by Sharon Barlow, Editor, Midway Magazine
For more than a century, the travel amusement industry has logged millions of miles, served countless sticks of cotton candy and candy apples, and given even more rides on merry-go-rounds, Ferris wheels, Tilt-a-Whirls, or Himalayas. Generations of great show owners have welcomed generations of guests to their midways, eliciting smiles bright enough to rival the most brilliant lights. Yet 2020 will now always be remembered as the year the lights went out. The music of the carousel was silenced, and the Ferris wheel ceased to turn. Millions of people watched in disbelief as great events like the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and the Miami Dade Youth Festival closed their gates to stop the spread of COVID-19.
In the beginning of February, the show owners’ greatest concern was their spot in the lineup for receiving their H-2B labor, and the carnivals like Butler Amusements, North American Midway Entertainment, Ray Cammack Shows and Wade Shows were the objects of envy, not so much because of their size or grandeur, but because of their early start dates insuring they would have their help. Now, Danny Huston, owner of North American Midway Entertainment, talks of the difficult decision he made not just to send his help back but the difficulties in even finding airports where they could fly out. Similarly, Ben Pickett of Ray Cammack Shows tells of sending a large percentage of their help back with a return ticket that he hopes they will be able to use while the ones who chose to stay are readjusting their lives to include social distancing. Bill Johnson of Fantasy Amusements is grateful that he was allotted Group D.
I must admit I am still somewhat new to this industry. What I know of it, I have learned from you. For little more than five years, you have been sharing your stories with me and allowing me to then share those stories with others. Honestly, I’m not completely sure what Doc Rivera, the curator for the Showmen’s Museum, means when he says, “with it.” I am, however, amazed by it, blessed by it and truly inspired by it. One thing that has always impressed me most is the indomitable spirit of the American carnival from the owners to the foremen to the ride operators to the concessionaires and the many others who make this industry move. As I have spent the last few days listening to the plans of just a few of these great people, and hearing the ideas of companies like McGowan Allied Specialty Insurance and Firestone Financial as to how they want to assist their partners during these times, I have no doubts that the age of the American carnival is far from over. Yes, the first few months of 2020 are just the ashes of a fire that started to burn so brightly, but just as out of the ashes the phoenix rises, so will this great industry.
