AT: B. Derek Shaw
EASTERN and MID-WEST United States — As COVID-19 ravishes on, it is taking a toll on the hearts, minds and pocketbooks of all, including those in the portable amusement industry side of things. To survive and at least pay a few of the mounting bills, numerous small and mid-size operators have gone to putting one or more of their food concession trailers along the road of their winter quarters, in shopping centers or other visible and accessible locations.
An early operation started mid-March with Houghton Enterprises, Cochranville, Pennsylvania. “The first location at our winter quarters has been there since March 15, and every week since then we have been adding locations in nearby towns,” said Jimmy Houghton, co-owner of the carnival. “As of now, we have four locations in the towns surrounding us. We are going to be adding our ice cream trailer to the mix next week with a more permanent location and will be open every day.”
Houghton talked about the response from patrons. “Customers have been very patient and gracious. They love the fact that we are giving them something they can’t get every day and are proud to help support us and local small business. We are, as a family, so humble to the generosity of our local neighbors and also our carnival/fair friends and family that have drove far and near to help support. This also shows the power of social media with only a post.”
“We decided to open our food trailers right at our house. We figured we weren’t losing either way, since we didn’t have to pay anyone,” said Christina Benner, co-owner of Penn Valley Shows, Middleburg, Pennsylvania. When AT spoke to them they had only been open one weekend, however, Penn Valley plans on continuing every weekend until this is over due to the initial weekend reception. “The response has been overwhelmingly great. People are so thankful we are doing this, that it gives them a piece of normalcy and memories of better summertime fun. People are also coming to support us because they are worried whether we will be okay without our events running,” said Benner.
The show has offered to loan equipment to first responders and health care providers, but no one has taken them up on their offer. They have, however, set up a food trailer at their local 911 center and offering free items to all responders and workers in the center. “It’s just amazing to see everyone come together as a town and support one another in this time of need. If anything [good] comes out of this, I hope it’s that we continue in the old hometown values mindset,” said Benner.
Rounding out the trio in the Commonwealth is Snyder’s Amusements, Greencastle, Pennsylvania who started in mid-April. “Our season was due to open April 23. So far, we are officially cancelled into early May and there is no definitive way to know when that will stop. Initially my concerns were limited, but we will not have our usual income until the unforeseeable future. As a result, I insisted we set up a funnel cake trailer in our home town; that quickly evolved into putting our Schantz grab joint to work adding funnel cakes and Oreos to the menu. We reduced our prices slightly due to the fact we are set up in our own driveway and have few of the expenses that our typical travelling operation would have,” said Adam Brotzman, general manager with Snyder’s.
They plan to add a Friday evening operation as well and see the value in social media in getting out the word. “We are set up right in front of my shop, three miles from town. I put a single post on Facebook and linked it to a ’What’s going on in Greencastle PA‘ page Friday evening, and boom, we had nearly 600 shares by Sunday, and who knows how many shares from [those] shares. The response was incredible. We have a drive-through, stay-in-your-car operation. Most people have shown up with huge orders, nothing like you would see at an ordinary carnival, but with some people waiting in line for nearly two hours, they were the happiest and most appreciative people you could imagine. It really made us happy to get such support and [we] are really excited to do it again. I had, what I thought, a reasonable expectation. Brandi [Brotzman’s wife] had a minimal expectation. Neither of us could have imagined the turnout that we experienced.”
There were some initial hesitations. Brotzman explained, “Our biggest hold back initially is we have a five and one year old, both girls, and then it is just the two of us. To our great fortune, our sister-in-law was excited to help out with child care and my youngest brother was anxious to jump in and help out. We have some wonderful neighbors and they get some real joy out of seeing us do these off-the-wall things. They were enormously helpful too. It truly takes a village.”
Moving westward, Triple Treat Shows, Cincinnati, Ohio, has donated the use of a ticket box to Mercy Health Fairfield Hospital, Fairfield, Ohio. “The ticket box is located outside the hospital so [staff] can safely talk to patients’ loved ones and potential patients. This also provides the workers a safer environment out of the weather and behind glass to talk to these people. This service is being provided from us for no cost at this time,” said Courtney Clements, daughter and concession manager of Triple Treat. It has been situated outside the emergency entrance since the beginning of April.
Clements has some friends and other family members opening up food stands in private lots for the public to easily stop by to purchase food. “There are two food trailers at the Kissel Brothers Shows shop off of [Ohio Route] 128 in Cleves/Miamitown, Ohio, which is a very busy road, and access to the shop is very easy for customers to get in and out of and is also very big and can accommodate for semi drivers. The other food trailer is located off of Harrison Road at the Blue Bell Bar parking lot. This is also a busy road and has a big parking lot that can accommodate semi drivers as well. The response from customers is great. They all seem grateful for everything.”
Clements noted that the food trailers have been inspected and licensed to operate. They are taking extra steps to make sure the public is safe, including marking lines on the ground in six foot increments for social distancing, as well as providing hand sanitizer for customers to clean their hands.
Traveling south, Pope Concessions and Rides, Greenfield, Tennessee, has one food trailer on the road moving through various shopping centers in west Tennessee. “[We are] picking towns that we normally have fairs or festivals in, that the food does well at,” said James Roy Pope, owner. Customer response has been, as Pope puts it, “overwhelmingly nice and grateful that we are there.” The company has offered the use of food trailers to the school system if they need them to serve food out of. The carnival is doing their part to be charitably minded. “We take our tips each week and give them to fundraisers or charities that need them,” said Pope.
There is a silver lining to all of this as Pope explains. “In a time that seems as though everything is closing in on us, it has helped my family to get out, see our friends and customers actually smiling and happy.”
This article appears in the MAY 2020 issue of Amusement Today.
View the entire issue for FREE with our digital edition!
