BC and the Betsy

 BC and the Betsy





     Recently, old pal Zeke and I were discussing events we just happened into that sound like BS in the retelling. Yes, we actually shook hands with JFK, yes we were at the Ambassador Hotel the night RFK was killed, Yes, Monty Montana lassoed me at Bryson Avenue school in 1952. However, this tale is one that sounds even more preposterous but is pure truth stemming from the amazing nerve of my father at the happiest place on earth. It was mid-Summer in the life altering year of 1959 when my father was so successful in his business he left the office one afternoon to his more than capable assitant and took me and my little sister to Disneyland. It was a huge day in the Magic Kingdom since the place was thriving and getting more and more magical by the day. The newest attraction was the Matterhorn Bobsleds that was doubly exciting since it was massive, exotic and a boss roller coaster. Admission was a paltry $1.25 but this was the year the ticket books were introduced and a single E ticket was a whopping .75  None of this meant a thing with BC directing the operation. A huge crowd streamed down Main street heading for Fantasyland and Tomorrowland dead set on experiencing the three new attractions: the Submarine ride, the Monorail and that Matterhorn that was already encircled by a line of hopefuls. Now, my father had no compunction about trying any kind of back door admission since he was beyond embarassment about beating the squares and rubes. His pal , the great sportswriter Bob Hunter, a fellow student at Huntington Park High School and teamate with Don Galvin at USC had hooked up BC with a Press Pass that looked official.  It was except for the fact the old man never wrote a sentence for the Los Angeles Examiner. He called it "the Betsy" and used it to get through many a turnstyle or event security. BC also got one for his wife and even for me when I was a teen but I did not have the guts to use the false document. In our case, he managed to single out the head of PR for Disneyland and somehow convinced the guy he was there to write a feature on the Matterhorn for the Los Angeles Examiner. Normally PR guys are very defensive about such claims but the man was persuaded by the professional looking BC in his crisp suit and tie with kids in tow. Despite the barrage of requests on this special day he asked BC to stand by. By this time the line was a mile long as the hoi polloi stood in the warm June sun determined to take home the memory of a ride on the 147 foot tall man-made mountain. Suddenly the PR gent-gestured to us right after the first group was ushered onto the inaugral toboggan. He swung open a small gate and we were ushered into the second toboggan where my innocent temerity gave rise to anxiety that we would be discovered and thrown to the rabble. Instead there were some mechanical sounds, a jump forward and I looked in awe at the first toboggan jumping away with Walt Disney himself leading the charge in toboggan one. Before I knew it we were rolling upward and away from any discouraging words. The ride was incredible and when it finished we blended in with the crowd and saw the last of the PR man and any responsibility to create a column



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