" And just think how fun it would be if they brought back the old peep show tents they had back in the day.lol "

" I totally agree. Things like that and the price for the Lytle Pool are too high. Unless you opt to buy a season pass for everyone. You end up spending $20 or more each time your family goes. Even at that, the season pass's are more than a $100. Working parents can't afford that. Yes we have more to offer kids here than other towns, but we need to do something about the prices. Don't even get me started on taking yer family out for a night at the movies. Parents, you know what I'm sayin. "

" I like your idea, Dale. The Coles county fair crowds get smaller by the year. I remember when the crowds were so big that those enterprising folks living in that area allowed parking in their yards for a fee. As a result of the dwindling attendance numbers, that hasn't been the case for years.

I think you're right, giving free rides would result in bigger crowds which would result in increased sales in food and other things like bigger crowds for the grandstand shows.

Being a privately owned for profit business, I seriously doubt the owners of the fair will consider it. Some times business people can't see their nose in front of themselves, and I suspect that's the case here. "

" Sounds like a winner to me - for all concerned. "

" Wish in one hand
S%#& in the other!
See which gets the fullest first!!!!!!!! "

" How about "free" healthcare too?

LMAO! "

" What a tremendous idea! How else to best serve the underprivileged, as well as boost the vendor's sales! I know from experience at Neoga Days and speaking with people there, many of them simply bought the $15 bracelet on armband night, but did not have funds to buy any food or beverages for their children. It was a blazing 95 degrees out. Wouldn't it have been so nice for "our" children to have been able to had something to drink and still been able to ride the rides? What ever happened to being a community and taking care of each other? Perhaps we should spend our money on gas money to drive to Martinsville fair, where they believe in their community. Thank you, Dale, for bringing up such a wonderful idea and presenting it to our community! Hopefully, the right people will listen! "

" The fair has been the pits for years, as HP noted, but hey, atleast the carnies are all wearing like shirts now, even though they look like they're over ten years old.

You want a good time?

Go to the fair & induldge in some good food & treats, & maybe bug SA wannabes.
LOL!
;-) "

" I think this is a good idea, they could even use this idea for BagelFest as well. Draw in people from surrounding towns to help out the vendors and such lets hope this happens it would be wonderful in this economy. "

" Where would the money come from to pay the carnival ride company. Mattoon is spending all its money on fixing up private property and Charleston seems to be growing broke buying up deserted buildings, tearing them down and selling the property at a loss.

Maybe we can get Ashmore, Oakland, Cooks Mill, and Humboldt to pay for it. "

" What would be wrong with closing down the carnival and dis-inviting the low life from coming into our county? Have you ever taken a close look at the folks who are responsible for erecting and maintaining those rides? And you want children risking their lives on them?

Hate to disagree with you, Dale, but giving away free rides so poor folks can buy carny food seems like a wash to me. If the poor families you're worried about can't afford the $80 in rides, they also can't afford the junk food.

Let's stay home and pay our hiked up real estate taxes. According to Joe Biden, it's the patriotic thing to do, dunchano, ay? "

" smileyone, let's see now, at Neoga Days, did they have the water faucets turned off. Were our children prohibited from drinking the water that's already provided by the Village of Neoga?

If "our" poor parents were unable to tell "our" poor children "Hey, we can't afford it." maybe we should set up some taxpayer funded parenting classes where the word NO is practiced over and over again - until everyone without the funds to buy "stuff" finally gets the message. "

" Once again, somebody wants something for nothing. We don't care as long as someone else pays for it. As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for. "

" UUmmm.. If I am not mistaken... Coles County Fair does not own the rides so how can they give away something for free they dont have a right to?? "

" The oldest county fair in Illinois is also the worst. "

" Jim,61931 already supports a 3 ring circus and an illegal recycling dump,so our village has no interest in supporting the fair,thanks anyway. "

" smilin Martinsville also does not own their own. You would write it in the contract with the carnival company, and I am sure it would cost more in the contract. "

" smilininonu2 wrote on Jun 28, 2009 11:31 AM:

" UUmmm.. If I am not mistaken... Coles County Fair does not own the rides so how can they give away something for free they dont have a right to?? "

As Rohn so aptly points out, neither does Martinsville, and it would call for a contractual agreement.

The way it works is that all food vendors contract with the owner of the rides. He decides who can and who cannot set up a food vending operation. Of course he works on a percentage of what they take in. If what so many are saying is a good idea, then he should make up lost revenue from free rides from his increased profit form the food vendors.

The point is that if Martinsville has been doing it for 3 years it must work that way. Trust me, if they were losing money they wouldn't keep doing it.

Of course if the Martinsville fair is truly a community owned operation this argument could be moot. Being a for profit venture like Coles is they probably wouldn't want to do it in the first place. Given the yearly drop in attendance and yearly price increases, I suspect the the law of diminishing returns is in play here.

Having said all that, I still think Dale has a good idea. "

" true the company yhat comes to the fair grounds does it for profit so the prob wont consider this notion....here is another idea...bring in a new group....the company that brings the rides and the midway entertainment ...i believe it is ray sweyer amusements..are the same people from when i was a young child...bringing our fair and its entertainment could and should be brought into the 21 century "

" I've not got a pig in this game, so
I'll pass...... "

" six flags.......more flags........more fun. "

" Harry the fair board is who says yes or no to the individual stands not the carnival promoter. the fair board itself tells each stand where his location is also. And I am sure the carnival sees none of this money. "

" If you can't afford the bracelets then don't buy them. When I was a kid my mom bought me some tickets and when they were gone they were gone. You don't have to let your children ride every ride, 20 times. But seriously, if you can't afford to buy your child a drink, then you have no reason to buy them a wrist band. Stay home and save your money for something a bit more important. I agree that things are getting more expensive but figure out your priorities. "

" The fair is ran kind of like this website is, very poorly.

Do yourself a favor & Google "Hey Martha", then click the first listing, you'll be glad you did. "

" Rohn Gordon wrote on Jun 29, 2009 9:50 AM:

" Harry the fair board is who says yes or no to the individual stands not the carnival promoter. the fair board itself tells each stand where his location is also. And I am sure the carnival sees none of this money. "

I was only referring to the food concessions only, Rohn. The carnival contractor does make all decisions in regards to the food vendors. Several food vendors have pulled out over their poor location assignments. It's been that way for several years now. I have no inside knowledge as to the financial agreement he has with the fair board, nor do I know what kind of a deal the carnival operators has with the individual vendors, but I do know for fact that the carnival operator is over food vendors. A couple of the service clubs that have permanent locations might be except to this policy. If you make it to the fair this year, just ask one of the operators like Big Al. "

" Do yourself a favor & Google "Hey Martha", then click the first listing, you'll be glad you did. "

Good link RR. And I'm glad I did. "

" Rockin, I looked up Hey Martha and found several towns and cities ... and thousands of posts.

Looks interesting, but was there one in particular you thought we should click on? "

" Most of this areas "sites" are kinda shabby - maybe some of us from here could cure that.

I've found "Mt Vernon" is a "happenin" place - alot more civil then here & a few of the "other" places, like Terra Haute.

"Hey Martha" rocks, it's one of my favs - hopefully it will be for you too. "

" Oh, & only main emails are allowed upon sign-up, no yahoo's or hotmail's, etc. "

" Oh yeah, check out your settings/preferences/options, before leaping in.
;-) "

" One last item, alot of the folks cringe & complain if you attempt to cut/copy & paste alot of stories from news venues, to "make your points", there.

Sorry guys, just an fyi for ya.
LOL
:-) "

" To get this back on subject, (sorry folks), check out youtube for some good tips on beating some of those ole carnie games.
LOL!

FREE RIDES FOR ALL!! "

" Hey RR, do you think if you posted anything about SBLHC there it would get yanked after a day or two? Seems like when people start voicing legitimate complaints about that place on this site, the thread gets pulled. Wonder why that is? (as if we don't know). lol! "

" Might be Harry. But for years I raced horses and was stabled at Greenup. I know for a fact also that the carnival had no say so on the food vendors there. Now there might be such a thing as the fair could also bring their own food vendors. "

" LOL @ HP!

Who knows? As far as I've seen every post is instantaneous, & as long as it doesn't have foul language, it actually stays.
LOL!

So far, that I've known of, some do come right out & mention direct names, & so far I've not seen a "Mr Big" rein supreme, & have them yanked. "

" Chelsamd and others who say "parents should just say no" I can and do see your point, and my parents did the same thing they'd say to me and my 3 brothers " you each get x amount of money when its gone thats it" I do the same thing with my kids I set a price limit. If I have the extra funds they get a set amount of money and when its gone we go home. But while I do understand your point of view, and agree that parents have to set limits and figure out their fincial priorities I also know that it is hard to tell your kids " no we can't afford to go to the fair or buy you a new backpack for school etc etc." all because a family is at the lower end of the economic scale does not mean that their children don't want to do the same things they see their freinds being able to do sometimes its really tough to tell your child "we can't afford it" kids don't really always understand those words. Im lucky that my kids seem to understand when I say "we can't afford it" I also know that at some carnivals that its cheaper to buy the armband than tickets. I know that tickets can cost around $1.00 each and that every ride takes 3 tickets, so we're looking at what $3.00 for one ride? Not to mention since you're not allowed to bring in food or drinks you have to figure on buying something to drink at least once particuarlly if its hot and humid outside. For $1.00 I can buy a 6 pack of bottled water at the dollar tree enough for my two kids and myself to have two bottles of water each, but at the fair a bottle of water may cost two or three bucks for one bottle. Now if you figure on a family of four going to the fair spending what twelve bucks just for some water, the cost of parking if there is a fee for parking, not to mention the possibility of paying three dollars per ride for each person and having money for food or games you're looking at spending well over twenty dollars just for an afternoon or evening for something to do. As others have said Martinsville has been able to pull off something similar to what Dale proposed for the carnival. As for me personally if my family has the extra funds to go we will go, if we don't have the funds we won't go. But then again I practice that principal in every area of my life if I can't afford something we just do without. "

" Go after 8 or 9pm, it's free to walk/drive in, after that. Of course the fair is only open until 10 or 11pm, depending on how busy they are.

If you must go "in the heat of the day", & you're driving, take a cooler full of beverages, sandwiches, & such, then leave it in your vehicle. Then when the need arises for a break, head to your auto for a breather.
This is what the owners of the animals at the horse barns, etc., are pretty much doing, isn't it? "

" kamfong wrote on Jun 27, 2009 3:57 AM:

" And just think how fun it would be if they brought back the old peep show tents they had back in the day.lol "


James H. Drew??? "

" This is for our friend, Ms Humphreys.
http://tinyurl.com/n7svr2
See what you can do to get these folks fired back up.
Just an idea.
;-) "

" Well, I remember they had Bouregard one year, he was kind of like the Hee Haw dog. Didn't exactly pack 'em in as I recall. "

" My opening comments are directed towards "gringa". I am one of the "low-lifes" that you speak of in your comment. I became a "low-life" when I was 14 years old. I joined the carnival to help pay for my college education. At 16, I purchased my first carnival game and formed Walden Concessions. After graduating with a degree in Architecture, I continued to own my own carnival games and concessions. I have been in the Carnival industry for 17 years now and have ran on to various forms of discrimination. My wife, who has a teaching degree and was Valedictorian at Charleston High School, has been a part of the business for the past 16 years also. Some of the employees that carnivals hire may not look the "norm". I am curious if "gringa" would say the same thing if they worked at a large retail store or fast-food chain? Me and my crew of "low-lifes" worked over forty hours this weekend (Fri-Sun) in the extreme heat. Carnival workers are some the hardest working people that I have ever met. At least they are not sitting at home drawing a government wage from my tax money. "gringa" comments on how people should be concerned about who is erecting the rides. The carnival that I am with has a few "managers" and the rest are trained employees. The managers are in charge of double and triple checking each rides for important pins, structural cracks, etc. Rides that are operated in the state of Illinois are inspected by licensed Illinois inspectors and are inspected by the individual companies daily.(Isn't "gringa" a discriminatory anyway???)

Has "gringa" ever thought of the economical benefits to a community? While in a community a carnival purchases fuel for the numerous trucks, buys groceries, rents hotel rooms, rents dumpsters for trash, rents portable restroom facilities, buys fuel for generators, purchase parts for rides and trucks, buy advertising, etc. etc.

As far as the Coles County Fair, the community is lucky to have what it has. Swyears Amusements appears to be a clean well kept carnival. I am not affiliated, nor have ever been affiliated with them, but their equipment seems to be well maintained and updated. As far as giving out free rides, who is to pay for this? Swyears Amusements is a business that has to pay for fuel, employees, parts, etc. If you can come up with a huge sponsor, I am for sure that the carnival would look into it.

"Gringa", please feel free to contact me as I can tell that you are on the outside looking in and have made a generalized discriminatory assumption of the people in the carnival industry. I hope that you have read this and found that your comments were not warranted and very offensive.

Sincerely,

Chris Walden, Walden Concessions "

" I sense hostility amongst the posters,Gringa guess he told you huh?BUCK-O. lol. "

" A clove hitch is a very useful knot for tieing down tents and many other things. "

" I hope that you have read this and found that your comments were not warranted and very offensive.

So what else is new? lol! "

" As someone in the Martinsville area, let me clear up a few things.

You now pay $3 per person to get into the fair. I don't think you paid anything to get in until the last few years. Once you pay to get in, the rides are free, as well as some of the grandstand shows. Attendance was so far down that they either didn't have rides one year or got them in at the last minute. They are doing much better attendance wise with the $3 entrance fee than they were before. And yes, it's in the contract with the company that brings the ride that they will be offered for free in exchange for the fee paid by the fair board. "

" Free water, from a cold tap, could help the county fair. But the concession vendors that charge 3 to 5 or more bucks a drink, would probably be against it.

So many ride tickets, with each paid entry, might be possible to work out, and benefit every one. Even if its just little kid ride tickets. No one wants to cut profit margins, but a little compromise of giving a little to potentially get a little more in return because its times so many more patrons, rarely happens anymore. Every man for themselves mentality, has contributed to many things including small to large fairs and festivals seeing steady decline.

I used to go to several, including the state fair. From getting gouged to just park, to the prices for anything and everything going through the roof, the former summer tradition easliy has faded off to history. I am sure I am not alone.

The people who run organizing the fairs, failed to properly address these things, and it has snowballed from there. Most completely failed to grasp, its the numbers of people drawn to the event, that make a fair successful or not. Fairs could be a prime example of less cost equals more profit economics.

From festivals, to the state fairs, bottled water, a can of soda, elephant ears, funnel cakes fresh pulled taffy, coney dogs, cotton candy, and polish sausage, has gone through the roof. Carnival rides and games, jumped as well. My last visits, rarely saw amusement attractions, close to having half the positions filled at a time.

I remember having to wait in line, to pick ducks out of the duck pond as a kid. Had to wait for a turn to toss dimes, rings, balls, or to shoot clowns with a water gun. Had to wait in line to ride the kids rides, and the ones I grew into later, had long lines constantly.

Fairs used to be about affordable family entertainment. When they lost sight of that, it went down hill form there. Get as much out of each person at every chance possible, is leading fairs and festivals right to the brink.

Perhaps the leaders of the county fair, can figure out how to get all vendors, amusements, rides, and attractions, less gouging, starting with the parking fees. Less of a margin, times many more people, can net a much bigger gain for everyone.

Its one week a year. There are 51 weeks between. 2010, could begin a new chapter, if a fresh look at what the fair used to be, and what it now is, finds some compromise to get back to affordable family fun. People having a good time, probably don't hold their wallets shut as tightly as folks who get gouged at every stop from the gate to the gate. They also won't be as likely to leave before their little tykes are exhausted from having so much fun, and getting a bag or box of taffy to take home. "

" Is "a first carnival game" Equal to or lesser than pin the tail on the donkey? "

" i think maybe they should set up the fair so that we the townspeople run rides and whatnot, buy them and run them, sorry to say but I've seen MANY teens around this area take off with the traveling carnival to have a job, would you want your teen taking off to travel around setting up rides? the element is bad for the city and honestly a place for fights and trouble "

" "I've seen MANY teens around this area take off with the traveling circus" It must be the long dirty hair, dingleball earing,the one arm covered in prison tattoo's & the love hate tattoo's on their fingers that attract such a following.Wives have been known to run off with the carnies as well,for them all it takes is a cute 25 cent stuffed animal & a wink.lol "

" If they would just let all the carnival rides and food vendors accept LINK cards all problems would be solved. lol "