FLORIDA FEDERATION NEWS…………………………………….…………………….
First Annual Fair Dream Tour- Florida Federation of Fairs
By: Leah Norris, Lake County Fair, Eustis, FL On August 15, 2011, 14 members of the Florida Fed-
eration of Fairs embarked on a trip of a lifetime. This trip was the brain child of Happy Norris, CFE, President of the Federation. He had promised his wife a trip to the Iowa State Fair for her 50th birthday. As that time came closer, he decided it would be a great trip for other Fair members throughout the state. He and Lisa Hinton, Executive Direc- tor of the Federation, put together an itinerary that packed 3 state Fairs into a 5 day trip.
there was no short- age of either of those, not to mention dis- plays from FFA, 4H, and other citizens. One area I found very nice was the Ag Building where they had baby animals. They had a duckling pond, chicken hatch-
eries, swine farrowing pens, as well as stalls with goats, sheep, and various breeds of cows. They had it worked out that at least one animal would be giving birth every day of the Fair! The Avenue of Breeds was something else I found quite interesting with various breeds of horses, cows, swine…everything you could think of! They even had an elk.
It was the first one I’d ever seen, and it was HUGE! Another amazing thing about the Iowa State Fair was
their campground! It’s 160 acres with 4,000 sites and the special thing isn’t just its size. The campgrounds are spe- cial because it is one of their many traditions. Families pass down campsites from generation to generation, and the campers are proud of it, with signage stating how long they’ve been in their spot. It was awesome! They also had displays for alternative energy, the largest being a wind turbine.
It was impressive perched on top of the tallest hill. On Wednesday, August 17, we traveled to Indianapo-
The trip started in Des Moines, Iowa, on Monday after-
noon, after we landed at the airport. The Iowa State Fair- grounds is 445 acres of beautiful land. We found that walk- ing around the grounds you could sometimes forget that you were at a State Fairgrounds. One of those places where you would forget you were at the Fair was in the “Fun Forest” area. It was a quiet and heavily wooded area with places for children to play and be entertained as well as for parents to relax. Fairgoers in
Iowa were al- most never with- out something to watch or see. There were con- tests galore, totaling nearly
lis. As you all know, the tragedy at the Indiana State Fair took place on Saturday, August 13. So it was a bittersweet experience. We showed our love and support for Cindy Hoye, Fair Manager, and the rest of their Fair family, but it was also a good learning experience in crisis management. The heart and support of everyone at the Fair, from ven- dors to patrons, was pal- pable, and that is a won- derful thing to see.
100 over the duration of the Fair, and that wasn’t including the competitive exhibits and livestock. And
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