Lucius Beebe Memorial Library, Wakefield, Mass.

Title

Junior Olympics, Pleasure Island :1962

Description

Before the start of the 1962 season, Pleasure Island's managing director, Walter Smith, cleared the land between Baby Animal Land and Indian Village and transformed it into an athletic event complex. According to a press release issued on July 19th, 1962, "Inspired by the President's Physical Fitness Campaign for Youth, Pleasure Island has implemented a Junior Olympics program which is the first kind in the country." The program was run by Peter Rommell of Boston University's athletic staff, and children could "not only watch shows and enjoy rides at the park, but also take part in a painless physical education program." There was no charge for participation in the fitness competition, which was held in the Olympic Stadium "set off by flags of 64 nations." According to a park press release, a member of the "carefully-selected" staff which oversaw the program was Northeastern University student Richard Kelley of Wakefield, who went on to be a long time physical education teacher in Wakefield. Pleasure Island hosted the Junior Olympics during the 1962 and 1963 seasons, with 7,850 children participating in the first season. Boys and girls from 6 to 18 scored points in several different events, including "chin-ups, push-ups, sit-ups, squat thrusts, high jumps, standing broad jumps, deep knee bends, and a 50-yard dash." The high scorers from each day were invited back at the end of the season for the semi-finals and finals. The winners of the final competitions held on September 2nd, 1962, Paul Sweeney, 13, and Leslie Stevenson, 10, traveled to Washington, D.C. with Pleasure Island's Director to meet President John F. Kennedy in January 1963. At the end of the 1963 season, winners Beth McBride, 14, and Charles Pantos, 16, each received a gold medal and a $50 US Savings Bond. The Olympic fields were located on what is now parking lots between buildings 101 and 201 in Edgewater Office Park.

Image from the Wakefield Municipal Gas and Light Department annual calendar, 2021

Photo courtesy of Bob McLaughlin, Friends of Pleasure Island

Contributor

Institution: Lucius Beebe Memorial Library

Wakefield Municipal Gas & Light Department (Wakefield, Mass.)

D'Onofrio, Jayne M.

Coverage

Massachusetts--Middlesex (county)--Wakefield

Date

1921

Format

image/jpeg

Language

eng

Publisher

Wakefield, Mass. : Wakefield Municipal Gas & Light Department

Subject

Pleasure Island

Type

still image

Photographs

Original Format

1 picture :black and white

Extent

32 x 17 cm.