Kiwanis Club President Karen Adams shakes hands with Jerone Ward who returned the stolen rocket ride car to Kiddieland in Merced’s Applegate Park, with the help of Garland Daniel, at right.
Jerone Ward and Garland Daniel unload the stolen rocket car from a trailer outside of Kiddieland.
Once upon a time … One of the rocket carriages went missing from the Rocket Ship Ride at Kiddieland inside Applegate Park in Merced.
It was actually believed to be sometime in mid-December. A young Mercedian happened to see an older man struggling to pull a makeshift cart with a trash can aboard, and the rocket on top.
It was quite the surreal, Grinch-like scene, just before Christmas, no less.
And it was absolutely weird enough for the youngster to pull out his camera and take a short video of it. He shared it with his family, but that was about it.
Meanwhile, Kiddieland was closed, so nobody noticed the missing rocket, nor the broken lock on the amusement park’s back gate. Unfortunately, the security cameras were also disabled at the time.
Sometime thereafter — it’s unclear when — a retired handyman and antique collector named Jerone Ward also encountered the man pulling the Kiddieland rocket. The man had a bike and a carriage that contained personal items such as clothing. He said the man looked homeless, tired, and out of breath.
Ward was just outside his warehouse near 24th and Canal streets where he stores a bevy of antique items. When Ward spotted the rocket, he approached the man and suggested the man could “lighten his load” by making a trade. The man accepted Ward’s offer: the rocket for two antique Aunt Jemima syrup bottles and two vintage AM/FM radios.
The man was ecstatic to make the trade, according to Ward.
“He was happy as a pig in you know what,” the collector said.
Ward, in turn, thought the rocket was “a cool piece” for his collection.
But before the trade was official, Ward also asked the man — twice — whether the rocket was stolen.
“He shook his head and said ‘no,’” Ward said. “And so I didn’t have any other reason to question him. So we did the deal.”
A few days passed, and Christmas came and went.
And then, on Dec. 27, LaDona Sullivan stopped by Kiddieland.
Local kids know Sullivan as “Miss Purple” — the lady conductor of the famous Kiddieland train. Adults know her as a member of the local Kiwanis Club — the organization responsible for operating Kiddieland.
Sullivan was stopping by the park to grab some walkie-talkies from storage. She was going on a trip to Pasadena with a bunch of volunteer Key Club students to help with the
Kiwanis International float that was going to take part in the Rose Bowl Parade. But to her dismay, she discovered the broken lock, and the dangling chains where one of the rockets once hung.
Sullivan called Kiwanis President Karen Adams who was “shocked and concerned” at the news.
“Once again we have been vandalized,” Adams said. “This is a continuous problem at Kiddieland. We try to secure the premises as much as possible, but it keeps happening.”
Adams immediately posted a short-but-impactful notice on Facebook: “Kiddieland’s Rocket was stolen. If you have information on the criminals that stole it, please contact me. It’s big and heavy!”
The response was immediate, and all kinds of Mercedians started to share the news. Kiwanis social media expert, Amanda Day, reposted the notice, and it continued to “go viral,” as they say.
One resident, Vanessa Jacinto, saw the online post that same afternoon, and exclaimed: “My son took a video of that rocket being pulled down the street!”
Jacinto sent Adams the video and it was posted too.
Now the whole town was on alert, and everywhere, all through the town, Mercedians were talking about the missing rocket.
Then a breakthrough came in the case.
Garland Daniel — a friend of Mr. Ward, the antique collector — posted on Facebook that he knew the whereabouts of the rocket.
By Saturday morning, less than 24 hours after Kiwanis President Adams first posted news about the stolen rocket, the ride carriage was being loaded into a van for transport back to Kiddieland.
“I had no clue it was from Kiddieland,” Ward said.
Upon realizing what he had, he knew he had to return the rocket A.S.A.P.
President Adams, as you can imagine, was thrilled.
“I really am just grateful,” she said. “Once again it illustrates the care of Merced. I mean I love Merced. We are not a perfect town. But look what we have. We had the whole community share our post, and bring about awareness of the anger and frustration we would all feel if this ride was taken away from our kids.”
Adams shook hands with Ward and Daniel on Saturday, thanking them for returning the rocket. She called the Kiddieland rocket car a “priceless” item that can’t be replaced.
The amusement park opened in 1957, and the carriages on the Rocket Ship Ride are actually modified fuel tanks from World War II era aircraft.
For all the would-be thieves out there, or troubled folk who are not thinking all that well, the County Times points out one moral to this story: “Please, for the kids’ sake, don’t mess with Kiddieland. If this sort of thing happens again, who knows, the story might not end as well as it did this Christmas season — when a community miracle brought resounding joy to all who believe in a better Merced.”
Kiddieland is closed for the season, but is expected to reopen in March. The Kiwanis Club of Greater Merced is coming off a successful fundraising season that is expected to advance new plans for the amusement park, including the addition of a new electric Kiddieland Train.