From 20 feet in the air with the sun silhouetting the clouds, the whir of gears and the moans of large metal arms can be heard. There is another sound accompanying what would otherwise resemble a construction site.
The screams and laughter of kids fill the midway of the Saunders County Fair.
But, there is something a little unusual about this carnival.
Just ask the carnival workers.
“The kids.” “The kids.” “The kids” is echoed from every worker almost as though the words themselves are intertwined with the metal chains and gears.
Theresa Burge, manager of the Wahoo Burger King and Weston resident, runs the “Scrambler.”
“I've been doing this for 15 years,” she said. “I do it for the kids.”
The carnival workers here are volunteers. Moms, dads and cousins watch over the carnival rides with smiles on their faces and laughter in their voices.
It wasn't always this way.
Don Jonas has been volunteering since the carnival became local in the late 1980s. Jonas noted that in the mid-'80s the state fire marshal shut down the Saunders County Fair carnival for code violations.
“After that, no others would come in,” Jonas said.
Richard Vernon, a local pastor, stepped in and began a campaign to localize the carnival. Three rides were purchased, and a new era began for Saunders County.
For 11 1/2 months of the year, large metal structures litter the fairgrounds.
“The county has a building where we store the cars and the arms,” Jonas said, “but the bases stay here.”
Now, during fair time, the area is transformed into what would otherwise appear to be a stereotypical carnival, were it not for the volunteers.
“We're not your regular carnival workers,” Burge noted.
“I love it,” said Rich Kapple, an engineer for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “This is only my second year (of volunteering), but I'll be back.”
As the sun sets and the neon begins to glow, families and children of all ages enjoy the rides and games manned by local volunteers.
“The kids, the kids, the kids,” is once again the theme of this park.
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