# Enough time has passed



## joerugz (Feb 28, 2007)

With my pride damaged and ego comprimised, I will now share my fishing blunder with you....A couple of weeks ago at Mogadore while fishing with my buddy out of my JoeRugZ row boat, I stood up to fish in the cold and high wind. Casting and catching fish, untill I stumbled and fell into the boat only to roll out taking my buddy with me! 

Air temp was approx. 50 degrees with water temp at 59. Luckily we were only off shore about 40 yds. in 8ft. of water. A guy was fishing about 150 yrds away came right over as we were splashing in the water trying to raise the anchor and collect our stuff. The boat didn't capsize to my surprise. My buddy carried 6 rods and I had 4. Only one rod lost, a Field and Stream IM7 with a F&S reel and a few loose lures. 

What first came to mind as the cold water hit me was the poor fellow who didn't make it the month before. We were just under the 43 bridge at the first point to the south so our vehicle was only a few hundred yards away.

I've gone back twice now and dreadged the area trying to hook my rod to no availe. But I would like to thank the guy again for his help and concern. By the time he got to us we were in shallow enough water to stand in.

Anyhow, he was on the spot in case we were in more trouble. I didn't get his name, but while we were bailing the boat against the shore in three ft. of water he took our picture with a chuckle in his voice.

It could have been much worse I know and I'm thankfull nothing happened other than a good lesson learned. I could have lost my new sonar (side imaging) and alot more gear. If anyone snags a rod between the point and the fallen pine, you know how it got there.

Moral of the story; Never think it can't happen to you and never shove your PFD under a seat. If we were in the middle of the lake and had to leave a capsized boat to swim to shore, I would hope my PFD would be more accesable.


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## bdawg (Apr 14, 2009)

Nice story. Glad to see it end well.


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## mickeysdad (Mar 10, 2010)

definitely good that it ended well. something that some people don't realize is that it's not as simple as knowing how to swim and getting out fast. when you hit cold water, your body has a natural reaction to the cold water by taking a huge gasp of air. the trouble is that your body will react this way whether your head is above or below water. for many, this tips the scales against you from the start, making cold water all the more dangerous.


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## Erterbass (Jul 4, 2005)

Thanks for 'fessing up, Joe. Your story reminds all of us that life can change in an instant - and thankfully the only change you're dealing with is the loss of some equipment.

Water can be our best friend but it can also cost us everything. My father-in-law lost his life on the water on a beautiful calm day while fishing from a rugged, seaworthy boat off the coast of Florida. All of us in his family - especially the grandkids - still wish he'd worn his PFD... 

Bob


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## owner89883 (May 18, 2008)

We had a similair incident last summer at a private pond. We all made it out okay but it just goes to show that you never can tell what will happen and when.!$


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## paintED (Mar 8, 2007)

Joe, once your in the boat just remember the announcement you gave when you worked in the coaster garage on the Big Dipper at Geauga Lake back in 78................ Please remain seated until..... 
Those were the days. 
Remember the time we were both working the Rotor?..I was on the controls and you were in the drum and that old girls tube top slipped.Looked like four arms pressed to the side of the drum. Good times. Glad your okay.


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## barf (May 10, 2009)

I was on mogadore the day that guy drown . it was my first time out for the year and I was scared.The watercraft guys just gave me a lecture about hypothermia on my last trip of the fall. ....im glad that you are OK ...I think its ok to stand up now with the water temp at around 65 and air around 70 (if you can swim)that water is still more than a little cool ,but nobody likes to lose theyre stuff. I think they said something like 120 or 130 combined water and air temp.but I could be wrong,as I was more worryed about getting a ticket than personal safety at that point

when I was a kid we used to jump in the spring water,and ill be the first to tell you it hurts ..starts in the fingers and works its way back(fast).......we thought it was fun to shock ourselves but the water was only about 4 feet deep in a pool that we could get out of quick ....different ballgame in the middle of a lake.......+ we had 85 deg air..


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## joerugz (Feb 28, 2007)

Yea Ed, It went a little like this.."ladies and gentleman please remain seated until the ride has come to a complete stop. Please remember to keep all arms, legs inside ride at all times and we are not responsible for lost or broken items....And enjoy your day here at Geauga Lake.

The best was the day that guy lost his dentures over the second small hill. Before he could find them you turned them into lost and found and the bag lady that always hung out at the park trying to peek into the bathrooms, claimed them and never gave them back. Boy did she look funny wearing someone elses dentures. The guy never got them back and she later became known as Baggs Bunny!


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## The Zodiac (Apr 10, 2010)

joerugz said:


> The best was the day that guy lost his dentures over the second small hill. Before he could find them you turned them into lost and found and the bag lady that always hung out at the park trying to peek into the bathrooms, claimed them and never gave them back. Boy did she look funny wearing someone elses dentures. The guy never got them back and she later became known as Baggs Bunny!


lmfao That was one of the funniest stories I have ever heard.


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## paintED (Mar 8, 2007)

I do remember that. 
Remember the dude that worked the lost and found most of the time? 
His nickname was Rank Frank or sometimes Frank the Stank.
I never called him that though .I thought you guys were mean to him.
I asked him why he would ever give her a set of dentures. 
He said when he asked her to describe them she pulled out her bottom teeth and turned them upside down and said..."they look just like this."
She had no uppers!
He said she took them and poured some water on them and worked them back and forth until they popped into her mouth.
I can just picture her wrenching on those things trying to fit them into her head!
He also said when she walked away she turned around and said something but he could'nt understand her.He thought it sounded like "thank you sweetie" or "bless you stinky". 
I will never forget that story.


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## joerugz (Feb 28, 2007)

Oh my gosh...Frank the Stank. Whatever happened to that dude? Were you working there the summer when he got caught sleeping under the counter numerous times and each time he said he had the flu? He got away with it everytime even though he smelled like a brewery and pee'd down his leg.

They even let him drive the first aid cart. The guy never had a drivers license, but he was qualified to drive sick patrons to the first aid station while weaving in and out of hoards of people. He stunk soo bad the animals at Jungle Larry's ran from him! Remember the monkey that would pull your hair if you got too close?


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## paintED (Mar 8, 2007)

Heck yeah I remember that maniac. 

I have a picture of that monkey.
He was sold to the howds in barberton.they do monkey shows. 
I remember I filled in as an extra in one of those queer GREASE extravaganza short musical numbers.
I was backstage getting ready, wearing this black vinyl jacket with no shirt on and that lunatic monkey grabbed a hand full of my chest hair and ripped it out and started screaming like King Kong on the top of the Empire State Building! 

Here's the pic I have.
They were gonna have him do some crazy George Burns meets Elvis in Vaudville thing with a cockatoo after our show. 
Its a picture of a polaroid insta-matic. 
I should have one with him smoking a cigar too. I will look for it.


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## joerugz (Feb 28, 2007)

That's the monkey! I hated that thing. It's funny how our boss Mr. Mimm would send us around to different assingments depending on who called off that day. One day after doing my normal job at the coaster house in the morning, they sent me over to Game Row to work the water gun balloon race. Some bratty kid who gave me a hard time on the Dipper, recognized me and I convinced him I had a twin. That same evening I found myself giving boat tours down the canal. The same kid and his tired family boarded. When he saw me he flipped out. He wouldn't drop it the whole ride. When I asked him to settle down or the indians may shoot him. His mom was so embarrased, she beat him like a step child! 

Remember when Frank's buddy would reverse the steering cables on the canal boats? The new tour guides would have a boat load of people straded six feet off shore for sometimes an hour cause he couldn't steer the boat! He always said he was gunna do it on the ski boats.

Whatever happened when you overfilled the water in the Mill Race?


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## paintED (Mar 8, 2007)

Mr. Mimm. He would get so mad when I called it the log ride.He would always say.." Do you mean Gold Rush Log Flume?" He said that of all the rides in the park it was imperative that this ride is in working order because it was so expensive to empty an refill the flume for repairs. And yes, I remember when I overfilled the pool and the bottom of the hill.I almost got fired. We were standing on the overlook waiting for the first loaded log,we test ran it and it wasnt a big deal because the weight from the passengers didnt let the front of the car plow deep into the water , but on the first full ride of the day,it was loaded,and when I say loaded I mean there were two full size adults in the front (at least 500 lbs of hot sweaty adults) and two teenagers behind. Well when that thing hit that pool which usually holds 4500 glns of standing water (I put another I would say almost 50% in there it was almost full!)It sent a wall of water up over us and 3/4 of it lande on and in the the two huts across the walkway. One is where they sold all the souveniers,spears with feathers ,pop guns and such,and the other ,the reason why I almost got fired was the funnel cake concession ,where that guy Bill Ding worked.I guess the water went into his hot grease and splatterd him a bit,not too bad,he wasnt mad,but it contaminated all the funnel cake batter. I just had to play dumb,because it was.I do remember that one joe!


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## Lynxis (Sep 21, 2009)

This thread is GD hilarious.


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## joerugz (Feb 28, 2007)

How about the poor folks who would bring a pic nic basket full of goodies for their lunch and leave them on the tables. How many times did you "raid the tables", as we called it? You never think of anybody else but yourself at that age. But I'll tell you one thing...I could tell where people were from by how they made their fried chicken! I guess I should have thrown the bones away, but I just loved it how they always blamed the fat kid in the family for sneaking back before lunch and helping himself. 

Did you ever hang out with Herb the wieght guesser? Boy did he have a way with the women! Whenever some one complained about how cheap the prizes were, he always said that they should feel lucky because he was soo poor growing up, to have anything at all to play with his mom had to cut holes in his pockets! The girls never got it, but it sure made their boyfriends laugh! 

Whenever Herb was mad at Mr. Mimm for not giving him the day off, he would deliberatly guess way off on age and weight to empty his prize cabinet by noon. Those two never got along.


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## Eliminator (Aug 26, 2006)

Speaking of the Rotor, is that the ride you stand up on and it spins around and cerifugal force plants you to the wall then the bottom drops out? 
One day while waiting in line I noticed this one guy that just stayed on the ride, it cycled like 3 times before my turn, the ride operator said the man lives local and has a gold card or something that gave him free admission for life, as do all the residents of the parks border, anyhow the operator said the guy gets off and goes home for lunch then comes back and rides till dinner goes home again and comes back till closing time, it was obvious the guy was a mental case, this was all back in the 80's. we had some good times at that park for sure.


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## paintED (Mar 8, 2007)

Thats funny you say that about Mr. Mimm. I got my cousin a job there a few years after I graduated. I went to have a beer with him at the Aurora woodlands. I think that was the name of the hotel then. Guess who was there? Herb and Mr. Mimm. I stopped and said hi but it almost seemed like I was intruding on something....hmmmmm? 

That was one fun place to work..You mentioned Jungle Larry earlier.Did you know his real name was Ford Parker? Isnt that a crazy name? Even crazier yet he drove one of those big International Scout 4x4s.Not a Ford. I used to say that to him.He always chuckled.
Anyway, do you remember Jungle Larrys Cockatoo that could talk really good? It wasnt really a cockatoo,it was actually alot smaller than a cockatoo,it was a african grey.Its name was High Ball. Long story short. Larry trained that thing to say "Mr Mimm?"with an inquisitive tone. It sounded like he was asking a question when he said his name.Anyway,we had a meeting during shift change and on my way I snagged Jungle Larrys walkie talkie and gave the push to talk button a couple wraps of electrical tape and set it down next to old High Balls cage and then whispered mr.mimms name to him and went on my way. High Ball must have called Mr.Mimm 30 times during that meeting , he finally demanded that whoever was calling him come down to park services immediately or face a write up and possible termination if he found out through other means who was calling his name over the park channel.We were all sitting there and Mr. Mimm was screaming into his walkie talkie "I demand to know who this is!"I wonder if Old High Ball ever got written up? LOL!!!


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## paintED (Mar 8, 2007)

Yep , the rotor guy, he wore brown corduroys and a brown denim jacket. He was harmless.But a bit touched. Mr. Mimm would drop him off sometimes after the park closed. That couldnt have been good for his organs. I wonder if he had internal problems later in life due to that?And when I said that couldnt have been good for his organs I meant riding the rotor chronically.


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## Seaturd (Apr 14, 2004)

This is the funniest thing I've read in ages...


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## joerugz (Feb 28, 2007)

Ahhh. The good ole days. It seems I was always broke and hung over, but I always managed to find some gas money under the Double Loop or the Cork Screw and some good fried chicken at the pic nic pavilions. The worst job was doing the Monorail. All the old people rode that thing. And the lazy security guys never left it cause they played "eye in the sky." Did you have any trouble spotting the security guys in plain clothes? They thought they were tough guys. I once saw one overly enthusiastic guy frisk a kid cause his brother accused him of stealing his popsicle! 

I loved watching old Captain Jack play with people at the Puppet Wagon. He was a very good ventrilaquist. He would walk down the lane with his puppet on his hand and all of a sudden get into an argument with himself. People would stop by the hundreds to see this crazy guy fight with his puppet.

I can't believe you used to do the corney shows at the Palace. I always liked the Country Theater the best. There shows were always more fun with better audience participation.


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## joerugz (Feb 28, 2007)

The roter guy was always jacked up on cotton candy!! He would eat dozens a day. He was harmless, but one day he was escorted out of the park after he gave a kid one of those paper quarter books you fill up then take to the bank. He handed out tons of those to young kids telling them that if they filled it up and brought it back to him, he would give them two dollars. I think they held five dollars worth of quarters. You'd be surprised how many kids brought it back to get their money!! He wore that cordiroy suit in the hottest weather too.


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## spfldbassguy (Mar 23, 2009)

i gotta agree my sides actually hurt from laughing so dang hard.what an outstanding thread guys.glad to hear you n your buddy made it out safely although soaked and embarrassed.i fish from a small kayak(8fter) and i never take off my pfd.even though i can't stand up and sit extremely low to the water i still never remove mine.to be honest i've tried 1 or 2 times but i felt uncomfortable in doing so.the same way i always wear my seat belt while driving my dakota around from fishin hole to fishin hole.


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## joerugz (Feb 28, 2007)

I don't remember High Ball. You may have worked there a year or two after i left in '83. I gave five years on my life to that place. I had some great times. A group of us would always sneak back into the park after it closed to go swimming. I met some great people each summer. Sometimes we would hang out all night, go to breakfast then back to work without any sleep. I would often doze off waiting on the Big Dipper to come back. The noise would wake me and I would have to slam on the brakes. I was the master at sleeping with my eyes open! I bet the local chiropractors loved me.

Hey bass guy, do you have a yello yak. I think I may have seen you last week while I was trying to dreadge for my pole.


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## paintED (Mar 8, 2007)

Yeah, my last year was the spring of 85. I know you remember when the Cinema 180 caught on fire. They opened that in 80 if I remember correctly,the year I started. I still think about that really old quiet guy that worked maintainance that put it out.Wasnt his name Jerry Attricks? I dont think he was from around here.I sure am glad he was around that day though.That fire was full blown by the time anyone got there.Its a damn good thing nobody was in there when it happened.Nobody could do anything.It was right at the entrance and that big fire hose was INSIDE the theatre about 70 feet.Remember Jerry just came flying down the hill in that maintainance golf cart yelling "watch out! watch out! watch out! And crashed it through the flaming doors and drove that thing out of sight into the flames!Next thing you hear is some glass breaking and then a big gusher of water spraying everywhere! He had that fire hose and put that fire out in NO time.Man that was something! They had a little awards dinner for him and took up a collection for him since he got a couple of burns and gave him a paid day off.I asked him what he was gonna do on his paid day off .(remember how he stuttered bad?)I always felt thats why he was so quiet.Anyway when I asked him what he was gonna do on his day off he said.."Go get those fu.. Go get those fu.. Go get those GD brakes I ordered for that golf cart 4 weeks ago! 

Did you know the popcorn popper caused that entire maylay?


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## bdawg (Apr 14, 2009)

joerugz said:


> How about the poor folks who would bring a pic nic basket full of goodies for their lunch and leave them on the tables. How many times did you "raid the tables", as we called it? You never think of anybody else but yourself at that age. But I'll tell you one thing...I could tell where people were from by how they made their fried chicken! I guess I should have thrown the bones away, but I just loved it how they always blamed the fat kid in the family for sneaking back before lunch and helping himself.
> 
> Did you ever hang out with Herb the wieght guesser? Boy did he have a way with the women! Whenever some one complained about how cheap the prizes were, he always said that they should feel lucky because he was soo poor growing up, to have anything at all to play with his mom had to cut holes in his pockets! The girls never got it, but it sure made their boyfriends laugh!
> 
> Whenever Herb was mad at Mr. Mimm for not giving him the day off, he would deliberatly guess way off on age and weight to empty his prize cabinet by noon. Those two never got along.



Great story about the weight guesser. LMAO about cutting holes in the pockets! 

It's a shame that Six Flags ran that park into the ground. It was great when it was just Geauga Lake and Sea World. Last time I was there, the park was a mess, trash everywhere. Half the stuff was closed down on the Sea World side and the ferry boat took forever to load up and get across. Is any part of that park still open?


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## Eliminator (Aug 26, 2006)

Do either of you guys recall chasing the guy that jumped off the cable car ride? he jumped off onto the cement pyling at the far end then off into the old shipwreck area and proceeded to elude about 20 park officials with radios, he got away and joined back up with his drunken troublemaking group of Pink Floyd shirt wearing villians, there were about 8 of us causing all sorts of trouble that day, I was the stupid kid that jumped the skylift, many fond memories there thats for sure.


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## joerugz (Feb 28, 2007)

This post brings back memories. I had lunch with paintEd last week and we talked about this post. I forgot about the storm that blew in one day. Kicked up soo much dirt and dust that everyone was blinded for at least a minute until the rain started pouring down. but the wind blew so hard, I saw a fat kid chasing a cotton candy tumble weed down the main walkway.

And the college art students who drew pictures of the guests were always a little weird. One of the got in big trouble because he was supposed to draw a mother and her young son,.... but he drew her with a huge rack and she got mad and complained to Mr. Mimm who told her it was a compliment. Then she really got pissed and wanted the police. Those lazy security guys had a field day with that one by acting like Barney Fife!!


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## wolfenstein (Jan 6, 2014)

Freaking love this thread! I was only there a couple times but I do remember some guy that never got off the rotor. Love the stories about yogi raiding the picnic baskets! !!


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## BIGEYURK25 (Apr 4, 2013)

Definitely a great thread guys! Good/funny stuff!


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## eyecatchum2 (Mar 30, 2010)

Yep Fred the Rotor man, actually has a facebook page I believe. He must have ridden that a million times. I worked at GLP from 1987 to 1997 in Operations. I actually had a similar story about hte Gold Rush, while working it one summer a guy lost his false teeth in the bottom of the boat, they have the raised floor boards and his teeth fell under it and to the back by the drain plug, in that nasty water (from all the sweaty people, dirty shoes and dirty duck poop water from the pond) I handed them to him and told him he better clean them off, he kneels down and swishes them in the flume and pops them in his mouth, I about gagged. The ride ops were laughing so hard.


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## buckeyebowman (Feb 24, 2012)

This is hilarious! It's almost like listening to carney folk. What the hell, it is! A great example of a thread that goes off the track in good way!


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## fishing pole (May 2, 2004)

keep them coming...fascinating and fiunny


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## Fishinaddict (Sep 23, 2014)

fishing pole said:


> keep them coming...fascinating and fiunny


Great thread! Thx for making me a part of amusement park history! Now I gotta change my shorts, think I soiled them laughing so hard!


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## flylogicsteelhead (Oct 4, 2006)

Guys, I have cried laughing at least 3 times, tears full blown running down my face. Thank you for the laughs, as anyone who had frequented GL understands how funny this is. BTW this would make an epic sitcom!


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## eyecatchum2 (Mar 30, 2010)

I have enough stories I should write a book.


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## REY298 (Apr 3, 2014)

joerugz said:


> With my pride damaged and ego comprimised, I will now share my fishing blunder with you....A couple of weeks ago at Mogadore while fishing with my buddy out of my JoeRugZ row boat, I stood up to fish in the cold and high wind. Casting and catching fish, untill I stumbled and fell into the boat only to roll out taking my buddy with me!
> 
> Air temp was approx. 50 degrees with water temp at 59. Luckily we were only off shore about 40 yds. in 8ft. of water. A guy was fishing about 150 yrds away came right over as we were splashing in the water trying to raise the anchor and collect our stuff. The boat didn't capsize to my surprise. My buddy carried 6 rods and I had 4. Only one rod lost, a Field and Stream IM7 with a F&S reel and a few loose lures.
> 
> ...


Thank God that the only thing bruised was your ego...LOL! Been there and done the exact same thing, only the water was much warmer in May. We were in a 12ft. Jon Boat and just as I was about say don't stand up, my knees and feet flew over my head! Lost everything but the boat! LOL! Be safe out there guys.!


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## joerugz (Feb 28, 2007)

I wish paintEd would chime in again. He was standing right next to Frank The Stank one day when he had a bit too much the night before. He was still drunk the next day at work. He was always trying to act like everyone's best friend and an uncle to all the kids. He was driving a family who's dad got sick in the rotor to the first aid station. One of the kids had a full picture on the front of their shirt. Frank said to the kid "oh what a cute picture of a monkey on your shirt"....., the kid started to cry and the mom, who was already not happy because she had upchuck all over her, said that it was a picture of her mother! 
Ed was embarrassed for Frank because it was a huge foot in your mouth moment, but what made it classic was Frank was arguing with the mom that the pic looked like a monkey. He asked Ed what it looked like? He said he was never put on the spot so bad in his life!


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## joerugz (Feb 28, 2007)

Can't believe its been almost eight years since this post.


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## Lewzer (Apr 5, 2004)

Thanks for bringing it back up!!!
Missed it the first two times. Brings back a lot of memories of Geauga Lake.

Did you or Ed ever fish the lake?

Any stories about the water skiing girls??? That's all I'm going to say.


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## eyecatchum2 (Mar 30, 2010)

I fished the lake numerous times, we would fish before work, and in the spring we had a tournament with the full time staff, caught some nice bass in that lake. Working maintenance I also got to scuba dive the lake when installing intake line for Grizzly Run, not much visibility but there is freshwater jelly fish in there, along with a lot of big carp.


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## Snakecharmer (Apr 9, 2008)

Funny thread.....Miss that old park and Euclid Beach..


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