Business profile: Skerbeck family has been providing entertainment for six generations

R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press
Is it really the fair if the lights aren’t on? A pair of workers seeks to rectify a hiccup.

EDITOR NOTE: The Daily Press will be featuring a series of articles on local businesses, highlighting their history and what makes them unique. The series will run on a regular basis in the Daily Press.

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ESCANABA — One local family has been building their business for six generations, with its latest showcase drawing thousands to Escanaba last week.

In 1857, while living in Bohemia (a historical country in Europe now part of the Czech Republic), Frank Skerbeck Sr. got rid of the factory he previously owned and started up a circus instead. In the 1880s, his son, Frank Jr., brought his family to America — they settled in Wisconsin on land that had been purchased sight unseen.

The early Skerbeck circuses consisted of traveling acts in a tent, for which they practiced in a large barn. Frank Jr. was a sword-swallower; his wife, Mary, charmed snakes; a number of the children were trapeze artists alongside their father.

A merry-go-round in 1897 became their first ride, allowing the Skerbeck family’s shows to continue to tour as a blend of both circus — a term generally used for performances — and carnival — which can have many meanings, but here refers to rides.

Rides, shows and concessions were all included when the third generation of Skerbeck management (Joe and Gus, sons of Frank Jr.) handled the reins. Joe’s children (Eugene and Pauline) took over in the 1950s. By the ’70s, the children of Eugene and his wife Arlene, Joe and Bill, were running the show with their spouses, Debra and C.J., respectively. Over the next few decades, the business — then operating as Skerbeck Bros. Shows — grew even larger.

In addition to the explosion of popularity, equipment and demand, the family itself increased in numbers, allowing for divisions into multiple businesses owned by various branches all descended from entrepreneur Frank Skerbeck, Sr.

Now, “three current and distinct groups of cousins operate their own carnival companies in Wisconsin and Michigan,” said Sonja Skerbeck, one of the five co-owners responsible for Skerbeck Entertainment Group, which is at the heart of the Upper Peninsula State Fair in Escanaba.

Having purchased the assets from their parents, Joe and Debra, in 2015, siblings Jamie Skerbeck, Niki Skerbeck and Tory Burrows are of the sixth successive generation involved with the outdoor amusement industry and run the business along with spouses John Burrows and Sonja (Jamie’s wife).

With the exception of a one-day November event in Detroit that raises funds for the Thanksgiving Day parade, their season is a jam-packed six months, setting up, operating and taking down rides and booths with food and games from April to October. In that time, they provide entertainment for the Minnesota State Fair, four events in Indiana and many more in their home state of Michigan.

“To me, setting up the show is like a little miracle every week!” Sonja said. “There are tremendous logistical considerations for the set-up. The placement of our equipment on the midway is precise to within inches in order to fit everything into place. Semi-trailers and regular ball and hitch trailers pour into the fairgrounds in a staggered manner so we don’t back up traffic on the highway pulling equipment in and putting it on location.”

She said that in order to ensure timely set-up, some equipment and crew head over to the grounds for larger events a week ahead of time. Food and drinks are provided to employees for brief breaks on site. External companies, like power-washers, are hired to help prepare the grounds.

More than 100 employees travel with Skerbeck Entertainment Group. It takes all of those and more to put on the U.P. State Fair, which is achieved by the efforts of the U.P. State Fair Authority, the Delta County Chamber of Commerce, and all the local exhibitors, vendors, artists and volunteers who come together every August.

Even though it’s just for a week, Sonja said the U.P. State Fair is unique and special. In addition to Escanaba being the owners’ hometown — “It is truly wonderful to see friends and family on the midway at the U.P. State Fair every day,” Sonja said. Beyond that, there’s more local flavor, literally —

“This is the only event where local food items like whitefish and chocolates are available from vendor booths,” she added.

This one is also run differently, compared to other fairs the Skerbecks travel to.

“All of the U.P. counties and the Hannahville Tribe provide a representative in a leadership position with the management of the fair,” she explained. “This ensures a true Upper Peninsula representation for planning and is reflected perfectly with the agricultural expositions and vendors from across the U.P.”

A lot of fairgoers experience surges of nostalgia when the see colorful lights, smell elephant ears, and tour the barns. But that’s just the surface.

“Behind the scenes, fairgoers might not realize that we are moving a temporary city with more than 100 employees who live adjacent to us. We have staff working for us from America, Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Belarus. The cook house area of our campsites is filled with amazing smells from cooking different types of food, and multiple languages are spoken by our staff. Some of our American workers have children on the road with us during the summer months, and it is fun to watch them all grow up and run around together on the best playground in the world. It is a family environment and staff care for one another,” Sonja said.

Adair Melgarejo Carreon is one of the many workers here from Mexico on a H-2B visa — also utilized by about 1,000 seasonal workers on Mackinac Island. Having first begun his employment with Skerbeck in 2018, Melgarejo has become a valuable returning worker. Though he’s gotten used to the half-year schedule, he said he looks forward to returning in the fall to Mexico, where he has a family and his own business.

It’s tough work — long hours away from home, manual labor in all types of weather, “and when we are open, we need the same staff to pivot and provide safe operation and exceptional customer service as well,” Sonja said. “Having a high-quality workforce with this skill set can be challenging at times. … When returning workers are not available, it is sometimes necessary to operate less equipment and hire more people with no experience. In that circumstance, the background checks, drug testing, and training requirements can be time consuming and challenging as well.”

Once the rides go up, “safety checks and inspections are performed every day on every ride prior to opening and throughout the day as well,” Sonja explained. “These safety inspections are performed by licensed and credentialed inspectors on our staff. We are also subject to local municipality inspections and State of Michigan inspections are performed annually as well.”

Co-owner John Burrows is a nationally certified safety supervisor and in the past has served on the State of Michigan’s Carnival-Amusement Safety Board, which assists the Department of Licensing & Regulatory Affairs.

“We are proud of our safety record and are pleased to talk about it to all who are interested to know more,” Sonja said.

She said that it’s rewarding to see families enjoying themselves amidst the bright lights of the midway, as is the knowledge that the local community profits from the business brought in by the fair.

“Although there are a lot of challenges with running a carnival company, there are also a lot of opportunities if you are willing to work hard and think creatively.”

It’s rewarding to overcome challenges, but sometimes, the hard part is just waiting.

“The lead time from suppliers of rides, ride parts, vinyl tops, and other components of our midway are lengthy,” said Sonja, adding that they’ve ordered a new ride which should be arriving from the Czech Republic.