...if you're hoping to win the first Pilgrims Plunge Opening Day Rides, be sure to place your bid by 7 pm CDT today (Wednesday).

Remember, all proceeds from this charity auction go to the four Feeding America food banks affiliated with our Feeding Families Food Drive program.

...or, technically, William Shakespeare:

What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.

We addressed in a past post the struggle to find a suitable moniker for Mrs. Koch.

This came up again recently at the Easter Seals Telethon.

That's WEHT-TV's Brad Byrd in the middle.

You know how Mrs. Koch doesn't like to be called our "matriarch"? Brad called her "the grand old lady" of Holiday World.

Thank heavens she's such a good sport. Someone else called her "an institution." She just howls with laughter.

Maybe we should all do what Will does ... and simply call her "Mom."

You know ... to keep from making a complete fool of myself, I have to close my eyes when I'm in a glass-walled elevator. (Of course that's when I'm in a "big city." Here in Spencer County we have mostly grain elevators.)

How far away will the screams be heard from this?

More photos here on our Facebook page. Video next week.

Speaking recently at a hospitality conference, I heard gasps upon mentioning we were in our 5th year of blogging here at Holiday World.

Despite my sort-of tongue in cheek (actually, in song) appeal for a new Golden Ticket Award category, the wait continues.

How nice, though, to start the day with this lovely news.

Here's a second video from the testing of the prototype Timberliner train being developed by The Gravity Group:

http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/Uhb7G7WlFgM&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x...

Once upon a time, a rabid coaster enthusiast lived here in the town of Santa Claus.

He never missed a trick. He loved to ask me about things before I even knew about them

He moved away a few years ago for career reasons, but I thought of him the other week.

...and wondered how I could have possibly kept this a secret from him.

http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/BtqHBuHAHOs&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x...

Our friends at The Gravity Group asked to "borrow" our coaster track to test the prototype of the new wooden coaster train they're designing.

The testing went remarkably well and the train is now back in Cincinnati. We put our PTC trains back on the tracks for another season.

...but it sure was fun to take a tiny part in what Will referred to as "quite possibly a piece of roller coaster history."

...but our first Feeding Families Food Bank donation came from NASA, sort of...

Our NASA pal, Richard, from Houston, actually packed up a box of MREs and shipped them here in advance of his visit next month. He had some extras from the supply he received at home following last year's hurricane.

MRE = Meals Ready to Eat. The folks at the food banks are asking for heat-and-eat meals such as this to best help those in need.

Brian & Pauline J. from Indy emailed to ask for more details about our Feeding Families Food Drive.

They tucked in photos of their three sons, with the note: Santa keeps getting smaller each year!

Indeed, it's a scientific fact.

As Kevin, Harrison, and Brandon grow, Santa is shrinking a bit.

Happy Easter to everyone!

...definitely had some pretty wallpaper.

No matter which way you looked, the view was grand.

Here are Will and Mrs. Koch plus Craig, our Safety Director, with the Department of Labor folks.

Question: When your staff works tirelessly for years to earn the distinction of being the first theme park in the nation to achieve SHARP status, a safety award, how should you celebrate?

This hard-hat cake (and the Oreo cookie "dirt") was far too cute to eat. Happily, IT Director Joe's wife, Lana, made several other cakes.