Tilt-O-Whirl

This is Andy. He's my buddy. Last February we went to Scandia with him and his family. He wanted to ride the Tilt-O-Whirl because it was included with the wristband we had bought him. It wasn't included with ours, so he rode alone. It brought back a lot of memories for me. When I was a boy we used to go to the Orange Show in San Bernardino. I remember walking through the midway wanting to ride all the rides over and over. The Tilt-O-Whirl was one of those. To be fair, my Mom and sister would ride it once, but I liked it and wanted to ride more so I usually took another turn or two by myself. Watching Andy reminded me of a fun tradition we had as a family when I was young. I didn't think of it as a tradition at the time, but looking back, I guess it was. I can remember riding over in my Dad's big Buick. We would park in the dirt parking lot and I would hold his hand as we walked across the street. He would squeeze my hand and I would squeeze back. We'd do that over and over. I thought my Dad had very big hands. And he always had dimes in his pocket for me to throw to try to win a dish or fish. But the best part was the corn dogs and lemonade. Dad thought that corn dogs were the best invention for kids. And fair corn dogs are the best. I don't even remember sitting down to eat them. We just kept walking through the fair. We would walk through all the buildings with displays. It wasn't as fun as riding the rides, but for some reason I liked it. Maybe it was because I was with my family. And there was always that big hand to squeeze.

The legacy assured.