story
Modesto Foieri and Doodle Bug Park
Doodle Bug Park opened on June 22, 1958, and entertained generations of area families until 1976. Founded by Shamokin-area entrepreneur Modesto Bernard Foieri, the park survives in local memory and in records of its Little Dipper and carousel.
Introduction
Doodle Bug Park opened on June 22, 1958, and entertained generations of area families until 1976. The park was founded by Modesto Bernard Foieri, a Shamokin-area coal operator and entrepreneur whose name also appears as Modest, Mode, and Modes Foieri.
Chronology
The park's public story spans from its Sunday opening on June 22, 1958, through its final operating year in 1976. Its name appears in surviving sources as Doodle Bug Park, Doodle-Bug Park, Doodlebug Park, and Doodlebug Kiddieland.
Context
The Roller Coaster DataBase records an Allan Herschell Little Dipper at Doodle-Bug Park. Its listed train carried twelve riders in three cars, offering one concrete glimpse of the family-scale rides remembered at the park.
A 1991 Los Angeles Times feature described a carousel horse saved from the former Doodlebug Kiddieland. That surviving horse reflects how pieces of the park continued to carry family memories after the gates closed.
Doodle Bug Park belongs to the postwar era of small regional amusement parks built for nearby families. Its importance in Shamokin-area history comes from the generations who spent summer days there and continued telling its stories long after 1976.