News

‘Carnies’ have heard it all

Posted by CarnivalMidways.Com on August 8, 2009
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By: Eric Ludy, West Central Tribune

Patrick Carlson is a big burly fellow of 49 years. He’s well liked by friends and family, who know him affectionately as “Bear.” He likes children, which is a good thing, because he has seven of his own.

There’s just one other thing: he’s a carnie.

For many, the word brings up images of con artists hustling children and adults alike out of a hard-earned dollar. People think of them as travelers without proper homes living out of tents, possibly in need of a shower.

As a veteran of more than 20 years as a carnival worker, Carlson has heard it all before.

“People say we’re robbing them,” he said, as he manned the slide at the Kandiyohi County Fair in Willmar on Friday. “I say, ‘no, you’re giving us your money.’ Besides, they’re getting something in return. They get the enjoyment of it.”

Carlson is one of many carnival workers who moved into town on Tuesday. They came in out of Rock City in a caravan of trucks towing trailers packed with all the amusements of the midway: the ferris wheel, the tic tac toe games, the space-age Gravitron.

Overseeing the whole operation is 3rd generation carnival worker John Magel, the owner of Magel Carnival Midways. His grandfather, Leo Magel, started a concession stand on Harriet Island in the 20s. Just two generations and 80 years later, and his grandson John Magel is the lord of the midway.

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A fresh squeeze : Grape fest makes change in carnival company

Posted by CarnivalMidways.Com on August 5, 2009
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By Vernon Tarver – Northwest Arkansas News

TONTITOWN — Cotton candy, corn dogs and funnel cakes, thrown in with Ferris wheels, ringtosses and the sounds of Lynyrd Skynyrd blaring in the background of a Tilt-A-Whirl ride.

What could bring this combination together in the same place this time of year?

What else? The Tontitown Grape Festival.

And this year, it’s the job of the Mitchell Amusement Rides Co. to bring that carnival atmosphere to the 111th Tontitown Grape Festival, which got under way Tuesday night with all the rides, food and fun so many have come to expect after all these years.

Glad to be here

Gus Mitchell is a third generation amusement ride company worker and now the owner/manager of Mitchell Amusement Rides. Mitchell oversees the everyday operation of most of the carnival-type fun on Henri de Tonti Boulevard in Tontitown this week.

From the Himalaya ride blaring popular hiphop music while soaring at thrilling speeds, to the delicious turkey legs and shrimp on a stick, it’s up to Mitchell and his crew to make sure everything runs smoothly.

“For this particular event, we bring about 200 folks,” Mitchell said. “We also hire a bunch of locals, and we encourage that. There’s a lot of folks we have to transport and put up for this, and it helps when we can have the local people help. It also gives back to them.”

Mitchell knows plenty about the business. His family has been involved with the festival and carnival life in one way or another for years. But now at the head of the pack, Mitchell wants to make sure all of that training, all of those long nights on the road and those early mornings pitching tents in stop after stop weren’t for nothing.

Because this year, atleast for Mitchell Amusements, something was different. This year, for the first time, the grape festival came calling.

“We just got started in the grape festival, but we hope to start a long-term relationship with them,” Mitchell said. “The last company they had, they were very faithful to that company. But in this business, some are more fortunate than others, and this is a tough, tough business. So we had gotten word about the festival, and we had been watching it for quite sometime.”

After getting the lucky break when an opening came at this year’s festival, Mitchell and his group are hoping to make the most of it. But they know making a good first impression is very important, especially in these tough times.

“We met with the folks here on the board and met with the festival chairman, Mike Franco,” Mitchell said. “He was just a super guy, and we met a number of town committee members who were wonderful people.

“We’ve been in the mix of planning this for sometime,and I think at first I would say they were maybe a little skittish about us. They were maybe just scared about change. But once they met with us, I’m confident we were able to dismiss those feelings. Because we’re not here to change anything. We’re just here to enhance it and make it better.”

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County fairs’ cheap tickets lure big crowds

Posted by CarnivalMidways.Com on August 2, 2009
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By Judy Keen, USA TODAY

Families who want cheap, close-to-home fun this summer are heading in record numbers to a pastime that dates to the 1800s: the county fair.

“The economy worked in our favor, because so many people were staying home and looking for a lot of bang for their buck,” says Linda Zweig, spokeswoman for the San Diego County Fair in California. Attendance for its 22-day run was a record 1,274,442. Previous record: 1,265,997 in 2007.

To attract budget-conscious visitors, the fair offered new discounts, including a $22 pass good for 22 days.

California’s Alameda County Fair drew a record 432,000 visitors, 87,000 more than in 2008. “I think everybody has a ‘stay-cation’ attitude this year,” says spokeswoman April Mitchell. For the first time, the fair offered a $30 pass for all 17 days.

The Alameda fair added horse races and promoted a balloon ride that had been at Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch.

As fair season nears its halfway point, the trend is likely to continue, says Marla Calico, spokeswoman for the International Association of Fairs and Exhibitions.

“In this type of economy, fairs really shine,” she says. “There may be pent-up demand because people have not taken vacations … and fairs are a good value.”

Other fairs with upticks:

• A record 158,357 people paid $5 each to visit Missouri’s Boone County Fair — a 47% increase in gate receipts compared with 2008. “I saw lots of smiles,” fair manager George Harris says.

Because of this year’s success, the 2010 fair will be extended from seven days to 10.

• The four-day East Otter Tail County Fair in Minnesota, which had charged $6, was free this year. Organizers didn’t track attendance, but office manager Jessie Steeke says “foot traffic was way up.”

• The Ottawa County Fair in Ohio, which ended Sunday, doesn’t have final numbers, but treasurer Jon Overmyer says attendance was up 10%-12% from 2008 despite rainy weather. The fair’s $5 ticket was good for expanded entertainment.

• Attendance was 132,087, up 30% from 2008, at Wisconsin’s five-day Waukesha County Fair, says executive director Shari Black. Opening-day attendance, when admission was $1 instead of $9, was the highest in the fair’s 167-year history.

“People were definitely taking advantage of deals,” Black says.

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New food at 2009 Minnesota State Fair

Posted by CarnivalMidways.Com on August 1, 2009
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Author: Dale Van Every – Examiner.Com

As the “12 Days of Fun” that herald summer’s end—the Minnesota State Fair—approaches, it is again time to start thinking about the appropriate mix of culinary delights one will ingest at this year’s festival of foodstuffs. Failure to plan may result in serious gastrointestinal madness.

An awareness of the ever-growing array of cuisine will allow the avid fair-goer to adjust their intake accordingly.

So what’s the new 2009 fair fare? Topping the list, at least in terms of elegant titles: Peach-Glazed Pig Cheeks. Famous Dave’s (Dan Patch Ave & Liggett St.) marinates these pork cheeks in garlic, herbs & spices and honey, serving them, yes, on a stick grilled with peach-chipotle glaze. Yum. Also pork-related, Spam Burgers (on Cosgrove St. across from the Creative Activities Bldg.) has added the open-faced grilled spam sandwich and the breakfast spam sandwich.

For your potato fix, check out the Tornado Potato (spiral-cut tater on-a-stick) at Sunny’s Spiral Potatoes in the Food Building, or the Fry Dog (french-fry encrusted deep-fried hot dog on-a-stick !) at the Blue Moon Dine-In Theatre (Carnes and Chambers Streets). Those can eaten either before or after the Pot Roast Sundae (a scoop of mashed potatoes covered with roast beef, gravy, corn and a cherry tomato) at Main Street Butcher Block (corner of Dan Patch and Liggett).

Dessert? Plenty new from which to choose: Beignets (New Orleans style sweet fried dough) at Ragin’ Cajun (inside The Garden), Krumkakke or Deep-Fried Norwegian Banana Split, both new at Ole and Lena’s (Liggett at Carnes).

Other new foods at the 2009 Minnesota State Fair:

* Brat Burger (Ball Park Cafe)
* Fiddlestix (Mighty Midway)
* Foot-Long Dessert Pizza (Green Mill)
* Funnel Cake Fries (Apple Lil’s)
* Sunfish (Giggles Campfire Grill)
* Swedish Meatball & Gravy (Lynn’s Lefse)

There will also be several new food vendors at this year’s fair, including Arctic Island Slushies, Harry Singh’s Carribean Restaurant, and Texas Steak Out. Check out the complete list of fair food and locations here, and don’t forget the fair food rule: grease-sugar-milk-repeat. See you at the fair!

The 2009 Minnesota State Fair opens at 6:00 a.m., Thursday, August 27th and closes at 10:00 p.m. Monday, September 7th (Labor Day). As it approaches, check back here for further essential in-fair-mation!
For more info: Minnesota State Fair Website

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Sun Valley Rides Roll In

Posted by CarnivalMidways.Com on July 29, 2009
Posted in: News. Tagged: , .

By Jessica Bauerkemper – Sun Telegraph

SIDNEY – The smell of funnel cakes and the view from the top of the ferris wheel. Nothing is quite like the atmosphere at the county fair.

Sun Valley Rides makes the experience one to remember as they once again prepare to provide fun, family entertainment July 29 through Aug. 2.

Manager Rick Mahoney said he loves Sidney, it’s “like coming home.”

“We’ve gotten to know people here over the last few years,” he said. “I love this town.”

This is the fourth year for Sun Valley Rides at the Cheyenne County Fair and Mahoney said the employees have enjoyed every bit of it.

The carnival’s home base is in Peoria, Ariz., near Phoenix, but as most carnivals and circuses do, spends most of the time away from home.

“We travel 10 months out of the year,” he said.

Last summer the carnival was very much affected by inflated fuel prices.

“Gas in Texas was $4.59 a gallon,” he said. “One thing people don’t realize is that the price of gas

really affects us.”

This summer fuel prices are lower than last year. A blessing for the traveling business.

Sun Valley usually travels throughout the mid and southwest. It even gained notable national exposure a few years ago.

The carnival was featured in Touchstone Pictures 2007 hit movie “Wild Hogs” starring John Travolta, Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence and William H. Macy and although the recognition is great, a movie credit is not all the carnival has to boast about.

Sun Valley Rides features a thrilling, vintage 1934 octopus.

While the 65-year-old octopus may hold some nostalgia for some carnival-goers, the most popular ride is the Gee Wizz – a pick ‘em up and drop ‘em kind of ride.

Whether you like the antique octopus or the topsy turvy rides, Sun Valley’s slogan promises a place “where the sun never sets on the fun.”

The carnival will be open Wednesday through Friday from 5 to 11 p.m. and from 2 to 11 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Thursday, July 30 is family night where patrons can purchase a wristband for a discounted rate.

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