A historian for the former Lakeland Amusement Park has a new video of the Park and believes it’s the best one so far.
Chip Averwater, a resident on Garner Lake in Lakeland, said, “It’s the best that we have so far because you can clearly see many of the rides and attractions, the riverboat, sky-ride, picnic area and the lake.”
Link to new video:
https://1drv.ms/v/s!AnTe7FAd1M23kZNpa7u3jWjzyLk61w?e=hAN9Wz
He said Joe Wasson from Fort Smith, AR found the footage, tracked down what it was and forwarded it.
“Maybe someday someone will find even better film of it but for now this and memories is the best we have.”
Mr. Averwater lives on Garner Lake and created a webpage about the Amusement Park several years ago. “I created the lakelandlake.com page (https://lakelandlake.com/lakeland-amusement-park) several years ago as kind of a retirement hobby. The Lake lends itself so well to photography that I took some pictures, collected some others from residents and even bought a drone and learned to fly it. The area has so much beauty I couldn’t resist sharing it through a website.”
He has fond memories of the Park, having come as a child and even playing in a battle of the bands. “I have a special affinity for the amusement park since I and many others came here as kids. My garage band was in a battle of the bands at the Pepsi Pavilion when I was a senior in high school.
“But some of the history was getting lost—it was difficult to even determine where the Amusement Park was. Several long-term residents, including Don Benfield, Dave Brown and Walt Drissel, spent time generously with me and we pieced it together. We even superimposed the amusement attractions over a recent aerial shot of the Lake. The library had a lot of history in its archives and many people have contributed pictures. It’s not complete (we’d love to have more pictures and history) but the story of the Park and Louis Garner is fascinating and it’s fun to relive that era of our past.’
