Florida Fair News
Taken from Tom Powell’s ShowTime Xtra
The first fair of the season has end- ed, and it was a good one, which, hopefully,
is a good omen for the
upcoming season. The late Danny Royal, a concessionaire extraordi-
naire, used to say that as Florida goes, so goes the season. His words have been echoed by many others in the business over the years. The Jan. 14-24 Manatee County Fair, Palmetto, "was fantastic, a really good fair," according to Daniel West, who has been associated with the fair since 2001, and its general manager since 2003. "We ob- served the event by calling it our 100th year of the fair. It was not the 100th fair because it was not held on several occasions, most notably 1944 and 1945 due to World War II," said West. He noted there were some bad weather days, including a tornado that struck the county and resulted in the loss of several lives. "As far as the fair itself, all we had was some cold. Our attendance was 162,000 last year and as yet, I can't say if we were slightly up or down from that. It will be close. The two major acts, The Bellamy Brothers and Joe Diffie were booked through Rick Modesitt & Associates Entertainment of Little Hocking, Ohio. Rocket the Robot was booked through Mark Sparks of David Snowden's Triangle Talent, Louisville, Ky, Sea Lion Splash through David Musselman's Capitol International Productions, Ne- gley, Ohio, and some came from Bobby McLamb's Artists and Enter- tainment. Other acts included Mo Pitney, Hawk Nelson, Mountain Frank, and Billy Rice. Belle City Amusements, owned by Charles Panacek and his mother, Mary, again provided the midway and did an outstanding job, according to West. "They bring in first class equipment, and well trained employees who are always courteous. Everybody we deal with on the show is easy to work with." Chris Huston and his wife, Gail, owners of Huston Enterprises, Dubuque, Iowa give Richie George of George's Fine Foods, and his wife, Judy, credit for a lot of their success in the business. The Hustons now travel with Doug and Jake Fink's Earl's Rides, Weyauwega, Wiscon- sin.
Left to right – At the Manatee County Fair Opening Luncheon, Tom Umiker, Federation President; Jon Neuhauser, Manatee County Fair President; Lisa Hinton, Federation Executive Secretary; Melissa and Rory Martin with the Sarasota County Fair; Steve Bell, Sarasota County Fair; and Dan West, Manatee County Fair Manager. At right is Wylene Rickley and Cindy Peterson being recognized for theirs years of dedicated service to the Manatee County Fair.
Left: Dennis Lee & Tom Umiker, Charles Panacek & Tom, at right Lee Bakst, Flori- da Strawberry Festival visiting
Charles Panacek and Dan West with visitors the Iowa State Fair.
Great weather provided a wonderful weekend for the Greater Pinellas Country Fair which was held Novem- ber 12-15, 2015, and was the 2nd year
for the state chartered agricultural fair. The location for the event was a beautiful city park that included a band shell. As Pinellas county does not have
the typical livestock like cows and pigs, the fair showcased the Urban Agriculture in the county (under a tent) including rabbits, chickens, honeybees, goats, and horses. There were a variety of make-n-take items for kids provided by the 4H and Farm Bureau. Farm Bureau also held Farm City Week in conjunction with the fair.
The ag area also featured a separate tent for horticulture and included information on container, vertical, hydroponic, and community gardens featuring local plants and vegetables. Wonderful demos and workshops included how to make and manage a backyard chicken coop, farm to table cooking, canning, quilting and several other related topics. The competitive exhibits were housed in the Performing Arts Center the park and included quilting, various art mediums, and baking. Daily fair entertainment: Robinsons Racing Pigs, Horses Got Talent
at 28 FAIRCRACKER-SPRING 2016
from
GREATER PINELLAS COUNTRY FAIR Too!, and Echo of
the South Pacific (Polynesian dancers).
Featured
acts on the Band shell stage were Josh Cruz, Island Boys, Barbershop Quartet, Jeremy Darling, a local favorite - The Black Honkeys, and national act - The Bellamy Bros. on Saturday night (booked by Oler Productions). Animal rides included pony rides and an elephant ride. Carnival was Modern Midways. On Friday morning we hosted almost 100 kids for a field trip oppor-
successful event for year 2, and the board has begun planning for the 3rd annual fair.
tunity. They were able to milk the life size (FFF) cow, create several make-n-takes, and see abbreviated versions of the racing pigs and horse shows. We were able to secure some wonderful sponsorships, and overall, a
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