John Saunders and Carey Harveycutter went to the International Association of Fairs and Expositions conference in Las Vegas 22 years ago, hoping to start a fair and carnival at the Salem Civic Center with free parking and free gate admission. The Lakeside Amusement Park had recently closed, and the two consulted ranks of experienced carnies.

"They basically, they said, ‘you’re nice young fellows, but we’re not gonna see you guys again," Harveycutter recalled. Despite the fair managers' response, they still asked for advice. "We don't have the luxury of starting out shoveling manure with the mules at the barns and then working up to stage manager--we've got to start at the top."

After a stackful of notes and loads of help from the Salem Civic Center staff, Salem City, and the Salem community, the fair is on par with the Virginia State Fair as far as vendors and safety goes. Vendors won't come to events unless they know they'll turn a profit, according to Harveycutter. The Salem Civic Center provides a 24-7 safety advisor to inspect and maintain the rides during the whole event. According to Don Degler of Degler Attractions, Virginia state laws only require one inspection prior to the event.

The fair expects 250,000 to 350,000 total attendance for 2008. After Sunday, July 6, the fair grossed $346,000--up almost 17% from last year, according to Degler. He speculates that higher prices all-around are keeping families closer to home for vacation.

But it's not just about turning a profit or achieving record attendances that keeps the fair going for the civic center staff--some of whose children consider themselves carnies. Both Saunders and Harveycutter have brought at least one of their children, as infants, to the Salem fair for their first day in public.

From the Salem High School band director helping with directing traffic to a lieutenant with the Salem Fire Department taking vacation time to stay in the "Lost Children" tent, to the regular fairgoers that return year after year -- the Salem Fair is a holiday season in zip code 24153 and the rest of the state.

Other Salem Fair coverage:

* 11 things to know about the Salem Fair
* Sights and sounds of the duck race
* Photo gallery from opening night
* Video of the elephants

• Share this entry
  • Digg this entry
  • Mark in Ma.gnolia
  • Tag with del.icio.us
  • Seed Newsvine
  • Post to Google
  • Add to Yahoo!
  • Share on Facebook
  • Submit to Reddit
  • Related at Technorati
• Posted by miranda adkins in Events
• :: Comments (0)