SIDNEY — Shelby County Fair’s midway will be a little bit brighter this year, according to the owner of the ride supplier, Michael Reisinger.
He says his company, Michael’s Amusements, has completely redone the lighting on several of their rides, including the Ferris wheel, merry-go-round and bumper cars.
“That’s been our thing this year,” he said. “It’ll really blow you away.”
He said the Ferris wheel has 30 LED patterns it can show.
A new ride will also be featured on the midway, and will be set up for the first time ever. The ride, which he called “Zero-Grav,” will debut at the Shelby County Fair.
He said a few familiar rides would also make an appearance, including Cliffhanger, Scat, Full-tilt, the slide, Dragster, Circus Ring, Monkey Maze and bumper cars. There will be 16 rides on the midway this year.
“Trying to find good quality ride companies is hard,” said Fair Director Jerry Schaffner. He noted that at trade shows, there are fewer than a third the number of providers who used to attend when Schaffner started booking them 34 years ago.
“People just don’t want to get into the business, I guess,” he said. That’s why he’s pleased that Michael’s Amusements will return this year. The company’s rides always pass inspections and are safely run and maintained, he said.
The rides won’t be open until 3 p.m., Sunday, of fair week, an hour earlier than last year. They will open at 4 p.m., Monday, too, so that the operators can get some rest after their journey and their installation of the equipment.
“We want to make it safe for everyone,” Schaffner said. Tuesday through Saturday, rides will open at 1 p.m.
Several smaller companies will also offer games. Dearwester Canes will bring a cane toss game to the fair, Crash Combat Games will provide laser tag, Great Lakes Bull Rental will have a mechanical bull, Thompson Pony Rides will be providing rides and several other vendors will be providing several other carnival games.
Week-long passes are available for sale on the Shelby County Fair’s website, shelbycountyfair.com, or on their mobile app, which is available for Android and iPhone devices.
