Bringing back Idora Park would be great for Valley

Bringing back Idora Parkwould be great for Valley
EDITOR:
I would like to invite anyone who ever spent a summer at Idora Park to help us bring our hometown amusement park back home.
As those who attended the recent "Remembering Idora" show at Powers Auditorium can attest, the memories of Idora are as poignant now as they were each fall when we left the park for the last time and counted the days until it opened the next summer. The tragic fire in 1984 and the ensuing legal wranglings have caused this wait to go on long enough.
I have spoken with many people of all ages who have delighted in sharing their Idora memories with me.
My grandmother tells about dancing with my grandfather to the live music of Xavier Cougar, Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller. My mother never missed a sock hop with Boots Bell. My first roller-coaster ride was on the Jack Rabbit. My first concert was the Bay City Rollers at Idora during a Spring Fling. My grandfather took us to see The King and his Court softball team play the Youngstown All-Stars. The Rocket, The Caterpillar, The Hooterville Highway, Laughin' Lena's Loony Land, Porky the talking trash can (we used to beg to throw our trash away!!), the Flying Cages, the Penny Arcade, the beautiful carousel (we all had our favorite horse) and of course, the french fries.
Friends I have in different parts of the country have told me how fortunate we were to have an affordable, family oriented amusement park in our own back yard.
Several people have voiced concern that Idora can never compete with the big parks, but think about the benefits of Idora. Admission for a family of four was less than the price of one ticket at the big parks. You can spend all day at Idora and ride every ride, several times and be home within an hour of the park closing. (I have heard that the lines at Cedar Point for the newer coasters are as long as four hours. Why drive an hour and a half one way, pay $45 to get in, ride one or two rides and drive an hour and a half to go home?) Most people I know saved up to go to Cedar Point once every summer, but still went to Idora five or six times. Many people have told me they have become so disillusioned with the big parks they have stopped going, but would go back to Idora if it re-opened.
We believe that bringing back Idora is a key component to the revitalization of this Valley. We are working to bring local, state and national attention to this project, and we would love to have more people volunteer.
JANET DURICY
Warren
X The writer can be contacted at 856-4958.
Organ donors should get preference at time of need
EDITOR:
William Alcorn's recent story about Rachel Hawkins' liver transplant highlighted the tragic shortage of human organs for transplant operations. The shortage kills over 6,000 Americans every year and gets larger every day.
The solution is simple and obvious -- if you agree to donate your organs when you die, then you go to the front of the waiting list if you ever need an organ to live.
While the federal government isn't ready to make this common sense change to the law of the land, a grass-roots group of organ donors called LifeSharers is making it a reality one member at a time.
Anyone who wants to donate their organs to others who have agreed to donate theirs can join LifeSharers. Membership is free.
DAVID J. LINDIS
Nashville, Tenn.
X The writer is executive director of LifeSharers, www.lifesharers.com.