Blog - Tales From the Road
Experiences and information from the world’s largest traveling midway on their journeys across North America.
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Wednesday, 30 September 2009 |
After a full day of traveling I arrived in West Springfield, MA to enjoy The Big E. I had visited the fairgrounds for the first time in the springtime for the OABA Board Meeting hosted by OABA Chairman Wayne McCary. However, arriving in the fall, everything was so much different; including the fall foliage in the Northeast. It was SHOWTIME, my very first Big E. Arriving to the grounds, greeted by parking directors who were smiling. I worked my way through thousands of fairgoers, past gardens of flowers, live elephants, stages of performers and aisles of the fair industries best food concessions.
I was personally toured by my great colleague, Scooter Korek- a walking encyclopedia of fairgrounds throughout North America. We began at the New England Center with everything to see and eat from the famous Big E Cream Puffs to Swedish clogs, pastel portraits, rubber chickens and giant dog bones. We visited the amazing Circus museum, featuring Circus posters and miniature carnival and circus models. On our way down the Avenue of the States we experienced the Daily Parade filled with...
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Monday, 31 August 2009 |
Why is the Great Indiana State Fair so much fun? Maybe because I am so lucky to spend three whole weeks living right beside the famous Monon Trail, eating really good corn on the cob and getting a newspaper hand delivered to my RV every day. People always seem to be amazed when we tell them that we wake up with a rollercoaster in our front yard nearly every day for nine months straight. We live and breathe midways, stampedes, fairs and exhibitions in peak season. There is nothing better than receiving great hospitality on the road while finding out the best-kept secrets at the fairs and festivals.
After a 2,200 mile drive from central Alberta, I pulled into the fairgrounds in Indianapolis. The grounds looked spectacular! Manicured lawns, beautiful trees, corn stalks, sunflowers, livestock and young farmers were everywhere. And of course, Cindy Hoye, the fair’s executive director, was monitoring the final touches of State Fair set-up while welcoming everyone with a warm Indiana welcome.
The media luncheon kicked things off nicely at the newly restored and relocated Normandy...
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Sunday, 31 May 2009 |
Mike Rinehart, Corporate Director of Safety was hired in the first year of the consolidation of North American Midway. Mike implemented all policies and procedures relating to safety, maintenance and employee training. With the establishment of NAME in November of 2004, the company immersed its core values (safety, customer service and teamwork) within each employee and manager. Mike Rinehart and Amber Swedgan led the creation of a training video series focusing on midway safety, midway rides, games, food concessions and ticketing. Each video is comprehensive and covers all company policies and procedures and safety information for each employee’s specific role. “Our goal was to create a training program that was inclusive of every department on the midway, rich with information and easy to understand. Regardless if a new employee was hired at the Calgary Stampede or St. Mary’s Church in Chicago we would have the tools on-site to provide them with the best in midway training prior to employment”. – Mike Williams, CEO. Most importantly, to keep up with the latest safety...
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Tuesday, 31 March 2009 |
This winter, unlike any other winter, the students of Conklin International Academy were welcomed by their teacher Miss Linda Brewer in a virtual classroom. When the ended in October, the students dispersed across the nation to their respective homes in Illinois, Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida. Although hundreds of miles apart, the students joined for class with the aid of their computers, web cameras and microphones. The internet kept them linked for academics and socialization.
The idea began in February of 2008 when John Gallant and Conrad Duke set up a computer network in the traveling school trailer. A new curriculum distributed by Alpha Omega Publications was in its trial stages at the Conklin International Academy. During the traveling season assignments were completed on the students’ computers. With the aid of the network, the teacher could monitor their progress from her computer. Messages were exchanged between the teacher and students by attaching notes to the assignments. Yet, while traveling together, the class met for cooperative course work, and the...
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Sunday, 30 November 2008 |
On November 1st I arrived in New York City to run my first full marathon. With over 700 training miles under my belt since April and many laps around fairgrounds all over North America, I was ready. Valerio Ferrari and wife Marilisa, from Zamperla treated me to a pre-race dinner at a fabulous New York City Italian restaurant where I indulged in a high carb dinner along with great encouragement.
At 3:30 am I woke up to a cold windy whistling morning. I layered up in plenty clothing including hat, gloves and scarf. I grabbed my breakfast-to-go, sleeping bag and all race necessities. I headed downstairs to meet a taxi to take me to the New York public library. The library was where 39,000 racers were lined up for miles to board buses to the start line in Staten Island. This marathon starts runners at one point (Staten Island) and finishes at another (Central Park). Since the race started on the Verrazano Bridge, the City of New York closed the bridge at 5:00 am to all traffic. At 4:30 I unloaded from the bus in Staten Island where the predawn cold was numbing and wind was miserable...
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