THE BALLOON MAN

Payne County Fair draws students, South Africans

 

DeJuan McConnell
Fair-well
Fair guests wander around at the 98th Annual Payne County Free Fair on Sunday.
by Jonathan Lacaba / Residential Life Reporter
FROM:  ocolly.com
September 4, 2012
Oklahoma State University is not the only place in Stillwater that has long-lasting traditions.
For more than 40 years, Ottaway Amusement Co. has provided the city with carnival rides during the annual Payne County Free Fair.
Ottaway co-owner Vicki Flattery said on Sunday the carnival business has been a major part of her life since childhood.
“This is a family business,” she said. “My parents started it and I’ve been with it since I was 9. We’ve been coming to Stillwater for about 40 years … ever since I can remember.”
Sunday’s carnival marked the conclusion of the weeklong 98th annual fair, hosted by the Payne County Expo Center. The center gets a percentage of Ottaway’s ticket sales, Flattery said.
“We pay the fair board to use the lot and help with trash pickup,” she said.
“We pay the fair board to use the lot and help with trash pickup,” she said.
Ottaway manager Laney Curry, Flattery’s daughter, said this year’s event was busier than normal.
“We had a really strong Friday,” Curry said. “There were really long waits to get on some of the rides. I think more people came on Friday because of Saturday’s football game.”
Ashley Gegan, a 2012 OSU alumna, said she enjoyed Sunday’s carnival festivities.
“I think it’s nice to have here,” Gegan said. “It’s cute for Stillwater. My favorite part was the teeter-totter guitar ride.”
The ride in question, which Flattery deemed “The Rockstar,” seats 22 people and cost $580,000 to purchase for the carnival.
“That ride is about six weeks old,” Flattery said. “We like it because 22 people can ride it at once, which will cut down on lines and allow more people to have fun.”
With just three hours until closing, students still lined up at Ottaway’s ticket window for a chance to experience the carnival. Caley Conner, a speech pathology senior, and Emily Sprunger, a nutritional science senior, said they came on a spur-of-the-moment decision.
“We heard about it and decided to come see what it was about,” Sprunger said.
read more:
http://www.ocolly.com/news/stillwater/article_ac013c44-f6c5-11e1-8754-0019bb30f31a.html?mode=story