Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 3, 1993 TAG: 9307030037
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SALEM LENGTH: Medium
A friend is there to see him, he has two phone calls to return, a reporter is waiting to interview him and a photographer is waiting to take his picture.
Enough to make most people at least tug on their hair, if not pull it out in clumps.
But Harveycutter is in his element (near-chaos) and having a great time. As the center's director, he's in charge of making sure that the sixth annual Salem Fair and Exposition - the second largest in the state - opens on time at noon. And without a hitch.
The radio squawks. Harveycutter, aka "Unit 1," answers. Channel 10 wants information for a story. No problem.
Outside, the morning is heating up to a pleasant broil. Harveycutter slides into his golf cart, Diet Cherry 7-Up in hand, and zooms off to do laps around the midway.
First stop, the Lewis-Gale Hospital booth that handles first aid and lost children. It's next to the bungee jumping crane and a chiropractic booth - surely just a coincidence.
"I may need an adjustment as soon as this is all over," Harveycutter quips.
Everywhere he goes, Harveycutter has a joke, a "hello," and a "thank you" for folks. Although most of the rides and games are set up, carnival crews and the civic center staff are checking all the last-minute details:
Lewis-Gale needs ice.
A food booth needs an electric outlet.
A water pump is leaking.
The phones in the fair office don't work.
The T-shirts aren't where they are supposed to be.
The parking fields have to be checked for sogginess.
Grandpa Crachit needs a place to hook up his camper.
The banquet room must be checked for a reception later in the day for local dignitaries and sponsors.
At 10:50, Harveycutter plops down in the golf cart. He's quiet for a moment, as is the radio. "My mind gets overloaded sometimes," he says. "I just sit there with a dumb look on my face, not knowing where I'm going."
And he pumps the pedal and goes cruising off again.
There's just one thing that won't make the 12 o'clock opening, something that Harveycutter didn't have any control over. The Gondola Wheel arrived late and was still in stages of construction by late morning.
It's a new giant Ferris wheel, fresh from the factory in Wichita, Kan., where workers at the Chance Co. finished painting it a serious shade of pink on Tuesday.
But hey, moms and dads, not to worry. Danny Abner, a licensed, independent inspector, was on hand this week to ensure all rides are safe.
Although he doesn't personally ride the rides (he's too old, he says), Abner inspects the equipment according to the manufacturers' manuals.
"Credibility in what I do for a living is everything," Abner says. "If I put my name on it, it's got to be right."
Harveycutter says between 300,000 and 350,000 people will attend the fair this year. They'll see the headless woman, "Blue" the 3,000-pound bull, Sunshine the Clown, strange vegetables in the agricultural exhibits and racing pigs. There's even a game with "Jurassic Park" dinosaurs as prizes.
And they'll get a heck of a view of the valley from atop the 70-foot Gondola Wheel.
by CNB