What will be missing from this year's fair?
When the Cleveland County Fair opens Thursday, there will be a noticeable void in a popular attraction.
For years, the owner and operator of the Fat Albert game, Brian LaRew, could be heard reciting the line, “Hey hey hey, Fat Albert is ready to play. Quarter to play, quarter to win so come on in.”
But fairgoers won’t hear LaRew’s call to arms or the clanging of the bell which kicked off each spinning of the wheel.
LaRew, of Youngstown, Ohio, died in March at the age of 54.
Though LaRew didn’t live in Shelby, he’d become a mainstay at the Cleveland County Fair on Marion Street.
LaRew owned a thrift store and operated the Fat Albert game at fairs along the Eastern Seaboard.
He ran the game for about 20 years before purchasing it from the original owner more than a decade ago. He brought the popular Fat Albert game to about 20 fairs throughout the year, from Ohio to Vermont and South Carolina.
LaRew, dressed in a shirt with a large rodent's face, would hold a white rat in a cup with one hand and spin a round game board with the other. The round wheel was divided into multiple sections, each with one of a dozen different colors and patterns and a hole at the edge of the board.
Players would put quarters on different squares that displayed unique colors and patterns, and if the rat went into that corresponding spot on the wheel, winners got to choose a prize.
In a 2018 interview with The Star, LaRew said some players theorized the ringing of the bell signaled the rat in play to choose a particular hole. In actuality, LaRew said he rang it to attract customers.
He talked of how the random element of the game lent itself to large groups with rows of his booth filled by one family or groups of friends.
“It’s been the most popular game at the fair for 52 years,” he said in the previous interview.
LaRew’s usual fair circuit would’ve had him at the Davidson County Agricultural Fair before coming to Shelby.
A social media post from the Kiwanis Club of Lexington said, “We wish the best for his family during this difficult time. It is rumored that his family may continue his legacy in 2023, and if so we hope they consider returning to Davidson County.”
LaRew died on March 4. He leaves behind a wife, eight children and an extended family.
This article originally appeared on The Shelby Star: Popular fair game won't be there this year after passing of its owner
