Skinners Amusements employees were these tee shirts.  “Cadillac of Carnivals” is not an exaggeration.

When we moved to Crystal Lake from Middletown, NY, in 1958, my father had rented a home that was kitty cornered across the street from Maurice Skinner.

It didn’t take long to learn who the prominent Skinners were in town.

They were the carnival Skinners.

I wonder if Pat Skinner would allow Republican candidates to rent space on the backs of these elephants in campaign years.

I am sure their outstanding reputation helped my father come within 300 votes of beating the McHenry County Board Chairman in the 1964 Republican primary for County Auditor (the year the office was created).

It certainly helped me win my 72-vote victory for County Treasurer two years later in 1966.

When people ask me if I’m related, my stock reply is, “Don’t I wish.”

I met Doug Skinner’s wife, Pat, who handles the business end of the operation when I was carnival chairman for the Crystal Lake Jaycees sometime in the late 1960’s.

We operated out of my father’s office at No. 8 in the Crystal Lake Plaza.

Our job was to agree upon how much money the Jaycee ticket booth sellers had taken in.

We did.