasure Island took a lot of people back to a place that still occupies a very special period in their lives, and helped them to relive a moment in time.

Reprinted with permission of the Daily Item,
December 2, 2002