For the first time ever, Springs Spree 2011 will offer Thrill Rides with a full carnival during our 2 day event!

Springs Spree  

Voted BEST Festival!

For the first time ever, Springs Spree 2011 will offer Thrill Rides with a full carnival during our 2 day event! Crabtree Amusements will feature more than 20 family friendly rides. This nationally respected carnival knows what it takes to put on a great amusement experience and it shows. With impressive thrill rides, and family-friendly kiddie rides, Crabtree delivers one of the highest quality carnivals in the nation! As the same carnival that has provided such an exciting experience at the Colorado State Fair for the past 4 years, we are honored to announce CrabTree Amusements as the official carnival of the 34th Annual Springs Spree - A City In Celebration! 

Crabtree Amusements

Crabtree Amusements provides equipment for over seventy festivals, fairs, and events in Texas throughout the year. Over thirty employees spend two days preparing the carnival for safe operation. The rides are then inspected daily prior to opening and employees attend regular ongoing training to ensure continued safe operation! 

From the kiddies' favorites  to the most daring and exciting adult rides, there's plenty of fun for the whole family. And who can resist the fabulous games with chances to win big prizes!

Springs Spree 2011 - CrabTree Amusements 

Four Tips For Keeping Yourself Safe During The Springs Spree Festival 2011!

Don’t Take Valuables

There really is no need to take valuables to a festival with you since all the entertainment you could want should be at your fingertips. Taking valuables is simply putting yourself at risk of becoming a victim of crime, and having your experience in the sun ruined.
Instead, if you want to take a camera buy a disposable one and if your phone is of the Blackberry or Iphone variety, invest in a cheap pay as you go handset just for the festival, while you also benefit from a much longer battery life than more expensive, feature rich models.

Drink Responsibly

This doesn’t just mean not drinking yourself into oblivion – it also entails watching where and with whom you leave your drink, and not accepting drinks from strangers. The problem with festivals is that we do tend to let our guards down quite significantly, making not only personal safety a bigger issue but crowd control also (large numbers of intoxicated youths rarely lead to good things). While the organisers themselves can help to reduce our risk of danger in crowds using methods such as the rectractable barrier, they can’t stop us from forgetting the age old rule of ‘don’t accept sweets off strangers’ and putting ourselves into dangerous situations.

Relax

Large crowds of people can easily cause us to get stressed, therefore the best tip is to just relax and go with the flow. The festival organisers should have placed a significant amount of emphasis on ways to keep the crowds safe, such as using the retractable barrier. The retractable barrier is used to limit the amount of people that are able to enter a particular area of the festival at any one time, therefore reducing the size of the crowds and the risk of the crowds becoming dangerous. However, it is important not to rely entirely on crowd control methods such as the retractable barrier to ensure your safety, and that you do what you can to look after yourself. It’s not uncommon in these environments to find yourselves being pushed slightly, or to experience people stepping on your toes – however, if you get angry, upset or irate you’re putting yourself in more danger than if you just relax and accept it as part of the experience.


Take Precautions In The Sun

While we all hope and pray for the sun to shine over the festival fields, the reality is that it can often cause us more problems than it’s worth. Even mild sun stroke can make you ill enough to ruin your festival, and heat stroke can be life threatening. There’s also a high risk of sunburn that at best, is irritating and at worst could be painful enough to put a huge dampener on the festivities.
In order to reduce the chance of succumbing to any of these conditions, keep plenty of water and sun cream at the ready. It might feel like those pints of beer are hydrating you but in fact, they’re doing exactly the opposite and increasing your chances of becoming seriously ill – so keep sipping on water, even if you don’t feel like you need it. In addition, make sure your sun cream is at least actor 15 (or stronger) and reapply it regularly.

By: Steven Miller

Keeping Safe and Keeping Aware! Keeping Valuables Safe While Out and About!

Keeping your valuables safe while traveling may not be your first priority when planning a day outside for fun, but it should be up there toward the top of the list. You don't want to have your day ruined by losing money, or even worse, your credit cards and driver license, when you're out having a good time. With rising financial insecurity everywhere these days, you can be sure thieves and robbers are going to increase in quantity and maybe inventiveness, too, as times get worse. 

Where to begin in preparing to protect your valuables? Happy to say, there are plenty of good, often new, items out there in which you can entrust your most precious material possessions.  

     

Use across-the-body type bags. For your day trips and sightseeing excursions, this allows you to keep your belongings closer to you and in a more secure fashion, different from a purse which can easily be snatched from its loose hold on your shoulder. Forget the wallet-in-the-back-pocket style which seems to reign in America. This is like an invitation for sneaky fingers. You can feel more secure with a bag that’s more or less strapped on to you, and it’s harder for them to get it off you (without the use of a knife, that is.)

Use bags that close securely. This means zippers, buttons, even safety pads if the thought appeals to you. Using an across-the-body bag that doesn’t close securely is still a risk: it may be strapped to your body, but a spindly paw can be in and out in a second while you’re craning over the railing to gawk at those ancient ruins. 

Personal Safety

• Stay with friends or people you trust. You are a less vulnerable target to thieves as a group.
• Avoid dark areas as much as possible, especially if you are alone. Stay in the well lit, main areas of the event.
• Move away from any dangerous or antisocial behaviour and alert security if they are not already in the immediate vicinity.
• Look after yourself and those around you, even people you don’t know. If you suspect somebody is unwell take them to the first aid tent.

Property and Tent Security

• Only take what you can afford to lose - don’t take your most expensive possessions and personnel equipment.
• Don’t leave valuables unattended - carry money, credit cards, mobile phones and cameras with you at all times or use secure lockups.
• Empty and lock your vehicles, taking any valuables with you. Leave the glove compartment open and conspicuously empty.
• Mark your tent and property with your name and postcode. Thieves don’t want marked property and it will significantly reduce the risk of items being stolen. 
• Leave your tent untidy - don’t make it easy for thieves to grab a bag with everything in it.

Money Matters 

• Don’t carry too much money and empty your purse or wallet of everything you don’t need before leaving.
• Don't keep all your cash and valuables together – spread them around in different pockets or use secure lockups if they are available.
• If you use cash machines after dark, don’t go alone.
• Only take the credit cards you need. Make a note of the credit card numbers and leave it at home, plus the number to call if they are mislaid.

By: Nancy Kugerman