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'Miss Jean' isn't done yet

By MARY ANN KOSLASKY
Published August 27, 2006

I can't recall when I first met Jean Grant, but it feels as if I've known her a lifetime.

Grant is like that. If she takes a liking to you, she makes you feel as if you are lifetime friends. If you cross her or she dislikes you, your life will be a melange of nightmares and flashbacks forever ... unless she forgives you.

Am I trying to say she is opinionated and strong-willed and, sometimes, has a big mouth? You bet!

By her own admission, it was her "big mouth" that landed her in the role of Citrus County fair manager.

As she tells it, in 1976, she and hubby George were members of the fair association board. Being fed up with the way that things were going, she resigned and told the board, "You need a manager."

The next morning, Paula Stanley called her and offered her the fair manager's position on behalf of the board.

"She's not the first manager but the first one who's been paid, and she's brought this fair as far as it's come," said Nell Mayberry, a longtime friend, board member and fair fixture.

And it certainly has come a long way, adding the tractor pull, upgrading buildings, covering the open air ring, adding seating for shows and so much more.

"She's been the catalyst for a lot of changes," former Crystal River Mayor and friend Curtis Rich once told the Times.

Grant, who turned 80 on May 8, planned to quit in 1998 after the fair celebrated its 50th anniversary. However, the planning stage lasted a lot longer than she expected. On Sept. 30, she will finally put down the reins.

The county fair won't be the same without "Miss Jean" at its head.

That's not to say that she won't still have her fingers in the pot. On Monday, the Citrus County Fair board offered her a contract as the fair manager emeritus.

"We're just thrilled to death to be able to do this for her," Mayberry said. "It was our feeling we wanted to honor her for what she's done and what she's taught us."

Now the teacher is taking recess. Grant's last official day as the fair manager is Sept. 30. And while she will no doubt miss much of the hustle and bustle of her job, her husband, George, doesn't expect that she will sit idly watching the world go by.

The Grants will have been married 51 years Sept. 3. For the past 34, he has seen her wander home at 1 or 2 a.m. during fair week, only to rise again at 5 to get back to the office.

"Physically, I think she'll find a tremendous relief from that pressure," he said.

But "Jean will always find something to get involved in," George Grant said.

He once told me that "when she goes, I'm going to plant a telephone in one hand and a steering wheel in the other."

Amen! Nearly every time I stopped to visit, we ended up in the car going somewhere and the phone would ring, or she would have to call someone to let the person know where she was headed.

As fair manager emeritus, Jean Grant will still occasionally represent the Citrus County Fair at conventions, trade shows and other fair-related events, but her priorities have changed.

Now she will have more time to spend with George. And that's okay with him.

"If I can get 15 or 20 minutes more a day with her, I'll take," he said.

As for Jean, two things top her to-do list.

"First thing," she said, "George and I are going to visit our son in the Keys. Then we'll come home and change suitcases and go visit our son in North Carolina. He has a new home I've not seen, except in pictures. And ... I'd like to visit my daughter in Utah sometime in the future.

"My second ambition," she said, "is I'm finally going to clean my clothes closet. I can't even close the door!"

And, Jean, when you get done with your closet, now that you'll have so much time on your hands, will you come do my closet next?

[Last modified August 27, 2006, 06:37:39]