Third Annual “Fair Dream Trip” 2013 Fair Trip 2013
By John Owens, CFE, Marketing Director, Volusia County Fair
The Florida Federation of Fairs took their annual trip to look
at Fairs outside of the State of Florida in a yearly quest for discovering new ideas while meeting fellow Fair industry people. Florida Federation president Gayle Hart, from the Greater Jacksonville Agricultural Fair, Federation Executive Director, Lisa Hinton along with David Viers and John Owens from the Volusia County Fair & Youth Show, Rhonda Ward, Pat Cookson, Kathy Presley & Teresa Jolly from the Collier County Fair, the original energizer bunny, Ellany Johnson from the Strawberry Festival, Clark Converse (nick named Bumpy during this trip), from Pasco County Fair, Kelly & Pat Palmer, Randy & Fran Crone from the SW Florida Fair & Lee County and the South Florida Fair was represented by Lisa Dudding and Andrea Simeone. We all flew into Love Field Airport in Dallas on Thursday, September 26 and rented two
Errol McKoy, Manager of the State Fair of Texas, took time from his busy schedule to meet with the Florida group.
vans to carry the 17 Florida Federation entourage. Randy Crone and Clark Converse pulled the short straw and were chosen to drive each of the vans. The group riding with Clark had an interesting experience as Ellany accused Clark of trying to hit every pot hole he could find throughout the three days in Texas. She is still trying to recuperate although we did learn that she works out at the gym daily which answered the question of why we can’t keep up with her. We left the Airport and headed directly to the Hampton Inn where we had reservations for the night. Clark took out his trusty GPS, put in the address and it directed us to the Hampton Inn in Tyler. The look on the face of the desk clerk when we walked in should have told us that they were not expecting us, they weren’t. Although the correct address was put into the GPS we discovered that the Hampton Inn that was ex- pecting us was 20 minutes away in Lindale, TX right off of the highway. OOPS! After getting settled into the correct Hampton Inn we all piled into the van with Bumpy
and headed to the East Texas State Fair in Tyler, TX. We were met by John Sykes who graciously gave us some of his time. He brought out some renderings and proceeded to tell us that the current Fairgrounds has been standing on the same 75 acres for 90 years with an annual Fair every year with the exception of a couple of the World War II years. He explained as his smile deepened and eyes sparkled at the architect’s rendering of a brand new “Park” on 240 acres that is already bought and completely paid for just down the street from the current fairgrounds. It will be the new home of the East Texas State Fair. After trying the food, watching the shows including a high dive show and live wolf show,
walking the grounds and the livestock areas we left the fairgrounds for our sleep over at the Hampton Inn in Lindale. The next morning bright and early we headed out for the State Fair of Texas, but WAIT a
MINUTE!!! Someone said the magic words SHOPPING at MIRANDA LAMBERT’S PINK PISTOL in Lindale, Texas. Now, you know when people say ok we will stop for about 10 minutes and then get on to the State Fair that it will be longer than that, 45 minutes later we all head back to the vans with bags full of shopping success. More stuff to carry home. Before getting to the State Fair we stopped by this great little Pumpkin Patch called
Yesterland Farm featuring a maze, Christmas trees, pumpkins and some rides. Danny Peterson, a Volusia County Fair Board Member, who commutes between Dallas
and Deland, Florida for his Law Practice met us at the Hampton Inn in Dallas and led us through Dallas the back way as we circumvented the State Fair Parade that was going on at the same time we were heading to the Fair. We arrived at the State Fair of Texas and after showing our credentials were directed to
a parking spot very close to a walk through gate. We had all talked about getting a group picture in front of Big Tex, which just had its
dedication earlier that Friday. Friday was originally supposed to be the big unveiling of the new Big Tex as it is replacing the one that burned to the ground last year. A breezy Thurs- day blew away the sheet hiding the new Big Tex so Friday became a dedication rather than an unveiling. Big Tex, is pretty impressive if you have never seen it up close. Well as we looked around to get everyone together for that “GROUP IN FRONT OF BIG TEX” shot, there was no one to be seen. It was very much like herding cats as everyone scat- tered in different directions, which was ok since we did eventually get that shot the next day. The State Fair of Texas impressed us with the organization and cleanliness of this huge
facility. In case you wanted to know why some of your corporate sponsors don’t spend more with your Fair we discovered the answer: THEY SPEND IT AT THE STATE FAIR OF TEXAS!!!! We saw corporate imaging & branding like nothing you have ever seen before. There were acres of cars and trucks outside, hanging on cranes, bolted to the sides of buildings and then there were more INSIDE THE BUILDINGS. Every major auto- mobile manufacturer was at this Fair, had every model they make on the grounds, abso- lutely amazing. Mattress Firm had a huge display and an awe inspiring “illumination” light show nightly at 8 PM. They must have spent a fortune on the special lighting effects for this show. The opening ceremony introduced us to the Mayor of Dallas, councilmen, some state
legislators, and association and political entities in Dallas. It started with the Trinity Valley Community College Band from Athens, Texas under the direction of Mike Matchael and featured the Cardettes dance team. All of this was followed by fireworks, the lighting of three torches about 12 stories high and another parade of illuminated floats. We got to experience the Sky ride and all 500’ of the Top O’ Texas Tower which debuted in June, a Chinese Lantern Festival and the iconic Cotton Bowl Stadium, located in the middle of the State Fair of Texas Fairgrounds. Louisiana Tech vs. Army was being played in that arena on Saturday afternoon. Friday night after leaving the Fair we went to dinner at the Wild Turkey and had a good
dinner. Saturday took us back to the State Fair for a little bit more of this huge Fair. This is the morning that Errol McKoy, President of the State Fair of Texas, met us and
talked with us about his Fair. He estimated the State Fair of Texas attendance, opening day, to be about 90,000 people. This Fair uses coupons that you buy and then use for the rides or food. The Games use
a smart card. Errol told us that within three years they will be going cashless and that the coupons are part of the transition from cash to cashless Fair. One more stop on our agenda, the Fort Worth Stockyards and off we went to discover
that Gayle Hart, Ellany, Rhonda, Teresa, Fran, and Pat Palmer can ride Longhorns. We have pictures to prove it! The Stockyards were extremely interesting, the Chisholm Trail went through here, and this is where Fort Worth originally stood. We wanted to go to Billy Bob’s but David Allan Coe was scheduled to perform that night and the place was getting a $12 cover just to get in the door to look around. We opted for dinner at the Cattlemen’s Steak House at the Fort Worth Stockyards. Had to be the best filet I’ve had in years. Great dinner was had by all. David Viers’ brother, sister in law and nephew met him at the Stockyards and explained
that the White Elephant, a bar located on the Stockyard Main Street is where the Texas Ranger series bar scenes starring Chuck Norris was filmed. We left the Stockyards about 8pm headed back to our Hampton Inn rooms to get ready
to fly out on Sunday. As we were heading back to the hotel, Ellany was asking Bumpy to stop aiming for all of those pot holes, the girls were all talking about their shopping experi- ence, it was dark and like the rest of the trip we were depending heavily on our smart phone GPS units as we came up to a split in the highway and an exit all at the same time. Clark (Bumpy) was driving and I was the navigator trying to determine which way we were supposed to turn when all of a sudden every woman in the van began screaming to get off the exit NOW. We did but I was totally confused as to why they wanted us to take that exit. It turned out that it was ANOTHER opportunity for shopping. They spotted Cavender’s Boot City and since Clark was committed to buying a pair of boots while in Texas this was his last chance to do so. Everyone got out of the van and went inside as Clark finally found a pair of boots while in Texas. Some of the others also came out carrying bags with “stuff” they had purchased too. Randy Crone driving van 2 was consistently following us but we would get a text blast at
some point from him and his traveling group saying “the Crone van is heading back”. We used smart phones for communications with text blasts and navigation. As a consequence of all this usage we were all constantly trying to recharge phones. This just created a fun challenge. Fact finding trips like this Florida Federation of Fairs
excursion accomplish several things: The group discovers new ideas and ways of producing their Fairs, the group develops camaraderie among the group members and it produces great memories of people and places visited. We had a lot of laughter and internal discussions on tech- nology, fairs and livestock operations. If you have an opportunity to go on this adventure in the future please take advantage and just do it. It will leave an indelible mark on your memory for the rest of your life. More pictures on page 8
7
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48