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A good time was not had by all at the fair last week
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Dear Editor,

This letter is in reference to the fair that has plagued our county again this year. Obviously, no one on the Fair Committee has realized that there is a deep recession across the country, Effingham County included, or perhaps it hasn’t affected the ones on the board as it has us “common, blue collar” people. Who knows?

My daughter, son-in-law and almost 2-year-old grandbaby attended the fair Wednesday night, it being the first fair that my grandchild had gone to. They paid their admission and went inside, hoping to get to see some former FFA friends of my daughters, see the hog show and ride a few rides.

They were not aware that if you purchased a $15 bracelet that the baby would be able to ride all of the kiddie rides without paying individual ticket prices. Therefore, they bought just a few tickets, and away they went.

The first ride they put the baby on, the daddy climbed in with her, it being her first time on anything like this, not knowing how she would react, plus the fact that she is a baby and extra safety never hurt anything. What did the man running the ride do? He had already taken the tickets for the baby, five of them at 2 dollars each, and then he said in his broken English, that they had to pay an additional five tickets at two dollars each for the daddy to accompany her. How ridiculous can that be? So, for a mere three-minute ride, if that, the fair carnies stole 20 dollars from them in one clip.

After that situation, they walked the edge of the carnival, where the game booths are set up. The baby did the “fishing game,” spending more outrageously priced money, where she “won” a bear that was marked “millennium” edition. It even had a ribbon around the neck saying 2000. This piece of crap has traveled across the USA, been in every city numerous times.

How can they be allowed to charge the ridiculous prices they do to give 10-year-old “awards” like this? Is it that no one on the fair committee checks these people out before they settle like vultures in our county? Is it that the Fair Committee knows that they are getting a huge cut of the weekly carnie earnings, so therefore they don’t care what kind of treatment these trashy people give to the patrons, nor are they concerned that the “traveling thieves” are passing off 10-year-old merchandise as prizes.

I also wonder if the carnies that weren’t English were checked to see if they were “green card carrying citizens” in order to be allowed the privilege to be here in our country. I would almost bet that not the first one was checked by anyone on the Fair Committee or anyone in law enforcement. Therefore, they ride the circuit with the fair, set up their rickety little rides, treat the patrons as rude and nasty as they want to, ripping them off monetarily, and they get away with it. Something is definitely wrong with this picture.

Next year, I hope that someone on the Fair Committee sees to it that they are more particular in who they allow free rein on the tax paying citizens money. Either that, or give away tubes of K-Y jelly at the ticket booth. Lord knows you are going to need it.

Kaye Shuman