The summer of 2005 will go down as one of the best times of my life (Notice a trend here?) Of course, that is the line I've used to describe my last few summers at Geauga Lake. And 2005 marked the tenth anniversary of the start of something big for me. The passion which I hope will guide me for years to come actually began as only a dot on the horizon.

The year was actually 1995. I was still in elementary school, and for the summer, I had come to live with my mom. That's usually how things went since second grade; I would go to school in Cleveland, and come live with my Mom in Tampa when school was out. And being a Tampa native, I loved coming home. However, as my mom's health began to decline, she could no longer make provisions for me to stay at home all the time. So for the first time I can remember, I went to a summer camp. Ugh. I don't remember much about it, other than it was a dump. There was a tether ball set the big kids would play with outside, and some tire swings. I don't remember having many friends there, but one thing made camp bearable: directly down the road about one mile was an amusement park. And in late summer '95, the park started building a new roller coaster. It was like a lighthouse at the end of a angry sea... something to look forward to. I watched as the cranes started putting up yellow poles... and then blue track sections... I remember seeing the sparks from someone welding the track together. Then scaffolds built a huge wall at the entrance... and finally the trains started going up the hill. And perhaps the most memorable thing when that train went down the hill for the first time was the sound! An awesome roar filled the air. From my vantage point on a little wooden fence I sat on, this thing was alive! I was curious, intimidated, and anxious to see it up close!

Spring 1996 came soon enough, and Busch Gardens Tampa opened their new roller coaster, Montu. I came back down to Florida for my spring break. Finally, I was going to ride this beast. My uncle Lloyd took me because my mom was too sick to ride roller coasters... but she said it would be better to go with him because even if she was feeling well, there's no way she'd ever go ride that "new thing"! As we drove to the park (just a few minutes from my mom's house), I saw a billboard for the ride. I pressed my face to the glass in awe, trying to memorize every detail about it, as if just the poster alone was the most impressive thing I had ever seen.

Fast forward to one year later. It was my 5th grade class trip to Geauga Lake. It was our present for "graduating" from elementary school. We all had yellow t-shirts on, and we all packed into a big yellow school bus, and started what would be the first of many drives out to Aurora, Ohio. Our bouncy little bus rumbled down route 43, and as we crested one of the many hills, a tower began to emerge in the distance. We drove closer and closer, and the tower got bigger and bigger. Finally, I could make out little cars going up and down the tower. And as we drove up to the park, once again, I pressed my face to the glass, trying to take everything in. Geauga Lake had me in a trance!
Coasters
Geauga Lake is the only Amusement park to have ever been owned by five different Amusement Park chains: Funtime, Premier, Six Flags, Sea World, and Cedar Fair.
Welcome to my office...
Coasters
This was the artist's rendering of Dino Island II, new for 2005 at Geauga Lake.
Soon I found out that Robin Green was going to be my assistant supervisor, and that many of my old friends and co-workers would be helping me in zone 4 in 2005. Mark Austin was to be the Team Leader at Dino, Rob Swan at the Ferry Boats, Jerry Stoffl at the Wolf Bobs, and Matt Murray in Happy Harbor. I felt like we had some great people working in Zone 4, backed up by a fresh breath of air, taking the form of a coat of paint here, some new speakers there, new games stand across the way. As crews rushed to finish all the renovations in the zone, me and Robin got to work training our new employees. I remember the bright faces- and I was really proud of them, in an almost paternal way. They were good kids who put a lot of hard work into getting things ready. As opening day approached, long days turned into all-nighters at the park. The night before opening day I thought for sure that there was no way everything would be ready. But as I came into work the next day, I scratched my eyes in disbelief as all of our work had come together at the last minute. The renovations at Wolf Bobs were ready right at 10:00am, with Happy Harbor opening a little later, followed by Dino Island later in the afternoon (to rave reviews!). Overall it was a great day- the new work on Raging Wolf Bobs made her fly! She was once again a great ride. Happy Harbor's new Caribbean theme really helped to improve the image of that midway. And for the first time ever, I heard screams of laughter coming from the simulators at Dino. Somehow even the boring simulator ride had been rejuvenated. The success of opening day put the department in the right direction for success for the entire summer!
But of course, my job title up top says Training & Auditing Supervisor. As it were, the current Auditor, Cassie,  was pregnant and was not going to be working the entire summer. However, I had honestly never thought of the prospect of being promoted to that position. Of course it sounds contrived to say I was focused at the current job at hand, but that really was the case- and besides, I loved Zone 4. So I guess you could say I wasn't really trying to put myself in a position to get the promotion. But none the less, Kristen & Andre pulled me in to the conference room one after noon in mid June. I was sure I was introuble or something. My mind was racing trying to play back all the things I had done that perhaps hadn't been a good idea afterall. However, they suprised me and offered me the spot, which I hesitantly accepted.

Shortly thereafter, the Ferry Boats had opened, and I began training on those. Man, they are freakin' huge! The ferry boats are very intimidating to drive, however, I had made my mind up that in 2005 I would take the Power Squadron course, get certified, and finally learn how to drive the Aurora Belle and Cuyahoga Queen on my own. After a while, I got the hang of it, and became comfortable enough that I would drive on my own for a few hours at a time. I felt really great about conquering my fear of the boats, and used this momentum to take on my SkyCoaster training.

This, however, was much more intimidating in the sense that passing the test would decide whether or not I would get my certification this year, or next year- and our Ripcord SkyCoaster was the last ride I had to learn in the park. There were no make up options, and worse of all, there was no class- I had to study all on my own. For those of you who have known me in Highscool can attest that I had horrible grades. I plain old sucked at taking tests and studying. Needless to say, I was very nervous about taking this SkyCoaster exam (proctored by the Company none the less!). I believe 80% or higher was considered passing. Finally the fatefull day came when Jason the Corporate Skycoaster trainer came to test us at Geauga Lake. The morning was the Practical test- out on the ride. I did well on this part, and I was given the green light to take the BIG test in the afternoon. All the Canidates entered the confernence room and we began. My palms were sweating and my feet kept bouncing on the floor. I went through one last time and handed the test to Jason...
In the ten years that have passed since I first was memorized by amusement parks, not the smallest part of my life has been left unchanged. I still liken myself to being a like a kid in a candy store at work, but I've become immensely more interested in the business and operational aspect of it all. Mostly, I would say I have a lot more self control over my passion. Hell, this is the first year since I moved to Cleveland that I haven't gone to Cedar Point (I did visit several times on business, however!). WHAT WAS HAPPENING TO ME?!? !! AHHH!

So as the 2005 season approached, I was anxiously awaiting my chance to prove that I was not a mistake (the idea of which is something I just can't seem to shake... I'm just really hard on myself!). Andre had asked me to be the head supervisor of Zone 4. I was pumped! I felt like I finally had something to call my own... something that would ultimately indicate whether I was a good supervisor or not. While I was preparing for this new challenge, Geauga Lake was suiting up to win back customers that had been alienated by Six Flags. The park had announced that a new multi-phase waterpark was going to be constructed, called Wildwater Kingdom. In addition to the major water park, some major renovations were going to take place with rides. The Raging Wolf Bobs would be re-tracked, and would add a new train. The Happy Harbor kids area would be repainted and have three rides put nearby. And finally, my old stomping grounds, Mission Bermuda Triangle would be renovated into Dino Island II!
Perhaps the best part for me as the supervisor for zone four, was that all of the listed rides were going to be in my zone. It was clear that the park wanted to make Zone 4 the hot-spot!
I Passed! WOW! I guess I knew I would do alright, but It has been a really long time since I got an A on a test. So with Skycoaster under my belt, I had officially learned every ride in the park! I was very happy- from the first day I stepped into the Kids Area in 2002, I kept looking up at the big rides... as if they were something I would never get to. But I stuck with it, and through a very VERY winding road, I got to my goal.

The rest of the summer I spent Auditing and Training... Which I obviously cannot go into much detail with, other than to say at first I wasn't so keen on the idea of me teaching new employees. But after a while, I really enjoyed training new employees. I must admit there were a few students I took a little more time with, and quite a number I followed up on continuously, but in the end, the sense of gratification that comes from seeing your students do well is very rewarding- and makes me want to learn more and improve my training skills. I am very excited about getting to teach next year again- I have high expectations and I hope, above all, that I can empower the rides employees to do an excellent job.

As far as Auditing- I do have methods and secrets... Including how I operate as an Auditor. The basis for these principals was the underlying fact that having truly good employees is the goal of the Auditor- NOT catching employees doing bad things. When you catch someone doing something wrong, you have already failed to prevent it from happening. There was a funny little rumor going around the park that I was seen climbing in a tree while spying on employees. You might think that I was upset by this story (And I'll never tell whether it was true or not!), but in reality, I was very happy to hear this rumor circulating among the employees. It was a harmless little fable of how no matter where you worked, the Auditor could be watching!
So here's a list of people who defined my Summer: