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May 10, 1999

Knott's General Manager Apologizes for Cinco de Mayo Promotion

Buena Park, CA -- Last Thursday, Knott's Berry Farm vice president and general manager Jack Falfas, released the following letter to the community and media regarding the Cinco De Mayo promotion at the park.

May 6, 1999

Dear Community Partner:

On behalf of everyone at Cedar Fair, L.P. and Knott's Berry Farm, I sincerely regret the incident associated with our Cinco de mayo charity benefit promotion Wednesday, May 5, 1999 and the inconvenience or problems it caused any of our guests, neighbors, local business partners and schools. Our intent was to celebrate the Cinco de Mayo holiday with quality family entertainment while benefiting one of our local member charities.

While we expected and were prepared for a big day, we underestimated the response generated by this promotion with 102.7 KIIS-FM. We are thankful for the more than $10,000 raised for the Boys and Girls Club of Buena Park but deeply saddened by the small group of individuals outside our gate who attempted to ruin the day for everyone.

Please be assured that we attribute any problems experienced May 5 to this one-time-only promotion, and will carefully reevaluate all future promotions. We do not wish to pass blame, and accept our responsibility for underestimating the response to the promotion, as well as any negative impacts it had on local neighbors, schools, or businesses.

Our goal at Cedar Fair and Knott's Berry Farm is to create and maintain a safe, wholesome, family atmosphere, and you have my personal guarantee that I will do everything in my power to realize this goal. I also feel I would be remiss if I did not thank the local law enforcement agencies that assisted us.

While we will carefully rethink promotions of this type on the future, our commitment to partnering with local charities and schools within the community will certainly continue. Like our neighbors, we are in Buena Park and Southern California to stay, and it will remain our goal to create a better neighborhood for us all.

Sincerely,
J.T. Falfas
Vice President and General Manager

Related Stories:
Cinco De Mayo Promotion Gets Out Of Control May 5, 1999