XL Cover Story: Small Worlds - Kiddie Acres

Got a ticket to ride? This carnival is always in town

It is Kathy Shelly's world, too. On this Saturday afternoon, it's her daughter Payton's second birthday party. Mom moves quickly between the picnic tables to the rides, handing out juice boxes like a race volunteer doling out water cups to runners. That busy.

This is a homecoming. Shelly remembers that her first time at Kiddie Acres was about 1979 for Jennie Love's fourth birthday party. And there she is! Jenny McIntyre now is with her 3-year-old daughter, Julia.

"I've been coming for 30 years," says McIntyre. "It's amazing to see the same rides here forever. This is a child's haven."

Parents of young children love Kiddie Acres. Baby strollers rule the grounds. Per square foot, Kiddie Acres must attract one of the largest collection of mommies-to-be in one area.

On Sept. 11, Kiddie Acres turns 25. Joe and Marina Herring opened it on Burnet Road on land owned by Marina's father, Earl Podolnick, who old-timers will recall owned the Burnet Drive-In across from the Poodle Dog Lounge.

The Herrings got the idea for Kiddie Acres from the Riverside Kiddie Land that sat at Barton Springs Road and South Lamar Boulevard in the 1950s. Joe enjoyed Kiddie Land as a kid and never forgot the fun. Wednesday was nickel-a-ride day. The small amusement park was eventually moved to Manchaca about 1980 and later closed. When the Herrings opened their park in 1979, it was Joe's dream. The name was Marina's idea, after the TV show "Green Acres."

Joe quit his day job as a lineman for the City of Austin. Marina quit working for her dad's theaters.

Kiddie Acres was simple then; it's simple now. "We're tried to create a place where a child can use his imagination. He can dream of being a pilot," says Joe Herring.

The Herrings' children -- daughter Michelle just graduated from the University of Texas and son Michael is a global systems analyst for Exxon in Houston -- grew up working in the family business.

It's been a job-training ground for hundreds of other teens, too. Paula Davenport worked there in the early 1980s when she was 14. She met a boy, Tommy Kaderka, and a romance ensued. They're married now, thanks to the foundation laid at Kiddie Acres. They return to the place that started it all every once in a while to show off their three daughters to the Herrings.

The family charm of Kiddie Acres is because of the TLC the Herrings spread every day. They yak it up with customers, ever so polite and helpful.

The best endorsement? On a recent Saturday, 5-year-old Mateo Macias is frantically clinging to his mother's leg as they are about to leave. He's crying and begging for another ride.

"We're out of tickets. We have to go home," says his mother Laura.

Off in the distance, Joe Herring is smiling at the all-too familiar scene. He knows he's created a place children love.
--Ricardo Gándara

Kiddie Acres

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