Buffalo man tried to keep Crystal Beach Amusement Park going
Van Hall, 80
Van Hall will be remembered for his love for Crystal Beach Amusement Park, which brought pleasure and joy to everyone who visited it.
His wife, Jan Hall, can recall many occasions when people would stop and share their Crystal Beach stories with the couple.
“No matter where we go, if Crystal Beach is brought up, people say things like ‘I remember when’ and ‘I did this.’ It’s amazing how many lives were touched (by the amusement park).”
Van Hall died on Monday following a long illness. The Buffalo resident was 80 years old.
Van Hall’s family owned and operated the park. He grew up spending much of his time in Crystal Beach “doing odd jobs at the park, making suckers as a young boy and doing all different things. He would ride the Canadiana back and forth (from Buffalo to Crystal Beach).”
Crystal Beach Amusement Park was considered “a small community park, where Hall’s grandfather, George Hall, who was a concessionaire, made the famous the Hall suckers” during the early 1900s. The suckers George Hall made are the very same suckers that are reproduced today by Crystal Beach Candy Co. in Fort Erie.
George Hall eventually bought the park and, later, Van Hall became president in 1973.
When attendance to the park began to decline in the 1970s and ’80s, Hall did everything he could to ensure it survived.
“(The park) was really enjoyed by so many people in the region and it was a part of his family. One of the things he did was he took out some very significant loans to enhance the park with new rides. He did quite a few things to perk up the park,” Jan Hall said.
Although Hall was not successful in his endeavour and the park was closed in 1989 after 101 years of operation, its legacy will never be forgotten.
“It seems everyone has a story,” Jan Hall said. “It brought such great pleasure for the young and old, alike. People loved Crystal Beach Park.”
Fillmore Vanderveer Hall, or Van as he was known, was born in Buffalo on March 7, 1935.
He graduated from Manlius Military Academy in 1952 and from Colgate University in 1956.
“I must say that his greatest passion in life was being a pilot. His band of brothers were known as the fly boys. He flew air planes for 50 years,” Jan Hall said.
Van Hall enlisted in the Air Force where he served for 28 years, including 21 years with the 136th Tactical Fighter Squadron at the National Air Guard in Niagara Falls, N.Y. He also served in the Vietnam War. He retired from the military in 1984 and flew corporate air crafts for the next 22 years.
What Jan Hall says she will miss most about her husband is “his great smile and his passion for life.”
“He was a very, very intelligent, fascinating person. He was fun to be with.”
Van Hall leaves behind two sons, Gregory and Douglas; two stepchildren, Robin and David Pfalzgraf; his sister Sandra Doyle; his brother Donald Hall; and seven grandchildren.
Visitatio is 5 p. m. to 8 p. m. at Amigone Funeral Home, 1132 Delaware Ave., Buffalo, on Friday, Jan. 8.
He was a very, very intelligent, fascinating person. He was fun to be with.”
Jan Hall