President’s Message As President of the Florida Federation of Fairs I am
Lisa Hinton, Executive Director 12802 Balm Boyette Road Riverview, Florida 33579
Phone: 813-763-0161 Fax: 888-233-1501
lisahinton@floridafairs.org www.floridafairs.org
Gayle Hart, President
Florida Federation of Fairs & Livestock Shows, Inc. Greater Jacksonville Agricultural Fair Mailing Address and Location: 501 Fairgrounds Place Jacksonville, FL 32202
Phone: 904-353-0535 Fax: 904-353-5458 Email:
gayle@jacksonvillefair.com
Florida Federation of Fairs & Livestock Shows, Inc. Board of Directors
OFFICERS President
Gayle Hart, Greater Jacksonville Agricultural Fair First Vice President
Rick Vymlatil, South Florida Fair Second Vice President
Tom Umiker, Greater Hillsborough County Fair Secretary/Treasurer
Felecia Chivington, Pensacola Interstate Fair Immediate Past President
Dan West, Manatee County Fair DIRECTORS
Paul Davis, Florida Strawberry Festival Wanda Jones, Columbia County Fair
Albert Montes, Miami-Dade County Fair & Expo Bill Olson, Greater Jacksonville Agricultural Fair Charles Pesano, Florida State Fair Dawn Rowe, Osceola County Fair David Viers, Volusia County Fair
Jim Ward, Pasco County Fair ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS
Justine O’Brien, O’Brien’s Food Enterprises Mark Sparks, Triangle Talent
HONORARY DIRECTORS Danny Raulerson
Florida Dept. of Agriculture, Farmers Market Division
Frankie Hall
Florida Farm Bureau Newsletter Committee
Lisa Hinton, Advisor, Doris Graska-Chair Rita DeMier, Scott Merselis, Leah Norris John Owens, Margaret Roddenberry
The opinions expressed in this newsletter are by those authors writing the articles and are theirs alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of the Florida Federation of Fairs and Livestock Shows, Inc. The Florida Federation of Fairs and Livestock Shows, Inc. is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the infor- mation supplied by the authors, nor does it take on any responsibil- ity or liability for its content.
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having the time of my life! I have enjoyed meeting so many new people in the industry, visiting Fairs that are new to me and eating delicious food along the way! My personal initiatives when I was inducted into the Presi- dent’s position were to visit as many Fairs as possible and to urge participation and growth of the YPI group. So far I have had the opportunity to travel to several Fairs around the state and I have many to experience this spring Fair season. It has been exciting to see the enthusiasm of the young people associated with Florida Fairs. The meetings facilitated by YPI Co-chairs Leah Norris and Albert Montes in both Las Vegas and West Palm Beach are encouraging signs that the future of Fairs in Florida are in good hands! Information for our Annual FFF convention at the Waldorf Astoria in Naples in
May has been distributed to your Fair, so make your plans now to attend May 15- 17. The Showcase Committee has done an excellent job securing incredi- ble entertainers for the convention. Martin Landau Murphy, the 2011 winner of America’s Got Talent will perform at the Annual banquet on Saturday, May 15. Before he was the $1,000,000 winner, Murphy washed cars for a living. Repre- sented by Vicki Oiler, you won’t want to miss this Frank Sinatra sound-alike crooner! Please remember to send me pictures of your Fair so I can include them in the 2013-2014 re-cap video. This will be my last article as President of the Florida Federation of Fairs and
I want to thank all of the staff-members, volunteers, entertainers, vendors and sponsors for being part of a wonderful industry that celebrates the values and lifestyle that make this country so good! See you in May, Gayle
Come along with me……………… Brrrr….it’s cold outside, but the weather shouldn’t keep anyone from visiting
one of Florida’s remarkable showcases to Americana. As President of the Flor- ida Federation I had the privilege to visit three Florida Fairs in January. My adventure from Jacksonville to West Palm Beach and the South Florida Fair included a stop at Vero Beach to look for shells and the elusive sharks’ teeth. Despite not finding any teeth the weather was warming up and my day at the SFF was wonderful. I happened to get in the middle of a parade that was bustling with giddy children and a lot of band members. The crowds were lined up with chairs like it was Thanksgiving in New York City. New York City just so happened to be the theme of the South Florida Fair this year, complete with an incredible ice skating show. While I was there I had the beef tips with mushrooms and mashed potatoes, this dish was so succulent and delicious that sitting on the ground picnic style became even more special. I guess I need to mention I spent over $300.00 in stuff. SCORE for the vendors! The day I visited the DeSoto County Fair the weather was 32 degrees and it was beyond cold for all of us that have
become weather
nies. Wrapped in several looked and felt like
layers
wee- I
the Michelin
Man. Once I entered the fairgrounds it was obvious cold weather is no friend in DeSoto. It was cold, but that was no reason not to have several tamales from the very authentic food trailer. Tamales happen to be one of my favorite snacks and these little gems were yummy! I tried to get information of the ingredients’ from the ven- dor, but the language barrier prevented any gastronomical information. A goat show and children’s costume parade were on the itinerary for chilling Tuesday, both were adorable…predominately due to the youth involvement. I also no- ticed there are an abundance of pretty girls in DeSoto County, several girls with shiny crowns were bundled in puffy jackets,
Gayle Hart with the DeSoto County Fair Queens Continued on page 3
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