ACE New England Region News and Updates

FUNTOWN FEST DATES CONFIRMED BY PARK

Our contact at Funtown/Splashtown U.S.A. has notified me that our first choice of August 21-22, 2004 for Funtown Fest has been approved. Though final approval from ACE is required, it's a safe bet that those will be the dates for the event.

UPDATE: As of 2/3/04, the date has been approved by ACE. August 21-22, 2004 is 100% confirmed.

NOR'EASTER DATE FINALIZED AND ANNOUNCED

Sorry to keep you all waiting on this but the next installment of Nor'Easter, the winter event for the ACE New England Region, will be held on Saturday, March 13, 2004 at Fierlit-Korzen Post 79 in Central Falls, RI. More information will be posted here as it becomes available.

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FUNTOWN FEST DATE NEARLY FINALIZED

I'm still awaiting final confirmation from the park for the scheduling of the 2004 edition of Funtown Fest, however the dates will likely be the weekend of August 21-22. In the event those dates are no longer available, the park has been advised that our second choice is the weekend of August 14-15, 2004. I will post an update here once I get confirmation.

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UPDATE FROM BRIAN PETERS ON MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORIES

From Brian:

I do not expect the 2003 membership directory to be shipped until late January at the earliest. (In the interim) I worked on a new online membership directory during some recent flights. The new feature is located on our site at http://www.aceonline.org/members/ and is now available. There is a link on the signon page for creating a userid for members who have not already created one. The signon process validates the membership status for the userid and then the menu will include the new option for searching the directory.

Thanks,
Brian

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REMINDER: TIM BALDWIN IS ALWAYS LOOKING FOR PHOTOS FOR ROLLER COASTER! MAGAZINE

Recently, Tim was looking to bolster the RC! archives with pictures of the Rye Playland Dragon Coaster. Apparently, the files are pretty thin, and what does exist is not of the quality level that he'd like (i.e. mostly grey skies for a background). I don't know if it's too late to serve his immediate need, but surely more stories that require a pic of the Dragon Coaster will run in the future and your contributions would be appreciated.

Additionally, Tim is also looking for photos of Le Monstre for the 2005 ACE calendar. The following is from an email on the topic:

Now that the 2004 calendars are all in place, I'm actually beginning work on the 2005 calendar. One of the selections for that year could be the trickiest, which is why I am contacting you. We'd like to feature Le Monstre for its 20th anniversary, plus the fact that we are doing "haunted sounding" coasters for the month of October. We've also featured one international coaster the past couple of years, so Le Monstre can fill the bill in many respects. However, this is not a coaster that we have lots of shots in ACE's archives. I'd like to encourage the northeast members, who may be heading that way in the upcoming season or who have encountered the coaster on nice sunny days to think about submitting a nice, in-focus color photo for the calendar. We use a horizontal for the big shot, but also a smaller vertical photo on the side.

If you'd like to submit a shot in regard to these requests (or for that matter, any nice photos you'd like to potentially share with the world via RollerCoaster! magazine), please send it/them to:

Tim Baldwin
Photo Editor/Publications Director
3508 Pecos Way
Grand Prairie TX 75052

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A LOCAL ARTIST NEEDS OUR HELP!

I recently received the following email (edited):

My name is Chuck Burnham and I am a carnival arist and a close, personal friend of Stretch Norton (former owner of Lake Compounce) . I am writing you to find out if there is any way to obtain a photo of the Wildcat's entrance during the 1970's.

You see, I have the original "panther" from atop the roof housing the station. It was hand painted by the great artist Peter Rasulo. I also have a friend with the original "caution" sign from the summit of the lift hill. I love the old coaster and Stretch is trying to help me to convince the powers (that be) to help us to restore the coaster to the original old front, including the tunnel to the lift hill. Any help you could offer pertaining to finding this photo will be greatly appreciated! Also, if you run across a photo of the old Laff in the Dark ride in those same years, I will be happy to make a contribution for your efforts!

So, if anyone has any materials that could help Mr. Burnham, please contact me at noreasterrsvp@yahoo.com and I'll get in touch with him and, if applicable, put you in touch with each other. Should Mr. Burnham have the opportunity to follow through with his offer of a contribution, it seems only fitting to pass it on to the ACE Preservation Fund, so let's do that should it become a reality.

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MESSAGES FROM INFORMATION SERVICES DIRECTOR BRIAN PETERS

First, I have received an unusually high number of emails from members whose memberships expire next month. It seems that many people still have not received their renewal notice even though they were mailed in mid-December. I have asked Joanie to resend that batch of renewals. Members may either wait for the new renewal or use a membership application from our web site to renew their member. If they choose to download a membership (application), they should write RENEWAL across the top of the form so that Joanie knows not to assign them new member numbers. Also, members who will need their membership cards for upcoming winter events should use the membership application option and then fax the form to Joanie at (913) 262-4513. The fax should include a brief note stating that the membership cards are needed for an upcoming event.

The other bit of news is about ACE 's management firm. I posted this update to our web site:

After an extensive search, ACE's Executive Committee is pleased to announce its selection of a new management firm: The ARDEL Group (www.ardel.com) of Minneapolis, MN.

ACE has already begun the transition to ARDEL with the goal of minimal impact upon our members. ARDEL brings some exciting new benefits to ACE, including the ability to accept online payments for membership applications, membership renewals and registrations for ACE events.

During the initial phases of the transition period, new and renewing members should continue to send applications, renewals, and event registrations to the address listed on the forms. Our temporary address for all other correspondence is:

ACE
7700 Shawnee Mission Pkwy
Suite 201
Overland Park, KS 66202 USA
Phone: (913) 262-4512
Fax: (913) 262-4513

Watch ACE News and ACEonline for further announcements.

I hope that everybody is having a great new year!

Thanks,
Brian