By: Merrick Payne
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| The North GA fair is taking place is Dalton, GA. Some highlights of the fair are the many booths set up along the pathways, many of which offer fairgoers the chance to win prizes. |
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| The worker at the Jumbo Dumbo ride shows some fair-time excitement. As I was taking pictures of the ride for practice, the ride operator shouted my way and threw up some peace signs, so I snapped a photo. |
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| The Fish Bowl Toss is located in the middle of the walkway. As I was walking around the fair, I discovered this carnival booth that looked pretty lively. |
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| The booth claims to offer a live goldfish to all winners of the game. A mix of blue and red bowls are set up on the table, awaiting the fairgoers' toss. |
The worker at the booth, Wendy, waits for fairgoers to come up to the booth. Wendy's father, Ed Briggs, owns several booths at the fair and their family, originally from Chicago, have been working the fair for more than 50 years.
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| Kids eagerly come up to the booth to try their luck at winning a goldfish, as their chaperones observe from behind them. Wendy begins explaining the game to the children. |
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| Wendy's daughter comes up to the kids to give some pointers for the game. Wendy and her immediate family live in Dalton, and they come to work at her father's booths when the fair comes to town. |
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| As the kids are playing the game, Wendy's coworker, Chett, is passing by. Chett is from Chicago, where Wendy's father is from, and he travels with Ed's booths as they move from town to town. |
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| Chett is using a leaf blower to blow the ping pong balls from under the table to other side of the booth where they can be collected for future use. Chett takes care of a lot of the technical work while Wendy helps people play the game. |
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| Other prizes hang from above. These prizes can be won if the fairgoers don't wish to win a live goldfish. |
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| The live goldfish are swimming in a tank sat on the side of the booth. |
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| The fishbowls sit perfectly lined up in the middle of the booth, buckets of ping pong balls line the sides, and one of Ed's other booths glows from behind. Chett says it takes them several hours to set up all of their booths whenever they get to a new fairground. |
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| Chett takes inventory of their booth and keeps track on the notepad in front of him of how many fish they have remaining. Chett talked to me about the game and his plans after the fair; he's headed back to Chicago after tomorrow. |
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Chett talks to a fairgoer about the game. When I asked him what his favorite part about working at the fair was he told me that he "[loves] seeing the smiles on people's faces."
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| Wendy helps up her daughter who is hiding under the booth. Wendy says her daughter tries to run wild at the fair every time they come to work it, but at least, at the booth, she can keep a good eye on her as she plays around. |
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| Wendy and her daughter hang out at the booth waiting for more fairgoers to stop by. Wendy tells me that her husband, Joshua, is working at the balloon-popping booth nearby, and that I should stop by his booth before I head out. |
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| Chett is collecting the ping pong balls from under the table as Wendy talks to her daughter. I decide to leave them to their work, and head out to find Joshua's booth. |
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| Prizes and balloons line the walls in Joshua's booth. In order to win one of these prizes, a player must throw at dart at a balloon and pop one. |
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| Joshua sits atop the booth, darts in hand. He's a welcoming man and seems pleased to know that I met Wendy. |
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| Joshua and his coworker wait for interested fairgoers to pass by the booth and try to convince them to play the game. They crack jokes, engage in conversation with me, and tell me it's been a slow day. |
