Pinetar
  •  Pinetar
  • 87.34% (Honored)
  • Operations Foreman Topic Starter
Friday, August 5, 2005 5:57:35 PM
Catoosa County Fair cancelled


Midway provider pulls out of event
08/05/05
Randall Franks
Respond to this story
Email this story to a friend


Organizers have cancelled the third annual Catoosa County Fair due to the absence of rides.

Amusements of America, the midway provider contracted for the event to provide the midway, contacted fair organizers Monday cancelling its participation in the event, according to Dee Bridges, Colonnade director.

“They called and said that due to fuel and transportation issues they could not make it,” she said. “They cancelled two other fairs in Georgia as well.”

The event slated for August 19-28 at Benton Place Campus is sponsored by the Catoosa County Foundation for the Performing Arts and the Ringgold Kiwanis Club.

Bridges said it is too late for the fair committee to find another midway provider for the event.

Charles Proctor, Jr., Ringgold Kiwanis president, said making the fair happen without the midway with just two weeks before the event just was not feasible.

“It’s sad they would do this about three weeks before the event,” he said. “We could force them to come but we would not really have had much of a fair.”

He said there were no guarantees to what the company might have brought, instead of the normal 20-30 rides it could have been just a few.

“They are supposed to reimburse some of the costs already incurred by both organizations in preparation for the fair,” he said.

“We hate it and we are sorry that we put the advertising out there already,” he said. “It is out of our control and unfortunately there is nothing we can do about it.”

Proctor said the Ringgold Kiwanis plans will try to hold the event next year.



UserPostedImage
hankypank1
Friday, August 5, 2005 6:57:31 PM
was it a blank and they are glad not to go or a issue with the comittee
Carneys are the biggest marks ,that’s what keeps us going .The next one is gonna be big ,it was good last year ,I don’t know what happened this year
cny_chris
Friday, August 5, 2005 7:02:57 PM
Hmmm....interesting... looking at A of A's route from their website:


DATE, EVENT, LOCATION, NO. OF YEARS AT FAIR
Aug. 3-14 Ohio State Fair Columbus, OH 12
Aug. 5-14 Franklin County Fair Malone, NY 28

Aug. 19-27 Catoosa County Fair Ringgold, GA NEW
Aug. 22-28 Washington County Fair Greenwich, NY 5
Aug. 24-28 Drexel Community Fair Drexel, NC NEW

Sept. 1-5 Columbia County Fair Chatham, NY 28
Sept. 1-5 Geauga County Fair Burton, OH 3
Sept. 1-11 Upper SC State Fair Greensville, SC NEW
Sept. 8-11 Hebron Harvest Fair Hebron, CT NEW

Sept. 14-18 St. Hedwig Festival Wilmington, DE NEW
Sept. 15-25 Gwinnett County Fair Lawrenceville, GA 9
Sept. 21-24 Vance County Regional Fair Henderson, NC 33

Sept. 26-Oct. 1 Rocky Mount Fair Rocky Mount, NC 28
Sept. 27-Oct. 2 Sumter County Fair Sumter, SC 51

Oct. 3-8 Pitt County Fair Greenville, NC 28
Oct. 4-8 Union County Fair Union, SC NEW

Oct. 10-15 Kiwanis Ogeechee Fair Statesboro, GA 27

Oct. 17-23 Eastern Carolina Agricultural Fair Florence, SC 44
Oct. 17-23 Orangeburg County Fair Orangeburg, SC NEW

Oct. 27-Nov. 5 Coastal Carolina Fair Charleston, SC 47

There are only 3 Georgia dates on there. It appears that part of the lineup from the OHSF would have been heading to GA. It also looks like they have some real tight circus jumps to make if they play these dates, and some of those jumps are a pretty significant distance. I'd have to speculate that their ability to make the dates on time was factored into the decision as well.

It's too bad that this is occurring -- for both A of A and the fairs... it hurts both of them in the long run.
"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." - Lao-Tsu

"Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase." - Martin Luther King Jr.

"Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly." - Robert F. Kennedy
mjcarniegirl
Friday, August 5, 2005 9:32:35 PM
I was wondering how they was gonna move the show to Ga from ohio , then back up to ohio the next week ? seemed a bit odd to me . Some one who did the booking messed up a little here i would say . It's a shame to hear they backed out of the contact this late though . Sure doesn't make A of A look good does it ? first a delayed opening in NJ a couple weeks ago . now a cancelled spot !
Pinetar
  •  Pinetar
  • 87.34% (Honored)
  • Operations Foreman Topic Starter
Saturday, August 6, 2005 2:45:14 AM
The report indicates that they dropped 2 other Georgia fairs as well.

They may have a clause in their contract which will let them do what they did.

They lost or dropped the Lake Co. fair in Ohio last year do to a late start coming from the OSF, which is a week before Burton.


UserPostedImage
orphaned
Saturday, August 6, 2005 4:04:03 AM
I've been told unofficially that AofA is taking at least a dozen rides into Louisville with CVS...maybe Carnevil can confirm? That's August 19-29...same time as the fair that they cancelled....
JOHN C
Saturday, August 6, 2005 5:29:30 AM
looks as if aofa wanting out of ga alltogether...now they are no longer playing the ga state fair....also isn't that date a tad bit early for ga fairs??? most ga fairs are in sept and oct.
once you go carnie you never go back

UserPostedImage
Tornado
Saturday, August 6, 2005 6:03:43 AM
There schedule could work, but it would not be easy I guess. And keep in mind I’ve never moved a show and that this is just me thinking out loud.

They have 2 units at the Ohio State Fair now
1 Unit in Malone NY

The unit in Malone goes to Greenwich NY

1 of the units in Ohio goes to Ringgold GA. (470 miles, 4 days)
From there schedule they have 4 days in-between. Granted they would not be moving there coaster in that time. And moving there big Musik Express and Giant Wheel would not be easy as well, but then they really don’t have to use them.

The other unit goes to Drexel NC (430 miles, 9 days in-between)

Then
The unit in Greenwich goes to Chatham NY and then to Hebron CT

The unit in Ringgold GA goes to Greensville SC

The unit in Drexel NC goes back to Burton OH (530 miles, 3 days in-between)
This is the really tough one. I guess they could book at lot of local equipment?

Then
The unit in Hebron CT goes to Wilmington DE

The unit in Burton Ohio goes to Lawrenceville GA (has 9 days in-between)

The unit in Greensville goes back to Henderson NC (9 days in-between)

Looks do-able on paper, but what do I know:-)
Pinetar
  •  Pinetar
  • 87.34% (Honored)
  • Operations Foreman Topic Starter
Saturday, August 6, 2005 1:02:49 PM
The description and loc of the event makes it sound like a small event rather then a county fair. I see why they would drop it.

Now is your chance bossman, jump on it.
UserPostedImage
Bossman
Sunday, August 7, 2005 8:53:42 AM
A thought or two.. AofA may have planned to contract another show to fulfill the Catoosa event as their equipment would be tied up at that time.. It's done all the time and is a standard practice with some shows.. I have known shows booking small dates and take the chance of finding something better during that time.. I am sure the committee could have found someone else to bring in rides and games as there are some shows that play still spots and would have jumped at the chance of playing a "county fair".. They may have been able to bring in The Bochica Brothers Shows out of Mexico City..lol..