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Denise Risley applies the finishing touches to her game booth that will be in the carnival at the Pasadena Livestock Show & Rodeo.

Dexter, a "carni cat," inspects a booth at the carnival at the Pasadena Livestock Show & Rodeo. Dexter travels the carnival circuit with his owner.

Christian Moore gathers more prizes to hang on his Water Gun Fun booth. 

On the Pasadena Convention Center grounds, the carnival along the midway is taking shape as the Pasadena Livestock Show & Rodeo approaches.

The Ferris wheel was up on Sept. 21, while workers unfolded the smaller rides like a butterfly might unfold its wings. The turkey-leg hut, a staple at any fair or rodeo, only needed its star attraction, the turkey legs.

But no carnival is worth its salt unless it has plenty of those booths where games are played for a chance to win a 6-foot-tall stuffed toy animal colored in green, purple or red. 

When the Pasadena Livestock Show and Rodeo begins an eight-day stay on Sept. 23, Texas-Born Amusements, fresh from working the Gator Festival in Anahuac, will see a flood of patrons who can't resist the challenge of shooting this or tossing that at an object.

But under an unrelenting sun on Sept. 21, it was all work for folks like Denise Risley. She's going to be in the booth with two tables in which four 3-pound pins will be standing on top of one another in two rows. At the disposal of the carnival-goer will be softballs. How many softballs they want to throw at these heavy pins will depend on how much money they want to spend.

"It's a hard game for sure," said Risley as she stood on a ladder placing another colorful animal along one wall of her booth. Risley said that winning a prize off her wall won't be the simplest of tasks.

When: Sept. 23 through Oct. 1.Visit https://bityl.co/ER3w for an event schedule.

Where: Pasadena Fairgrounds, 7601 Red Bluff Road, Pasadena

For more information: Call 281-487-0240 or visit https://www.pasadenarodeo.com/.

Risley, 43, is a veteran of the carnival tour. Traveling with her from location to location are Dexter and Tango, her two cats or "carni kitties" as she affectionately calls them.

 Like he usually does two days before the start of a carnival, Dexter was roaming the grounds, making sure all looked good. He even strolled beneath a kiddie ride, something he won't be doing come every night of the carnival. Risley will lock up both cats inside her trailer.

If a part was needed for either a ride or a booth, employees got them out of an old Batesville Casket Company truck. At some point, someone attempted to scrub the name off the side of the box truck, but if one looks hard enough, it can still be seen. 

Across from Risley's booth, she will make time for the rubber duck booth. It's that time-honored carnival game where someone plucks a duck out of a tub of swirling water to look underneath it to see if they win a prize. Inflated images of aliens, footballs, Crayola crayons and pink dolphins were already hanging from the tent above the water.

At an adjoining booth, Christopher Moore, an Alvin High School student, was preparing for the crowds, hanging his share of stuffed animals in his booth. He's going to be manning the "Water Gun Fun" booth.

"This is a water race. The more people you get, the bigger the prize. The less you have, the smaller the prize. This game is based just off your luck and based on who's going to make it all the way to the top," Moore said.

There's over a dozen stations in which customers shoot a water gun towards a little round target in front of their station. The steadier the hand likely means the baby shark climbs the "ladder" fastest to the top.

"It's based on how many players we have. So, if I have two or three players, they get to choose anything off my first shelf and four to six (players) is in the middle and 12 is a choice of anything in here," Moore said.

Not all of his water guns are operable at the moment, which is a clue to how many carnivals the Water Gun Fun booth has been to.

"This game is really older than me," said Moore, who will press a button that rings a bell and the race is on.

Robert Avery is a suburban reporter producer for the Houston Chronicle.

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