Festival
has climbed out of the mud
With the Saturday kickoff of Fall Festival approaching, officials said they haven't earmarked any specific events to commemorate the milestone, but that isn't to say they've forgotten the memories of the yearly event in City Park.
"The commercial exhibits were in the old barn that had a dirt floor-a very dirty dirt floor. And, I mean it was rickety," said Becke Anderson, who has been associated with the festival since its inception.
"The carnival, when we had one, was in the mud hole down by the swimming pool. I remember one time when it rained so hard that mud was just oozing over your shoes.
"But it was the best we had, and we made the best of it."
The move to the Civic Center in 1978 was before the facility was actually finished, Anderson, an exofficio board member, said. "But it was wonderful because it was at the top of the mud hole."
Finishing touches were being added right up to the start of the festival, she said as she recalled Walter Helm directing people in how to put the squares of carpet grass down on the soil.
"He wanted it to look just right," she said.
And things are looking "just right" for the 1988 merrymaking. Everything from the beginning of the frivolities with the parade Saturday to the Star Nite finale Sept. 17 is, according to the directors, "On go," for the yearly get together. And getting together is the main purpose.
"The
carnival, when we had one, was in
the mud hole
down by the swimming pool."
the mud hole
down by the swimming pool."
Since the board members work throughout the year toward the "eight-day week," they have to maintain their enthusiasm. It seems they keep the pace because they are "people" people.
"I like working with people," Mickie Powers, president of the board this year, said of her volunteer efforts. "I like the excitement of a fair. I like to see a county fair be as good as it possibly can be."
"I've just thoroughly enjoyed making it a success and helping to make it grow," Billie Rose Chapman, a charter member of the Fall Festival board, said.
Sheila Funderburk, who has been helping to orchestrate the extravaganza for two years, said, "I'm one of those people who doesn't know how to say, 'No.'"
The 1988 celebration is in keeping with the goal of mixing new events with established standards, which correlates with the year's theme: Past, Present, Future.
For the older generation-and younger ones who want to learn more about the past-the organizers have initiated a new event. Old Settlers Day, which will be dedicated to Eldridge Hopkins, was added to commemorate the elder instigators of the county.
The Sunday event promises to be full of activities and honors for the older generation. Coupled with the Old Settlers Day will be the return of Cowboy Poetry, featuring songs that give a glimpse of life on the range in the Old West.
For the present, many activities and exhibits are scheduled to promote businesses and organizations around the county who are in operation now.
And the future will be represented by the youth-a facet directors of the festival strive to focus on more and more every year, Anderson said.
Looking toward the future of the county and its fair is not limited to the youth in the events ranging from the Cover Girl contest to the fishing competition. Instead, the fair organizers look toward economic boons to Hopkins County.
That's one of the reasons the Fall Festival planners have taken on a new avenue of exposure for 1988. Through a brochure mailed to 23,000 households within and beyond the county, the organizers hope to bring more money to the area.
Each brochure is complete with a number on the upper lefthand side. The number corresponds with prizes, which merchants have donated, on a board that will be set up on the fairgrounds.
Fall Festival designers have said they hope the brochures will attract more people to the eight day event, thus bringing more prosperity to the area.
But that prosperity does not extend to the organizers, even though some may think the organizers' wallets are bulking from the work.
"Board members are forbidden to make any profit. There's no personal profit," Anderson said, adding that volunteerism is a trait of the people of this area.
Powers, as the head of the organized volunteers, said any Fall Festival profits are put back into the community.
The festival has come a long way in 10 years. And the planners promise more and more fun at the get together, with 1988 as no exception.
Published:
7/17/88 - Publisher: News-Telegram - Written Under: Karla S. Ware
©KWSartin 2002
contact: info@kwsartin.com
©KWSartin 2002
contact: info@kwsartin.com
