New park president brings Six Flags back to 'core values of operation'

Date: 7/22/2010

July 21, 2010

By Katelyn Gendron

Reminder Assistant Editor

AGAWAM -- Jason Freeman began his career at Riverside Park in 1984 as a high school student parking cars for the summer. Fast forward 26 years and he's at the helm of Six Flags New England.

Freeman was recently named the park's interim president until a permanent replacement can be found in the absence of Larry Litton, who, according to Melissa Pinkerton, head of media relations for Six Flags New England, is simply "no longer with the company."

"The community really knows him and it's going to make that transition [from Litton] easy," Pinkerton said of Freeman's newest post.

"We want to get back to core values of theme park operation. We were moving in a different direction under the previous director," Freeman explained of his plans as president.

He served previously as Safety and Security manager, director of General Services and director of Operations and Risk Management. Freeman was most recently corporate director of Safety and Risk Management and Green Sustainability in Dallas, Texas, prior to returning to Six Flags New England.

"I'm excited about being here because this is my home park. So clearly I'm biased to Six Flags New England," he said.

The plan for the remainder of the season, Freeman explained, is to "stay the course."

"We're having a record number of people coming through the gates. We're having a fantastic year and we want to continue that. We're delivering a great product to our guests," he said.

Pinkerton noted a permanent replacement for Litton will be named in the fall. Freeman said he has applied for the job.

"I'm just excited to be here in this role and obviously if I'm here in a permanent capacity in the fall [that would be great]," he added.