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Life behind the Tilt-a-Whirl

During fair week, laborers with Belle City Amusements work, live and play at the fairground, yet somehow stay obscure.

By PAULETTE LASH RITCHIE
Published March 26, 2006

It is right out in the open, yet hidden. The living quarters of Belle City Amusements Inc. owners, subcontractors, managers and laborers constitute a community within the midway: always there, but not readily seen.

These businesspeople, who bring the Scorpion, the Tilt-a-Whirl and the Ferris wheel to the Citrus County Fair each year, live right there at the fairground during fair week. The Citrus Times took a tour last week during the 2006 fair, which ended Saturday.

Belle City Amusements is owned by Charles Panacek, 42, and his mother, Mary, 81. Panacek's wife, Beckie, 38, serves as secretary, treasurer and office manager.

The Belle City Amusements office trailer is at the front center of the midway. Nearby is the Panaceks' home. They have a permanent home in Enterprise, but they live in the mobile one nine months of the year.

The midway is a complicated mix of owners, managers, laborers, and subcontractors and their laborers. There are young people just in it for fun, travel and money. There are veterans who have made this world their lives.

Belle City Amusements has two groups of laborers, American and South African. The South Africans, who come from their country for nine months or less, are young. A recruiting company called A Way to Explore offers the idea of traveling to the United States to young people, and the adventurous respond.

Tanya Goetzer, 20, and Annare Piek, 21, are in the United States for the third time to work the fairs. Goetzer said she came for "travel and experience."

"And it's a good way to make money," Piek said.

"We get to see America, and it's really fun. We enjoy it," Goetzer said.

The women are two of 18 South Africans with Belle City Amusements right now. More are expected for the peak season.

The workers are often recruited out of high school, Beckie Panacek said, and the recruitment isn't only for her company. Big amusement parks also benefit. But she said her business has more to offer than some of the bigger, permanent parks.

"We feel like we have a leg up on Disney World or Six Flags. Our kids get to see half the country," she said.

"It's hard work," Piek said, (but) "if you do your job and do what you're supposed to do, you're going to have a hell of a good time."

The South Africans and the Americans are separated into two bunk areas - mainly, Beckie Panacek said, because the South Africans speak Afrikaans and are comfortable being near one another. The Americans tend to be older, longtime workers.

Both live in bunkhouses in trailers directly behind the games.

"It's very small," Piek said. "We just sleep there, but it's very comfortable, heated and air conditioned."

There are showers and sinks in the rows of bunkhouses that the workers share. It works out, but Piek said it is sometimes difficult to keep the showers clean.

"Guys mess the whole thing up, and the girls clean it up," she said.

Piek's bunkhouse has two bunk beds, plastic storage cabinets, a microwave, a small refrigerator, a television and a DVD player.

After closing, the young people often gather outdoors.

"We close at 11, and everybody will sit outside, have a beer, sit around and enjoy being away from home," she said. "It's really awesome."

The shower rooms don't include toilets, but that is okay with Piek. She said there are plenty of those at the fairground. In fact, she said, it might be more of a problem if they had to deal with toilets in the trailers.

Local travel is done in a couple of ways. Some of the laborers have bicycles (including Goetzer and Piek) to get to places close by, but on laundry and shopping days, there is a bus.

Religion can be a challenge because equipment breakdown and travel are often on Sundays. But, Beckie Panacek said, church groups will often come to the fairground to offer food, goody bags, counseling and services. She said these groups are available at about one-third of the amusement company's route.

* * *

There are families in the carnival community.

Beckie Panacek and her husband, whom she met after running away with the carnival at age 16, have two children: Zachary, 20, works and lives with them; Charlotte, 15, joins them on long weekends and during the summer. The rest of the time, she boards at her school during the week and lives with her grandmother on weekends.

Beckie Panacek said her family is close despite being apart. She talks with Charlotte often.

Another family within the larger family of Belle City Amusements is the Klingers.

"There are four generations on the midway," Beckie Panacek said.

The Klinger family owns food trailers and games and subcontracts with Belle City Amusements.

Darrell "Grandpa" Klinger, 81, is retired after 52 years in the business. He lives in Tampa, so he came to Inverness to visit the rest of the family and brought 12-year-old grandson Austin Bohlander with him.

Teresa, 48, and Glenn Pulver, 50, are Klinger's daughter and son-in-law. They own and operate a pizza stand, a lemonade and ice cream concession, a funnel cake trailer, and a quarter game. They built and travel in a spectacular trailer that has everything for comfort that any home might have.

The 53-foot trailer has a tile kitchen floor, a refrigerator, a range, a dishwasher, an island sink, cabinets and a table with a padded bench. There is art on the wall. The bath contains a bathtub and shower, a sink and a toilet. A closet contains a washer and dryer.

The living room has overstuffed leather furniture and a 42-inch plasma television. There is another TV in the bedroom. Off the living room is Teresa Pulver's office. Two poodles, Cuddles and Rascal, have run of the place.

"I have everything in this house," Teresa Pulver said.

* * *

Belle City Amusements has about 45 people on its payroll. The company belongs to the Outdoor Amusement Business Association. Charles Panacek is one of its directors.

The association offers health and dental plans to members. The OABA, as they call it, also provides concessionary and other discounts with national chains and serves as a legal watch group.

Beckie Panacek said it works hard to improve the image of carnivals. All Belle City Amusements ride help are association members. At the end of a season, the business has a big jamboree for its employees. They buy tickets for a dinner and can participate in raffles and auctions. Proceeds benefit the association.

Belle City Amusements has about 28 rides, about 30 games and five food trailers. Other games and food trailers are subcontracted. The company and the subcontractors are about 80 people working, traveling and living together. They are together all the time for about nine months.

There are occasional tiffs, Teresa Pulver said, but the hard feelings don't last.

[Last modified March 26, 2006, 00:25:14]