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ASTM Amusement Rides Committee Approves New Netting Standard – Design, Manufacture, Installation and Testing Are Covered

Posted by CarnivalMidways.Com on May 29, 2009
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Netting is a vital part of many amusement park and playground attractions. Recognizing this, Subcommittee F24.24 on Design and Manufacture has developed a new standard, ASTM F2375, Practice for Design, Manufacture, Installation and Testing of Climbing Nets and Netting/Mesh Used in Amusement Rides, Devices, Play Areas and Attractions.

Subcommittee F24.24 is part of ASTM International Committee F24 on Amusement Rides and Devices.

John Rexroad, president of Pucuda Inc. and Leading Edge Safety Systems Div., as well as an ASTM member, says that ASTM F2375 includes standardized prototype tests which benefit the designers, manufacturers and operators by having a consistent measure for designing the device netting into areas and ordering replacement components.

“In the past, the measures provided to the industry were not consistent and did not reflect the strength of the netting as it relates to use,” says Rexroad. “ASTM F2375 provides a baseline minimum netting strength that an engineer can utilize in calculating in the netting component much like other standardized material, such as steel.”

According to Rexroad, ASTM F2375 will be a core standard that can be included by reference in future standards to ensure that netted areas are considered as part of the subject matter for those standards.

Rexroad notes that the task group responsible for developing the new standard plans on continuing its work, addressing areas not currently covered in ASTM F2375 and ensuring that future versions of the standard are kept current with emerging issues regarding netting.

“Due to the complexity of the standard and areas in which the standard could be applied, the group felt that it was important to develop and have the core standard in place so future work could be reviewed with less confusion,” says Rexroad. “The task group looks forward to continuing work to assure that the new netting standard keeps pace with the industry and addresses new and existing applications.” Interested parties are invited to participate in the further development of ASTM F2375.

ASTM International standards are available from Customer Service (phone: 610-832-9585; service@astm.org) or at www.astm.org. For technical information, contact John Rexroad, Pucuda Inc. and Leading Edge Safety Systems Div., Deep River, Conn. (phone: 860-526-8004; jr@netting.com). ASTM Committee F24 meets Oct. 15-17 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

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Showmen’s Museum back on track, gets $1 million donation

Posted by CarnivalMidways.Com on May 28, 2009
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By YVETTE C. HAMMETT | The Tampa Tribune

RIVERVIEW – A $1 million anonymous donation has jump-started stalled plans for a museum that will highlight the colorful history of carnivals and those who run them.

A lack of available money had put the International Independent Showmen’s Association Museum plans on hold for months, long enough that zoning approvals for the property had expired, said Beau Pugh, a member of the International Independent Showmen’s Association. Changing the zoning from residential to a planned development would allow a museum in a residential area.

Museum officials went back to the county’s Zoning Hearing Master May 18 asking for a waiver, since the showmen’s association offices are already located on Riverview Drive and the museum will be located next door.

“We had an anonymous contribution that will put a big dent in getting the project going,” Pugh said. If the zoning is approved by the county commission, the association will get plans for the museum out to bid, he said.

A zoning hearing recommendation is due today. The matter is scheduled to go before the Hillsborough County Commission July 21.

Gibsonton and Riverview have for decades, been a wintering ground and retirement village for those in the carnival industry. Twenty-five trailers at the association’s offices house a world-class collection of carnival rides, midway food stands and side-show displays.

The association has already invested about $1 million in a 25,500 square foot museum building shell on the site. And even with the big donation, another $1 million is needed to get the museum fully operational, said Chuck Mayo, who serves as a voluntary archivist for thousands of carnival photos passed down through the generations.

“This is a big step for us,” Mayo said. “An even bigger step is raising the money. We need another million and that is based on how soon it gets done, since construction prices still keep going up.”
Still, getting the project back on track is a big plus, Pugh said.

“We have such a large collection of stuff, including an antique wooden Ferris wheel that will be put together as the centerpiece for the museum.

“So many from around Gibsonton and Riverview come from the carnival industry,” Pugh said. “People think we still live in tents and have no teeth.” This museum, Pugh said, will give the public a much more intimate look at the carnival and the life that surrounds it.

Pugh, whose father and grandfather started a carnival, is still traveling with Reithoffer Shows along the Eastern Seaboard, along with his dad.

Like him, about 85 percent of the association’s members still travel, he said. Many of the rest live in retirement areas in southern Hillsborough County.

Mayo, who is semi-retired, started about a year ago, archiving thousands of pictures of carnival life dating back to the late 1800s. Already, about 250 photos are on line and accessible to the public through the University of South Florida’s archive page. Go to www.museumoftheamericancarnival.org, then click on the association’s logo and follow it to the USF site.

“The museum will be a real showcase for carnival memorabilia,” Mayo said.

There is also an open invitation for other area museums that want to participate, Mayo said. “There’s a railroad museum in Dade City.” Groups like that can contact the showmen to get information on setting up an exhibit in the new museum, he said.

The showmen’s association’s office telephone number is (813) 677-3590.

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Amusement Ride Safety Week

Posted by CarnivalMidways.Com on May 24, 2009
Posted in: News. Tagged: , .

By WLKM

With the arrival of the Memorial Day holiday weekend, amusement parks and traveling shows are tuning up their rides and polishing their cotton candy spinners getting ready for a summer of fun.

Governor Jennifer Granholm issued a proclamation declaring May 24-30, 2009, as Amusement Ride Safety Week to bring awareness to the state’s amusement industry.

“It’s carnival and amusement park season again and we want to ensure that kids of all ages are safe. The majority of accidents are due to rider error so we encourage parents to talk to kids about avoiding horseplay and other dangerous acts while enjoying rides – it’s a dangerous combination,” said Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth (DELEG) Director Stanley “Skip” Pruss. “The safe enjoyment of amusement rides allows Michigan’s tourism industry to flourish, bringing millions of visitors each year and adding millions of dollars to our economy.”

National data compiled by the Saferparks organization (www.saferparks.org) indicate that most amusement ride accidents are suffered by children under the age of 13. The five years between ages seven and 12 account for nearly a third of all ride accidents.

There are many reasons for this including inexperience, lack of caution and youthful exuberance which, when coupled with large machines, can lead to tragedy. Thankfully such tragedies are rare, but parents and guardians can do much to ensure they are rare.

To reduce the chance of injury for all ages and still enjoy the ride, the DELEG offers these tips:

? Choose appropriate rides. Consider the nature of the ride and the rider’s abilities, sensitivities and health.

? Follow the rules; riders need to heed the age, height and weight restrictions and riding instructions. These were created by the rides’ designers and manufacturers.

? Secure loose clothing and objects.

? Stay seated with eyes front and hold on until the ride stops.

? Report incidents to the ride operator or contact the Amusement Safety Unit at (517) 241-9273.

Nine hundred amusement rides are licensed in Michigan including water slides and go-karts, carnival rides and roller coasters. The state also licenses 30 carnivals, 30 amusement parks, 60 family fun centers and 60 aquatic centers. New attractions are on their way to Michigan for the 2009 amusement season, including two roller coasters, five waterslides, two go-cart tracks, and nine carnival rides including one that is 100 feet tall and on which riders will travel 60 mph.

DELEG licenses more than 1,600 inspectors statewide and regulates training of the ride operators. Amusement ride riding is among the safest of activities and has long been a part of summer fun, but still injuries and risk of death can occur.

“Despite the best efforts of many people, accidents occur and on average, about 30 injuries are reported to the DELEG annually. This is a small figure considering somewhere between 50 million to 100 million rides are taken in Michigan annually. However, even one injury is too many in our opinion, so we do all we can to ensure the carnival rides are held to the highest safety standards.? We also ask that riders ensure they act appropriately,” Pruss said.

The vast majority of these injuries are caused by the riders themselves and are preventable. A recent study of nearly 500 injuries reported to DELEG over the last 12 years showed that 80 percent were caused by the rider’s own actions. The remaining 20 percent were caused by the ride operators or failures of the equipment or a combination of both.

It is important to note that inflatable “bounce houses,” bungee jumps and climbing walls are not regulated in Michigan. Users of these devices should use the same recommendations and be especially alert to the condition of the device and the attentiveness of the operators.

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Angry vendors exit Stampede

Posted by CarnivalMidways.Com on May 24, 2009
Posted in: News. Tagged: .

By Elliott Cochran – The Conroe Courier

As the Lone Star Stampede reached the halfway point of its three-day run – boasting of entertainment, barbecue cook-offs and carnival rides – some vendors complained the event wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

In its second year, the Stampede concludes at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds beginning at 10 a.m. today. But several vendors could be seen packing up their wares Saturday afternoon.

One vendor, Glenn Ward, of Tomball, said the Stampede’s projected attendance and schedule of events were not what he was told, resulting in financial losses.

“We’ve been more fortunate than a lot of other people out here,” said Ward, a food vendor. “But we were told that 45,000 people were expected to be here and there’s no way anything near that came out.

“You’ve got vendors who are already packing up today (Saturday) to go home and cut their losses,” he said.

Jeff Kessler, president of the Lone Star Stampede, said organizers did everything they could to insure the event was a success for everyone involved.

“We’ve got people who are mad and people who are happy but we’ve still got vendors who want to get in here tomorrow (Sunday),” he said. “We poured our hearts out for over a year organizing and promoting this thing, but it’s in God’s hands now.”

Kessler said the event’s total attendance has not been tabulated.

Glen Byler, who sits on the Stampede’s board of directors, said the threat of rain affected attendance Saturday. He said efforts to promote the event were in place months in advance, including the distribution of 9,400 free passes to schools across the county.

Ward said a petition citing the inaccuracies of attendance and the schedule of events has been circulated and signed by more than 50 vendors Saturday afternoon.

Ward said he brought approximately $1,000 in food that may have to be thrown away – based on the business the past two days.

Tomball resident Lonnie Markham and his wife Vivian had a booth in which they sellng purses, jewelry and accessories. Of their years attending fairs across the state, the Markhams said the Stampede was their worst experience.

“I was expecting a $5,000 weekend, based on what was promoted, but as of this (Saturday) afternoon, I’ve made around $35,” Lonnie Markham said.

While some vendors complained about slow sales, Sabrina Packer said her toy stand has faired well, and that the attendance is not the responsibility of the promoter.

“Everybody out here has been upset, but’s a gamble we take when we come out here and we should all know that by now every time we open for business,” she said. “This is not their (the organizers’) fault, period.

“This goes with the economy and everything else going on. The volunteers who are running this program kept their end of the bargain.”

Last year’s Stampede featured more than 400 rodeo participants competing for $50,000. But Stampede Vice President Jerry Rutledge said Hurricane Ike forced a change in the rodeo schedule for 2009, and the Stampede offered only team roping and barrel racing.

Earlier this month Rutledge said the Stampede has established itself as a nonprofit organization and planned to give a portion of event’s attendance revenue to the Montgomery County Fair.

For more information, visit at http://www.conroerodeo.com.

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Manure, other waste will power fair’s midway

Posted by CarnivalMidways.Com on May 23, 2009
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By Michael Cass • THE TENNESSEAN

The Ferris wheel at the Tennessee State Fair will be running on an, uh, alternative energy source this summer.

The fair, which is trying to improve its reputation and draw bigger crowds, plans to use its 12,500 animals’ manure to power the midway this year. A mobile bio oil processor will convert all those cow patties, as well as hay, straw, bedding, corn stover and switchgrass, into 30,000 gallons of bio-diesel oil.

The oil will be mixed with methanol to fuel the midway’s generators throughout the fair, which runs Sept. 11-20.

“We’re turning poop into power,” said Chrysty Fortner, the fair’s marketing director.

The mobile bio oil processor will be the centerpiece of the fair’s environmental initiatives. Fair organizers are planning a green energy expo focused on environmentally sustainable technology and living.

Fortner said she found the mobile bio oil processor when she started looking for items to cut from the Tennessee State Fairgrounds’ budget so she could preserve advertising dollars in a reinvention year that could be the fair’s last at the existing site south of downtown.

She discovered the fairgrounds — which are owned by Metro government and stand to lose more than $1 million this fiscal year — had been paying $29,000 a year to have manure hauled to the landfill.

Looking to do something less wasteful with the waste, Fortner discovered a machine created to convert wood chips left over from timber harvesting into oil.

The mobile bio oil processor, 8 feet wide by 40 feet long, heats materials as high as 900 degrees Fahrenheit to collect gas from it and condense the gas into oil — kind of like moonshine.

“It’s very similar to a still,” said Scott Tumperi, an engineer familiar with the process.

Along with the oil, the mobile bio oil processor produces a granular material called biochar. It can be used as a fertilizer, and Fortner said the fair will give some to any fairgoer who wants it.

Fair board member Alex Joyce said he hopes the machine will make people pay attention to the fair.

“I’m hoping it’ll create buzz, where school teachers will hear about it and encourage their students to go, where environmentalists will hear about it and want to check it out,” Joyce said.

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