Canadian National Exhibition Blog

Last Thursday morning was the citizenship ceremony.  Over the past few years, it has settled into an annual event at the CNE in which the immigration officials get out of the office for a ceremony here to swear in some new citizens to Canada.  This year we had 56 newcomers from 26 different countries.  Along with the presiding judge of the ceremony, the CNEA president, our local MP, and the director of the immigration office, I was part of the platform party.  I offered welcoming remarks to the new Canadians, introduced the two tenors who performed, and then was allowed a few closing remarks.  I am allowed the opportunity to speak each year for two reasons: I am the GM of the fair, and I became a Canadian citizen at the 2000 CNE.  In my remarks, I expressed confidence that the new citizens will make wonderful new lives for themselves here in Canada.  I also suggested that, although they officially became Canadians that day, that the fact of being Canadian might sneak up on them in expected ways:

“When you are speaking with someone from your country of origin and they question your repeated use of the word ‘eh’, you may be reminded that you are Canadian.  If, in the depths of February, someone complains about the blizzard howling outside and you find yourself replying, ‘You know, I really like the change of seasons,’ then you may be reminded that you are Canadian.”

I guess I am old-fashioned enough that I get a little emotional about this sort of thing.  I know it sounds like a cliche, but you really do see hope on the faces of these new Canadians — hope and pride and warmth and affection for each other.  It is a little-known new tradition at the Ex, and I hope future years will be better attended by the general public.

Horses and Acrobats.  We started throwing this idea around a couple of years ago.  We were concerned about what we would do if the RCMP actually accepted our invitation to perform here.  The last time they were here (2004) was before we moved the Horse Show into the period before the Ex, and we made that move so that the Coliseum could be used during the fair.  The set-up of the Coliseum is a big deal in either of its available “modes”.  If used as an ice surface, it takes time to make ice.  If used for horses, a lot of dirt (officially called “tanbark” due to its colour) is required.

This year, the RCMP offered to return for the Labour Day weekend.  If they could have come for opening weekend it might have been different, but it would have silly to leave the tanbark in for the Horse Show, remove it and make ice for another skating show, and then re-install the tanbark for the RCMP.  The tanbark would have to stay, and tanbark isn’t good for much of anything other than horses.

The company that produced the ice-skating/aerial acrobatic shows for the past three years, ISF Entertainment, listened to our suggestions about combining horses and acrobatics and the rest is, as they say, history.  Similar to the skating/acrobatics show, ISF brought together performers who had never worked together, hired a talented director, enlisted the support of the choreographer who had done such a great job with the skaters, and put together a 30-minute spectacle.  Audience reaction has been unanimously positive.  The show has to close this coming Thursday to make room for the RCMP and the Rodeo, so I know that the remaining shows will be packed.

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.

Although the IAMS SuperDogs have been seen throughout North America, there are a number of things about our shows at the CNE that make them unique.  Our shows here are enormously popular – so it is important to arrive early, well before show time, to make sure you get a seat!

We want to ensure that you enjoy yourself.  To us, our CNE guests are the stars, which is why we literally give you the “red carpet” treatment as you approach the theatre.  Along the way, we provide a sneak peak of what you are about to see through our photo display: the IAMS SuperDog Gallery of Stars.

As our guests arrive we make sure to have an IAMS representative and often one of the trainers from the show there to greet you.  We try out best to be helpful!  Every Seat is a good seat: if you sit up high you can see the entire floor; if you sit close to the stage, you are close to the action!  We also guide you as to where to store your strollers and wagons, and ask you to finish all food and drinks prior to entering the theatre.

This year at the CNE, we have an added bonus: a Show Program about IAMS SuperDogs, which is a keeper for sure!  You may not know this, but approximately 30% of our canine stars are rescued dogs.  The show program not only provides background like this on the IAMS SuperDogs and our new show: Bling it On, but it also offers helpful tips on how to best care for your own dog.

So be sure to come and visit us at the CNE every day in Hall D in the Direct Energy Centre as we “BLING IT ON”!  And remember: arrive early to get a seat!

This “EX-posed” project will be one to watch to see if it turns into a new CNE tradition.  Our Youth Action Group (YAG) was pretty charged up about it everytime the idea was discussed.  I am sure almost everyone has some sort of secret related to the CNE, at least those who attend or once worked here.  The big question is whether or not we will get responses.  Will people expose themselves?  Remains to be seen.  The YAG is supposed to have distributed postcards all over the place, so they are out there.  Will they return?

Myself, I have no secrets.  My life is an open book.  Well, okay, I might as well admit it.  I think the game of golf is just plain stupid.  I don’t get it.  All the equipment, special shoes, driving practice, the way you hold the club, and then what?  Hit the ball, walk, talk.  For what?  I just don’t understand.

What does this have to do with the CNE?  Sorry, that’s my secret.

I think that the secrets already posted have far too much to do with kissing.  Do people at the Ex really kiss that much?

Hey everyone…Kevin Ridgeway & Kristen Johnson here from the Ridgeway & Johnson Grand Illusion & Escape Show. We are very excited to be a part of The EX this year.  We rolled into Toronto last week.

2008 has been an incredible year thus far. We have been on the road since January 10^th and have done everything from a 10 week tour sponsored by the US Army, to state fairs, to shooting a TV show in Istanbul, Turkey.

Life on the road has its pros and cons. We are never home, live out of hotels spend a lot of time on the highway. But the upside is we get to see friends and family, as well as, we get to meet great people and make new friends. Also our job never gets boring as each day is always different with something new to see and do. We try to get a feel for each location we go to, try new food, check out the local scene, etc.

When you get to The EX, come check out Kristen Johnson’s Full View Water Torture Cell…we promise it will leave you breathless!!! See you in Toronto!

Kevin Ridgeway & Kristen Johnson

Ridgeway & Johnson Grand Illusion & Escape Show

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.

6:15 am Friday August 15th – We have worked all year for today to arrive and here it is.  Thankfully, the weather looks good.  Provincial Minister of Tourism, Peter Fonseca, will officially open the fair in less than 4 hours.  Federal Minister of Finance, Jim Flaherty, will also be here.  There really is a special excitement around the opening and we all get caught up in it.  Last minute rehearsals finished yesterday and now, 18 days of fun.  For me, all I have to do is to see the looks on the faces of the children in our First Family to make the year’s hard work worthwhile.

Wow! I can’t believe the CNE is almost upon us again…I don’t know how many years I’ve been performing at the Ex in total, but it’s at least 6 years in a row. And every year I go through the same process of getting mentally psyched‐up, so I can mentally psych-out the packed crowd that shows up every day without fail, to experience the reality of hypnosis. There’s always a final countdown that begins in my head in the last week before it all starts. It’s physically gruelling to do hypnosis for 18 days straight under the (usually) hot sun, and as I drive along Lakeshore Blvd. from my Toronto home, the excitement starts to build. I head through the Midway and all the familiar sounds of the rides and the smell of hot dogs and cotton candy remind me that I’m back again. I find the stage and check in with the soundman, and he tells me everything’s set to go, and the audience starts showing up. It always amazes me when I look at the broad spectrum crowd I attract; everyone from twenty-something metal-heads in Ozzy shirts, to grandparents who (dare I admit it?) saw me when they were young, and have now brought their grandkids to see “that weird hypnotist who performed at my high school”. Yes, this is my 34th year of full-time performing! How is that possible?

I lounge in the sound booth and delay for as long as I possibly can, sipping water and saving my strength for the nearly 3 week grind of shows. But then Thunderstruck starts playing, the energy rush hits me and the show starts.

I’m back onstage at the Ex. And there’s nowhere I’d rather be.

- Dr Mike Mandel

CNE 1981.

On opening day during the 1981 edition of the Canadian National Exhibition, Conklin Shows had a ticket booth at the West End of the park, outside the Bavarian Gardens, which serviced that end of the Alpine Way Sky Ride. It was shortly after opening on Wednesday morning (as the CNE for years opened on Wednesday not Friday) and a CNE grounds crew garbage truck was headed down the midway. The ticket booth, which was located at the West End of the Alpine, had its electrical cord strung overhead to keep the midway clean of cords. As the garbage truck passed the ticket booth the top of the truck, unbeknownst to the driver, caught the electrical cord and continued along the midway pulling the ticket booth forward onto the pavement -– ticket seller still inside the ticket booth.

Shortly we arrived to find the booth tipped over onto its face with broken glass everywhere. We opened the door to find the ticket seller shaken but unharmed. Inside the booth there were tickets, money and glass strewn everywhere. We escorted the seller to the office and cleaned up the mess.

The show had extra ticket booths and we removed the destroyed booth and replaced it in short order with a new booth.

Back at the office the ticket seller had tidied up her money and tickets, and said that she was OK and she agreed that she would continue along with her shift.

Soon the seller was back in the booth selling tickets when the same garbage truck was making its return trip down the midway and again, unbeknownst to the driver, caught the same electrical power cord again, tipping the new booth backwards onto the pavement.

Upon our arrival – again – looking through the broken window there was once more glass, tickets and money scattered everywhere, and the ticket seller once again shaken and unharmed looked me straight in the eye and exclaimed “I Quit.”