This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
OABA Update- by Bob Johnson, OABA President and CEO


Midway Efficiency Education at the FFF's Convention Your 2014 Convention and educational meetings with the IAFE's Zone 2 recently held


in Naples, Florida, with the highest attendance ever (WOW!) is a tribute to the Officers and Directors as well as Executive Director Lisa Hinton, who put on a great program and special events. Seeing many wonderful friends and meeting new friends in the Fair, carnival, food concessions, special acts and attractions and all the suppliers really helped to get me even more excited about the 2014 amusement season. The OABA's education workshop, titled "Why Midway Efficiency is Good Business for


the Future of Fairs and Carnivals" was jammed packed with folks listening to our panel of industry experts. They in- cluded Jeff Blomsness, Chief Operating Officer of North American Midway Entertainment; Bob Hohenstein, President & CEO of Miami-Dade County Fair; Rick Vymlatil, CFE, President South Florida Fair and Frank Zaitshik, President & CEO of Wade Shows, Inc. These professionals talked about hours of operation, number and capacity of amusement rides, and providing


amenities such as water, bathrooms, showers and electric power to help their workers, from the first day of set-up through the last day of tear down. Driving much of this change is the carnival industry's reliance on foreign guest workers (H-2B visas) to supplement their American workforce. With increasing labor audits, labor activists, class ac- tion suits and stiffer DOL regulations...the bottom line is that the carnival industry needs to improve working and living conditions for our help! As Frank Zaitshik said, "As good business operators, our opportunities are only to reduce our expenses and in- crease our revenues." Both he and Jeff Blomsness talked about their successes with creative ticket pricing and re- duction of operating expenses, especially labor costs, with their Fairs throughout the U.S. and Canada. Zaitshik dis- cussed the analysis done by the Minnesota State Fair regarding ride capacity, daily ride revenue per hour and the rides that generated the most revenue (with Power Point slides). Miami-Dade's Hohenstein talked about analysis and plans they are considering for 2015, adding an additional week at the front end of their Fair, while closing on Mon- days and Tuesdays during the month long Fair. Rick Vymlatil spoke about working with Wade Shows' to eliminate "Midnight Madness" events, due to security issues, which increased revenue for both the carnival and the Fair with ride ticket promotions. Both carnivals said that a big contributor to rising diesel fuel costs has been adding more and more LED lighting, thereby realizing significant reductions in generator fuel costs. For those of you who didn't make this educational workshop, you may access the Power Point Presentation by go-


ing to the Florida Federation of Fairs' website. I stressed at the end of this session, that there was "not one solution that fit all Fairs" but that Fairs and carnivals needed to work together and discuss midway efficiency for the future survival of the next generation of owners. As the carnivals and concessionaires head North and West for their 2014 season, they are hoping to have as safe, prosperous and enjoyable Fair season as many had in the Great a State of Florida!


This Is What Makes Us Proud!


Hog raises over $21K for fellow classmates medical bills… This story was rewritten from an article by Carrie Mizell, Gilchrist County Journal


The story started long before the 2014 Suwannee River Fair when young Lane Langford, a


Trenton High School athlete, was left paralyzed following a December car crash. Several weeks before the Suwannee River Fair, Taylor Dean, 14, had announced plans to


donate proceeds from the sale of her hog “Louise” to Lane, in an effort to help him with medi- cal expenses. Unfortunately, Taylor’s hog did not meet the minimum weight requirements for entry into the Fair. However, her sister, Alaina’s hog did make the show, therefore the Tren- ton Middle FFA member vowed to take up her sister’s promise and give the proceeds from the sale of her animal to her cousin, Lane Langford. Taylor and Alaina never dreamed that the challenge they issued the community to join “Team Lane” and support their fundraising ef- forts would generate over $84 a pound for a hog. “Charlie,” Alaina’s 255-pound hog generated $21,649.50. “It was absolutely amazing,” said Kiley Dean, Taylor and Alaina’s mother, recalling sale day. “I cannot describe what hap- pened yesterday. We are very blessed to live in the community that we live in.” Gilchrist County residents pledged their support along with several contacts the family has in St. Lucie County to raise so much money for Lane Lang- ford. “My girls were just a tool that the good Lord used,” Kiley said. Dixie County residents also gave generously to help Cheyanne Hall, who pledged the proceeds from the sale of her animal to Heather Land. At press time, $21, 915 had been generated for the Old Town resident. Land was diagnosed with colon cancer and is now receiving treat- ment in Philadelphia. She and her husband, Jeff, have two sons.


Taylor & Alaina (These girls are Jeanne Keaton’s granddaughters – Taylor and Alaina) 40


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48