Traveling Carnival News,Pictures and Videos.

By Ron Weber, MCW Editor

Gibsonton, FL — Overcast skies hurt attendance early on Thursday as the IISF Extravaganza entered its third day. By afternoon, the skies had cleared and crowds began to come. Many people have been visiting the MCW booth at the show and we get to keep up on the news and information that has occurred during the year.

Andy Deggeller came by to work on his website with Matt Cook and we had a chance to talk with him about Deggeller Attractions. Andy is Don Deggeller,s son and general manger of the show. Don is now the sole owner of the show, having purchased Greg Deggeller,s shares of the company. Jeff Deggeller still travels with Deggeller Attractions as well as an independent with his Wave Swinger, Cliffhanger, Dark Ride and funhouse.

A big change for the Deggeller this year is the move of the Virginia State Fair from the city of Richmond to nearby Doswell, VA, home of King,s Dominion. “The fair has done everything they could possibly do to make it (the state fair) successful”, said Deggeller. “I am very optimistic about the fair”, he added. Deggeller said the midway would be laid out similar to the midway as it was at Richmond International Raceway, the former home of the fair.

The show will be bringing in the same number of rides as they previously have had and they will be doing some additional landscaping to make their presentation even more attractive at the fair,s new home.

Deggeller Attractions will open next week at their hometown event, the Martin County Fair, in Stuart, FL. They will then play several dates in Florida before moving to Ft. Bragg, NC. From there the show jumps to Virginia Beach, VA for several weeks before spending the balance of the summer in VA and MD. They play the Howard County Fair, the Price William County Fair and several other events culminating in the Maryland State Fair over Labor Day, one of the Top 50 Fairs in the US. They then jump to Greensboro, NC before coming back to Doswell, VA for the Virginia State Fair. They then jump to Little Rock, AR for another Top 50 event, the Ralph Shoptaw-managed Arkansas State Fair, before ending the season in Deland, FL.

Deggeller Attractions has been busy in the off-season purchasing new equipment and working on several amenity projects. The bought a new office from Hi-Tech Trailers in Los Angeles. The modern design has a private office for Don Deggeller and 15 additional workstations with high speed connections.

In winterquarters, they have been refurbishing their Raiders and Ring of Fire. They area also developing some unique new facades for the midway that will double as storage for the show,s midway.

Deggeller had their foreign worker visas approved, both J-1 and H2B, and they will be taking on employees from Mexico and South Africa.

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New Rides, important seminars

By Ron Weber, MCW Editor
Another sunny Florida day met visitors to the IISF Trade Show on Wednesday. Wisdom,s new Windsurfer ride made its appearance and caused a buzz on the midway.

While some have lamented the lack of new rides at the event, a closer inspection of many of the manufacturers have new rides to offer this year.

Jim Ziaja of World Wide Service and Supply is one such example. Zaija represents Preston and Barbieri as well as Tivoli here in the U.S. For the last several years, his main staple has been the Remix II ride. He said 2008 was a good year with lots of service work. Two Remixes were sold, one to Gene Dean,s Fiesta Shows and a second to Majestic Midways. In addition to the Remixes, a Flying Swing was sold to Talley Amusements.
World Wide will be offering several new rides in 2009 and beyond including a Spin Spider and a “Nascar”-type bumper car ride.

The Spin Spider has 12 arms and holds 24 people. It racks on only one trailer. A modern version of an old favorite, the ride should get plenty of attention in 2009. The other ride Zaija has in development is the “Nascar”-type bumper cars. The ride will have a track that the cars are driven around. The cars will be able to bump into each other as they go. The ride will be open topped with pickups in the floor. The ride should have a 48″ height requirement.

Zaija is hoping for a good year in 2009 with the new attractions and he has one open slot for delivery of a Remix II in June of this year that he hopes to sell here at the trade show.

Earlier this year it was announced that US sales of KMG rides would be handled by Rides 4-U. In Gibtown, KMG lent support for sales by way of Peter Theunisz from their headquarters in Holland. Theunisz was on hand last year when he was one of the few manufacturers to bring a new, unsold ride to the trade show. He was able to sell the Swing-It within a day of opening. Theunisz remains very optimistic about the industry both in the US and Europe. While the economy in Europe is much like the economy in the US, he said there would be “no influence from the economy on our (the ride) industry.”

For the past several years, the Fireball and Freak Out rides have been very popular in the US. At the trade show they have Powers Great American,s Freak Out ride. Since their introduction, they have sold 20 – 25 Fireballs and Freak Outs in the US.

The new ride they have introduced this year is the Inversion. The ride is similar to the Freak Out but the cars go all the way over the top. KMG sold an Inversion to Tim Casper of PBJ Happy Days Shows. This is the first model sold in the US and the 11th overall. Of the others, nine were sold in Europe and one in Australia.
Another new piece they have introduced this past year is the XXL Swing ride. This ride towers approximately 140, above the midway and costs 1.5 million Euros or about $2,000,000 US. One ride was recently sold to Switzerland.

Looking ahead to 2010, KMG is developing a secret new piece that will stand 200, tall in its largest version. Other sizes available will be 140, and 100,. Theunisz said the ride will travel on only two trailers but the retail price will come in at about 1.5 million Euros (2m US).

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Background Check Seminar Conducted, New Products, and More!

By Ron Weber,MWC Editor

Sunny skies and warm temperatures graced the opening day of the Extravaganza and Trade Show on the IISF Club grounds in Gibsonton, FL. At 10 am the manufacturers and suppliers were ready for another year of business with many uncertain about the economy in 2009.

While the day got off to a slow start by mid-afternoon, a nice crowd began to stream through the aisleways. The MCW booth had many people stop by to say hello and sign up for our email list.

Lee Kolozy came by to report on his new venture, midwayads.com. Kolozy is a columnist for Side Show World and has been in the business all of his life. He saw a great need for the lost art of bill posting and decided to sink his time and resources into the new venture.

In 2008 he promoted circuses in Northern Indiana from May 1 through July 4th. He then worked for several carnivals in the south including Glen Geren in Jackson, TN.

The unique selling point of Kolozy’s business is his “showmobile”, a mobile printing center where he can make posters and coupons in the same day on the road. By printing in this manner Kolozy minimizes waste, only producing what is needed, resulting in a savings to the show owner.

“Anyone can get the paper out”, said Kolozy, “its getting the coupons back in that is the hard part”. He said good strategies like getting the coupons close to the register, having a good looking ad and the offer of a significant discount are all factors in the coupon’s return. Kolozy claims a return rate of 5%, well above the national average of 2%.

Getting the posters and coupons in retail stores takes entails spending time with the store owner and building a rapport so they will distribute the coupons and assist the event. “For every four locations I visit, only one will take the information”, he said.

Kolozy observed that in this tough economy, promotions becomes even more important as people are more and more frugal with their advertising dollars. “Show owners invest so much in equipment and trucks, they also need to invest in these invitations to come to their event”, he added.

Kolozy’s midwayads.com offers several packages for bill posting from simple to deluxe.

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KMBC-TV

Display Brings Back Carnival Sideshow Items

Watch the News Clip Here
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. — The days of the carnival sideshow are being brought back to life at the C.W. Parker Carousel Museum in Leavenworth.
The oddities that used to lure people into sideshows in the late 1800s through the 1950s, such as the two-headed creature, the mermaid and the sword swallower, are now on display.

“This is a freak show — things you don’t normally see anymore,” museum director Jerry Reinhardt told KMBC’s Maria Antonia. “If they were born today, they’d get medical attention to take care of deformities, but they had to exhibit themselves to the public.”

The display includes a two-headed duck and shrunken heads.

“There may have been some real ones, I don’t know that these are. Nobody knows for sure,” Reinhardt said.

It was the world of C. W. Parker, who was known for carousels and traveling carnivals.

The carnival exhibit opened a few days ago. For more information, visit firstcitymuseums.org/carousel.

By Michael Daigle • Daily Record

Lucy A. Murphy, of Jefferson, is in the business of fun.

Fun, like safety, she said, is serious business.

Her employer, Zamperla Inc., has been making roller coasters, amusement park rides and even those single-rider shopping mall rides for more than a century.

Zamperla rides are found in amusement parks operated by Disney, Six Flags Great Adventure, Universal Studios, Dorney Park in Allentown, Pa., and even are used by the ride operator at the Sussex County fair, she said.

But Murphy also is one of the people in New Jersey who oversees the industry as a member of the Advisory Board on Carnival Amusement Ride Safety.

That board is where the fun side of her career meets the safety side.

Murphy, along with Ernest Niles, of Montville, and Adam Wallach, of Madison, were recently nominated for reappointment by Gov. Jon Corzine. The nominations are subject to state Senate approval. Murphy has served on the board for about seven years, she said. The board meets five times a year.

Zamperla started as a circus operator in the 19th century and in the 20th century became a ride manufacturer. The Italian company has a reputation for quality rides, including roller coasters, Ferris wheels, pirate galleons and water flues, she said.

It is also known as an innovator of family-friendly “flat” rides that provide excitement but not the terror of the taller, faster roller coasters. At Dorney Park, Zamperla has installed the Dragon Coaster and Woodstock Express, for example.

Murphy said she finds herself perusing ride operations while visiting carnival and fairs. She said she looks for some basic things: Are there proper signs visible about the ride’s height requirements? Is the operator attentive and the ride property maintained?

Her job for Zamperla involves many of the same issues that come before the state ride safety board, she said. It is a detailed job that tracks documentation, deals with customer concerns, as well as safety and repairs. Prior to working for Zamperla, Murphy said she worked for Six Flags, when the company was part of Time-Warner Corp. and headquartered in Parsippany.

“We are selling fun,” Murphy said, but at the same time “safety is the prime goal, a safer experience.”

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SUPER BOWL DELAYS SHOW ONE WEEK

By Ron Weber, MCW Editor

Gibsonton, FL – The International Independent Showmen’s Association is busy at work preparing for the 2009 Trade Show and Extravaganza. The show will be a week later this year, February 10 – 14 due to the Super Bowl’s visit to Tampa in 2009.

The club sees several benefits in the move. First, the event is after the conclusion of several fairs, including the South Florida Fair, so this will free up many people to visit the trade show. Second, the trade show will be the second week of the Florida State Fair which will give vendors, concessionaires and ride operators a chance to get settled in Tampa before coming to the trade show.

2009 posed several challenges for the IISF, chief among them a faltering economy. While the number of vendors will remain the same several are “cutting back on space because of the economy”, said incoming IISA President Steve Ianni.

Some vendors such as Wisdom Industries will be bringing new rides and attractions. Wisdom will be debuting their new Windsurfer ride along with Wade Show’s new Drag Strip Mega Slide. The ride which Frank Zaitshik, owner of Wade Show calls “breathtaking”, promises to be one of the highlights of the show.

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By John Goodspeed – Express-News

Getting a fruit cup sample seems like a simple thing.

Walk up to a booth at the Family Fair during the 60th annual San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, which opens today at the AT&T Center, and someone hands it to you with a smile.

But a lot of ingredients go into delivering that tasty treat. A sponsor may need 40 pallets of product to hand out. Deliveries, though, must be made when the grounds are closed to avoid endangering the crowds.

“So our volunteers take forklifts to get the stuff, drive a certain route and stage the pallets behind the scenes to keep the area behind the booths neat and tidy just so you can walk up and say, ‘I’ll have a fruit cup’ — and they’re handing them out all day,” exhibit director Ellen Andrus said.

That is just the tip of the funnel cake at the festival, which helped earn several awards in December, including best of show, from the International Association of Fairs and Expositions. The honor came on the heels of the fourth-in-a-row large indoor rodeo of the year award from the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association.

“Everybody won the IAFE award,” Andrus said. “Family Fair is a major component, but we are all slices of the pie.”

Hers, though, is a heaping serving.

Andrus coordinates activities with more than 1,000 people, including 600 commercial exhibitors, some 120 bands, the carnival, concessionaires and about 200 volunteers.

“There’s no way to do it without them,” she said of her share of almost 5,000 rodeo volunteers.

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By Jessica Vander Velde, St.Peterburg Time

TAMPA — Grab your coat and step right up — the Florida State Fair is here. Today, the midway will light up, and country songs will blare as a man with a microphone promises to guess your weight.

There are 90 rides and more than 100 food stands, but expect to see fewer games this year because of the economy, fair spokeswoman Denise Shreaves said.

The games are hurting because visitors consider them optional at the fair, where stomach-turning rides, greasy food and free entertainment rule.

“They look at games as a luxury,” Shreaves said.

On Wednesday, colorful flags frantically flapped overhead as the clanking of metal rang out. Workers hurriedly set up stands in hopes that Floridians will brave the cold today.

Food stands with airbrushed pictures of gooey pizza, cotton candy and caramel apples sit in neat rows. This week, visitors can try the now infamous chocolate-dipped bacon.

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Mark Hornbeck and Charlie Cain / Detroit News Lansing Bureau

LANSING — Gov. Jennifer Granholm wants to eliminate state funding for the 160-year-old Michigan State Fair, slash elected officials’ pay by 10 percent and slim down state government from 18 departments to eight.

The proposals, to be outlined in her seventh State of the State address Tuesday, underscore the gravity of Michigan’s budget crisis, and the impact of the national recession on this state.

“The governor will say state government can no longer be all things to all people,” Liz Boyd, spokeswoman for Granholm, told The Detroit News. “When the governor says these cuts will be painful, that comes from the heart.”

Lt. Gov. John Cherry will lead a year-long commission charged with reducing the number of state departments in future years, but Granholm will propose scrapping the 226-employee, $52.2 million Department of History, Arts and Libraries this year.

The state faces a $1.6 billion deficit for the budget year beginning Oct. 1, as state revenues dwindle due to the limping economy and a jobless rate of more than 10 percent.

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By BRENDAN KIRBY – Al.Com

DAUPHIN ISLAND — It was 15 minutes until 1 p.m. Saturday, and the Island Mystics Mardi Gras parade was about to begin.

For Lee Morrison and other vendors, though, the day was about to end.

She’d been working Bienville Boulevard since about 10 a.m., selling bags of pink cotton candy out of a shopping cart. With the floats about to roll, Morrison was trying to get in a few last sales before she would have to get out of the way.

Morrison, of Morrison Show Fronts, said she has been working Carnival parades for about 15 years, but her roots as an event vendor stretch much further back than that. She is a fifth-generation carnival worker and has traveled from Miami to New York for parades and fairs.

“My life’s in carnival,” the Mobile native said. “We’ve traveled all over. I’ve been traveling my whole life.”

Morrison said her family owns Diamond State Amusements, which sets up rides at state fairs. Of all the events, though, she said Carnival season is her favorite.

The family business might not live to a sixth generation, however. Her 17-year-old daughter, Ashley, was helping out Saturday. But she said her ambitions lie with nursing.

“I’ll at least go to college, and then I’ll know I have something,” she said.

The weather for Dauphin Island’s second parade of the year could not have been better, and hundreds of folks seemed to enjoy the captain-themed procession, with pirate floats and other boat floats passing by.

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