Link: Carnival folk lure patrons | burlingtonfreepress.com | The Burlington Free Press.
The carnival workers used every trick just shy of hypnosis to lure fairgoers to their games. In a raspy voice, Justin Baranowski of California used a mic to call on people to play his "Ring a bottle" game. "You ring one, you win one, you bring home the big one." "Show her how much you care, win her a teddy bear." "The family that plays together, stays together." Baranowski rolled "free rings" at passing crowds. Within a half hour, more than a dozen people tossed several hundred plastic red rings at the 65 glass bottles without landing a ringer. Large stuffed animals hung a few feet above the bottles, preventing any kind of an arc shot. "It takes a little luck, a little skill and a lot of rings," Baranowski said, using a push broom to sweep up rings scattered about the booth. A bucket of 50 rings cost $3. The first person to play on Friday won a prize, he said. Baranowski sat on the edge of the booth wall and lobbed fistfuls of rings at the bottles to prove the ring could fit around the mouth of the bottle. He landed one ringer, admittedly while cheating -- game rules allow only one ring per toss. Jeff Gregory of Texas, who manned the "Balloon Bust," said carnival fun should transcend winning at
