Deborah Prescott | Daily Press President of Skerbeck Entertainment Group, Jamie Skerbeck, points to a ride he purchased that was made in Poland. He is the sixth generation of Skerbecks in the circus or carnival business.

ESCANABA — The name Skerbeck has a long lineage of entertainers — as circus performers from Aussig, Bohemia, in the 1800s, to owners of the Skerbeck Entertainment Group and Skerbeck Family Carnival in the present day.

Frank Skerbeck Jr. purchased land in central Wisconsin after being told it would be a nice vineyard. He purchased the land without seeing it and instead found just over 44 acres full of hardwood.

“They got there and it was a hardwood forest,”said President of Skerbeck Entertainment Group Jamie Skerbeck. “They had to clear the land … it was a lot of work.”

The Skerbecks got back into the circus business shortly after arriving in Wisconsin and traveled mainly through Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula from west to east. When they were not performing during the winter, the Skerbeck family stayed in central Wisconsin.

While performing in 1893, outside the World’s Fair in Chicago, the Skerbeck family saw a Ferris wheel. After seeing the Ferris wheel, they believed mechanical rides were going to become popular and purchased their first carnival ride, a merry-go-round, in 1897. The Skerbeck family transitioned from circus performers to owning a carnival midway through the years. To this day, you will see a merry-go-round on their carnival midways.

The Skerbecks made Escanaba their home base and in 1972 Joe and Bill Skerbeck took over ownership. They were business partners for over 40 years. Bill still works events, but five years ago Jamie Skerbeck and his sisters purchased their father’s (Joe) asset and now there are two separate Skerbeck carnivals to diversify to business, Skerbeck Entertainment Group and Skerbeck Family Carnival, both work throughout Michigan.

“The company diversified and is now two separate companies,” said Carly (Skerbeck) Vertz office manager of Skerbeck Family Carnival. “Though the business names are similar, technically we are separate entities, however we come together periodically for larger events.”

During the 2019 fair, Skerbeck Family Carnival is considered a sub-contractor to Skerbeck Entertainment Group, by working four rides at the fair. Vertz and Skerbeck are sixth generation cousins. Skerbeck Entertainment Group travels through Michigan and Northern Indiana. In the fall, they take equipment to the Louisiana State Fair in Shreveport, La. Skerbeck starts off the carnival season in Austin, Texas.

“The event … corresponds with the South by Southwest Festival and a big rodeo down there,” said Skerbeck.

They subcontract in and take equipment of 10 key rides to Texas in early March.

Their carnival season runs from March to November with December, January and February open to work maintenance on equipment.

Skerbeck grew up and graduated high school in Escanaba. He earned a degree in finance and worked at International Paper in Memphis, Tenn. He became a financial analyst in Escanaba at Mead Paper. The mill was bought and sold about the same time his parents started thinking of retiring.

“The writing was on the wall that the positions here in Escanaba would be changing quite a bit, so that was the time for me to move on and get back into the family business,” said Skerbeck.

While working at Mead he met his wife, who was a pulp and paper engineer.

“She knew nothing about the carnival business … about the carnival lifestyle, or anything about it,” said Skerbeck. “We got married and started traveling.”

Skerbeck now lives in Holland, Mich.

“When you’re in this business, you can actually live wherever you feel like living,” he noted.

Toward the end of the season, Skerbeck gets tired of the long hours it takes to run a carnival. He gave an example of the hours to set up the U.P. State Fair that started Aug. 10. When the Cheboygan, Mich., fair ended at 11 p.m. the Skerbeck Entertainment Group crew started taking down equipment and hauled it to the U.P. State Fairgrounds.

“At 3 a.m. roughly, or 4 a.m., we trucked the equipment over to here, to Escanaba, and then I spotted the equipment starting at about nine in the morning all the way through,” said Skerbeck. “And then we worked Sunday to get ready for the fair until midnight and then we had to finish up Monday and open up at five … the hours can be challenging this time of year.”

Skerbeck manages the carnival on-site primarily and finds time to go to the next event to start planning it out. He creates a layout ahead of time.

Some of the rides Skerbeck prefers are the Top Gun, “exceptionally intense — 120 feet tall and three and a half Gs”, and the Super Nova 360, “is really unique”. Both rides were made over seas. He purchased them and had them sent over to Michigan. He considers both rides thrilling and exciting. Skerbeck admits he gets queasy from rides so he doesn’t go on them too often.

The Skerbeck Entertainment Group added a new merry-go-round this year that everyone should see.

“The history of our family goes back to the 1800’s and will continue to grow and evolve with each generation,” said Skerbeck’s cousin Vertz.