Butler, 61, is the owner and president of Butler Amusements, a carnival company he launched with his father in 1970.

The business travels throughout the year to the Santa Clara, Alameda and Marin county fairs, the Big Fresno Fair, the Portland Rose Festival and the Evergreen State Fair in Monroe, Wash.

Not only is his business grand-style family entertainment, but his life revolves around a large family circle: four daughters and son-in-laws, a 13-year-old son and 11 grandchildren.

The adult members of his family have joined the company, while his grandchildren enjoy playing at the larger-than-life, traveling playground.

His next-door neighbors Erwin and Marcela Sioxson say Butler gives their children rides on his golf cart, lets them feed his koi fish and brings them to Golden State Warriors basketball games.

"He's like a big kid," Marcela said. "And he's very generous."

Butler admits to feeling like he's still a child and said Christmas is his favorite time of year.

He surprised the Sioxsons when he had his house windows painted with holiday themes and commissioned the artist to decorate the Sioxsons' home late at night.

"I don't think I've ever grown up," Butler said. "I feel like Santa Claus year-round."

Butler's desire to create and capture childhood memories comes through even in his taste in art.

A glass case of collectibles, mainly artist Ron Lee's carnival-themed sculptures, graces a wall in his house. He points to a figurine of a clown bending to hand an ice cream cone to a child.

"Look at the feeling of the clown giving the ice cream," Butler said.

That mission and ability to bring enjoyment to others is what keeps him going. Butler said whenever he feels low, he will go and stand by the merry-go-round at one of his fairs and watch parents and their children.

"What a pleasure and responsibility to provide such fun," he said.

The interest in entertainment began when Butler's father, Bud, who operated a grocery store in Austin, Minn., took game concessions to carnivals on the weekends.

Butler remembers his father's first game at an American Legion picnic when he was 13. "It was diversity for him from the grocery store, but then after it was successful, he got more serious," Butler said.

Butler, who played basketball through college, became more involved when his father gave him a basketball-game stand to run.

He grew up working in his family's grocery store, learning to butcher meats and handle sales and customers. When Butler was 18, his parents purchased a ride and moved to California to participate in West Coast carnivals year-round.

At age 27 and married with two young daughters, Butler changed his family's destiny when he accepted his dad's offer to move to California and buy a ride together—the "Swingin' Gym."

After allying their games and few rides with several carnival shows for a year, they formed their own company with eight rides after selling the grocery store.

The show debuted at a shopping center in Mountain View in 1970 and has grown to 125 rides and approximately 1,000 employees in 33 years.

When his daughters were young, Butler stayed closer to home and ran several local school carnivals. "We've touch everyone in San Jose over the years," he said about the approximately 200 schools where he's done carnivals and fundraisers.

Another aspect that he enjoys about his business is that all four of his daughters—Tami, Kelley, Kris and Jill—and their families are involved.

"It takes a lot of teamwork," he said, to put on a carnival. "The hours eat you up."

The long hours and traveling on the road to seven states a year are made easier by having his family join the business.

His daughter Kris' husband, Mick Brajevich, who supervises his own traveling unit, said it's a great job for young families.

"My kids are with me all day," Brajevich said, holding his newborn daughter while his crew sets up the rides at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center for San Jose's Jingle Jam on Dec. 20.

Kris and Mick met while working at Butler Amusements, and they married in 1998. The Brajeviches now live in Willow Glen with their four children.

"It is so interesting to have a business that the whole family is involved in, happy with and making a living," Butler said.

His daughters worked in food and game concessions starting at age 14, when they began managing other employees. Upon high school graduation, he gave each of them a "floss" wagon—a cotton candy booth—so that they could earn money for college or expenses.

"We learned a good work ethic," Kris Butler-Brajevich said. "I worked for my first car and paid the insurance."

"We all work together, stay together and work through the problems," he said. "This gray hair paid for that."

Besides the interwoven family and business connection, Butler said the uniqueness of being a showman attracts people's curiosity.

TAM Communications in Santa Cruz is going to follow his family in summer 2004 to capture the lives of a carnival family for an HBO special.

"People in carnivals have always been sort of a mystery," Butler said. "They want to put a story behind [the mystery]." His family is enthusiastic about the project, he adds.

He's hoping the television special will help debunk some of the negative associations people have with carnivals. "I feel like we have a strike against us because of the old stereotype," he said, mentioning the common perception that carnivals are dirty, the employees are shifty and the games are rigged.

The employees, he said, "may not all be college graduates, but they're good workers." Butler Amusements requires workers to wear uniforms and identification badges and be well-groomed.

When his mother was involved, she cleaned the rides every day. As a result, Butler named Butler Amusements "the cleanest show in the West."

While Butler Amusements owns some games, the company often contracts with smaller game providers to put all its focus on successful rides and food.

Butler sees the long, consecutive contracts he's held with the Redwood Empire Spring Fair in Ukiah and the Silver Dollar Fair in Chico for more than 30 years as the sign that his business is performing above standards.

And the company's growth has been gradual, he said. He attributes its growth mainly to his dedication to customer satisfaction and also to small innovations like providing ATM machines and bringing different rides every year to each carnival.

Yet the hectic nature of traveling can become stressful, he said. "We take three months off in the winter, but we pay for it by working twice as long in the summer. The employees are worn out after two weeks."

He said his biggest concerns are the 350 pieces of traveling equipment and liability. California's Division of Industrial Safety did a study on ride injuries and found seven of the injuries occurred at carnivals, while 150 happened at amusement parks, Butler said.

Butler has also worked with California's former Gov. George Deukmejian to bring ride-safety laws up to date.

And should anything break during the season, the repair staff in Santa Nella, Calif., sends the parts overnight to wherever the show is. During the off-season—November through January—all the rides are serviced at the Santa Nella repair facility.

With the 130 events Butler Amusements holds on the West Coast, along with the permanent amusement parks Butler has helped build in Mexico, China and the Philippines, he calculates his business serves 20 million people a year.

Butler was approached by the mayor of Culiacan, Mexico, after he visited Butler's fair in Fresno in 1983. The mayor wanted to buy rides to create a park to keep children off the streets in a heavily drug-trafficked area, Butler said.

With the city of Culiacan's limited resources, Butler bought older rides and even brought a 12-lane slide from Santa Clara to the town.

The mayor also wanted the park to have athletic recreation to create sports heroes, rather than drug kings, for youth to look up to, so he built five basketball courts, three tennis courts, an Olympic-size pool, and a soccer field and made a lake for paddleboats.

"It was [the mayor's] lifelong dream to try and do something for the community," Butler said, adding that he was proud to be a part of it.

Similarly, Butler put his business to work for the good of others by participating in school fundraisers and donating a percentage of the proceeds.

"We raised money for schools' signs and scoreboards and the play equipment for Willow Glen Elementary," he said.

He jokingly recalls his introduction to Willow Glen in 1973.

Butler was living in Campbell at the time and was looking into buying a house in Willow Glen, he said. He was talking to parents at the carnival who said Willow Glen was a quiet, family-oriented neighborhood when a streaker ran by. "My first encounter with Willow Glen was a streaker," he recalls, laughing.

"After that, I thought it won't be dull here," he said. And he went ahead and bought a house on Padres Court.

On a more serious note, Butler said the sense of family and fun in Willow Glen has been what his business has also tried to foster.

Butler has also noticed attendance at carnivals has increased since Sept. 11.

"Families are thinking about their families more," he said. "It made them soul search."

His most recent show was a holiday, goodwill event—the Jingle Jam—organized by the mayor's office to provide children and families with free entertainment on Dec. 20.

Radio Disney provided an entertainment stage and booths, and Butler Amusements set up 15 rides indoors at the McEnery Convention Center.

"I look at a carnival as a Christmas tree," he said, while he walks through the event. "I want it to be colorful, fresh and exciting."

The vibrant colors of the rainbow and flashing lights on the rides create a visual candy store for the eyes. The crescendo of happy voices and beeping rides fill the air with a reverberating din.

San Jose resident Rose Malvini said she heard about the Jingle Jam at Washington Mutual and brought canned foods for admission for herself and two children.

"It makes people want to give more," she said. "It's a circle of giving." Malvini adds that she likes the diversity of the crowd attending and sharing a good time.

Butler Amusements ride operator Reginald Ross said he likes the job he's had for a year.

"You get to travel and I love the kids," Ross said.

Willow Glen resident Verne Ladd and his seven-year-old daughter Catherine waited in line to ride the "Kite Flyer" together.

"It was really fun and I like the rides," Catherine said, after flying above the ground lying down.

Another Willow Glen resident, Tanya Holland, who has known Kris Butler-Brajevich for 12 years and used to help her at the carnivals, brought her two-year-old daughter for another generation of fun and friendship with Kris' family.

"We used to stay on the rides for an hour," said Kris, laughing as she remember bringing friends to the carnivals when she was younger.

One of those friends is Kristan Tweten, who calls the Butlers her second family. Kris and Jill were her best friends growing up, and she remembers going to the carnivals.

"Butch always made sure we had fun, went on rides and ate cotton candy," she said.

It was also her first summer job and one of her family's vacations. Her parents, brother and sister drove to two different locations and helped work the fairs.

"It's such a strong family unit," she said. "Everyone takes care of each other."

She said Butler employs "people down on their luck or traveling, the smartest engineer or someone just trying to make a buck."

Tweten also said his employees have a high respect for him and always "watched over us."

"He's like Santa, he wants to see everyone at their best and give them a chance," Tweten adds.

She remembers a time when Butler brought some rides to River Glen Elementary and gave a speech to her fourth-grade class.

"He said, 'I named the yo-yo ride after Kristan because she runs back and forth from our house to hers,' " Tweten said. "He's so goofy."