Daddy's Handbook for Girls - Fair Games

                I honestly believe my dad was the world’s greatest winner at the games they have at the fair. He won nearly every game he played. One year, he won so many large stuffed animals that he was banned from playing the games the rest of the time the fair was there that year. Honestly, when the game callers saw him coming, they tried to close down their booths for a break. The year he was banned, I was about twelve years old. The week the fair was in town, Daddy went nearly every night. He liked to walk around and check things out the first night. He would stop from booth to booth and watch others play.

                As the night progressed and he was sure of the games, he would then begin to play. This particular year, the booths had a bunch of large stuffed cats, leopards, jaguars and the like. Mother loved leopards so Daddy won one of those for her. This year the cousins were in from Indiana and so with all of us there, plus the cousins, he needed a lot of prizes. He would play games and win prizes, take them and lock them in the truck and go back to win some more. He was amazing at it.

                On the night we were allowed to go, we only went one night of the fair each year. Probably because there was nine of us and getting in the fair wasn’t cheap. I would ride a ride or two and find Daddy and follow him around through the games. His favorite game was a fishing game. They gave you a fishing pole with a ring tied to the end of the string and you had to get the ring around the neck of a bottle and sit it up properly, then get ring back off without knocking the bottle over to win the prize. Daddy could win this game every time. It was the first game to ban him this particular year.

                “How do you win so much, Daddy?” I asked and before he could answer I followed with, “Teach me how to win one. Please, please, please!” I would have my hands clasped together and hopping up and down.

                “Calm down and I will tell you, " he replied. 

                I immediately calmed down and stood there at attention so he would explain. I wanted to win one of the large prizes so badly. He handed the man enough money for two poles. He then handed one of them to me. He stood next to me and explained, “First, you have to be very careful and patient. Then you gently ease the ring over the neck of the bottle. Slowly raise the pole until the bottle begins to swing. Hold it as still as you can until the bottle stops moving. Then you ease the bottle the rest of the way up. Once the bottle is sitting firmly on its bottom, slowly lift the pole until the ring slides off the bottle. That's all there is to it. Easy peasy, Japanesey.”
                 As he gave the explanation, he would demonstrate the procedure and won a large prize while I was standing there.
                "Whoop! We got a winner! We got a winner right here!" The game caller shouted.
                He let me pick out the cat I wanted and then stood there waiting for me to try my hand at the game. I slowly lowered the ring until it slid over the neck of the bottle. I was holding my breath and trying to do just as he described. I gently pulled on the pole and began to lift the bottle. I got to the point where the bottle was swinging from side to side. I was so excited, and light headed from holding my breath I began to bounce on the ball of my feet. This made the bottle swing faster and it simply rolled right off the ledge the bottle was on and I lost.

                Every time I played the game it happened this way. Shortly after my third try, it began to rain. Daddy grabbed my hand and we took off running to find everyone else. Once everyone was rounded up, we were loaded into the back of the truck, getting soaked to the skin, and we were ushered home from our only night at the fair. Down trodden and depressed we rode home to find an anomaly we had never seen before. It was raining on one side of the street, but on the side where our house was, the sun was shining. This lifted our spirits a little because at least we could play outside. The neighborhood kids that lived on the side of the street where it was raining all came over to our house to play.

                Since the fair was a bust for us, when it got dark, mother set up the white screen and brought out the projector. She popped large bowls of popcorn and made kool-aid for all the kids there. We sat out blankets on the ground while mother showed cartoons on the screen. Usually this was a weekend night treat or a special occasion treat for one of our birthdays. All the kids in the neighborhood loved cartoon night in the backyard at our house. The cousins were there this year as well. We all had a good time and Daddy went back to the fair. He won several more large stuffed cats that year. All in total he won 22 cats and pasted them all out to the kids and cousins. He was banned from the games because he caused many of the booths to lose money.

                Daddy always treated all children the same. They all got the same thing no matter where they came from, a child he was raising, a cousin or a neighbor, we were all the same in the eyes of Daddy. Daddy was the epitome of love, so was mother, but she did not have the same funny carefree attitude I remember from Daddy. The fair was a treat for many years to come. I often went back, even as an adult and tried to win at the games. I never had the skill or patience for the games the way Daddy did. I learned the lesson of how to play to win, but I could never execute the patience to win the games. After Daddy passed away, I couldn’t help but go to the fair at least one night a year and walk around and look at the games. It never fails to bring back old memories and lessons of fair games.