Fair's heart, soul is in its people

Those who walk past the family living displays, livestock exhibitions and entertainment run the risk of missing the best part of the Hernando County Fair and Youth Livestock Show. From the beauty contest to livestock auctions, the Hernando County Fair is about people -- hard-working people.

People spend hours baking prize-winning cookies, painting pictures, sewing fashions. They spend even longer lovingly raising chickens, rabbits, pigs and cows. Others spend countless hours working up acts that range from punk rock to senior citizen tap dancers.

As early as September, 4-H leader Nancy Moores, the Livestock Association and agriculture teachers at Hernando and Central high schools begin helping young future farmers raise animals for competition and sale.

All week before the fair opens, the McAndrew family helped set up and judge baked goods, artwork and crafts in the Family Living Exhibition Building.

"It seemed like they were around the clock all week" said Moores.

After the livestock arrived early in the week, young competitors showed up around 5 a.m. to feed, water and clean the animals. This was after competition and caring for the animals had likely kept the youngsters busy until after 11 the night before.

Dance students from Jayne's Dance School in Brooksville gave up their Sunday evening to provide free entertainment to fairgoers.

Cattlemen Sam Thomas, Tommy Clark and others made their long workdays even longer, helping young livestock competitors with their often uncooperative animals.

Striving comedian Sean Meadows and his friend, impressionist Chad Whitson, drove all the way from Fort Myers to participate in the talent show. Meadows developed a bad case of stage fright, and after his early jokes bombed, he begged the silent and slightly uncomfortable audience: 'Please laugh, I'm dying up here."

Tanner Hamilton, 6, developed an allergy to the rabbits he and his brother Seth were raising and entered the exhibition pen wearing thick gloves and a surgical mask.

Horticulture exhibitors spent hours covering prized plants when an unseasonably late freeze provided two nights of temperatures near freezing.

After long hours of caring for and raising their steers, exhibitors William Wing, 13, and his friend Danielle Timm, 11, were both heartbroken when they had to turn over their prize steers to the buyers.

"Even though you know, it's still sad," said William, as he spent the last few minutes with his steer. "You raise them, and then they get slaughtered."

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