By Daniel Lapham/Staff Writer
published March 23, 2008

El Reno children will soon get a chance to enjoy a piece of life their parents and grandparents enjoyed as children when the electric train, carousel and airplane are reinstalled in Legion Park.

For several years the “old bath house” at Legion Park has been deteriorating and on several occasions suggestions to tear it down have been brought to the public forum. As a piece of El Reno’s history and with a bright spot in the memories of many older El Reno residents, the 73-year-old structure will be saved as a part of the El Reno Capital Improvement Program.

The revitalization of the El Reno landmark does not stop there. After seeing a newspaper ad earlier this year, Vicki Proctor, president of the Canadian County Historical Society, has joined forces with other community members to bring back a theme park in Legion Park.

“I was reading the newspaper when I saw this ad where Pat Ankney was selling the old train ride that used to be in Legion Park. They bought it from the Moorefields, who ran the train when I was growing up,” Proctor said. “They called it Canadian County Midway Rides. They called it that because back then in 1961, the fair needed midway rides. So Marion and Bonnie Moorefield bought the train, an airplane ride and a carousel. They made a deal with the city to store the rides in Legion Park free of charge as long as they moved everything over to the county fairgrounds for the fair every year. They ran the midway until 1975.”

The effort is being spearheaded by the Save the Legion Park Train Committee under the direction of the Canadian County Historical Society. All of the people on the committee grew up in the neighborhood surrounding Legion Park, Proctor said.
“I can’t believe how this thing has snowballed,” she said. “I called Pat Ankney and asked her about it (the train). She said she was about to put it on eBay if it didn’t sell within a week. I said, ‘No, we need to keep this in El Reno.’ So I went to the Mary K. Ashbrook Foundation in February and asked for the $6,000 Pat was asking for the train.”