A Good Friend Shares Her Memories

I'm re-posting the piece below from comments. I was hoping my friend Amy and her mother would have something to contribute about the fair. Amy and I worked at Gibson Greetings, where she was a writer, then editor; I was a writer. I was delighted when I found out her mother worked at the Hamilton County Fair. When I went over to the fairgrounds to enter my needlework and crafts that year, I stopped by the manager's office to introduce myself. Amy's mom is so sweet, and Amy used to share bits of background about Carthage fairgrounds that her mother had told her.

I'm delighted to share Amy's memory of the fair:

Hi Nancy,

My memories of Carthage Fair go back to 1976. My mom worked in the office every summer with three of her teacher friends. We'd go to the fair for hours with my dad while she worked. We'd check in at the air-conditioned office, which always felt so glorious in the early-August heat. Mom seemed to be having a lot of fun, and there was always something interesting going on. I'd go by at the end of the night and listen to my mom announce on the loudspeaker that they had a lost child. They had several every night, the parents would lose them and take their time finding them. I guess they knew their children would be looked after in the office. Although some parents were truly concerned, I loved the reunions when the mother would run up to the office practically sobbing to find her child happily eating candy oblivious to all the fuss.

My favorite memories are of walking along the fairway with my girlfriend, Judy. We both had long, straight hair (hers was red and mine was blond), short shorts and tee shirts cut off to show our flat bellies (those were the days). The carney boys flirted with us to get us to play the games, and we loved the attention. We'd walk down the fairway and have our handwriting analyzed to see what kind of people we were, because at 13 we really didn't know. Being a city girl, I always marveled at how big the cows and horses were and how soft the bunnies. I couldn't get over how funny the chickens were and I loved playing with the kittens. I always went on the nights of the Demolition Derby and tried to pick out which car would be the winner.

I am also saddened by the slow death of the County Fair. But I am as much to blame. I haven't been there in about 10 years. It just didn't seem the same when I took my kids back. I wish I could give them those same wonderful memories.

Thanks for a wonderful piece, Amy! Please share any other remembrances and I'll post them to the blog.