
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, July 9, 1993                   TAG: 9307090026
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

BEING HITCHED TO A WAY OF LIFE

Randy Van Winkle used to haul steel on flatbed trucks for a living. He'd cross the country in 32 hours sometimes, pushing deadlines. A couple years ago, the company he worked for went under, so he joined the carnival.

"A friend of mine told me it was a good, easy life," Van Winkle said. He worked as a "ride jockey," for two years. He drove the truck between spots, helped set up the ride, run it and tear it down.

The pay was bad, and irregular. Most carnival outfits "treat you like a piece of equipment," says the 43-year-old Van Winkle. "I was unhappy."

But it was on the Gravitron that he met Marsha Beck.

She had seen him around the circuit last year, when he would buy corn dogs from the stand she worked. Then, in Missouri, Beck got a job taking tickets for the Gravitron.

"The day I met Randy was the ninth of September," she says. "And he asked me to marry him the 10th of September."

They've been trying to get hitched ever since.

"Our problem is getting the time to get licenses, blood tests and all that," Beck says. On top of that, her purse was stolen in December, so she has to get new identification first.

A few months ago, Van Winkle and Beck joined up with Griff Gillette, who runs an independent barbecue stand using his grandfather's recipe.

"I do the kitchen," Beck says, sweeping her arm toward the trailer in the back. "I do dishes and I make the cole slaw," and most other preparatory work.

Van Winkle must have the hottest job on the midway - standing over an open coal fire turning grills of pork, corn and potatoes.

Looking around at the open-air stand, he shrugged and laughed. "It's OK, it's air-conditioned."

by CNB