SEPTEMBER 2010
Deggeller attractions, Salem Fair posting gains
Pam Sherborne - Amusement Today
Andy Deggeller, Deggeller Attractions, said the season has been
going pretty well so far and the success of the Salem (Va.) County
Fair, which ran July 1-11, has helped things run smoothly.
The
Salem County Fair posted gains in both attendance and revenue for
the second straight year in a row. Fair Manager Carey Harveycutter
said 2010 attendance was more than 300,000 representing a nine
percent increase of last year’s attendance.
Gross receipts for
rides on the midway also were up, with a reported 10 percent increase
over 2009.
“We changed our layout a little this year,” Deggeller
said. “It was a good date for us.”
Deggeller said the carnival
fielded 35 rides at the Salem date.
“We’re very gratified that
we had this increase in attendance and I think a lot of that can
be attributed to the fact that we didn’t raise any prices on the
ride wristbands in an effort to keep things affordable,” Harveycutter
said, after the fair. “We also extended ourselves a bit this year
with advertising that attracted people from West Virginia, North
Carolina, Richmond (Va.) and Charlottesville (Va.).”
Deggeller
during, the first week of August, they had been plagued with temperatures
of about 100 degrees for about two weeks.
“Ever since July 4, it
has been really hot,” he said. “I think the heat does affect us
some. People don’t want to come out during the day. But, during
the week, the average opening time is about 5 p.m. On the weekends,
when we open earlier, we make sure we have water coolers spread
throughout the midway. We have about 20 water coolers for that.
“When we were in Salem, we bought some of those big cooling fans,”
he said. “We put them under the office tent so our employees could
come take a break from the heat.”
Deggeller Attractions has made
some purchases within the last year. Those include Wisdom’s Viper
and Orient Express that were bought in late 2009. During the winter
of 2009-2010, the carnival purchased Zamperla’s Tea Cups and a
Banana Squadron by Advantage Rides.
In August, the show was scheduled
to be at the Fredericksburg (Va.) Agricultural Fair, July 30-Aug.
8; Howard County Fair, West Friendship, Md., Aug. 7-14; Prince
William County Fair, Manassas, Va., Aug. 13-21; Rockingham County
Fair, Harrisonburg, Va., Aug. 16-21; and the Maryland State Fair,
Timonium, Aug. 27-Sept. 6.
READ MORE IN THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE OF AMUSEMENT TODAY
BRIEF
Solano County Fair starts anew, minus horse racing
Making the Solano County Fair a “true county fair” as opposed
to a fair with horse racing made the 2010 fair a completely
different fair than the 2009 fair, according to officials.
That difference, officials said, was one of the reasons
the fair saw a 28 percent dip in attendance this year compared
to 2009. Attendance this year, which ran June 23- 27, was
slightly more than 35,000, compared to the approximately
49,000 fairgoers last year.
The fair ran a month earlier
this year than last because horse racing dates didn’t have
to be put into the equation. The Solano County Fair board
had announced at the end of 2009 it wouldn’t feature live
horse racing in 2010. The decision was based on declining
attendance, revenue and horse population industry-wide.
Once
that decision was made, moving the fair dates was a positive
one.
“But, we still had a lot of competition,” said Debbie
Egidio, fair spokesperson. “We had three fairs going on within
a 60-mile radius at the same time. But, we were happy with
what we got."
Butler Amusements, Fairfield, Calif.,
fielded the midway this year. This was the carnival’s second
year. |
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