After living in Normandy, Mo., for many years, Richard Tinsley made the move west to High Hill in 1968.
“There’s where I wanted to go,” Tinsley said.
Tinsley found some open farm land in …
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After living in Normandy, Mo., for many years, Richard Tinsley made the move west to High Hill in 1968.
“There’s where I wanted to go,” Tinsley said.
Tinsley found some open farm land in the Montgomery County town and started his carnival business there.
Now, he’s the owner of an amusement park called Play Day Farm.
The park, located at 1014 Booneslick Road in High Hill, opened for business last month with family fun rides, miniature train rides, refreshments and a five-acre corn maze.
“This has been a dream of mine for about 50 years,” Tinsley said.
Play Day Farm is open from Friday to Sunday and will operate until Oct. 31. It has 15 employees.
After the first two hours of the first day of business, Play Day Farm drew several residents from Montgomery County plus visitors from Illinois and Florida.
High Hill Mayor Tom Stine said he believes Play Day Farm will be a boost to the county.
“It’s been planned for a long time,” he said. “It took a long time to get here. It’s something for the people to do. We have kind of a lack of entertainment in the area, so I think this will be a good thing for the next six weeks. It’s for kids. The kids can have a lot of fun.”
The corn maze was designed by Rob Stouffer of Precision Mazes in Lee’s Summit.
“He lives 180 miles from me,” Tinsley said. “He came in and cut our maze for us. I think he’s cheap. We’re happy to have him.”
The park also has rides such as the Cliff Hanger, the Tilt-A-Whirl, Scrambler, Bear-A-Float and the Super Slide and a barnyard with animals. Pumpkins are also available for purchase.
Tinsley is the owner of Tinsley’s Amusements, Inc., which operates carnivals and fairs at six states across the country – Missouri, Illinois, Tennessee, Mississippi, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Tinsley said things have been tough for the carnival business around the country this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“There were probably 4,000 fairs and festivals across the United States that have been cancelled,” he said. “It’s been pretty tough financially for a lot of people.”
Tinsley said despite the pandemic, he was still determined to bring an amusement park to Montgomery County this year.
“I’m 84 years old and I couldn’t stop,” he said. “I had to keep going.”
