Children and their families scream as they round a curve on the roller coaster at the old Hoffman's Playland, which closed in 2014. The property where the amusement park once stood has sat fallow for a decade.

COLONIE — The old Hoffman's Playland closed 10 years ago this weekend. I still miss it.

I know I'm not alone. Many of you cherish childhood memories of the iconic amusement park and its rides, its mini-train, its garbage cans shaped like clown heads. Some of you remember working there as a teenager, collecting tickets and ensuring that squirmy six-year-olds were properly buckled in. Some of you brought happy children and grandchildren there and watched them enjoy the very rides you once rode.

I came to this area as an adult, so I missed out on those experiences. So did my daughter, sadly, who happens to be 10.

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Still, I had been around long enough to understand what the Sept. 14, 2014, closure of Hoffman's meant. In some sense, that stretch along Route 9 was the heart of the community for its section of Colonie.

The park itself was only part of that. Likety Splits, the popular........

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