Novato filmmaker taps into childhood memories with PBS documentary on a trolley park

Courtesy of Peter Daulton

"It's really a love story to Midway Park and other parks of that type," says Novato resident Peter Daulton, whose documentary about a favorite childhood amusement park, Midway State Park in upstate New New York, can be streamed on PBS through June 29.

Courtesy of Peter Daulton

Novato resident and longtime ILM special effects guru Peter Daulton with one of his five grandchildren. He hopes his documentary, "Trolley Park: Midway Memories," taps into childhood joy.

Courtesy of Midway State Park

"Picnic Grounds," a postcard image of Midway Park circa 1900s.

Courtesy of Peter Daulton

Novato resident Peter Daulton working on "Return of the Jedi" at Industrial Light and Magic, where he worked for 34 years.

Courtesy of Midway State Park

The Hippodrome rolling skating rink at Midway State Park, circa 1920, featured in Novato resident Peter Daulton's documentary, "Trolley Park: Midway Memories," which can be streamed on PBS through June 29.

Among the many childhood memories Peter Daulton treasures is Midway Park, a small kiddie amusement park in upstate New York that his family would visit yearly for his father's company picnics in the 1960s.

"We didn't have much money and it was free and that was the only time we would go there. It was a really special childhood memory. It's up there with Christmas," he says.

Eventually he aged out of it and had forgotten all about it until he was visiting friends in the area in the mid-1990s and found himself face-to-face with his once-beloved park.

"I drove right by and I thought, oh my God, that's Midway Park. I forgot all about where it was but it was there and it looked exactly the same and the memories came rushing back," he says.

The longtime special effects guru at Industrial Light and Magic thought he’d like to make a documentary film about it one day.

That day came in May of 2022, when the now-retired Novato resident spent a month filming the park, from all the preparation necessary to open the park for the season to Memorial Day weekend, when the park officially opens. His half-hour documentary film, "Trolley Park: Midway Memories," can be streamed on PBS through June 29.

"It's really a love story to Midway Park and other parks of that type," he says.

Birth of trolley parks

Daulton didn't know what a trolley park was until he stumbled upon an article in the New York Times in 2021 about a real estate developer who purchased Clementon Park and Splash World in New Jersey to salvage it from certain demise, also fulled by childhood memories. That's when he realized Midway Park was a trolley park, too, and one of about 12 that still exist.

In fact, most amusement parks didn't exist until trolleys were invented in the late 1880s and the streetcar companies wanted something to draw people to using during evenings and weekends. What better way than build something like a family-friendly park or resort at the end of the trolley line?

When Daulton heard that residents rallied preserve the park after the longtime owners put it up for sale and convinced the State of New York to purchase it and turn it into a state park, he saw that as a further sign that the documentary needed to be made.

"In the scene of New York State park systems, it's a pretty small park but they saw the value of preserving it as is," he says.

And what they’re also preserving is memories.

It's different than the memories Daulton helped create at ILM, where he worked for 34 years and on every Star Wars film since "Return of the Jedi."

"I loved that career. But when I was in my mid-40s I thought I kinda want to do my own documentary films," he says.

His first was "Flowers From the Heartland," an award-winning 25-minute documentary about the Midwesterners who sent flower bouquets randomly to some of the more than 4,000 gays and lesbians who tied the knot at San Francisco City Hall after the city began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in 2004. He also made "Ride," an hour-long documentary about one woman's efforts to to build a carousel from scratch to help revitalize her hometown of Albany, Oregon, that was broadcast on a few PBS stations in the summer of 2018.

Positive response

Daulton has been working on a shoestring budget, mostly doing all the filming and editing himself with some help from his wife, with some funding from foundations. "To date I’m a better filmmaker than fundraiser," he says with a laugh.

Still, the response from "Trolley Park: Midway Memories" so far has been so positive that Daulton is planning a series of documentaries on each of the remaining trolley parks that he hopes to release each summer. Next up is Oaks Park in Portland, Oregon. "It's a pretty cool park," he says.

Daulton is hopeful "Trolley Park: Midway Memories" and the films that follow resonate with boomers and their special childhood memories.

"Whether you went to a small amusement park or you went to Disneyland, or went to the lake, I think, if you’re lucky, as children we had some happy, joyful memories. I realize not every child has that," he says. "The goal of this film is to tap into the joy, to remind people of that joy and put a smile on their face. And the hope is that they’ll spread that joy."

• Details: To watch "Trolley Park: Midway Memories," go to PBS.org/video and search for it by title or use the PBS app. It will be streamed through June 29. It will be broadcast at 7:30 p.m. July 4 and at 6 p.m. July 9 on on KQED.

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