In Memoriam, and Grateful Thanks

I have some very sad news to report today; long-time GDB friend and contributor Irene told me that her beloved brother passed away last week after a long illness. Almost exactly two years ago, I met Irene in person, and she gave me hundreds of snapshots that were taken by her brother, who loved Disneyland more than just about anything; I've been sharing them here, little by little.

Here's a photo of Ariel, looking adorable. What prince could possibly resist falling for her?? She took time out from her busy schedule to meet some of her many fans at the Carnation Plaza Gardens. 

She's in her "flipper form", so I wonder if a burly CM needed to carry her away once the meet 'n greet was over? Something tells me there were plenty of volunteers.

While Irene's brother was ailing, she was reluctant to release his name, for personal reasons; but now she says it is OK to let everyone know that his name was Bruce, and that at one time he was very well-known in the online Disney community. 

Here's a tableau that is long gone from Frontierland, with Cascade Peak mostly out of frame, along with the little Nature's Wonderland Mine Train rusting away after getting hit by a rock slide. Many of you probably remember the little marmots that popped up from the cars! This is a very unusual view.

As far as I know, this is the only surviving NWRR locomotive - it is now in the possession of the Carolwood Society, where it will be restored thanks to the hard work of volunteers.

Irene said that Bruce "...had been in a skilled nursing facility since Oct. of 2015.  He was a HUGE fan of Disneyland.  Our family went to Disneyland for the very first time on July 18, 1955, the day it opened to the public.  He was very proud of that fact :)  He loved all things Disney and his life reflected that".

Here is a nice shot of the Swiss Family Treehouse. Pre-Tarzan! I love the sign for the Disney Gallery in the foreground - there was something fun about climbing those stairs up to the location that was originally supposed to be a new apartment for Walt and his family that made it feel special. "The Art of Disneyland" happened to be the inaugural exhibit for the Disney Gallery, which opened in 1987.

For those of you who go way back on various Disney-related message boards, Irene says, "...Bruce went by the moniker of Lost Boy.  He was on the MiceChat message board for years, one of the early people, and that was his name there.  He had a big thing for Peter Pan, obviously.  Way back when I decided to get on MiceChat too I wanted to come up with something to do with Bruce and therefore Peter Pan.  Most people who knew me on MiceChat/MiceAge knew me as Bruce's sister.  That's how I would introduce myself because everyone knew Bruce!  So that is how I came up with the name WendyGirl!  And as you can see, I still use some form of the name to this day, ie my email address.  It has gotten confusing at times because people used to call me Wendy and thought I used WendyGirl because my name was Wendy!!! LOL  I got used to answering to both Irene and Wendy :)  ". 

Here is an interesting view of the old Peoplemover tracks, presumably from between the time that the Peoplemover had closed, and the construction for the Rocket Rods had begun. We all know how that turned out!

The last photo for the day is this lovely shot of a Horse Drawn Streetcar coming from the backstage area next to the Firehouse on a sleepy morning. I wonder if Bruce was standing in a virtually-empty Town Square (something that we may never see again), or if there was a version of "rope drop" that started much closer to the Train Station?

Bruce was very lucky to have Irene there for love and support, she clearly cared so much for him even under the most difficult of circumstances. I am very grateful that she entrusted her brother's photos to me, so that all of us can continue to enjoy them for weeks and months to come.