In the 1950s, Sharole was promoted to be the manager of the Conko Ice Cream Waffles stand, which was located at the east end of the Grandstand and remained at that location until 1999 when the Stadium was demolished. Sharole managed a very popular and huge operation with sometimes 30 staff working in the stand making fresh waffles or scooping ice cream. Over the years, the Conko Waffle stand became a Toronto landmark and I could only guess at the number of fresh made ice cream waffles came out of that stand.   

In the early 1990s Sharole, very quietly, decided to call it a day and hung up her white apron for the last time.

On Labour Day, we closed the show and I was coming back from Kiddieland around 2:00 am when I passed the Conko Ice Cream Waffles stand where Sharole and her staff had finished cleaning and packing up the waffle irons for the year. There was Sharole closing the awning by herself and once everything was closed and locked up I followed her to car to see her drive off the Canadian National Exhibition grounds for the last time as an employee. After over 45 seasons and millions of waffles that was it – it was over – no fan fare, standing ovation or teary goodbyes. I stood there pondering for a few minutes with almost an empty feeling inside – for that was the end of an era and piece of history at the CNE.

At the conclusion of the Canadian National Exhibition, we at North American Midway pack up our chattels and make our way for the US border to Fairs in Lewiston, New York and Springfield, Mass. Alas, the end of our Canadian Tour.

In 2008, the day after Labour Day, I’m busy with tidying up some business affairs with the management of the CNE and packing up my office. It turns out we are a bit short on drivers and they ask if I could take a load on a one and a half hour drive to Lewiston, which I agree to. To begin with I’m to take the Funnel Cake, but once I’m finished putting away the last of my office items things have changed and I’m now going to drive the Shoot Out the Star game.

I’m a bit tired but the trip goes fast and soon I’m at the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge in the commercial US Customs line. I arrive at the inspection station and the customs and immigration officer reviews our customs papers and asks us to pull over into the inspection area. In the inspection area we head into the customs building and wait forever for someone else to take a look at our papers and what we are bringing into the United States. After almost four hours, a new customs person comes out and says that they need a special Homeland Security inspector from Buffalo to come out in the morning to look at our load before we can leave.

So we get a hotel in Niagara Falls, New York and wake very early in the morning to again wait for the Special Inspector to arrive. Again we wait another three hours when the special Homeland Security inspector arrives and we lead him out to the truck and load. He pokes around the truck and trailer for a while and tells us we can head on our way. We go back inside to get our papers stamped and another customs inspector clears us to go and we ask why our load was detained. The Shoot Out the Star game involves machine guns that fire buckshot at a paper target and our “in-house” customs person put on the clearing papers that we were transporting “Machine Guns.” Homeland Security certainly does not like the words “Machine Guns” and that was what caused our delay.

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.

***

We had an incident of minor consequence due to rider error on the ever famous Enterprise Ride. Must have been a slow news week for the Toronto Sun reported the story in the newspaper the following day. We received a call into our offices by a disgruntled patron asking: “What type of Enterprise are you people running any how?”

***

One of our long time and very funny employees “Doc Godin” was selling all day ride bracelets in front of the Giant Wheel ticket booths on a very busy last Sunday. He was barking out to the crowd: “Pay one price bracelets and Air Show, get your bracelets here.” The barking surely put some smiles on some of the peoples’ faces with regards to the Air Show. A customer came up and purchased a bracelet and asked where she could see the Air Show. Doc replied: “You can look up now.” The lady responded very seriously: “I’m so sorry I’ve been looking up all afternoon – I will know better next year.”

***

Our food staff is trained to ask the customer after they make their purchase if they would like at drink with their order. One customer’s reply was: “No thanks, I have a drinking problem.”

On my way to the Canadian National Exhibition in 1983 from Regina Buffalo Days, I round the corner in Thunder Bay to find the weight station open, so I wheel in Ole 848 across the scale and at the conclusion of the weighting the light flashes indicating that I am to report to the office. I pull over the truck and proceed to the office with the necessary papers in hand.

Inside Mr. Head Inspector does not seem like he is having a very good day and sends me with another Inspector to check the mechanical condition of Ole 848. About a half hour later we return and I pass the mechanic inspection. Mr. Head Inspector now asks for the insurance, registration and my licence, which I readily provide. He examines my documents and looks up at me with that glaring look of disdain and says: “Son, this licence is no good for this truck and trailer; you need a Class 3 licence to drive a load with this gross vehicle weight.” I had been driving in Ontario for seven years and provided my licence to inspectors numerous times and never before had I come across this issue. I ask Mr. Head Inspector what I have to do to keep rolling down the road – he replies: “Well, Son, as long as I’m at this scale and you have that licence, that truck is not going to leave this lot.” Bewildered, I ask if I can take the truck, but leave the trailer and he agrees.

I head into town and stop at the gas station to ask where the drivers’ examination board is. I get the directions and head on over. Inside the examination place I register to write my Class 3 Ontario Driver’s Licence. I wait about an hour and write the written test and wait another half hour to find out that I passed. Next the woman behind the counter tells me that I need a medical and I ask her to direct me to the medical clinic. I drive Ole 848 over to the medical clinic and the whole medical process takes over two hours. With my medical in hand, I head back to the driver examination place.

Next the lady behind the counter tells me that now I need to do my driving test and the next opening is in a week and a half. Again, I’m bewildered. I sit in the waiting area trying to figure out what I’m going to do next. Again, I approach the lady behind the counter and ask if she has a cancellation today if I could take that spot. She says that I can take the spot but assures me that she rarely has a cancellation. So now I’m hanging around the check-in counter like a bad smell and finally a Class 1 driver comes in for his examination. I butt in and ask the would-be driver if he would take a $100.00 and come back in a week and a half to do his test. The guy’s eyes pop out of his head looking at the $100.00 and we have a deal.
   
I say to the lady behind the counter: “We have a cancellation here; can I take his spot?” She can’t believe it and slots me in to do the driving test.

I meet the examiner at Old 848 and we do the truck inspection, then we drive around town for a bit. Then he has me drive up and down the highway for a while and back to the examination center where we turn some corners and back up for a short period. I pull back into the parking space and he asks me to wait in the waiting room back in the office, not telling me if I passed or failed.
 
I wait anxiously for about another half hour until my name is called when I approach the same lady behind the counter. She opens her folder and hands me a new licence, with my name, address, date of birth and most important under Class was the number 3. She has me sign the licence and sends me on my way.

I head back out to the scale and inside the office is Mr. Head Inspector. I approach the counter and open my wallet to present my shiny new Class 3 driver’s licence. Mr. Head Inspector is stunned. I ask if I may leave now and he gives me the still stunned look and nods yes.

Little over six hours and $208.00 later, I’m back in Ole 848 heading out of Thunder Bay on my way to the Canadian National Exhibition.

One morning at the CNE, I was in the office alone trying to get caught up on some paperwork before the endless interruptions of the show daily business started. Of course the phone is already ringing.   

About the 4th or 5th call I answer is from a gentleman that has a Guest Relations complaint – so I pull out the customer care form and get ready to start to fill it in. The gentleman goes on to say that at last year’s Canadian National Exhibition he had been in the Coliseum and had employed the services of the palm reader to tell his fortune. Well the fortune tellers in the Coliseum are not part of Conklin Shows, they are booked by the CNE and I’m getting ready to re-direct his call to their Guest Services when the conversation starts to engage me and I ask the gentleman to continue with his problem.

Gentleman: “Well last year at the CNE I had my palm read by one of the fortune tellers in the Coliseum and none of the fortunes came true and I would like my money back.”

Me: “Well, Sir – I think your problem is that you have not waited long enough.”

Gentleman: (Fairly long pause well he is thinking) “I suppose you are right – thank you for your time.”

Me: “Goodbye”

Gentleman: “Goodbye”

For a few years I dated a girl from Brandon, Manitoba.  Brandon was our first stop in Canada and we often found a number of employees there who wanted to get the hell out of town, and the Carnival was a great way to see this great nation and earn a few bucks while you were at it.  My girlfriend was one of those people.  As the summer progressed so did our sordid little romance.

At the conclusion of the CNE we were tired and in need of a good meal, so the day after the CNE ended I suggested that we go for dinner and maybe take in some live music, which she agreed would be good for our worn out souls.  First off a little background, this girl from Brandon, Manitoba was maybe not very wise in the ways of the world, as this summer was the first time she had ever been out of Manitoba — therefore she was easily tricked.

At the time we stayed at Carlton Place, which was located right next door to Maple Leaf Gardens.  I suggested that I would take her to a very fine eating establishment and maybe she could wear a nice dress and perhaps a little makeup would be in order.  She was released from work earlier in the afternoon and I said that I would have to stay later to take care of some business and would meet her for dinner.  I drew her a map from the hotel, only three blocks north on Church street to where we would meet at the cross street of Maitland @ 7:00pm.

At that time Church and Maitland was a location for streetwalkers.

I arrived a bit early and sat in the coffee shop across the street and soon there was my girl from Brandon, Manitoba strutting up the street and stopping at the preset location.  As she is standing there patiently, looking pretty as ever, waiting for me, the working girls at the corner are eyeing her up and pointing in her direction.  Soon, one of the girls comes over to confront her, the Brandon girl just ingores her and thinks this is some sort of crazy whack job.  Some guys in cars slow down and check her out, she still has not figured it out.  The same working girl now approaches her again and I think enough is enough I better go get her.  The working girl is having some cross words with my friend and she finally clues in to what she has gotten herself into as I cross the street.  As I get close she is furious with me and does not see the humour in the matter — still the working girl is firing cross words in our direction.

Soon Ms. Brandon has cooled down and thinks I need some serious mental assessment — we go for dinner with live music to follow.

The girl from Brandon now resides, very happily, in Waterloo, Ontario, with four children and is a long-time employee of TD Canada Trust.  I see her every August as she visits the CNE each year with her family and she often says that the three summers she spent with Conklin Shows ticket office were some of the best times of her life.

In 1985 Bruce Springsteen’s massive hit album “Born in the USA” dominated the airwaves across North America.  In the heat of Springsteen’s 1985 tour, the CNE hosted Bruce two evenings, Monday, August 26th and Tuesday, August 27th at Exhibition Stadium.

Toronto and the media are abuzz over the arrival of Bruce in town, and the front page of the city’s newspapers are filled with coverage of his arrival.  To this day I cannot remember a show at Exhibition Place that drew such attention and hype.

For the first night Monday show, Bruce arrives by limousine off Lakeshore Boulevard along the east side of Exhibition Place to under the Players sign to the backstage area.  There are so many fans that the trip from Lakeshore to the stage takes over 45 minutes due to the frenzy.  The show is delayed and management is getting worried that the 80,000+ fans are getting anxious.  Finally, the show goes off without a hitch and is a huge success.

Urban legend has it that the following evening, to avoid the fan frenzy and another delay in the show, CNE management organizes a Conklin Shows tractor-trailer to pick up Bruce from a pre-set location downtown and bring him to the CNE in the sleeper in the back of the truck.

In 1998, the Canadian National Exhibition offered several promotions on a single day, which also happened to be Chinese Day.  On the middle Saturday of the fair, if you had bought a medium pizza at Pizza Nova you got into the CNE free; and if you had bought a certain number of 649 lottery tickets, you also got into the CNE for free that same day.

Needless to say, the promotion was hugely successful and the final attendance count for the day exceeded 250,000 persons — which still today stands as a North American Fair record for a single day attendance.

As the day progressed the infrastructure of the CNE was stretched beyond its capabilities.  Washroom lines were a 2 hour wait, to get on a single ride would be the same amount of time.  To purchase a water took an hour — and only if you could find a food stand that actually still had some left.  The garbage overflowed in all containers and reports were that TTC streetcar took at least three hours at times to get aboard.  Sure Mayhem!

In the early afternoon I was in a midway ticket booth assisting our sellers and I spy a woman and her two kids about 20 or 30 people back in the line.  The woman was visibly upset and crying.  I exited the ticket booth and approached the woman to see if I could assist.  I asked the woman what was wrong and she said that she had been waiting in line for the Giant Wheel for almost 2 hours and she just realized that she was in line for the ticket booth.  I took the woman and her family to the back entrance of Giant Wheel and got her on.

Conklin Shows owned and operated the ever infamous “Bavarian Beer Gardens” at the east end of the Alpine Way at the Canadian National Exhibition grounds. This German-style beer gardens was a popular meeting place, and a great place to get a good meal and have a beer. The establishment was pretty popular and particularly busy after the Warriors Day parade.

During the 1987 edition of the CNE we made a valiant attempt to serve smoked beef sandwiches at the tavern. The process required a smoker, which kept going 24/7 to slow cook the beef. Early during the CNE, a representative from the fire department paid us a visit and said that we needed a “permit” to use the cooker outdoors. Being belligerent, as we often were, we ignored the order and kept on smoking beef in the smoker and serving sandwiches to the beer drinkers inside.

The issue became quite heated (pun intended) as the CNE progressed and landed on Bill Stockwell’s desk, who was the CNE General Manager at the time. Finally Bill called Alfie Phillips, the president of Conklin Shows, and said that he no longer could defend our cause with the fire department and asked that we surrender and shut down the cooker — we reluctantly agreed and closed down the cooker.

Later that evening the Music Building at the opposite end of the grounds caught fire and the massive blaze destroyed the entire structure. Alfie Phillips, Bill Stockwell and yours truly stood on Manitoba Drive in front of the CNE police station and watch the Music Building go up in flames. Of course I had to turn to Stockwell and ask if he had a “permit” to burn this building — I got a little smile.