Link: Carnies keep the fair fun going.
Two teenage girls stumble arm-and-arm from the caged metal bucket of the Zipper, the notorious ride not fit for a weak stomach. Holding their free arms on their tummies, the two laugh with a slight case of queasiness. Just a few metres away, a mother-and-daughter duo shove black balls across silver rails at the Bowler Roller booth. Everywhere around them is the ambiance of another summer carnival: screaming children spinning on rides, the smell of poutine and popcorn, flashing lights and loud music. Most people don't even notice the 87-year-old man zipping through the crowds, his slightly hunched frame zigging and zagging around baby carriages and strolling couples. Bingo Hauser has last-minute chores to do. As the owner of West Coast Amusements, he works tirelessly to put on another spectacle at the Vancouver Island Exhibition, which opened its gates Friday morning. Hauser's been in the carnival business for 64 years. He once owned three lions while living in Brandon, Man. His goal was to join the circus, but eventually he sold the large felines and picked up a carnival ride. From that point, he continued to buy rides and travel the country. Today, he takes his travelling carnival to communities throughout Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C. He's been rolling into Nanaimo for 30 years, give or take a few, according to his calculations.
Making the trip to Vancouver Island, however, got a bit more difficult this year. Gasoline prices and B.C. Ferries fuel surcharges make the run far less profitable than it used to be. Things have changed. Even his dedicated crew has seen some minor alterations over the years.
There's not much that can take a carnie away from his or her work. Once a carnie, always a carnie: that's the code that some of them will refer to, when they're asked. Death seems to be the only thing that can stop someone from staying in the industry.
People who Hauser worked with for decades have died in recent years. With a squinted left eye, peering out from under his white fisherman's hat, he gently puts his hand upon his head -- at least 12 of his lifers have passed away, he speculates.
"So much has changed, but I have a good crew that I've been working with them for years," he says as he stands next to Sean Goozman, who is busy repairing wiring under the cotton candy booth.
Goozman is a "third-generation carnie" who has been with Hauser for 15 years. "My dad was a carnie, my aunt was a carnie, my grandpa was a carnie," he explains during a walk around the fair grounds.
The faces certainly represent the history of West Coast Amusements, but so do the rides. Children line up at the Bulgey, waiting to climb into the bright buckets shaped and painted to look like fish. The modern look on the outside is far younger than the rear end of the 1944 Ford pickup that sits under the colourful tarp at the centre of the ride.
A six horse-power motor spins the truck's axle, which propels each one of those fish-looking buckets and the little kiddies inside.
The industry may be changing and gas prices rising, but as long as Hauser has air in his lungs, he will do his best to get back to Beban Park, where he's been offering rides to families for nearly half his life.
