Would a Log Jammer log fit your decor?
Kennywood fans still mourning the loss of the amusement park’s popular Log Jammer ride have a chance to take home one of the flume ride’s signature logs — if they’re willing to cough up thousands of dollars in an eBay auction.
As of Thursday night, the highest bid on the eBay listing sat at $ 4,950, with bidding remaining open until Aug. 16. Kennywood is donating the proceeds to benefit Give Kids the World Village, a nonprofit Florida resort that hosts families with children with life- threatening illnesses.
It’s connected to a special “Coasting for Kids” event that Kennywood is hosting Sept. 1, when the park will open early and grant exclusive ride access to anyone who raises at least $ 100 for Give Kids the World. The winning bidder for the flume log will need to drive to West Mifflin to pick it up at the amusement park.
For 42 years starting in 1975, riders enjoyed the Log Jammer’s splash- filled twists and turns — including a 53- foot drop. It closed in 2017 and was demolished to make way for the new Steel Curtain coaster. Since then, most of the
ride’s famed logs have sat in storage, while a few others were sent to Kennywood’s sister parks, according to park spokesman Nick Paradise.
But nostalgia for the departed ride remains high. When the Steel Curtain was briefly shut down for repairs earlier this month, social media was ablaze with laments from locals who wished the Log Jammer had never been removed.
Mr. Paradise said that type of rider attachment is what makes the park special. “Kennywood is kind of unique for the number of historic rides that are preserved and maintained,” he said. “It’s always a little hard when we have to say goodbye to one of those.”
That attachment, Mr. Paradise said, is what led Kennywood to think there might be interest in a charity auction for one of the ride’s logs.
That prediction has been borne out. As of Thursday night, there had been 46 bids, with 301 users “watching” the item to monitor its status. That level of enthusiasm surpasses anything seen in previous auctions that Give Kids the World has set up with other amusement parks, said spokesman Steven Amos.
“How high it is already is incredible,” he said.
All this raises the question: What, exactly, would someone do with a giant, hollowed- out synthetic log?
In the comments attached to Kennywood’s Facebook post announcing the auction, some suggested that the log could work nicely as a giant lawn ornament. One person proposed converting it into a car, Fred Flintstone- style.
Mr. Paradise said he’d heard speculation about fashioning the boat into a couch. His wife wondered if it could be turned into a twin bed. But he liked an idea that is more floral.
“I saw a picture of another amusement park that had set an old vehicle out and turned it into a giant flower planter — that looked really nice,” he said.