Shirley Boone Celebrated The Opening Of Freedomland

Shirley Boone, the wife of entertainer Pat Boone, passed away last Friday at the family home in Beverly Hills, California. She was 84 and the couple had been married for 65 years.

Almost 59 years ago, the Boones, along with their four children, were in The Bronx to cut the opening day ribbon and lead the parade for the debut of the Freedomland U.S.A. theme park.

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Photo: Pat Boone cuts the opening day ribbon at Freedomland U.S.A. Joining him are his wife, Shirley, their four children and Freedomland creator C.V. Wood. Freedomland U.S.A. publicity photo courtesy of Freedomland U.S.A. – The World’s Largest Entertainment Center.

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Freedomland was a history theme park located where Co-op City and the adjacent Bay Plaza Shopping Center have stood for more than four decades. The park opened on Father’s Day on June 19, 1960 and closed following the 1964 season.

Freedomland Book To Debut

In a new book about Freedomland, Freedomland U.S.A.: The Definitive History, published by Theme Park Press and scheduled for release in a few weeks (visit the website often until the book debut is announced), Pat Boone remembers the opening day celebration when the family made the trip from their New Jersey home.

"In the early heat of my career as a recording artist and becoming a movie actor as well,” recalled Boone, “I was delighted to be invited to come to the newly created Freedomland U.S.A. and was given the honor of cutting the ribbon officially opening the place! My young wife and our four very young daughters all came, dressed alike—as their mom always saw to it in public—and had the time of their lives! They'd never been to the other highly publicized theme parks yet, and this was a wonderland, and they always wanted to come back.

“Unfortunately,” added Boone, “we moved to California after that, rather quickly, so I could do all my entertainment stuff from one place—and never got back to Freedomland U.S.A. Our loss. I saw it as a national treasure and am delighted to have had the honor of cutting the ribbon. It's a treasured memory for me."

Though the entire family never again visited Freedomland, Boone actually did return during 1962. He appeared at the park with bandleader Harry James and contestants in the Miss World contest.

Ties To Disneyland

Freedomland’s creator and builder, C.V. Wood, also built Disneyland for Walt Disney. Among the other venues credited to Wood are the Pleasure Island theme park (1959-1969) in Wakefield, Massachusetts, Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington and the community of Lake Havasu, Arizona.

Follow the memories of Freedomland on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Contact the Freedomland social media administrator, historian and book author by emailing Freedomlandusa@yahoo.com .