CLEVELAND — May is a special month to Russell Whitner. 

“The fun fact for me is that Kiddie Park and I were born on the same day,” he said. 

He was born on May 28. He said that also happens to be the day his father opened the Memphis Kiddie Park in Brooklyn, Ohio.

“My mom was sitting on a bench waiting for my dad to finish so they could go to dinner, and my mom went into labor,” he said. “So, my grandparents came and took her to the hospital. My dad had to finish the merry-go-round, get the factory gate to the train station and then he made it to the hospital. I was born in like three in the morning, and the Kiddie Park opened that same afternoon my dad sells his first ticket.” 

Whitner said it’s exciting to celebrate the park’s 70th season. 

“I think one of the neatest things is that when I'm walking the midway, people see the gray-haired, chubby guy and figure, 'well, he must be the owner,'” he said. “They come up and point at me, and I say, ‘what are you taking me for? I should thank you for coming.' They go, ‘no, you don't understand. I brought my kids here. I came here. I brought my kids here, and now I'm bringing my grandchildren here. We're all sharing this very same experience. So, thank you so much for keeping this alive.'” 

He said through the years, there have been challenges. Right now, he said he's having a hard time finding people to work due to the pandemic. 

“It’s a fun job,” he said. “I know that our senior citizens that work here say if they knew it was this much fun, they would have retired earlier.” 

He said he looks forward to making more memories each and every day this season. 

“I learned officially that we were the oldest county park left in the United States, and it was last fall,” he said. “That was pretty cool. I mean, that we've survived and what did we do differently than everybody else that we survived and they didn't? My dad had a formula that we've never deviated from, and it’s worked.” 

Whitner said there are 11 rides total at the park.