Amherst couple wins auction for CP maXair ride

Thursday, 05 May 2005

Wife is too scared to ride, she says.

By BRANDI BARHITE
brandibarhite@sanduskyregister.com

SANDUSKY - The new Cedar Point thrill ride that swings riders 70 mph is so scary only one of two top bidders is actually getting on it.

Jim Bodnar, owner of North Coast Beds, will pay $262 to be one of the first 50 riders on maXair when the park opens Saturday.

His wife, Linda, came in second at $261, but North Coast Beds employee Barry Morgan will ride in her place, he said.

"I am so afraid," Linda Bodnar said Wednesday. "It was nice of him to put my name on there, but if I really had to do it, I would probably have a heart attack."

Jim Bodnar got involved in the auction sponsored by the Firelands Chapter of the American Red Cross because he wanted to make a donation to the organization -- not to mention, "I am ready for a thrill," he said.

Ron Rude, executive director of the Firelands Chapter of the American Red Cross, said the maXair bids generated around $11,000 compared with the $5,000 from the thrill ride Power Tower.

The Red Cross usually auctions rides on Cedar Point's new roller coasters, but Power Tower and maXair have been the exception, he said. Power Tower debuted in 1998.

In 2003, the top bid for the Top Thrill Dragster roller coaster was $1,504. Overall the auction generated around $35,000 -- the most ever.

"This wasn't a major ride," Rude said Wednesday about the 84-foot-tall maXair. "I was surprised with the frenzy of activity in the last 12 hours."

Bidding for the first rides on maXair started April 13 and ended Wednesday morning. Around 70 bids were received with the top 50 getting the first ride on maXair.

The lowest bids to earn first rides were $101.

"Almost every bid this time is a good bid and a serious bid," Rude said. "Sometimes we have a lot of fluff and kids."

Proceeds from the auction will help fund a variety of Red Cross programs.

Cedar Point's maXair sits riders with their feet dangling in outward-facing suspended seats that form a giant circle.

Riders swing back and forth like an out of control pendulum at speeds as fast as 70 mph, while the giant circle also spins clockwise.

The pendulum reaches its peak at 140 feet high.

"The thing that we are really excited about is that this goes to a good cause," Cedar Point spokesman Bryan Edwards said. "It is something we look forward to every year. We have a good working relationship with the Red Cross."

Winning bidders won breakfast at the park Saturday, a commemorative medallion, inaugural ride on maXair and complimentary admission to the park for that day.

Successful bidders will select seats with the highest bidders choosing first. Although there is no front seat, per se, "Each seat is a different ride," Edwards said.

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