The "unofficial" site of Americana Amusement Park/LeSourdsville Lake

Here is tribute to the many fine folks (in alphabetical order) who have made LeSourdsville Lake/Americana one of the greatest traditional amusement parks in the United States. If you wish to contribute a name, please send your information to the Southwest Ohio Amusement Park Historical Society.

William "Bill" Barr	Howard Berni	Mary Ann Berni
Partner 1964-1975	Majority Owner 1960-1991	Majority Owner 1960-1991

Bill stands with Hee Haw television star Gunilla Hutton and park co-owner Howard Berni. Bill's talent evolved around the promotion and advertising of the park in the 1960s and early 70s. Bill passed away in January 2007. [Photo credit: park archives]	Howard and Mary Ann purchased LeSourdsville Lake in 1960 for $550,000. Howard's philosophy was simple; provide a nice, clean park for families. In 1990, Howard sold the park to Leisure International and went to work fo rhis son, Ron, at Kentucky Kingdom. Howard passed away in November 2001. [Photo credit: park archives]	Mary Ann could usually be found at the Hat Stand or managing the midway food stand near the park's entrance. After the park was sold in 1990, Mary Ann went to work at Kentucky Kingdom at the Arcade. [Photo credit: park archives]

Ronald Berni	Vicki Berni	Don Dazey
Partner 1960-1990	Partner 1971-1990	Partner 1934-1959

Ron Berni began working at LeSourdsville as a teen and helped construct the original buildings in Tombstone Territory. He left the park in 1990 to become the operations manager at Kentucky Kingdom. He went on to lead the construction at Arkansas' Magic Springs and is currently coordinating the construction of Wild Wild West in Kansas. [Photo credit: park archives]	Vicki and Ron managed LeSourdsville's main arcade for many years. Vicki also managed a food stand and photo shop in Tombstone Territory. Vicki later became the park manager at Magic Springs before leaving in 2004. She currently resides in the Hamilton, Ohio area. [Photo credit: park archives]	Don Dazey used his business connections to establish company picnics as a fringe benefit for dozens of area employees. Don handled park operations while his partner Edgar Streifthau handled the business side of the park. Don passed away in June 1959. [Photo credit: park archives]

Lou Faggionato	Lenny Gottstein	Frank Murru
Partner 1960-1995	Vice President/Partner 1983-1996	Partner 1960-1963
	[Sorry, no picture is available]	[Sorry, no picture is available]
Lou, a former concessionaire at Cedar Point, owned the majority of the games along the midway in the 1960s through the 1995. His son, Joe (right) owned several games and later took over his father's domain. Lou passed away in 2006. [Photo credit: park archives]	Lenny came to Americana in 1983 and had the monumental task of filling the shoes of Bill Robinson. Later, he then became the Operations Manager and was one of four management personnel that purchased the park out of bankruptcy in 1991. Today, Lenny resides in the Middletown area.	Frank's family worked along side Howard Berni's family at Cedar Point. When Howard purchased LeSourdsville Lake in 1960, they became partners. After Frank left LeSourdsville after the 1963 season, he moved back to the Cedar Point area.

William "Bill" Robinson	Frank Silvani	Edgar Streifthau
Vice President 1962-1983	Partner 1968-1983	Majority Owner 1921-1960

Bill served as the marketing brain of the park for many years. He created the idea of the Crazy Kritters and Uncle Freddy in the mid 1970's. Bill was also responsible for the park to be the only amusement park in the U.S. designated as a Bicentennial Park" in honor of the country's 200th birthday. Today, Bill is the owner of a marketing firm bearing his name handling such accounts as Lake Winnepesaukah, Uncle Cliff's and Indiana Beach.[Photo credit: park archives]	Frank and Howard Berni became business partners in the 1940's selling french fries and sandwiches at Cedar Point. Frank started his career at LeSourdsville in 1968. His son, Lenny later became involved with the park.Frank was instrumental in developing "personalized" company picnic outings that were popular in the 1970s. He passed away in May 1983. [Photo credit: park archives]	The father of LeSourdsville Lake, Edgar Streifthau had the reputation of a dreamer and a doer. Edgar's dream was to provide a safe, clean place to swim during the summer. In 1954, Edgar and Oxford resident Frank Dodd, created the Streifthau turnpike car and sold them to parks across the country. After Edgar sold LeSourdsville Lake in 1960, he opened Fantasy Farm. Edgar passed away in 1988. [Photo credit: park archives]

Guy Sutton	Glenn Bowles
Vice President/Partner 1971-1988, 1991	Rides 1977-1978

Guy started his career at LeSourdsville by working as a bartender in Tombstone in 1971. Guy left the park in 1988 to pursue other opportunities in the amusement park industry. He returned in 1991 as one of four partners who bought the park out of bankruptcy. He left the park a few months later to work at Lake Clemonton. Today, he lives in New Mexico. [Photo credit: park archives]	Elvis impersonator Glenn Bowles got his start in show business on the LeSourdsville Lake midway in 1978. He worked as a ride operator from 1977-78 and began fine-tuning his Elvis impersonation for park crowds. Glenn still performs today as Elvis. Check out Glenn's web site today as well as a member of the Van-Dels. [Photo credit: Glenn Bowles]