The fact that I didn’t understand the connection (or lack thereof) between the “famous” time-travel device and this random playground was part of the magic in the mystery. Since the place is called “the Imagination Station” by locals, visiting was a theme park–like experience for me back then because the Imagination Station is also the name of Mr. Whittaker’s time-travel invention that runs using virtual reality and-you guessed it-imagination. Sadly, I discovered that Hal had passed away before I was born, but even so, I grew up listening to him on Adventures in Odyssey as though meeting him for the very first time.ĭuring the summers, Dad would take us to a very special park, complete with bright, leafy trees, a playground castle, a nauseating but popular tire swing, crazy slides, forts, bridges, a basketball court, and a tic-tac-toe thing. Whittaker, in person and hear him offer wise advice to me like he did with the kid characters in the episodes. I hoped to someday greet Hal Smith, the original voice actor of Mr. Since we got them from our church’s library, the episodes I grew up listening to were reruns of the same four or five cassette albums and included some of the originals, down to the very first episode, “Whit’s Flop.” As a kid, I would mentally insert myself into the episodes, and I even recorded my own voice on a cassette tape as I talked over an episode (sounding very much like I was being ignored by the other characters). Now I realize it was just a genius parenting tactic that ultimately got me to bed! Well-played, parents, well-played. I have fond memories of feeling like I outsmarted the system of having to be in bed by a certain time because my siblings and I would almost always stay up for the conclusion of an Adventures in Odyssey episode. My parents must have started playing these audio dramas for us in our tape decks-one in the boys’ room, one in the girls’ room-during the evenings. I don’t recall the first time I listened to an Adventures in Odyssey episode. Who knows? You could have your own Imagination Station adventure!
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