It’s no secret that carnivals, fairs and festivals are popular amongst families, and it’s a sentiment that rings close to home for the people who bring the rides each year to the Cattaraugus County Fair.

Bates Brothers Amusement Company, the providers of the rides at the fair, are celebrating 50 years in 2015. The Ohio-based company started by Eric and Geary Bates in 1965 continues today in that family tradition.

“When my dad (Eric) was a sophomore in high school he actually, with the help of my grandparents … and the money he had saved, he actually purchased his first ride — the Rock-O-Plane,” said Michelle Bates-Dallman, who oversees the unit that sets up at the Cattaraugus County Fair.

Who would have guessed the purchase of that ride would lead to two separate companies and dozens of events annually?

The story of the Bates Brothers Amusement Company begins before its incorporation, when Eric Bates served as a paperboy for the nearby Gambill family.

“The Gambills never married and we kind have become their unofficial sons, if you will,” Eric Bates said in a 10-minute documentary on the company’s history posted on YouTube. “As we merged, they had ponies and with the ponies, Geary and I would feed them, take care of them and take them to local festivals and fairs.”

As the Gambills got more equipment and began hosting full-fledged carnivals, Eric and Geary helped out with the Gambill Amusement Company. In the mid 1970s, the name was changed to Gambill and Bates Brothers Amusement Company and eventually to Bates Brothers Amusement Company.

As time progressed and the company — and the family — continued to expand, the company split into two: the Bates Brothers Amusement Company under the direction of Eric Bates and Bates Amusement Inc. with Geary Bates.

The former pays a visit annually to the Cattaraugus County Fair under Bates-Dallman’s leadership. Her dad continues going back and forth between manufacturing facilities and the daughters’ traveling units, and her mother travels as well.

For Bates-Dallman, she decided to continue operating in the family business during college. Knowing she would be able to work for the company, she said she went to college to make sure it’s what she wanted to do.

After working in a handful of other fields, she knew her father’s company was where she wanted to be.

“I love when I open my office door and hear the kids laughing and yelling and having fun,” she said. “Not many people get that in a job.”

The year for Bates Brothers Amusement Company begins in Cleveland with the I-X Center indoor amusement park in the spring. Units managed by Bates-Dallman and her sister, Amy Bates, travel to nearly a combined three dozen events from June to October before ending back at the I-X Center for a Halloween-themed event.

Events in this area include both the Chautauqua and Cattaraugus County fairs and the Eden Corn Festival.

During the off-season, the company’s full-time employees maintain the rides and, about every five to seven years, strip them down completely and rebuild them to keep the equipment fresh. It’s a routine that has kept the Rock-O-Plane — that first ride — still in operation today.

“That’s when we’re tearing everything apart, repainting,” Bates-Dallman said about the winter. “When we pull back in from that last event, everything gets touched in some way, shape or form.”

It’s a year-round career for roughly two dozen employees of Bates Brothers Amusement, which as a seasonal operation employs more than 150 people during the summer. Plus, the Bates family also owns A.R.M. Manufacturing and American Superior Lighting.

Being a family dedicated to working in the amusement industry is unique but not without its challenges.

“It’s definitely a fun and games kind of business with a serious underbelly and content,” said Bates-Dallman. “It’s bright lights and fun colors and giggling kids and luster but there’s a lot that goes on with the staff to get it prepped and ready to try it make it as seamless as possible.”

But as Bates-Dallman now raises children of her own with her husband, Brad, a former concessionaire, there just might be more of the Bates family involved in the company going forward.

“My 7-year-old has learned to count change and handle money and look people in the eye when she is waiting on them at a food trailer,” she said, adding that the amusement park industry taught her several life lessons like independence, confidence and social skills.

As both Bates Brothers Amusement Company and Bates Amusement Inc. continue in that family tradition, there’s no telling what the next 50 years have in store.

And looking back on her father’s original role in the company, Bates-Dallman said matter-of-factly, “it’s a long way from being a paperboy.”