SPOTLIGHT
Meet Jamie Skerbeck Ne
Skerbeck Entertainment Group Newly Elected O y Elected OABA Director Director
Her ’s a little history of the Skerbeck F mi Showmen of which I am the 6th generation..
The Skerbeck Family is a pioneering family in the American
circus and carnival industry. Frank Skerbeck (Gen 1.0) started a Circus in 1856 in Aussig, Bohemia, which at the time was part of the Austrian Empire. Frank Jr (Gen 2.0) came to America in the 1880s and was among the early pioneer-settlers of the village of Dorchester in Central Wisconsin. The family continued their circus tradition in America
touring by rail through Wisconsin, the upper peninsula of Michigan, and the Iron Range of Minnesota. According to The the Skerbeck Circus, as it was for the Ringling Brothers. There is a tradition…that Frank Skerbeck encouraged Al Ringling to take out a show under canvas, and that Frank sold Al his sideshow was on the Midway at the Columbian Exposition in
on a separate route, while Joseph Skerbeck (Gen 3.0) and his
siblings managed the circus on their own. interesting sidenote is that Frank Skerbeck passed away in Joseph’s son, Gene (Gen 4.0) and his siblings took over running the carnival. During his tenure the carnival transitioned its route away from Wisconsin and into both the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan—which at the time required a jump by ferry to cross the Straits of Mackinac. Gene’s son Joe (Gen 5.0) and his brother Bill took over Indiana and the show grew to over 50 rides by the 2000s. In 2015, my father, Joe, retired and sold his interest in the show to me (Gen 6.0) and my sisters Niki and Tory (Burrows). We formed a new carnival called Skerbeck Entertainment Group, while at the same time my Uncle Bill formed a company called Skerbeck Family Carnival. Skerbeck Entertainment Group currently owns 35 rides and plays events in Michigan, Indiana and Minnesota. from the University of Michigan School of Business and after leaving college, worked in Memphis as a Financial Analyst for International Paper, which at the time was a member of the Dow Jones Industrial average. I also worked for Mead Paper for a number of years where I met my wife, Sonja. In the early 2000s, I subsequently left that position to go back to work for my parents. I was a board member and Treasurer for the Michigan Association of Fairs for over a decade. Sonja and I 17 and Nick 15. In my free time I enjoy playing basketball, watching YouTube videos on history, and reading.
8 OABA ShowTime Magazine • MAY 2024
Here’s a little history of the Skerbeck Familly Sho men of w ich I am the 6th generation
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