A new ride

A new ride company is coming to the Jay County Fair.

Jay County Fair Board announced this morning that Carnival Tyme Amusements has been contracted to provide rides, games and food vendors for the fair this year.

The contract with Carnival Tyme, a family-owned business based in Eaton, was finalized Tuesday. It will take over for Maple Leaf Amusements.

There had been complaints from some fairgoers about Maple Leaf over the last couple of years, fair board members said, and the company decided voluntarily to find a replacement. The fair board and Maple Leaf, which had provided rides for the fair since 2016, were under contract through this year.

“They just felt like coming to Portland wouldn’t be a good thing for them,” said Jay County Fair Board president Brian Aker this morning. “So they chose to hire another ride company in their replacement.

“What we want the people to understand out there is that we’re listening to them,” he added. “They didn’t like Maple Leaf. We were under contract with them. We had to honor our contract.”

Carnival Tyme is operated by Gary Hughes of Muncie and Nicole and Bradd Burton of Henry County. All three have been in the carnival amusements business for more than 20 years, with the Burtons having previously owned Burton Brothers Amusements, and Carnival Tyme is a relatively new partnership together.

“We’re excited,” said Nicole Burton, who added that Burton Brothers in the past provided rides for county fairs in Hendricks and Bartholomew counties. “It’s a new venture for us. We’re trying to get some more county fairs in Indiana.

“We’re family oriented. … All we want is for the families to have a good time.”

The company is committed to bringing at least 15 rides to the fair, Burton said, adding that about half will be for younger children with half targeted toward teenagers. There will also be six to eight games and several food stands that sell items such as funnel cakes, shaved ice and cotton candy. 

That compares to about a dozen rides that Maple Leaf provided along with four games, Aker said.

“We’re excited about this,” he added.

“They showed us pictures of the rides that they had,” added fair board vice president Trent Paxson. “The rides looked very new, very up to date, clean.

They looked very well taken care of. …

“We’re going in the right direction.”

Carnival Tyme has been contracted since January with another carnival to provide rides for county fairs in Florida and George, Burton said. It also works extensively in the Cincinnati area and most recently handled Portland Festival in Louisville, Kentucky.

It will provide attractions for a Fourth of July celebration in Parkersburg, West Virginia, prior to coming to Jay County.

Carnival Tyme will honor the timeline and prices that had been agreed to via the Maple Leaf contract. Rides will open at 5 p.m. Monday, July 8, and continue through Saturday evening, July 13. Armbands for rides will be $15 in advance and $20 during the fair. There will also be a discounted price for Merchants’ Day on July 13.

Ride tickets go on sale Saturday at the fair office.

“One thing that’s neat about this company, they’re from Indiana,” said Paxson. “They’re local. They’re just down the road.

“So there’s probably a little more ownership, a little more vested interest on their part to put on a good show.”

This year’s fair will begin Saturday, July 6, with Josh Turner and LANCO in concert at the grandstand at 8 p.m. A monster truck show will follow on Sunday. That’s a change from the last several years, when the 4-H portion of the fair began on Saturday with the grandstand and other entertainment opening Monday.

Aker said the board is working toward the goal of beginning the 2020 fair Friday, July 10, and having it run until Saturday, July 18.