Fundraising Carnival Or Event

[Matthew Martin]

Hi! This is my first post!

I have this idea for a fundraising carnival to help raise extra money for the museum. It could be run by Fiesta Shows of Seabrook NH. I heard rthat they are quite sucessful in fundraising. Some of the better rides Fiesta Shows owns are;
1.Freak Out
2.Remix II
3.Flying Bobs(my personal favorite )
4.Bavarian Fun Haus
5.Eli Bridge Company Ferris Wheel

Also a selection of kiddie rides would be nice. Please dont delete this as i am NOT related to the company in any way.

[John McNamara]

Do they have land someplace that they use for these events, or would they set up this sort of thing on museum property? If the answer is the latter, I should point out that we don't have much open space.

[Matthew Martin]

I was thinking that they could set up the rides and games in a local buisnesses parking lot, or city owned lot. Or possibly a city park. Many cities cooperate very good with things like like this as they draw people in from the local area that usually would not go there. Remix II takes up about, 20x20 feet. Flying bobs is about the same. Ferris wheels would take up about 10x20 or so, depending on which one they get. A Gondola Wheel, similer to the "Sun Wheel" at Palace Playland in Old Orchard Beach would take up about, 15x30 feet.

Video Of Remix II'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeCQttGPXtk

[Pete "Cosmo" Barrington]

Well, hmm....
I'm not going to say "it's a bad idea," it may be a good one. It's certainly original enough, however...
For the WW&F, the train itself is the ride/attraction, and as such does it's share of fundrasing and interest-generating. I have to stretch quite far to see bringing in a "kiddie ride" to attract folks who already come from miles away just for the train.
I DO think, however, that a musical event such as a folk/blues festival out in, say, Albee's field might be a more attractive option to the RR, as folks could take the train out there and back, and/or park near or at the field.
It's an idea, I'll leave it at that.

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

I think the only way we could do an event like this is to partner with another local group like the Alna Volunteer Fire Company.  We could be a co-sponsor and split the receipts from the gate and/or ride tickets.  The carnival would be held on their property as we have no place to set one up.  It takes a committee of members a year or more to plan and coordinate an event like this.  I think the committee's time would be better spent setting up an old time (1910 Days) weekend with Bluegrass music.  That is something better suited to the WW&F as we can incorporate the train ride into the event.  As posted in another thread, parking would be at Sheepscot with passenger trains taking visitors to Alna Center.

My local fire company (which I am on the Board of Directors) held a small carnival for over 50 years.  We stopped having it due to space and insurance requirements.  The coverage gets expensive when you strap children into rides.

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

On a lighter note ... those "Flying Bobs" sound interesting.  Maybe our own Bobs - (Bob G. and Bob C.) could do a comedy routine.  We could call em the Bobsy Twins.   

[Matthew Martin]

I think the only way we could do an event like this is to partner with another local group like the Alna Volunteer Fire Company.  We could be a co-sponsor and split the receipts from the gate and/or ride tickets.  The carnival would be held on their property as we have no place to set one up.  It takes a committee of members a year or more to plan and coordinate an event like this.  I think the committee's time would be better spent setting up an old time (1910 Days) weekend with Bluegrass music.  That is something better suited to the WW&F as we can incorporate the train ride into the event.  As posted in another thread, parking would be at Sheepscot with passenger trains taking visitors to Alna Center.

My local fire company (which I am on the Board of Directors) held a small carnival for over 50 years.  We stopped having it due to space and insurance requirements.  The coverage gets expensive when you strap children into rides.

Really? what show ran it? what were the rides you got?


Another possibity would be to have some sort of event at Palace Playland, Canobie Lake, or Funtown USA. I think i like the old time weekend idea better though.

[o anderson]

On a related note, I recall that a 2' gauge steam locomotive runs at Canobie Park.  It's one of those propane fired Crown Locomotive Works engine.  I thought they were a good park train design, though I never liked the roller skate for the lead truck of the 4-4-0.  The track there would probably be too lightweight to support a visiting Maine engine, though.
O. Anderson