Valleyfair

At the age of just 15, Owen Guthridge started working at Valleyfair in our games department but this isn’t the beginning of his amusement park journey. With his father working with Cedar Fair for over 32 years, and his brother and sister working at Valleyfair for over five years, he was part of the Valleyfair community before he even submitted his application. He was even featured riding Renegade a Valleyfair commercial as a child!

After two years of working as a game operator, Owen was promoted to a team lead. Just one year later, he was once again promoted to a supervisor in our games department. After two years as a games supervisor, he has arrived at his current position as Operations Supervisor.

He credits much of his success to Zach Peterson, Valleyfair’s Games Manager, who he has continually looked up to. “Zach influenced a lot of my life,” said Owen, “I even picked up a lot of his habits.”

Every year, Owen lights up during the Studiiyo23 Shoe Challenge because of the smiles it brings to the guests as well as the associates. “I never forget the face of a winner,” he said after recalling fond memories of the Shoe Challenge, “smiling guests are what keep me going.”

As much as loves watching winners, he doesn’t always sit back and watch. Throughout the years he has broken records at the 3-Point Challenge as well as the basketball game near Power Tower, and he won the Valleyfair Olympics twice.

These accomplishments were definitely something to be proud of, but they don’t compare to his most recent accomplishment. Owen was recently awarded the Valleyfair Cornerstone Award. He has always connected deeply with Valleyfair’s cornerstone values of service, courtesy, cleanliness, safety, and integrity, which made winning this award even more special.

“I didn’t see it coming. I usually don’t do well with surprises, but Snoopy with that confetti canon was awesome,” Owen said after being handed his award on stage in front of many guests and fellow associates.

“Owen is an amazing manager, co-worker, and friend. I can’t think of anyone else more worthy of the Cornerstone Award than him,” said his best friend, Kenzie Zutter, who Owen met during his first years at Valleyfair.

Every day, Owen embodies Valleyfair’s cornerstone values, and he does it while having fun and making lifelong friends.