originally posted on 1/3/2020
Photo: Jimmy Titko. View full-sized image.
When the leaves have finally fallen off the trees, the air turns a little crisper, and snow starts to appear more regularly, it means that winter has arrived in Ohio and the ACE Eastern Great Lakes Region. It also means it is time for the annual kickoff to the off-season with the ACE Ohio Holiday Party.
This year’s rite of winter took place on a sunny Saturday, December 7, 2019, at Great Wolf Lodge in Mason, Ohio. Since ACEers were in the neighborhood, our friends at Kings Island opened their gates bright and early to attendees for a morning Orion construction tour. Tour participants were treated to up-close views of the completed lift hill and partially completed second hill, along with seeing the park decked out for Winterfest in the early morning.
Party attendees were grateful for a Kings Island tour — and blue skies.
Photo: Jimmy Titko. View full-sized image.
Orion’s first drop was complete.
Photo: Jimmy Titko. View full-sized image.
Following the tour, attendees traveled over to Great Wolf Lodge, just north of Kings Island, for the formal portion of the event. After arriving and settling in, the program started with some brief announcements and then a wonderful lunch featuring a New York Deli buffet of corned beef, turkey, sauerkraut and a variety of cheeses, breads and toppings.
After lunch, the event’s largest program ever began and featured 11 park, industry and member presentations. Representatives from Scene75 (a family entertainment center chain throughout Ohio and Pennsylvania), Holiday World, Kennywood, Kentucky Kingdom, Cedar Point and Kings Island were all in attendance. Two member presentations promoting upcoming book releases on the histories of both Kings Island and Cedar Point were also made. Along with delivering a great presentation covering projects from 2019, Michael Graham of The Gravity Group also brought along a nautical-themed concept Timberliner car that was featured at the IAAPA Expo booth a few weeks prior.
In addition to the annual door prize raffle, the region usually holds a 50/50 raffle to benefit the ACE Preservation Fund. ACEer Eric Middaugh donated a large amount of beautifully framed park memorabilia and coaster models to be raffled off. It was agreed that these gracious donations should be the featured prizes instead of the 50/50 raffle. When all was said and done, $413 was collected for the ACE Preservation Fund. Many thanks, Eric!
After the raffles were complete, everyone said their goodbyes as another holiday party ended. In fact, this was the last ACE Ohio Holiday Party ... at least in name only. Because of the recent regional realignment that combined Northern Ohio, Southern Ohio and Michigan into the new Eastern Great Lakes Region, next year’s event will be renamed as such.
Many thanks go out to those who organized, volunteered, donated to and presented at this year’s party: Assistant Regional Reps Jimmy Titko, Cassie Titko, Susan Shick and Mark Ashdown; ACEers Earl Shick, Eric Middaugh and Kristopher Werner; and presenters Evan Ponstingle, Ken Miller, Maggie McCartney of Scene75, Michael Graham of The Gravity Group, Nick Paradise of Kennywood, Leah Koch of Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari, Carly Uglow of Kentucky Kingdom, Tony Clark of Cedar Point, Don Helbig of Kings Island and Jennifer Perry of Great Wolf Lodge.
— Scott Short
Eastern Great Lakes Regional Representative
@#$%&!
#ACENews