Photo by Nathan Bingle
Name: Darren Janesky.
Age: 50.
Hometown: Blacksburg.
Claim to fame: Owner and operator of Big Round Wheel Amusements (bigroundwheel.com), which specializes in renting Ferris wheels and amusement rides for private parties and corporate events.
Civic duty: For the past 12 years, Janesky has served as a member of the Blacksburg Town Council and is the mayor pro tem.
On the big screen: Janesky’s Ferris wheels have appeared in numerous music videos and movies.
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When most parents want to surprise their children, they may opt for a trampoline or, even better, a pony. When Darren Janesky decided to wow his children in 2011, he went big—like
really big. As in a 47-foot-tall Ferris wheel kind of big.
Thirteen years later, Janesky has parlayed that surprise gift into Big Round Wheel Amusements, a family business that travels the country with a fleet of amusement rides for lavish corporate events looking for that extra “wow” factor.
Janesky was in search of small-town living when he moved south from Connecticut in 1999. He found that welcoming environment, as well as his eventual wife, Jessica, in Blacksburg. Mechanically minded, he had been working in heavy construction since he was 12 years old and thought nothing of purchasing and restoring a 50-year-old Ferris wheel.
“A Ferris wheel wasn’t a far reach for me. I was always fascinated with how the rides were put together and taken down and moved,” he says.
Janesky rightly figured he could rent out the big wheel to those looking to make a splash. The first couple years, there were birthday parties and weddings as the company built a reputation for common sense safety and no accidents. His ride inventory grew and soon his crews were traveling far and wide. Their Ferris wheels have turned in the Bahamas and on the White House lawn. They even built a carousel inside a Manhattan office building.
“I’ll always find a way to do something,” says Janesky, who is equal parts showman and engineer. “I don’t care what it is. Put a Ferris wheel on top of a parking garage? No problem. On top of a building? No problem. I’ll put it anywhere.”
Janesky says he feels blessed that he can travel with his family and a core group of professional workers who handle the permits, transport the equipment, set up and operate the rides.
“I am so lucky to be in a business like this where I get these experiences,” he says. “There’s never a day that goes by where I don’t consider myself fortunate
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Get more
See what it takes to set up, operate and tear down a carnival ride by following the company on YouTube @BigRoundWheelAmusements.