Capitalism has sunk to a new level. The bigwigs at Gateway Mall in Springfield hired Davis Shows Northwest to bring a carnival to their parking lot to draw attention to their merchants.
But really, we don’t care about the stores. There’s a carnival!
Rick Spromberg has worked for Davis Shows Northwest for four years, but he started in the carnival business at age 14 working one of the games. For him, carnival life has become family life. He met his wife working at a carnival, and their children are continuing the tradition working in fairs.
But the family connections extend further than blood. Spromberg said that people in the different cities the carnival visits will bring fresh pies or home-cooked meals to the workers while they are setting up.
“Meeting people is the greatest thing about this job,” Spromberg said.
Making connections is hard to avoid when a guy tries to fling rubber frogs onto lily pads for more than half an hour to win his girlfriend a giant stuffed frog. Employee John Fleming got the OK from his boss to lower the number of lily-pad landings required for the big prize from 20 to 18 in order to help the man out. The man still spent more than $35, but his girlfriend was very happy.
Such compassion is actually hurtful to game attendants, as they are paid based on a commission of the game earnings. According to Fleming, workers can put in 12-hour days and make anywhere from $35-$120.
The Davis Shows company has more than 45 permanent employees who travel around with the shows. But Spromberg said they also like to find local people to help out.
Ruth Landers and Chris Dozier live in Lane County, and both signed on for some temporary work. While Dozier is just working through Monday, when the carnival will be torn down, Landers is trying to secure a traveling position with the company.
Many employees hit the road for just a short while to get some extra cash. Fleming joined the company two weeks ago in Washington to make some money to fix his van. He plans on returning soon to his wife and daughter.
“It’s hard work, but you can pick it up when you need to,” he said.
The short-term employees work the games and sell tickets. But on his second day of work, Dozier had already mastered the carnival talk.
“It’s easy to get people to play. You win something every time,” he said.
The full-time employees of the company are required to spend 70 hours a year at safety seminars to be trained to operate the more than 50 rides owned by Davis Shows and to handle any possible dangerous scenarios. It is not surprising that safety is so important to the company; its main business is manufacturing the aluminum fencing that goes around the rides. Spromberg said Davis Shows is the main supplier of this officially regulated fencing for the West Coast.
The fair will be open through Sunday from noon-10 p.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m.-midnight on weekends. But Spromberg is flexible.
“We’re here if the people are here,” he said.