Carnival returns to Columbiana

Published 4:41 pm Monday, April 17, 2017

By Amalia Kortright

COLUMBIANA- The Columbiana Kiwanis Club reintroduced the Kiwanis Spring Carnival from Wednesday, April 12 through Sunday, April 16. The carnival was held on the lot between Walton and Mill Streets, across from the Shelby County Courthouse.

Columbiana Kiwanis Club President Sid Wheeler said the carnival served as an opportunity to bring the community together and raise funds for their organization.

According to Wheeler, the Kiwanis Club originally held a similar event in 2015.

“We couldn’t get the fair to come back, so we skipped a year,” Wheeler said. “Now, we’ve found somebody else who we got to do it for us.”

According to Wheeler, bringing the carnival back to Columbiana took a lot of hard work and planning.

“There’s a lot of scheduling that goes into this kind of thing. These guys just don’t sit around and wait for somebody to call,” Wheeler said.

Wheeler said this year’s fair served as a chance to attract more community members and deliver a better event.

“We probably had twice as many rides than we had two years ago. Last time, there wasn’t but one food trailer, and there’s three sitting right here,” Wheeler said.

Through the Spring Carnival, Wheeler said the Kiwanis Club hopes to raise the money for projects that would benefit the organization.

“We would like to generate enough money to have a building fund, so we can have a facility of our own,” Wheeler said. “The proceeds we received will go in a fund that is earmarked for future property purchase and/or developing our own fair grounds or funding service projects.”

Wheeler said they contracted James Gang Amusements, an Andalusia-based company.

Wheeler said the Kiwanis Club received a massive amount of positive feedback, and look forward to sponsoring and organizing future carnivals.

“We were very pleased with the turnout. Attendance was nearly triple the attendance at our first spring carnival,” Wheeler said. “We want to do it every year. We already making plans for a spring carnival in 2018.”

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