PW Oct 09 P30-32:PW Oct 09 P30-32.qxd 28/09/2009 10:03 Page 30
Park Profile
www.parkworld-online.com
A modest, 11-acre,
squeaky-clean family park
in Marshall, Wisconsin,
Little Amerricka has been
Little Amerricka
growing steadily, and rather
unexpectedly, throughout its
The biggest little amusement park in the world
19-year-history.
Gary Kyriazi meets
Lee Merrick (left) and
general manager Darrell Darrell Klompmaker
Klompmaker and discovers
how the park got its rather
quirky spelling
I
n fact the park gets its name from owner Lee with one truck. Lee had been in the dog food business
Merrick (A-Merrick-a), who Klompmaker first met for 75 years, so we had the trucks available. Those
over 20 years ago. trucks were also handy when Dogpatch USA in
“I think Little Amerricka is filling a much needed-void Arkansas closed that same year. They had the prototype
that the larger parks, such as Six Flags Great America Chance Toboggan, which had the same specs as the
or at Wisconsin Dells to the south, can't,” says the man road models, but it hadn't been made transportable.”
who is now its general manager. “Adults come here to A few Alan Herschell kiddie rides, including a Little
relax, they don't have to pay anything. And the kids just Dipper rollercoaster, came from small parks, travelling
have fun in a small, well-attended area.” shows and private owners in and around the Midwest.
Indeed, if you have young children ...better yet, if you A Merry-Go-Round from Boston, a Tilt-A-Whirl possibly
have young grandchildren or great-grandchildren, you from Ohio (“I think,” Klompmaker said, “I can't
can't avoid taking them to Little Amerricka. Your remember that one”) and a 12-Car Eli Ferris Wheel
enjoyment will be threefold: 1) enjoying a museum- came from Wonderland Park in Amarillo, Texas, when
piece amusement park in impeccable shape (perfect for Wonderland upgraded to a Giant Wheel. Klompmaker
a 1940s or ‘50s motion picture set); 2) watching and Merrick restored them all carefully and lovingly,
“
euphoric children experience the park's timeless rides and the results are inspirational tributes to these classic
and attractions; 3) telling the children “I used to ride rides.
We'd gone that when I was a kid!” Not that they'll care, of course,
to Enchanted
or even listen, but you'll tell them anyway. Ride Renaissance
“Yeah, I've done a lot of scouting for old rides,” “We're particularly proud of our Roll-o-Plane, for which
Forest to buy Darrell told me. “Lee (who turned 91 this year) and I go we paid $75,000 from a very small park in northern
their
to a lot of auctions. We bought things we had to have
such as a Tilt-A-Whirl and a Scrambler, but we might be Tilt-A-Whirl
Scrambler, at an auction and see a ride and think 'Wow, that looks
but the Mad
really cool' and we end up buying it. We did that with
the Alan Herschell Mad Mouse. We'd gone to
Mouse was an Enchanted Forest in Chesterton, Indiana, when it closed
impulse buy!
in 1992, to buy their Scrambler, but the Mad Mouse
was an impulse buy! It was our biggest ride up to that
It was our point.”
biggest ride
Another impulse buy was from Peony Park in Omaha,
Nebraska, which closed in 1993. “I went to buy their
up to that kiddie boat ride, but also ended up buying the
point
30
”
monorail. Peony Park wondered how I was going to get
it out of there, and it took about six trips back and forth
OCTOBER 2009
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