‘Carnies’ pulled by the call of the road

Published 5:00 am Saturday, August 19, 2006

It’s hard and dirty work. But most wouldn’t trade it for all the inflatable hammers in the break-a-bottle prize booth.

Travel, meeting new people and the camaraderie among crew members keeps many people in the carnival life.

It’s in their blood, they say.

For Albert Stebbins, life on the road means different people and different situations everyday. It’s never dull or predictable.

“I know for sure every day is going to be different,” Stebbins said.

Stebbins, 44, has worked as a “carnie” for 30 years. He got the bug when he was a teenager working for relatives who owned a carnival.

“I like moving around, seeing new towns,” he said.

For Stebbins, it’s more than a job. It’s a way of life that can’t be duplicated.

To work carnivals, two things are crucial: “You have to like travel and people,” he said.

At Paradise Amusements, he describes his job as “six guys rolled into one.”

His official title is operations manager. It’s his job to make sure all the rides are up and running smoothly, to coordinate the fleet and manage the maintenance/operator crew.

The long hours are the most difficult part of working with a carnival.

“Everyday is a 12-hour day, that’s about the only bad thing about it. But it’s all what you make of it,” Stebbins said.

For Stebbins and the others, the long days are a fair trade for the freedom they have living on the road.

This weekend Paradise Amusements is also working at the San Juan County Fair in Friday Harbor.

“Making sure everyone gets to where they are supposed to be is not easy,” he said.

“We came here off a ‘long jump’ — driving 500 miles from a big fair in Klamath Falls. Getting everyone to the right ferry on time was not easy. We were all tired, but still had to work until 2 a.m. to get rides up and running,” Stebbins said.

But the long hours and travel are all in a day’s work for the crew.

“The more stress the better off I am. I like to solve problems,” he said.

He’s gets plenty of both during a typical set-up day.

“Something constantly needs adjusting. Rather than problems, I like to think I have solutions,” Stebbins said.

“Most of the time we have two days to set up, but we’re pushed to one day here because of the close date with Klamath Falls.”

Coworkers say Stebbins is a good supervisor because he willingly climbs under rides and works side by side with them.

On Thursday, none of the workers liked the ride Tilt-A-Whirl much after a cable underneath the carnival classic needed fixing.

“It’s an eight-hour set up, if nothing goes wrong. That’s not the case today,” he said. “She needs a little extra TLC today.”

The roller coaster had a slight hitch, too.

It was running backwards, but that was a quick fix for Stebbins, who’s a pretty popular man at the fairgrounds on set-up day.

“I just tell everyone if you are looking for me, stay where you are, I’ll eventually find you,” he said.

Stebbins was in constant motion Thursday; tools in hands that were black with grease, racing from ride to ride, double checking everything. Carnies don’t wear gloves to repair the rides.

“It’s dirty work, but it has to be done,” Stebbins said as he wiped sweat from his face.

Stebbins is constantly on the move, so much so that he doesn’t operate a ride.

“As soon as I step in and let somebody take a break, something on the other side of the Midway needs fixing,” he said.

Stebbins took a break to look around at the 12 rides at this year’s fair.

“This show is me. I was around when most of the rides were new,” he said.

Stebbins has worked for a number of different carnivals over the years. But he helped build Paradise Amusements to 24 pieces.

The company was founded 40 years ago by Robert McKay. His son, Doug, took it over in the mid-1990s.

“Doug and I knew each other since we were kids,” Stebbins recalled.

Family life for Stebbins is also on the road.

“My seven kids travel with me. I’m not married now, usually I am,” he said. His first wife passed away and his second wife didn’t like the carnival life.

“So I have my kids during the summer months; during the winter they’re with their mom,” he said.

His children range in age from 4-year-old twin girls to a son who is 18. When asked whether he wants his kids to follow in his foot steps, Stebbins said it depends.

“Not necessarily, unless it’s the right life for them. It’s their choice,” he said.

But what he does hope they learn is his work ethic.

“They have learned the value of a dollar, and the value of working hard. They earn their own money for school clothes by working with me during the summer months,” he said. “And they see me working hard.”

His two teenage sons are working at the Octopus this weekend.

“This is a good family show. We all pull together,” he said.

Stebbins says he realizes some people may pass judgement, thinking that it’s not good to raise kids on the road.

“But we are close and I am with them all the time,” he said.

He is close to the crew, too.

“If an employee has a drug problem or some other issue, they are pretty easy to spot, and they don’t last with us,” Stebbins said.

When Stebbins isn’t traveling, home is in Montana. He enjoys the peace and quiet.

As the other crew members working on the stubborn Tilt-A-Whirl took a quick break, they said making people happy is the payoff for all the hard work. Once the rides are up and running, the operators say the work is satisfying because people are happy.

“I like to see people smiling, especially the young kids,” said David Hinds, a 22-year veteran of carnivals.

“The kids are having a good time and the parents and grandparents are having fun watching,” he said.

Once the rides are set up, the “maintenance crew” changes hats to become ride operators. For that it’s a quick trip to the showers and fresh clothes — the green shirts that are the trademark of Paradise Amusements.

Carnival employees are housed in bunkhouse trailers, and many of the employees travel in their own trailers or motorhomes.

For Joe Bishop, the Twizzler operator, “the fun is watching people having fun.”

“Traveling is interesting and the work is hard,” Bishop said

Bishop, 22, said the carnival life is more than just travel and hard work.

“Local girls flirt with us all the time. When guys first start out traveling with a carnival, they have a girl in every town,” he said.

That’s not for Bishop, though. His girlfriend, who also grew up in carnivals, works in the cotton candy booth.

Bishop said he has worked for three different companies but likes the family atmosphere at Paradise.

Bishop’s dream is to finish high school in a year or so. But for now, the road is his home and the carnival is his family.

“Sherry McKay, the owner, is like an aunt to us,” he said.

The one thing that’s always the same is the work. There’s always a lot of it.

“It’s hard labor. It wears me out,” Bishop said as he was setting up the Twizzler that he would soon be switching into action. “But once it’s up and running, I enjoy watching people laughing and smiling.

“Even when they get sick it — doesn’t bother me too much. Because a lot of kids come here hoping to get sick on a ride,” Bishop said.