Slip Sliding & Away We Go!

[Jim Koepke]

In my younger days we would go to a long slide in the Berkeley hills Rose Garden and ride down it on waxed cardboard. It was free and fun to do in the middle of the night.

This slide is in Detroit and charges for the ride:


A ride down the Giant Slide at Belle Isle Park has been a mainstay of Detroit summers since 1967. Generations of residents have climbed the steps, scooched their legs into burlap bags and experienced the thrill of swooping down the 50-foot slide.

The slide “has always been for us,” said Brandie Shannon, 38, who grew up near the park.

So when the slide reopened last week after being closed for two years because of the coronavirus pandemic, Ms. Shannon headed to the park with her 17-year-old daughter, Taylor. But this was not the same breezy ride of her childhood.

Instead of a leisurely glide down, Taylor went bump, bump, bump, bump — crash.

She bumped her head and lost her phone, headphones, glasses, a shoe and even a sock. “The next thing you know,” she said, “I was sliding into a gate.”

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There is a video > https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/26/us/belle-isle-giant-slide-detroit.html

jtk

[Bill Dufour]

My Father rode that slide in Berkeley around 1925. he came off the end and landed on his nose. He had a scar from the split down his nose for the rest of his life. You can see where they added about ten feet more slide at the bottom after it reaches the flat bottom. The new concrete is a different tint. I never asked I assume there were other accidents that forced the issue long ago.
Bill D.

PS: The rose garden is west of the old trestle. Codornices park is the name for the portion east of the trestle location where the slide is located. There is a short tunnel connecting the two.

https://sextongroupre.com/codornices-park/

[Bruce Page]

They had a clip of it on the news last night. No thank you, it looked very unsafe. Lawsuits will soon follow.

[Lee Schierer]

When I was in elementary school, there was a large slide on the playground. My mom packed lunches for us and the sandwiches were wrapped in wax paper. We would keep the wax paper from lunch and take it out to the playground. Boy could you go fast down that slide with a piece of wax paper under your bottom. The fun didn't last long because as soon as a teacher would notice the kids flying down the slide and confiscate the wax paper.

[Ronald Blue]

They have had a very similar slide at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield for about as long as I can remember. Installed in the 70's I believe. Here's a photo.
https://static-14.sinclairstoryline.com/resources/media/b51fa4f5-a836-4ff9-8723-b17953c9a1b8-large16x9_statefairyellowslide600.jpg?155080033287 6

[Jim Koepke]

Ronald, your image didn't come through so here is one found with Google:

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It appears the bank repo'd the slide from the previous operator and sold it to someone who plans to keep it where it is.

Like really, how would you get that moved to your back yard?

jtk

[Ron Citerone]

This is amazing this thread got posted. Just this week I was at a park with my daughter and 1 year old Grandson and he was going on the slide. I said to my daughter how when we were kids we polished the slides with wax paper.

[Brian Elfert]

They have had a very similar slide at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield for about as long as I can remember. Installed in the 70's I believe. Here's a photo.
https://static-14.sinclairstoryline.com/resources/media/b51fa4f5-a836-4ff9-8723-b17953c9a1b8-large16x9_statefairyellowslide600.jpg?155080033287 6

The Minnesota State Fair also has one of these slides.