The Good Ol' Days

Freeman Bus Corp. was a recent client of ours looking to celebrate their 75^th Anniversary with a bang. To really set their celebration apart from their standard employee appreciation events, Freeman Bus wanted to include the Watertown community by inviting them to a day at The NewYork State Zoo at Thompson Park. 

To tie in the company’s 1935 roots, we transformed the zoo into an old fashioned carnival, complete with…well, just about everything.  Guests were greeted by a look-alike of the company’s late founder, Henry Freeman, and a barbershop quartet.

Once inside the zoo, we worked to take visitors back in time and provide with a new experience at every turn. Strolling performers such as the Three Stooges and Charlie Chaplin wandered around the zoo acting out skits and interacting with guests, while jugglers and hand illusionists wowed guests with their tricks. Our fun photo station let guests dress up in old fashion accessories and take home a souvenir picture. 

We set up old fashion vending carts that served hot dogs, cotton candy, ice-cream, lemonade, and kettle corn. Carnival and field games were positioned throughout the zoo. Visitors played vintage games like ring toss, can smash and high striker. In an effort to keep everything looking as vintage as possible, we used old ten gallon steel drums and old fashioned soda bottles to create our carnival games. Potato sack races and tug-o-war brought out the kid in everyone as families competed against each other.  

The sounds of Dixieland, ragtime and bluegrass played as guests sat on picnic blankets by our Vaudeville stage and took a break from all the action. 

All in all, it was a spectacular day (over 3,000 guests enjoyed the zoo) and Freeman Bus solidified their reputation of being a committed community partner to Watertown and the North Country. The Events Company was thrilled to be part of such an amazing day.