Pasco Fair offering more than ever

It's seven days this year and the extras include a Pasco Pig Out, with a barbecue contest and hog calling.

[Times photo: Lance A. Rothstein] Clude Banks is kept hopping Friday as he sets up a midway game in anticipation of the Pasco Fair's opening at the fairgrounds near Dade City.

By MICHELLE JONES, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 16, 2002

DADE CITY -- This year's Pasco County Fair, the 55th edition, has been expanded to seven days, with all the usual fare and more.

Opening day is Monday, with a parade scheduled for 1 p.m. The fair begins at 3 p.m.

The parade, with the theme of There's Nothing Like It, will begin at Cox Elementary School on Martin Luther King Boulevard, travel south on Seventh Street through downtown Dade City to Florida Avenue and west to Pasco Elementary School.

The fairgrounds are on State Road 52 just west of Dade City.

This year the Pasco Pig Out will make its debut. This is a barbecue cook-off sanctioned by the Florida Barbecue Association and will be from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Feb. 23. This is open to professional cooks as well as backyard chefs. The divisions are chicken, pork shoulder or butt, pork ribs and beef brisket. Entries will be eligible for the grand champion prize of $1,000 and free entry into the 2003 national championship. Fairgoers can sample the barbecue for $1, and each sample will be a vote toward the People's Choice Award.

A hog calling contest, called an Oink Off, will also be held with the Pig Out. It is scheduled from noon to 2:30 p.m. Feb. 23.

Retired Pasco County Commissioner Sylvia Young is in charge of the Oink Off.

"I've gone to the pigs," she joked. "Rather than to the dogs."

Contestants will be judged in five groups: piglets, ages 6-10; bacon bits, ages 11-14; hog hollers, 15-17; prime porkers, 18 and older; and senior squealers, age 65 and older. Entry is free; however, competition is open only to the first 25 contestants in each category. Contestants will be judged on originality, delivery and presentation and reaction of hogs and audience to the hog call. To register, call the fair office at (352) 567-6678.

When the fair opens Monday, a midway special will be offered until 11 p.m. All exhibit buildings will be open and entertainment will include Kachunga and the Alligator Show, a celebrity cow milk-off at 4 p.m. and the youth heifer and bull show at 7 p.m.

Farm animal shows and sales, with members of the Future Farmers of America and 4-H exhibiting their sheep, cows, rabbits, poultry, goats, steers, heifers and bulls, are scheduled throughout the week.

Community displays can be found inside the Schrader Building.

Other exhibits include art, woodworking, sewing, needlework, photography, hobby crafts, collectibles, baked goods and canned items along with hand crafted baskets, carvings, ceramics and other offerings.

Entertainment is scheduled throughout the week with the Gospel Music Night set for Thursday in the Dan Cannon Auditorium. Three award-winning groups will perform at 5 and 8 p.m. The Hoskins Family, The Wilburns and the Palmetto State Quartet will perform at both shows. The doors will open 30 minutes before each show. Admission is free with gate admission.

Other entertainment includes five professional wrestling matches beginning at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday with headliner Greg Valentine, a member of the World Wrestling Federation. On Wednesday, The Lewis Family, known as the first family of bluegrass gospel music will perform at 5 and 8 p.m.

On Feb. 22, the Miss Heart of Florida Pageant is scheduled for 7 p.m. Ninety contestants ages 6-17 will vie for trophies in five age groups with some of them participating in a talent show at 6 p.m., before the contest.

The Miss Pasco County Pageant is set for 8 p.m. Feb. 23. Admission is $1 in addition to the gate fee.

Daily entertainment will include the Dennis Lee Show, magician and hypnotist Ron Diamond, Hillbilly Bob, the alligator show and the Ag-Venture Farm Tours, which provides opportunities for visitors to milk cows, collect eggs and shell corn.

The midway, provided by W.G. Wade Shows, will feature four unlimited ride specials Monday through Thursday. The midway opens 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. each day. The special costs $12 for a wristband that allows unlimited rides.

The fair ends at 7 p.m. Feb. 24. Another midway special will be held the last day, when two can ride for the price of one, and a gate admission special will admit child free with a paying adult.

- Michelle Jones covers central Pasco community news. She can be reached at toll-free (800) 333-7505, ext. 4612 or (813) 909-4612. Her e-mail address is jones@sptimes.com.

If you go

When: Monday through Feb. 24. Gates open at 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. Saturday the gates open at 10 a.m. and at noon on Sunday.

Where: Pasco County Fairgrounds, State Road 52, just west of Dade City.

Cost: $5 for adults and $3 for children ages 6-12. Children ages 5 and younger are admitted free. Parking is free.

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