Fair Games
<p>Jamie Sedlmayer, a staff writer with The Press, tosses a ping pong ball toward a table of water-filled jars in the game section of the midway at the Kootenai County Fair on Thursday in Coeur d’Alene.</p>
<p> TW Hamm describes the rules of the balloon game at his fair booth.</p>
<p> Ayden Washburn, 8, of Coeur d’Alene, uses his body to urge a coin to drop in a winning position while playing Dozers.</p>
<p> Prizes at the game booths range from very small to larger-than-life.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - The North Idaho Fair and Rodeo's carnival games may be a little more forgiving than in years past. The days of shoveling out hundreds of dollars for a 3-inch plush bear could be over.
I know this because my editor sent me to the fair Thursday. My assignment: Play the carnival games and explore what it takes to win.
Paradise Amusements, from Post Falls; and Billings, Mont.-based North Star Amusements are contracted for the carnival games and rides at the fair this year. Jennifer Columbus from Paradise said her company just wants to make sure people have fun at the events they run. She said she loves to play the games and admits that, though some are tougher than others, she likes to give them a try.
My first stop was Wacky Water Race. This old favorite has the player aim a water-gun at a target. As the water hits the target, a little horse slides from left to right in a race against other players. The game was very simple and always has a winner. It's a great game for groups and anyone who can point the mounted water-gun. If you play by yourself, you're an automatic winner.
As I passed the booths, carnival game workers barked their best reasons for me to stop and play: "It's easy. I promise you'll win." Some used improvised megaphones to shout through. Some just tried to wave me over.
As I walked between booths, it was nearly impossible to decide what to play next - there were options aplenty. With many other types of games on the midway, I moved on to some oldies but goodies.
The ring toss offered the same outcome as it does for many: It was a no-go. With buckets full of rings, neither me nor anyone else could make the rings stick to the soda bottles we were attempting to hit. Regardless of not winning a prize, the game kept everyone laughing and the buckets of rings made for a slightly longer game experience than most of the other games.
Toy Factory, a balloon pop game, was the same as always. With three darts and hundreds of balloons on a wall, it's a game for anyone who can throw. With the first dart, I popped a balloon and won a prize.
A few games offer an adrenaline kick. The Zip Line and the Bungee Bounce offer a type of physical experience that might not appeal to everyone. For those folks, there are basketballs to shoot, or they can give the Shooting Star a try. That was the fastest of the games I played, and by far one of the most fun.
Standing before a star on a target, Shooting Star players are given BB rifles. The goal is to shoot out the star completely. This might seem challenging to a person who has never shot a gun, but it was easy.
When the game operator handed me my target with just a speck of star left on it, I didn't care about the prize. I felt like the Terminator.
Through all the games I played Thursday, 11 were fun, and I won eight prizes including a bear, a hat, a wallet, a poster and a photo button. The price to play those games, which took a little over an hour of playtime, was roughly $40, and the prizes were likely worth about the same as they cost to play, or slightly more.
Whether it was luck or more-forgiving games, it was a lot of fun. The prices have increased and the prizes have changed, but it's the same kind of old-fashioned fun found at fairs for as long as I can remember.