Skowhegan fair opens without rides

SKOWHEGAN – Hours after the midway at the 188th Skowhegan State Fair was due to open Thursday, it was still oddly quiet. There were no calliope songs from the merry-go-round, no screams from the top of the Ferris wheel, no children’s laughter from the tiny train.

More than four hours after the fun was scheduled to begin, the rides were still in pieces on the midway, as carnival workers scrambled to put them together.

Watching the process and unable to ride, one boy said to another, “We need to leave and go do something else.”

Not only did many of the rides arrive late, fair officials said, but transportation, electrical and generator problems delayed the construction and inspection of dozens of rides, disappointing countless children and angering their parents.

“I want my money back,” was the comment by one person after another at the fair office Thursday afternoon. They all were given refunds, even as the line stretched out the door onto the midway itself.

“Oh, this is a mess. A mess,” commented Ralph Withee, who was manning the Skowhegan Lions Club food booth. “We’re lucky to have a midway at all.”

Skip Gleason, personnel manager for the fair, was running from one location to another trying to keep everyone calm. “We have rides, some really good rides,” he said. “And the fire marshals have been here since morning. But we have had some inspection and some electrical issues.”

Gleason said the rides arrived at Skowhegan later than usual, and then generators wouldn’t work, and electrical connections weren’t made.

“Usually we’re waiting for the fire marshal’s office, but today, they are waiting for us,” he said.

Gleason was confident that all rides would be installed and running by late Thursday.

Meanwhile, Gleason was worried that entertainer Jamie O’Neal wouldn’t be able to get through airport security in Florida and Washington, D.C., in time for Thursday’s show. Airport security was tightened around the world because of terrorist issues, and passengers were delayed or bumped.

“We just have to be optimistic,” he said.

Gleason said local truckers pitched in to help haul the fair rides and equipment to Skowhegan after Maine State Police impounded some of Carr Show’s trucks a week ago. In addition, a Vermont carnival was bringing in another half-dozen rides.

Gleason said there are more games and concessions at the fair than ever before and purses for harness racing will be larger this year. Some of the money from Bangor’s Hollywood Slots will be used, to allow the fair to compete with commercial tracks.

Also new this year is Winn Circus, which will perform daily, along with traditional 4-H events, flower shows, livestock demonstrations, tractor and oxen pulls, and myriad other livestock competitions. There will be a demolition derby, truck pulls, harness racing and a battle of the bands.

The fair will remain open until Saturday, Aug. 19. Gates open at 7 a.m., and the midway opens at noon each day.