Centennial Sights: 100 years of the Florida State Fair
Barren fairground springs to life
Under the practiced hands of 3,000 workers, the booths and the rides come together for today's opening. Step right up.
By SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER
Published February 5, 2004
[Times photo: Stefanie Boyar]
Shiny for show time: Morgan Norris, 16, of Zolfo Springs rinses her Brahman cattle Wednesday. Norris will show the animals in the youth and open Brahman classes this week.
[Times photo: Stefanie Boyar]
Peek at the freak show: Daisy Mae, known as the cow with two noses, has a spot in a side show, the Gallery of Freaks.
TAMPA - Daisy Mae the two-nosed cow stood under her tent Wednesday morning, not far from the albino turtle and the turtle with two heads.
The curious wouldn't start peeking into this Gallery of Freaks for another 24 hours, but Daisy Mae was ready to entertain.
All around, the Florida State Fairgrounds was a bustle of activity in preparation for the 100th anniversary of the Florida State Fair.
What last week was a barren swath of land now resembled a colorful village, as hundreds of carnival and midway veterans groomed animals, set up cotton candy booths and tested out roller coasters.
"This is the best part," said 21-year-old Matt Foster of Georgia, as he hosed down the outside of Cape Fear, a three-story haunted house that took three days to assemble.
"Once the fair opens, it's the worst part because you're just standing there taking tickets all day."
The fair officially opens to patrons today at 10 a.m., but hundreds of workers from across the country have been here for the past week getting things ready.
It takes time, after all, to set up a small universe of fun where the 100 rides alone are worth an estimated $65-million. Some Ferris wheels and roller coasters take at least four days to assemble.
"By the time we go to bed tonight, this little village will be up and running," midway operator Ed Gregory said Wednesday as he stood near a corn dog stand.
Gregory should know. He owns United Shows of America, the Tennessee company that has exclusive rights to run the midway.
He has all kinds of fun facts about what it takes to get the fair ready for its 11-day run.
A sampling: More than 200 campers, RVs and motor homes have set up camp inside the fairgrounds to house the people working the fair. Another 52 bunkhouses hold about 500 people.
In all, 3,000 people will work the fair - selling funnel cakes, taking tickets, manning haunted houses like Cape Fear and stomach churners called After Burner.
"We bring our own city together," Gregory said.
It's a city made up of people from many cities.
Daisy Mae's owner, Jim Zajicek, came from Chicago. Gary Magyoran and his wife, Lauri, operators of the Gravity Storm, drove in from Jupiter.
Boz Pavlovich, 40, brought three rides from Chicago. As he rested from setting up Wednesday, he looked forward to tearing it all down.
"The best part is taking it all apart, because by then, you've dealt with so many people," he said. "And not all of them are nice. So by the end, I'm ready to get out of here and go home."
