Knotts Berry Farm
Some people think it’s amusing that I am such a big fan of Knotts Berry Farm. Well, that’s OK, let them laugh, because I am.
Let me pose the question to you, have you ever visited Knotts? People in the theme park industry refer to the once farm, now Ghost Town themed amusement park as KBF. I remember going to Knotts as a six year old kid and being quite impressed by the train that went down underground into a mine, full of geysers, animated miners working and dramatic dynamite explosions; a thing like that makes an impression.
Knotts to me, is a great example of the “American Dream.” A modest farmer plants an obscure hybrid berry that no one ever heard of, the Boysenberry and it becomes very popular, Mrs. Knott opens a tea room to make some extra money during the depression and it becomes the most popular restaurant in southern California, Mr. Knott builds a ghost town to celebrate American history and entertain the long lines of hungry patrons to his wife’s restaurant, a wonderful theme park is developed with a real church and a chapel right in the center of it and some cutting edge rides are introduced at this humble place just outside the shadow of their neighbor, Disneyland. Walter and Cordelia Knott were people who inspired me with their hard work, faith, creativity and generosity.
I recently read about their visit to the opening day at Disneyland, they were very impressed and thought Disneyland was a wonderful place. When I read about this, I was impressed with the fact that they didn’t seem threatened, jealous, angry or defensive they just seemed delighted to have a neighboring park in the area. When they arrived back at their place, they didn’t know if anyone would still come there, and they were encouraged to find their parking lot full. I think this is a great story of God’s blessing.
