“The gift of the McDonald’s Cabooses (not moving expenses) along with the construction of the Park’s largest Ramada will provide a much-expanded facility for the birthday party program to better serve hundreds of children for one of the Park’s most popular programs. We wish to thank the Sunrise and Papago Rotary Clubs for their generous support to help fund the above caboose projects,” Chairman Guy Stillman wrote in his 1989 Scottsdale Railroad & Mechanical Society Annual Report. He also added that on the 20th anniversary of the formation of the society, three of its original board members were still serving: himself (Stillman), Bill Carvin and Eldon Rudd.
The two cabooses, which had been located on West Bethany Home road and used by McDonald’s as birthday party venues, were initially placed in the back of the park surrounding the birthday party area. The cabooses were relocated to the front of the park in 1997 for the new birthday party area. They were again relocated to the entrance of the park as a new monument in 2009.
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