by Brenda S Brown

Created on: October 09, 2009

When I was a youngster, attending the fair in neighboring Columbus, Georgia, was an adventure of epic proportions accentuated by sights, sounds, and scents. Our parents, for reasons unexplained to us children, insisted on attending on Thursday afternoon, no Friday or Saturday visits for this family unit.

Our domestic expedition originated in a massive exhibit-hall building where we examined a plethora of vegetables, nuts, flowers and fruits, grouped together, sorted, some canned, some fresh, and colorized in various fashion, specifically designed to catch the eye of viewing sightseers.

Included in the excursion was a tour of the handmade quilts, sewing crafts and numerous handiworks from various citizens of the surrounding area; unbelievably one day I was destined to win numerous blue ribbons for my creative efforts. Then we tromped around the aromatic livestock exhibits, inside and outside, to scrutinize the best of show in pigs, cows, goats, and assorted farm animals. During the journey, we stopped by the petting zoo and watched the tots ride on the ponies. Incredibly, this is how we spent the majority of our allotted time at the fair.

It was not about the Ferris wheel although it was there every year, and it was not about the shamefully appalling girly-show, it was there too; it was not about the various concessions, the tasty and the deadly, for my parents it was about two things, the spectacular community exhibits and the wealth of demonstrations presented inside the Municipal Auditorium.

In retrospect; the carnival mid-way held little fascination for our parents; in fact, they could attend the fair and have an enjoyable time without ever twirling in a flying conveyance or observing a tent-show.

Along the dusty pathway where we strolled, there were cotton candy stands offering choices wrapped around a stick or packed into a sticky-feeling plastic bag, of pastel colored spun-candy in pink, blue and yellow. There were those individually wrapped scarlet-colored sugared-delights known as candy apples, with or without nuts, and top off the snack list with an order of greasy French-fried potatoes. I had time to decide which one I wanted, and we made the purchase just before we departed for the exit gate.

If that is not enough reminiscences from the fair of yesteryear, I remember purchasing a white sailor hat with my name embroidered in colorful variegated thread, chosen from hundreds of colors, some with brightly colored plumes. There were also funnel cakes dusted with white powdered sugar and the foodery staffed by the Junior Chamber of Commerce where we ate our evening meal every year.

For the record, my favorite part of a fair is the carousel full of horses; better known as the Merry-Go-Round, with a close second being the brightly colored bumper-cars.

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