Local artist Dan Ostrov and a team of volunteers bring back Redeemer’s 100+ year old slide after decades of storage. Are you ready to slip back in time this Saturday?
Redeemer’s slide is a neighborhood relic — in East Fall’s heyday, seemed the whole community would enjoy down this ride a popular church’s slide during Independence Day celebrations, which included the whole neighborhood.
And it will be again this Saturday at Castle on Tap, thanks to local artist Dan Ostrov, Penn Street wood-worker Eric Weiss, and a team of strong arms & backs who hoisted like champs this weekend.
Wow this thing was heavy!
The slide is at least 30 feet long and of solid construction, made of tongue-in-groove hardwood. Former church member Ken Leach recalled it took six men to carry each 10-foot section — thankfully, we had as many volunteers to help transport it Judy Gotwald’s breezeway in Wissahickon to Castle Ringstetten on Kelly Drive (props to Metro Church!)
Judy, a former member of Redeemer Church also, shared more of the slide’s history: “Back in the day, every church would have a service and a big Fourth of July picnic. Then as the day wore on, people would mill around to other churches, like a big social.” Redeemer’s slide was a popular attraction for kids and grown-ups, both.
Because Ringstetten’s yard is an entirely different slope than Redeemer’s, Dan and Eric cut new supports on-site to create a 30-degree incline — which we all agreed looked pretty conservative in Dan’s sketchbook. Coming together before our eyes, though… Oh my. This slide is like raising the Ghost of Childhoods Past.
It’s pretty fearsome — and thrilling to just to look at in this age of rock walls and moon bounces. You call that a rush? Wait’ll you see Redeemer’s slide in person. This thing eats bike helmets for breakfast.
Do you dare? It’s quite a climb, but it’ll be sturdy as heck. Braced from every angle, and then Dan’s also adding extra hand rails to the ladder to help kids stabilize themselves (this isn’t Dan’s first time designing playground equipment, for sure).
He’s putting the finishing touches on this week, and then Judy will be leading Team Elbow Grease as we clean and wax the old wood until it’s a slippery slope of fun again! Volunteers always appreciated — email us to learn how you can earn a FREE TICKET to Castle on Tap which includes unlimited rides down memory lane.
$25 admission provides all-you-can-eat Oktoberfest buffet by Rieker’s famous German specialty kitchen, plus all access to the unforgettable Castle Ringstetten. And a complimentary beer from Billy Murphy’s Beer Garden!
PLUS: A tasting of locally-brewed beer from the new Wissahickon Brewing Company!
Kids welcome, plenty of space to run around. Long tables provided, BYO- chairs & blankets to spread out & enjoy the lawn.
*We’re within 10 tickets/2 days of our cut-off point.* Click here to purchase.
DON’T FORGET A SHOPPING BAG: Silent auction of local historical, sentimental, and religious items from Redeemer Lutheran Church, plus bake sale of delicious local and German specialties. All proceeds for sales help support Redeemer’s congregation in this time of rebuilding.
Is there some way for people who only want to participate to in the silent auction to attend without the admission fee?
I admit, I say this as a vegetarian non-drinker.
Hmmmm… Thank you for bringing up a really good issue for this Redeemer auction. Lemme reach out to Judy tonight — we’re meeting to inventory items, maybe we can post online that day, and open up the auction that way…? If you’ve ever been to a silent auction where people could participate remotely, please PM us how they did it! We’ll see what we can do, thanks again!
Just did a tad bit of research. Seems general practice is to have people fill out forms with their max bid and bid increments.
EX. starting is 40 (which is where the absentee bidder would start), if someone went 45, the absentee would go to up by whatever increment they deem (lets use 15 here), the bid would go to 60. It would work this way until their max was reached.