Brenton Asti began working at Kennywood Park four years ago as a zombie on Phantom Fright Nights, following in the un-dead, dragging footsteps of his father, Ken, and sister, Chelsey, zombies all.

Today, Mr. Asti, 19, of Crafton, is manager of the crew of the new Cosmic Chaos ride.

	Post-Gazette Three generations of Kennywood employees are (from left): Lisa Versetti, her cousin John Lumbantoruan, their grandmother Jane Roth, and Lisa's mother Barbara Lesko. Click photo for larger image.

All of which goes to prove the veracity of the old adage: The more things change, the more they stay the same.

For while the West Mifflin amusement park continues to update itself with different and more thrilling rides each season, it remains a place where generations of families go to work.

For Mr. Asti, the best part is being outdoors and around people, and earning money for his business management classes at Community College of Allegheny County.

"I love my job!" he said of helping to oversee one of the park's two new rides.

Cosmic Chaos fits 24 people on a giant disk, er, spaceship, on motorcycle-like pedestal seats with back restraints. From a top height of 50 feet, the disk journeys along a 120-foot concave track while its riders spin in circles.

Meredith George, 26, rode it for the first time last Sunday, not knowing what to expect.

"It was thrilling," the Peters woman said. "You experience it from different perspectives because you're constantly spinning and moving."

It also was the inaugural spaceship experience for Mike Langford, 21, of McKeesport, who deemed the ride "fun for the whole family."

To make way for Cosmic Chaos, Kennywood donated its Magic Carpet ride to a nonprofit amusement park in Costa Rica that raises money for a children's hospital there. Besides occupying space, the roughly 25-year-old ride required a lot of maintenance.

"We thought it was time to retire it," park spokeswoman Mary Lou Rosemeyer said.

New in Kiddieland is S.S. Kenny, a 24-seat family tugboat with a boatload of rocking and whirling motions.

April Farina, of Carrick, stepped aboard with her daughter, Scarlet, 3.

Scarlet called it fun, and her mother said they would ride it again, as they thoroughly enjoyed it.

The new game in town is Around the World, in which, for $5, wannabe basketball stars get 12 shots in 40 seconds to make baskets from the NBA's three-point line to win prizes.

A free, new show is the Treasure Island-themed "The Pirates of Kenny Cove High Dive Show," in which world-class divers perform springboard, high dives and clown dives from more than 70 feet into a 26-foot-by-10-foot-deep, 50,000-gallon steel tank as part of a swashbuckling tale.

Also making its debut this year is KennyTV, an information and entertainment closed-circuit television system that displays humorous home videos, local bands' music videos and more on screens throughout the park.

Kennywood's prices increased this year, with a FunDay Pass for all-day riding rising from last year's $28.95 to $31.

The cost for children 46 inches tall and under is $19; for seniors 55 and older, $15; after 5 p.m., $16; and for seniors after 5 p.m., $9.

Children age 2 and younger are free.

There are reduced group rates and special price days.

What has not changed over the years is Kennywood as a job site for generations of families.

Besides the rides, the employee families cited Kennywood's festive atmosphere, outdoor venues, flexible hours, variety of jobs, accessible location and a love of people, particularly children, as its drawing and staying, cards.

Geno Chamboredon Sr., 45, started working at the park in 1980 for a summer job. Today, the Munhall man works year-round on ride maintenance.

When his son, Geno Jr., 24, a mechanic, was between jobs recently, Mr. Chamboredon suggested he apply for an open mechanical maintenance position, for which he was hired on a seasonal basis.

Mr. Chamboredon Jr., of West Mifflin, said he liked working with men he already knew through his father. His father said an added perk was occasionally seeing each other at work.

The park employs about 1,500 seasonal full-time workers in the summer, and about 100 full-time workers year-round.

Tammy Blue, 47, of West Mifflin, has been working in cleaning and housekeeping as a seasonal employee since 1984.

While she enjoys the park ambience, she prefers staying "behind the scenes," she said. In the past few years, Mrs. Blue has been joined by her sister, Shirley Miller, and Mrs. Blue'sdaughter, Eryca.

Miss Blue, 23, of Duquesne, said the best part of being on her mother's crew was feeling more relaxed "just having somebody there close to me working."

Jane Roth, 76, of Munhall, retired after 28 years at various positions, including bookkeeper for the refreshment company, which proved a magnet for her children and grandchildren.

"They were always in and out of the office," she said. "They felt like they owned the place."

A highlight of her tenure was being "shamed" into test riding the Laser Loop, the park's first upside-down roller coaster, by the late Mary Sevest, of housekeeping, who, at age 80, had given it a whirl.

The Kennywood tradition was passed on to Mrs. Roth's daughter, Barbara Lesko, 55, of West Mifflin, who worked there for seven years, and then to Mrs. Lesko's daughter, Lisa Versetti, 30.

"Me and my grandpa would pick [Mrs. Roth] up at work, and it looked like fun," said the Munhall woman, who worked in the Penny Arcade for four years after high school.

The current family torchbearer is guest services supervisor Josh Lumbantoruan, 22, of West Mifflin.

He recently earned a degree in aerospace engineering from Penn State, so his years at Kennywood are coming to an end. That leads his grandmother, Mrs. Roth, to look to his brother, Jimmy, 13, to pass the baton.

"He can't wait. He's already planning what he's going to do there," she said.

For more information on Kennywood, visit kennywood.com or call 412-461-0500.