Don Hanson's Amusement Park

 

VIII. Amphitheater

1992-1998

In March 1992 Thom Greco, Wilkes-Barre, announced the creation of the Bud Light Amphitheater on a five-acre tract at the park leased from Shirley Hanson. The amphitheater hosted national acts at the outdoor facility beginning in 1992. It opened on Memorial Day, May 25, with rocker Kenny Loggins. Other major acts at the Lake were Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Kenny Rodgers, Johnny Cash, and Alice Cooper. The Badlees were the final performance on September 6, 1998. Shirley Hanson did not wish to renew the lease and planned to explore residential development at the site. An extended essay and complete playlist of the amphitheater seasons (1992-1998) is available elsewhere on this website.

During the Amphitheater years Hanson's restaurant was leased to Thom Greco. It opened in July 1993 as Chicky's Sports Bar & Coop with Wednesday evening musical talent. In June 1996 Chicky's was joined with Desi's Famous Pizza. The following year the restaurant was reformed as Chicky's Crab House, also with periodic evening bands. During amphitheater shows Shirley and daughter Donna Hanson operated a food stand along the Noxen Road side of the park for show patrons. The Hanson's restaurant did not reopen after the final amphitheater season in 1998.

IX. Hanson's 1991-2020

The 1990s at Hanson's were dominated by the Bud Lite Amphitheatre concerts and the R.P.M. Old Stars dances. But other events were also held at the park in these years. On August 11, 1991, the Times Leader sponsored the Open Buddy Bass Tournament at Hanson's hosted by the Scranton-based Renegade bass-fishing organization. This led to an annual bass tournament at Hanson's in following years. A Coors Lite Beach Club and a Tijuana Bar, both associated with the Amphitheatre, brought musical entertainment to the site and noise complaints from neighbors.

The Robert Bros. Circus performed at the Hanson campground on Sunday, July 11, 1993. It was the 20th anniversary tour of the circus. After a break in 1995-96 the Open Buddy Bass Tournament resumed in 1998, now sponsored by the Citizens' Voice. It continued to run at Hanson's until the final tournament there on Sunday, July 29, 2002.

In the early Summer 1994 the Harvey's Lake Business Association (HLBA) sponsored a dance with the Which Doctor? band at Hanson's to benefit the Wyoming Valley's Children's Association. In August the HLBA held another dance to benefit the Harveys Lake Fire and Ambulance Department. (In May the fire department abandoned its historic name, the Daniel C. Roberts Fire Department, to clarify its identity and mission.

Additional Which Doctor? dances to benefit the fire company were held annually from 1995 to 2002. Formed in 1994 the original Which Doctor? members were Dr. Richard Blum, keyboard; Dr. Martin Freifeld, bass player; Neal Cook, drummer; John Callahan, guitarist; Amy Jones, vocalist/saxophone; and Jolie DeLuca, Annette Phelps, Karen Blum, and Doug Takacs, vocalists.

In July 2001 Harveys Lake Borough council was considering the purchase of either a 5-acre or 12-acre portion of Hanson's park. The borough would consolidate its municipal and road departments at the site - but the plan did not materialize.

On August 10, 2002, the Harvey's Lake Fire Company held "The Last Dance" at the Hanson's ballroom with Which Doctor? and guest star Eddie Day, along with Rev. Roger Griffith and Robert Gardner, former Starfires members.

In preparation for a sale and development of the park grounds, Shirley Hanson in February 2003 announced that the Hanson campground would not reopen for the 2003 season and the boat slip rentals would continue only through Sunday, October 5, 2003 - ending the last Hanson enterprise at the historic park ground.

During 2002-2005 the park grounds were sold to Villas at Waterwood, LLC, a corporate entity for a controversial 130-unit townhouse development. But with the 2008 recession, zoning issues, storm water management regulations and community concerns, the housing development did not occur. Even under new ownership the park continued to benefit the local fire company. In October 2005 and 2006 October weekends hosted the Brokenharts Asylum. This haunt was owned by James Starosta, owner of Screamin' Demons Haunted Attractions. The haunt was a self-guided tour with high-tech features and simulated scents. A side-show had a Dracula den with an antique vampire killing kit.

In late July 2008 Helen Hanson, now Helen Hanson Sponholtz, passed away at age 89. A quiet woman, she capably managed the secretarial side of the park for many years and had "a delightful sense of humor." She was born in Toronto, Canada, and graduated from the Toronto school system. Her second husband, Ivan Sponholtz, passed away in 1977.

Robert P. Hanson passed away on November 18, 2009, survived by his wife, Patricia Jones Hanson, and five children. A 50-year member of Irem Temple, Hanson opened Crown Imperial Bowling Lanes (Back Mountain Bowl), Dallas, in 1956. He also had business interests in Miami Shores, Fl. Both sons of park founder, John E. Hanson, a World War I veteran, saw service in World War II. Corp. Robert P. Hanson enlisted in the U.S. Army in August 1942. In October 1943 he was shipped overseas as an anti-aircraft gunner and was wounded in action in February 1945 and sent to a Belgium hospital to recover. After the War, Robert Hanson worked with his father John Hanson and his brother Don Hanson at the park until Robert opened Crown Bowling. After John Hanson died, Robert joined with his mother, Helen Hanson, and Donald in the management of the park until Donald and his wife, Shirley, acquired full ownership of the park.

During World War II Donald Hanson entered the United State Coast Guard-Merchant Marine in June 1944. He served on the USS Brookfield, USS Williamsburg, and the USS California. He received the Atlantic, Pacific and Mediterranean-Middle East War Bars and he was discharged in August 1945.

In early 2014 Shirley Ann Hanson passed away. The former Shirley Ann Roat was a graduate of Pittston High School '53, and was described in the Pittston Gazette in March 1953 as "pretty and a redhead" who liked basketball, baseball, driving and dancing. After graduation she hoped to become an airline hostess. Intensely proud of the amusement park, Shirley Hanson kept a family "memory room" of park memorabilia. Eddie Day Pashinski, State Representative for the Wilkes-Barre area, credited Shirley Hanson for the Starfires' earliest start at the Hanson's ballroom and her professional guidance in business matters. Joe Nardone noted "... when I played at the ballroom, a handshake and you had a dance contract for the summer. That's how it was to deal with good people like the Hansons" - in addition to free pizza for the band.

Nearly a decade after acquiring the park, Villas at Waterwood, LLC., announced in August 2014 that the long-proposed townhouse development on its 35 acres had evolved to four building lots - one is 28 acres - and three smaller lots, all single-housing units. There would also be a couple of water-front lots for docks. The plan was later approved by local officials.

In mid-November and into December 2014, the remaining structures in the park were demolished by Stell Enterprises, a demolition contractor. It was hoped the dodgem pavilion could be saved but the wooden structure had deteriorated and the pavilion and restaurant/dance hall were demolished along with the Bingo hall and its arcade, the Tijuana liquor stand, a row of cinder block concessions along Noxen Road, and the restrooms.

The only amusement park structure remaining in 2020 is the former 5,000 sq. ft. 1937 roller-skating/bath house, built over an old Lake steamboat pier, standing as a sentinel overlooking the Lake and guarding the memories of generations past, itself awaiting potential development.

 

This article was sparked by a comment to the web-author by the Lake's classic boat historian, Bruce Myers, that the role of Don Hanson in the history of Hanson's Amusement Park deserved greater attention. With generous support from Don and Shirley Hanson and Helen Hanson in earlier years, and now unfailing support, too, from Bruce Hanson, this article was written to both enlarge the history of the park, and to express heart-felt Thanks! in memory of Don and Shirley Hanson for a generation of wonderful summer adventures at Don Hanson's Amusement Park.

Thanks, too, to Don and Alice Kocher, Harvey's Lake, and James T. Martin, Jr., Forty Fort, for permission to share their family videos on this site.

 

 

Copyright May 2020 F. Charles Petrillo