Try your luck

MUSCLE SHOALS - As the sun set, the 2007 North Alabama State Fair began to light up as people poured in the gates looking for rides, games and maybe even an oversized green stuffed frog.

Jason Myers, 6, looked up at the prizes dangling from the top of the fishing game before picking out a yellow, stuffed SpongeBob SquarePants.

Deciding on which stuffed trophy to claim for competent gaming skill is a dilemma for many fair goers.

"The easier the game, the smaller the prize," said Dee Ketcham, who owns some of the games and concessions.

She said popular prizes are licensed products, such as Shrek, SpongeBob and Sesame Street. But each year is different. One year, big pink flamingos were the big prize, and last week in Knoxville, Tenn., the University of Tennessee stuffed animals were the hot item to win.

"It varies," Ketcham said.

Kayla Gregory, 16, of Sheffield, won a stuffed green frog after playing a game. She said she chooses which games to play by what kinds of prizes they have.

The best prizes?

"Probably the big stuffed animals," she said.

Jason said he picked SpongeBob because he watches the show.

"It isn't my favorite (character), but it's good," he said.

Jon Ketcham, concessions manager for the W.G. Wade shows, said licensed goods such as SpongeBob are usually more recognizable and cost more, but are usually better.

"We'd rather spend more money for the better items when people know what they're getting," Jon Ketcham said.

A lot of work and research go into choosing the prizes, he said.

"Bigger is not always better," he said.

From the machine gun game, "Shoot out the star," to the basketball game, the games selected for the fair are ones that are new and bright, Jon Ketcham said.

"We try to stay in the higher end (of game options)," he said.

The prizes and the clientele are different for each game as well, Dee Ketcham said.

"Families like the games where everybody wins," she said, which can mean a wide variety of prizes.

Storing all the prizes can present challenges.

Dee said prizes come from everywhere, including Texas, Boston, Mass., and Virginia. While some of the prizes are self-contained in the booths, state fairs have to rent trailers to have enough for the duration of the fair.

"We work on a big volume," Jon Ketcham said.

For this stop, Dee Ketcham said she has a 14-foot box, a 16-foot box, a 30-foot cargo trailer and 40-foot cargo trailers.

"It's a challenge," Jon said.

Sarah Day Owen can be reached at 740-5728.