Passing on the torch: Longtime Jessup Hose Co. No. 2 Carnival chairman brings in new leadership

After more than three decades running the popular Jessup Hose Company No. 2 Carnival, Dom Perini emphasized that he isn’t stepping down — he’s just stepping away.

“There’s a difference,” the 69-year-old said. “I still will take care of media, I still will take care of the TV — make sure they push the right buttons — but I need to have a younger crowd come in.”

Perini served as the carnival’s chairman since its inception in 1992, but this year, he took on the role of co-chairman of the 32nd annual carnival at 333 Hill St., bringing on co-chairmen and firefighters T.J. O’Neill and Joe Kozuch as his successors.

Perini said he first decided to hold a carnival while serving as president of the hose company.

“I said, ‘Guys, why don’t we have a carnival?’ ” he recalled. “Why don’t we build something?’ ”

It started small, with a tent, some little carnival attractions and a single high-profile ride — a circular spinning attraction, Perini said.

“It just kept growing and growing and growing,” he said.

The carnival, which started Wednesday and continues daily through Monday, now attracts 10,000-plus people over its six days and has become the volunteer fire company’s largest annual fundraiser, accounting for 65% of its payable expenses, Perini said.

“It’s just overwhelming,” he said. “It’s so rewarding.”

The carnival has become Scott Twp.-based SwikaS Amusements’ second-largest event, Perini said. The carnival equipment provider serves Pennsylvania, New York and Vermont, plus surrounding states, according to its website.

The carnival is bigger than their fire company, Perini said.

“Every member of our company works, and we still don’t have enough people,” he said.

Festivities really started gaining momentum in 2000 when St. Ubaldo Day returned to Jessup, Perini said, explaining he worked to revive the iconic Jessup event. The annual Race of the Saints had a 10-year hiatus through the 1990s.

The carnival now boasts 19 rides for both kids and adults, 18 games and nine carnival food vendors serving popular carnival fare like blooming onions, funnel cakes, cotton candy and candy apples, Perini said. The fire company itself serves its own food as well, including homemade porketta, halushki, wing bites, chicken tenders and fries, and for the first time, their own homemade pizza, Perini said. The hose company built its own kitchen in 1996 and a pavilion in the early 2000s for the carnival, he said.

There is also an adult beverage tent and daily live music, he said. The bar alone accounts for 56% of the carnival’s gross income, and Perini said he wants to keep it that way by offering a variety of other products and attractions to avoid relying on the bar.

“That’s a failure, always,” he said of an overreliance on supporting events with alcohol. “The bar is what kills it.”

As he stood on the carnival grounds Wednesday afternoon, Perini pointed out they have never had a serious accident in 32 years.

The key to the carnival’s success is the people who run it, he said, also lauding everyone who pitches in to help.

“If you don’t have the right leadership to guide the ship, it hits the bridge like in Baltimore,” he said. “(Fortunately) here, we have good leaders in each department.”

Passing on the torch is hard, but needed, Perini said. Perini intends stay as a co-chairman moving forward, focusing on elements of the carnival like media and publicity.

“I can’t do it alone anymore,” he said.

The younger co-chairmen are already coming up with new ideas, he said.

O’Neill, an assistant engineer with Jessup Hose Co. 2, has been involved with the carnival since he joined the fire company as a junior member about 20 years ago when he was 12 years old.

This year, the new co-chairmen expanded the scope of the carnival’s sponsorships with additional offerings to incentivize bigger sponsors, in addition to casting a wider net beyond just the Midvalley, O’Neill and Perini said.

They also switched from using tickets to daily wristbands, O’Neill said.

“We’re going to go on with little changes here and there, just keep making it better for everybody and see how we go from here on out,” O’Neill said. “I want to keep going bigger. As long as we have manpower, we’re going to keep going bigger.”

The carnival is always looking for volunteers if anyone wants to stop by, he added.

Perini commended the work ethic of his new co-chairmen.

“They’re very hard workers — only time will tell whether they’re any good, but I think they’re very hard workers,” he said with a laugh.

For a complete carnival schedule, including prices for daily wristbands, visit the fire company’s Facebook page at facebook.com/JessupNo2.