BILLINGS – Many people take their children on summer vacation, but one Thomas Carnival family has taken their son across the United States every summer for more than two decades.
“We’ve been doing this for 23 years. We chose this business because we wanted a business where we could only work summers and weekends and focus on raising our son,” Kim Sankowsky, who owns and operates Speed and Black Out Rides, said Tuesday from the MontanaFair in Billings. .
Her now 25-year-old son, Armstrong Sankowsky, had trouble in elementary school because teachers believed he lied about all the places he had been. But the Sankowskys love the travel life they’ve experienced so far.
“Traveling, meeting new people, I don’t like working indoors, so this is just a good job for me,” Armstrong said.
politeness
But life on the road isn’t always a positive experience for Kim, especially when she tells someone what she does.
“Because when you first tell them you’re in the carnival business, you get judged a little bit,” Kim said with a laugh. The Sankowsky family also said missing big events, such as birthdays and weddings, is sometimes difficult.
The Thomas Carnival is one of the main attractions of MontanaFair, which runs through Saturday at MetraPark in Billings. Carnival is a huge undertaking for employees, many of whom travel much of the year to locations across the country.
Twenty-three years on the road for six months at a time may seem like a lot, but John Hanschen’s time with Thomas Carnival is twice that of families.
Hanschen has been president of Thomas Carnaval for 15 years and has worked with the carnival for nearly 50.
The Thomas Carnival travels to 12 states up and down Interstate 135.
“We start in February and go until mid-November,” Hanschen said.
Ten months of travel with so much to keep track of can become exhausting, Hanschen said.
“I see my house for the first time in 10 months and I can’t remember where the light switches are and I forget what the neighborhood looks like,” he said.
Carnival has about 170 workers traveling with them. Duties for a working day include ride maintenance, security checks and ride operation.
“About half of our people are H-2B workers. Foreign work. “There aren’t enough travelers in this country to do the crazy schedule we do,” Hanschen said.
But the life of travel and adventure from one city and country to another is one that Hanschen would never give up.
“It’s absolutely stimulating from moment to moment,” he said.
