North American Midway (formerly Conklin Shows) rewards their employees daily for excellence in customer service, appearance and attitude. These employees that are chosen by senior management are rewarded with cash, a letter of congratulations and a pin.
At the conclusion of each city that we play, we have the Grand Prize winner’s ceremony that salutes the best employees of the show in each of four categories: rides, games, food and administration.
At the conclusion of the Canadian National Exhibition in the late 1990s, we had a Grand Prize winner from the Bumble Bees ride in Kiddieland. This winner had come from Regina and travelled with us to the CNE. The Grand Prize consisted of a knapsack, a pin and $1,200.00 in cash.
We called each of the four winners and came around to the person on the Bumble Bees. Once his name was called, he bounced up to the presentation area excited as hell. When we handed him the $1,200.00 in cold hard cash, his eyes almost popped out of his head.
Following the presentation the Bumble Bee, now feeling like the richest person in the world, immediately went to his bunk house, packed up his stuff and left, never to be seen again.
