Delgrossos/Lakemont/Hershey 8/16

I had a blast at Lakemont last year. I am glad I did DG's first, had lunch there, then saved more time for Lakemont. I don't know how many re-rides of DelGrosso's stuff i would have really cared to do. Plus Lakemont stayed open later.

Now I want to hear more about a story I just learned about recently... that there was a dog that belonged to a park mechanic, that when he died, was buried within the infield of the Skyliner? Also, any truth to the story that the dog actually rode the coaster on a regular basis? How did he stay in?

I used to laugh at the Cottonelle puppy ads on the park maps at Conneaut and Waldameer showing the puppy riding a coaster. I would love to see photos of a dog actually succesfully riding one. How authentic is this story?

(I originally caught a small piece of this on another post, and managed to find a photo of the dog's headstone and a short story that said the dog loved to ride the coaster) *** Edited 8/21/2007 2:07:40 AM UTC by Chooch249***

I seem to remember seeing a photo in the Altoona Mirror of the man and his dog riding. I could ask my best friend who worked at the park for many years but I'm sure Mr. Kumph knows more than I could ever find out.

I remember seeing this guy in the park sometimes. He was very well respected.

The story is true! The dog (a large poodle named Duke) belonged to the long time maintenance foreman at Lakemont Park, John Eichelberger. Duke did ride the Skyliner nearly every morning for a number of years and he is buried in the infield of the Skyliner. Sadly, John was murdered about seven (7) years ago and the person responsible has never been apprehended.

The dog probably had more sense when it came to riding coasters than some people I've seen.