Outlaw Run charges into Silver Dollar City - Amusement Today

40 AMUSEMENT TODAY April 2013Western Montana Fair names North Star as carnival providerMIDWAYMARKET PLACEGull Wing IndustriesWorking with the CarnivalIndustry since 1989Contact us at:www.gull-wing.comGFlex 400 AmpNorth American RepresentativeTexas Office:405 Dodson Lake Dr.Arlington, TX 76012-3442Keep our carnival and fair industry strong!Buy products and services from these suppliers.MISSOULA, Mont. —Western Montana Fair andRodeo, Missoula, will have anew carnival at the fair thissummer for the first time inmore than half a century.According to a reportin the Ravalli (Mt) Republic,county commissioners signeda three-year contract for theAug. 6-11 fair with North StarAmusements of Cody, Wyo.,the longtime provider of carnivalsand games at the RavalliCounty Fair in Hamilton.Bret McKenney is theprincipal owner of North StarAmusements.“The trucks still say Wyoming,but I live in Billings andhave my whole life,” McKenneywas quoted as saying inthe news report.Cody was where McKennystarted the company.According to the news report,the change came after amultiyear contract with RoyalWest Amusements and InlandEmpire Shows expired lastyear amid a morass of problems.The carnival was late toarrive on the first day of thefair due to an ownership conflictand several rides eithernever showed up or weren’toperated.There was, said fairgroundsdirector Steve Earle,“a big gap in the middle of thecarnival where there shouldhave been rides.”Earle said he negotiated asettlement with Royal West/Inland Empire to cover someof the fair’s losses. Even beforethat, though, he and thePack-Man 175 kw or 250 kwQuiet Power–Tractor orTrailer Mounted309 N.E. 1st Street P.O. Box 128 Alta, IA 51002Toll Free: 800-838-1482 Fax: 712-200-1936Amusement Sales, Inc.JRide SalesJReplacement PartsJServiceTelephone: (817) 275-9393 • Fax: (817) 860-7373www.fabbrigroup.com • fabbrirides@sbcglobal.netcounty had put out a requestfor proposals for the next contractor.Five legitimate offerscame in last fall, from companiesas far away as Californiaand Texas.“They were all relativelythe same in terms of monetaryvalue, but (McKenney’s) operationswe’re a little more familiarwith,” Earle said. “He’sgot a good track record as faras equipment safety goes, andhe does the Hamilton fair, sowe got good references fromthere and others.”The biggest deciding factorsin McKenney’s favor were“probably his references andhis operational ability – theshape of his rides and the wayhis help works and things likethat.”The new carnival will provideat least five spectacularrides, 14 major adult rides,11 kiddie rides and between20 and 40 games. North Starwill also be required to put upa $50,000 performance bond,and Earle said there are clausesin the contract that claimdamages back to the fair if, forinstance, rides don’t start intime. Previous contracts hadno such stipulations.McKenney said he’ll likelyhave a work force of around100 people, including 15 to 20local hires “if I can get them.”“We’ve got a big selectionof rides. We promised to bring30 minimum rides to the fairin Missoula there, so there’llbe a big carnival spread, probablythe best the town hasever seen, I would imagine,”he said.North Star Amusements islooking at a 25-week schedulethat includes 13 fairs. McKenneysaid he’d also be goingto Bozeman, Helena and, thisyear, the Northwest MontanaFair in Kalispell the week afterMissoula.The three-year contractthrough 2015 includes optionalrenewal periods the followingtwo years.It ends a string of 53straight years that the companythat started out as InlandEmpire Shows came tothe Missoula fair. Its longtimeowner, Reed Williams,moved to the Missoula area 10years ago. He sold Royal WestAmusements to Todd andBecky Keenan in 2008, and theKeenans purchase Inland EmpireShows the following year.—Pam Sherborne