WEST SPRINGFIELD – Thrill-show driver Joie Chitwood Jr. and Fred Pittroff, creator and manufacturer of the Giant Slide, are among the first inductees of the Big E’s new Showmen’s Park walk of fame.
The walk of fame will carry those and eventually other names on stones laid near the Eastern States Exposition’s Coliseum, in the area that’s home to the midway’s Kiddieland during The Big E.
Also to be honored are Johnny and Tina Doolan of Doolan Amusement Co.; exotic animal impresario Bob Commerford of R.W. Commerford & Sons; Bob and Bea Negus of Conklin Shows and North American Midway Entertainment.
The Big E revealed the honorees this month at the International Independent Showmen’s Association Museum in Riverview, Florida. The Big E announced the project here Wednesday.
On hand at the Florida museum were Eugene Cassidy, president and CEO of Eastern States Exposition; John Juliano Jr., co-founder of Mellowship Entertainment; and Anne-Alise Pietruska, director of marketing for the Eastern States Exposition and co-founder of Mellowship Entertainment.
The Big E plans to unveil the stones at Showmen’s Park will take place on Opening Day of The Big E, Friday, Sept. 18
The Florida event coincided with the opening of a new Eastern States Exposition exhibit at the International Independent Showmen’s Association Museum. The museum, billing itself online as the Carnival World Museum, offers 54,000 square feet of exhibits highlighting the traveling shows from a bygone area.
