Camden Park

This story picks up where Trauma Car: The Legend Continues left off.
The tailpipe was still dragging on my pumpkin-orange 1978 Ford Fiesta (aka Trauma Car). I needed the car for the 125 miles back to Lexington and didn't want to drive it to Huntington. Steve didn't have a car. We decided to drop by to see Sara, his (married) best friend from high school.

Sara and Ronnie rented a double-wide in a trailer park between Prestonsburg and Martin. Sara was a cheerleader/wild child in high school. Ronnie was the high school bad boy--hot, a little rough and just a tad scary. Sara and Ronnie had no plans and a full tank of gas. Within the hour we were loaded up and on the way to Camden Park.

Thirty years ago Camden Park resembled a traveling carnival or county fair more than an amusement park. There was a small roller coaster and maybe a log plume but the rest of the rides were portable. The park was packed because of great weather, the holiday, and the promise of a big-name entertainer.

I don't mean to be unkind but this was one homely bunch of people. Everyone in the park wore blue jeans and too-tight white or black t-shirts featuring a Harley Davidson logo, liquor, a rebel flag, or some rock or country band. Many were the nearly transparent three-for-ten-dollar variety.

Out of nowhere the sky opened up. Rain came down in solid sheets for a good ten or fifteen minutes. There was no shelter anywhere. Getting soaked to the skin rarely improves one's appearance. Once-white t-shirts turned transparent. The images still haunt me.

We headed to the amphitheater to catch the big-name entertainer. We had great seats, close enough to reach out and touch anyone on stage. The excitement was palpable. Suddenly he was standing right in front of us. We were just yards away from big-name entertainer...Freddie Fender.

It was the saddest performance I've ever seen. The first thing he did was turn around and shake his middle-aged booty. We gave up our front-row seats after the first song and returned to the park.

We opted not to stay for the fireworks and left. After all, we were in the big city. The night was still young, and so were we.

To be continued...