Fraley Park

We lived only a few miles from the park and went many times. I also remember the theme song well!!

Mark wrote:

"Just for fun, come to Fraley's Amusement Park, i\n Waverly New York, it's Fraley's...just for fun!!"

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All these memories, and no one mentioned Friday night dances w/LIVE bands every week.

The auctions held every Friday are held in the OLD bumper car building which went under some renovations a few years ago. The main building (roller rink and dance hall) still stands but is not in any condition to be used. I don't think the main building has been used for 8-10 years

I lived in Waverly during the late 50s, early 60s, and me and my brother had to beg to be taken there too. My parents weren't too big on letting us young 'uns have fun. We went four or five times. It was the best! I loved the rides especially the kiddie coaster and the tilt-a-whirl, and the helicopters. We played miniature golf a couple of times too. They also had a small penny arcade that we weren't allowed to go in - I guess we didn't have enough pennies.
I remember Palisades Park too, but never got there. "Palisades has the rides, Palisades has the fun...Come on over!"
Frayley's was da bomb. If I ever hit the lottery I'm going to go back to Waverly and buy the land and set up the park again. Waverly needs something like that! I'd also reopen the old Capitol Theater.
Now that's my idea of "just for fun!".

Doesn't anyone remember the Friday night dances?

As a teen in the 60's, I (and many of my friends) lived for those great memorable Friday night dances at Fraley's Park. Great groups like "Ronnie Dio and the Prophets", "The Cat's Meow" and "Just Us" (to name a few) packed the roller rink every Friday night during the summer months. Admission was $1.00 at the door and you received an "invisible" liquid marking on your hand that you had to display under a black light so you could be re-admitted into the dance. Initially they just marked an "X" on your hand until they discovered a few of us kids had access to the very same "invisible" liquid - then they quickly changed over to a rubber stamp that wasn't as easily duplicated. Sad that we have nothing left of Fraley's Park to pass along to our kids and grand-kids. Thoughts of those Friday night dances now long gone, certainly generate wonderful memories.

The train cars you propelled by pumping with your hands are a memory indelibly etched in my mind. What a treat it was when our folks would take us there. Not even sure how old I was then, but recalling those days decades ago has given me many a smile over the years.

What wonderful reading this has been! My Uncle, Dick Fraley, and his brothers made sure we always had a good time at the park. I am terrified of being "stuck" at the top of a Ferris wheel even today, thanks to my brother who loved to rock the stopped car. The car was only stopped long enough to change passengers, but seemed like an eternity if I was in it with Otto! But, when on that same ride with my father, I just remember the wonderful view of the creek below and the treetops beside. What a charming little place we had just a few miles away. Thanks for the memories, everyone.

I can remember my grandfather taking me to Fraley's. As soon as I saw the Uncle Sam mailbox on the road leading to the amusement park, I would get very excited because I knew we were close. Once there, the flat car where you sat on the shiny red vinyl and pumped the wheel with your hands like a bicycle - loved that ride the best.

My next favorite ride was when they still had the tractors you could steer around inside a white fence - oh, the freedom to get to "drive" as a child!

Loved Fraley's!!!