By Molly Snyder Senior Writer Published Jan 02, 2019 at 6:45 PM

A version of this article ran in 2014.

Earlier this week, I was tooling around the Northwest Side to interview a woman for an article, and I drove by a massive, weather-beaten dinosaur sculpture. I took a photo of it, put it on social media, and many people identified it correctly as the only remaining sign of what was once the thriving Johnson’s Park that featured a mini golf course, go-karts, batting cages, food stand and an arcade.

There’s a fence surrounding the property, which is now just patches of weeds and piles of rubble. I stared at it for a long time until I could muster memories of what it once looked like.

Eventually, I could remember other details from the mini golf course like the hole featuring a large bird bent over with his beak buried in the AstroTurf and the tiny pencils attached to chains on the red, wooden stands next to the holes to provide a surface for mini golfers to keep score.

I also remembered that I had a birthday party at Johnson's Park in the early '80s during which I and my sister and a few friends played mini golf, zipped around on the go-karts and ate a cake that my mother brought in on a picnic table.

Later, I remembered a few more now-defunct places where I had birthday parties. So I made a list. Not with a small golf pencil, but on my iPhone.

Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour – There was a Farrell’s in Northridge and Southridge malls, but as a child growing up on the East Side, we always went to the Northridge location. I celebrated my fourth birthday at Farrell's, but was slightly traumatized by this event. I was a very shy kid and Farrell’s was known for banging a massive drum and making a big noisy deal around the birthday child and I told my father before the party that I did not want this to happen. However, the next thing I knew, a staff member was lifting me out of my seat (imagine that happening now?!) and, proclaiming it was my birthday, got the entire restaurant to sing to me. I was mortified, started crying and then felt embarrassed for crying during my birthday party. But I then got a Walton’s lunchbox and board game and felt better.

Barnaby’s Family Inn – I think I celebrated my eighth birthday party at Barnaby's. It was located on Port Washington Road – apparently there is still a location in Illinois – and I liked the place because it had root beer mugs hanging from hooks on the ceiling and every table featured a light box with a number on it that lit up when your order was ready. Most of all, I dug the low lighting. To this day, I cannot stand overhead / fluorescent lights of any kind. I only use lamps for light in my home and I still prefer dark restaurants and bars. (Hi, Bryant’s!)

Lox, Stocks & Bagels – It took a long time for me to remember the name of this place that was located in the basement of the Prospect Mall (it later became Thai Joe’s). Truth be told, I actually can’t remember if I had a birthday party at this bagel joint or my sister did – but one of us did for sure. It doesn’t seem like a typical birthday place to me, but then again, neither of my parents were particularly typical, either. ("Weird is good," dad, who really loved bagels, always said.) I don't remember much about the party, but I do remember a photograph taken of me, my sister and our party guests, sitting on the stairs of the mall. My 6- or 7-year-old self couldn't know it at the time, but I went on to work at the Prospect Mall Cinema for six years.

Showbiz Pizza – In the ‘80s, Showbiz and Chuck E. Cheese’s were neck-and-neck as the premier party place, but eventually, the mechanical mouse beat down the mechanical bear. (Which was Showbiz’s mascot, if memory serves.) I know I had a birthday party at the location that was, I think, on Good Hope Road. Probably not far from Johnson’s Park.


Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.

Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.