One of the fellows I work with now told me a few weeks ago he was a DOGPATCH employee in the early 1970s. He worked rides and maintenance, and later portrayed several of the characters on the park over a few summers when he was in high school. His experience at a theme park was far different than mine. He says after a summer or two of pounding the streets in the hot summer time, working six and even seven days a week, he was through with theme parks when he left to pursue other interests. He mowed the steep hillsides along where the tram took visitors down to the park from the parking lots above on the mountain. He had to watch out for snakes while mowing and trimming, said they were a real problem there. He said he piloted the boats that carried passengers along the creek in the park, played characters in skits all over park, in general, did whatever needed to be done. That's the way it was in the early days at SDC, and even during my time, we cross trained at several attractions to go where we were needed. He speaks fondly about his DOGPATCH days to some extent, but said he would not go back to that type of work. He did work with the well known Richard Young...Richard played Earthquake McGoon at Dogpatch prior to moving to SDC in 1980. Richard is still employed with SDC, and last I heard works the line as an entertainer at the Opera House. Small world, ain't it? Ha!
