Belle City Shows Heads To The Sunny Bahamas

After closing its regular season at the Nov. 4-9 First Coast Ham Jam at a new flea market location in St. Augustine, Fla., Belle City Shows of Winter Springs, Fla., sent five rides and two games with Dick Carl to dates in Nassau, Abaco, and Freeport in The Bahamas, beginning Dec. 4.
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The show will be there for 12 weeks. Belle City is owned by Mary J. Panacek, along with her son, Charles G. Jr., and his wife, Rebecca. The younger Panaceks were here for the Nov. 30-Dec. 4 combined conventions of the International Assn. of Fairs & Expositions, Outdoor Amusement Business Assn., and Showmen's League of America.

In charge of Belle City equipment in the Bahamas is longtime concession and office manager Albert Wade. His wife, Betty, is staying at their home in South Carolina to take care of their son, Jamey, who is recovering from a car accident.

Rides that made the trip were the Power Surge, Typhoon, Yo Yo, Ring of Fire, and a fun house. "Dick called me originally and Billy Clark of Smokey Mountain Amusements was lined up to go, too, but he backed out.

"My dad [Charles Panacek Sr., now deceased] did a little bit of business with Dick over the years. He has had the contract there for 12 years, and I think Deggeller played there with him in the past." Carl owned Crown Amusements, which he sold to the defunct Pugh Shows, and now operates as R.A.C Amusements Ltd.

"From everything I've heard, they make money. They're established events that the government is sponsoring," said Panacek. "From what I understand, there is no problem with security or the promoter.

"The weather is always good, and that's something you can't guarantee over here, especially in the spring. Besides that, if we weren't playing there, we'd be off the road, with no chance of making money, just waiting for our next spot."

The Ham Jam, which originated in Middleburg, Fla., where it was very successful, has been off the last few years. It was forced to move to a new location, the World Golf Village in St. Augustine, last year, and the flea market this time.

"Rain was the main culprit, but we didn't particularly like the location either. There was a rain threat all week and we got rained out on Sunday. We ended our season up a little bit. The spring was awful. Besides rain every week, there were two tornadoes. Around mid-June, things started picking up and the weather cleared up."

The season for Belle City has begun the last 30 years at the Citrus County Fair, Inverness, Fla., which was March 17-22 this year. "Then we remain in Florida for festivals and still dates before moving through Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee in the spring."

The next fair was Muhlenberg County in Powderly, Ky., which was June 4-8. "We stay in Kentucky for June, Indiana for July, and the first of August we start coming back through Kentucky and Tennessee.

"About the middle of September we spend two weeks in Georgia [Spaulding County, Griffin, and Coweta County, Newnan], along with two weeks in October. The last two weeks of October are in South Carolina at the Jaycees Western Carolina State Fair, Aiken."

Belle City also books equipment with Jim Murphy's Mighty Blue Grass Shows at winter fairs. They include the Collier County Fair, Naples; Manatee County, Palmetto; and Florida Strawberry Festival & Fair, Plant City.

"We usually send four rides. I'm always there when we set up and then we have a manager during the run. It helps pay the bills. Then we do a lot of work at winter quarters in Longwood, Fla. Plus, we're helping mom, who is building a new house," said Panacek.

Mary still travels with the show and is in charge of PR. Her husband, Chuck, as he was known, died in 1990 at the age of 72. The younger Panacek said he was prepared to take over at the time.

"Dad's illness had been creeping up on him and at one point, I knew I would have to be there full time. I had been in school, on and off. There's not a day we don't miss him and his input, but I was prepared to take over as well as I could be."

The Panaceks have been married 16 years and have two children. Zachary is a student at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, and Charlotte is in the eighth grade. Both help out during the summer months.

Panacek said his help situation was pretty good. "We used 25 South Africans with the exception of one week for the entire season. They were with us from the end of March through November."

They were obtained through a company in Atlanta called, "A Way To Explore." Panacek said he was introduced to the company here, where again this year they had a booth in the exhibitor lounge.

"I've heard that getting Mexican help is a cheaper route to take and with the South Africans, we did pay a lot of money up front, but they were absolutely worth it. We've already made arrangements to have them come back.

"Most of them worked on rides, but we had some with food, games, and ticket sales. Almost half will be back."

Panacek said he was looking to purchase kiddie rides and was in negotiations with Zamperla. A new Bertazzon Himalaya was added this year. "It did very well. We were supposed to receive it in February, but it was damaged in shipping. They had to take it back to the factory in Italy and it was not delivered to us until mid-August at the Cumberland County Fair [Crossville, Tenn.]"

Added to the route was Fort Campbell, Ky., which the carnival had played in the past. It was shortened from two weekends to one. Even though most of the post's 101st Airborne troops were on duty in Iraq, Panacek said people came out, weather was good and it was very successful.

Ticket prices remained at 75 cents each, with 40 available for $25. Armbands for pay-one-price unlimited ride promotions went for between $10 and $20, depending on the date, hours and type of promotion.

"If it's a six-day date, we'll do at least two, sometimes, three. If it's two weeks, we'll do five,"he said.

"That has been the same for several years. One date, the Hopkins County Fair [Madisonville, Ky.], was all P-O-P, with a charge of $9 for gate admission, entertainment, and unlimited use of rides."

Concerning the economy, Panacek said it started showing effects early, but as the weather cleared, people started spending money.