As the fair opens today, there’s something for everyone

The same family has been
providing the Canfield Fair
with rides for the past 20 years.

By LAUREN POLINSKY

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

CANFIELD — Sure, the Canfield Fair has plenty of music, food and animals. But it just wouldn’t be complete without rides — 50 to be exact.

The rides are transported to the fair on everything from pickup truck beds to tractor-trailers. They can come in 100 pieces that have to be assembled, or a few pieces that just sort of unfold like an accordion.

Some are old, like the helicopter that dates to 1950, and some are new, like the G-force, which is making its debut at the fair this year.

Even though some of the rides are more than 20 years old, like the 1978 merry-go-round, that doesn’t mean they have not changed.

Duane Bevridge is the general manager of Bates Bros. Amusement Co., one of two companies that have been providing the Canfield Fair with rides since 1987. He said technology has played a big role in changing the way rides are operated.

“Ninety-five percent of the rides are computer-run. We now have to employ computer technicians,” he said. Bevridge acknowledges this technology has made it harder for him, because he doesn’t know enough about computers. “But that is why we have specialists now.”

He has been working for Bates Bros. on and off for 22 years.

Only three manual rides

At this year’s fair, the only rides that will be manually operated are the Hurricane, Ring of Fire and Full Tilt. Bevridge said the computer-generated rides do have manual safety mechanisms where the person sitting at the computer has one foot on a pedal at all times; if that foot is removed the ride will immediately shut down.

The setting up and tearing down of the rides has also become easier over the years.

Some rides, such as the Zipper, come mounted on a trailer. The trailer is about 50 feet long and 8 feet wide and simply detaches from the back of a truck. The ride unfolds to about a hundred feet tall.

Bevridge said that it typically takes three or four workers about three hours to set up one ride but that the 11 rides his company has at the fair can be torn down in six hours. The time difference is because of less maintenance and cleaning required during tear-down and the weather; tear-down is done at night when the weather is cooler so the workers take fewer breaks.

Bates Bros. Amusement Co. works with Bates Amusement Inc. to bring entertainment to the Canfield Fair. It is one of two events for which the companies have to combine their fleets.

Companies’ history

They started as one company, in 1964, when Eric Bates bought his first pony ride from his earnings as a paperboy from Gambille Amusement. Bates and his brother Gery eventually bought out Gambille Amusement and kept expanding their company over the next several decades, providing events around Ohio with entertainment until their families grew too large.

In 1994, the two brothers separated the companies. Eric’s daughter Michelle Bates-Dallman said that even though they are two entities they still act like one.

“We are still one family. We all live in the same town and do the same things,” Bates-Dallman said. She is part of the Bates Bros. Amusement Co.

Both companies are in Wintersville, Ohio. Bates Bros. Amusement Co. has expanded beyond just owning rides (it owns a total of 45) to manufacturing them. At this year’s fair three of its own rides are Full Tilt, G-force and Supershot.

The choices for which rides to bring to the Canfield Fair are usually based on requests by the fair board. Bevridge said the two companies work with the board to make sure that new rides are incorporated and favorite ones are brought back. The rides average between 2 and 21⁄2 minutes long — any longer and people start to get sick, Bevridge added.

The rides cost $2 apiece for the kiddie rides and $3 for the adult ones. Visitors have an option of buying a hand stamp that gives them unlimited access to rides. Those prices vary: Today and Thursday is $9; Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday is $13.