Jeremy Ervin is a sophomore magazine journalism major and writes ‘No Sleep Til Muncie’ for the Daily News. His views do not necessarily reflect those of the paper. Write to Jeremy at jrervin@bsu.edu
Over three days, the C1 parking lot transformed from barren asphalt to a whirling, flashing, spinning attraction in preparation for the 11th annual Late Nite Carnival.
And I was in the middle of it.
I first heard about the opportunity to work for the Carnival through Cardinal Career Link, a tool that helps Ball State students find work through or for the university. I was dead broke and willing to do almost anything.
Neither waiting until next semester or being constrained to campus over summer would solve my problem, so the one-time gig for event staff seemed like a smart move. I mean, if someone has to pick up trash or transport arm-flailing inflatable tube-men, it might as well be me.
I received an official confirmation on April 6, only five days before the event.
Zero-hour for us was 3 p.m. Friday. We would squad-up at the L.A. Pittenger Student Center, load a rental truck with all of Late Nite’s toys and unload it all at the grounds.
My job for the night was to work one of Late Nite’s free food tents which meant I was responsible for making and distributing popcorn, passing out cotton candy and stocking our drink cooler.
When people complained about drinks, we stocked it. When the table of cotton candy ran low, we put more up there. Our tent alone went through 21 boxes of cotton candy, more than 2,600 individual bags.
We could never float enough product to keep the lines down.
After midnight, things began to noticeably slow down.
Right after 1 a.m., as the Carnival came to a close, we got word to shut everything down. After chasing a few stragglers off the grounds, the teams divided to pack up everything.
The games went back in the truck and we swept the parking lot for garbage, of which there was plenty.
Box by box, the entire whirling, flashing magic act returned to the bowels of the Student Center. Everything was back in its place and we went home. I clocked out at 3:16 a.m. Twelve hours of work.
That’s all there really was to it, pretty open and shut. My time at the Carnival is over, or at least until it rolls into Muncie once again.
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