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Fair time brings back its sights, sounds, smells
By BABITA PERSAUD © St. Petersburg Times, published February 9, 2001
"Ohmigod," she said, stumbling out and giggling, fright turned to delight. "That ride was the bomb." All these sights and sounds can mean only one thing: It's fair time. The 97th annual Florida State Fair opened Thursday under a storybook blue sky, bringing to the grounds off Interstate 4 and U.S. 301 the usual feast for the senses. The sights: Turning Ferris wheels. Kids feeding little goats. Wacky stuff for sale, such as grains of rice with your name engraved on them. The sounds: "Roast ears, get your roast ears here!" yelled by a corn-on-the-cob vendor. And of course, the smells: Whiffs of fried dough, fried turkey legs and curly fried potatoes that hang like toy monkeys when pulled out of their cup. And then there are those barnyard smells that fair boosters don't talk much about, but which prompted Lizz Harmon, fair spokeswoman, to burn scented candles in her office. The fair runs until Feb. 19. Musical headliners include Pat Benatar on Saturday, The Platters with the Original Drifters on Tuesday, Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra on Wednesday, and country singers Lorrie Morgan and Sammy Kershaw next Friday, Feb. 16. But Thursday, the star clearly was Arlene, a 3-year-old brown cow who stood in her sawdust-lined pen in the Salute to Agriculture "Mooternity Ward" tent, a line of curious elementary school kids waiting to milk her. "All right kids, hold your finger like that," instructed Tom Umiker, Arlene's owner. He pointed downward with his index finger. "This is the teat." "Now, grab a hold of it and squeeze. Now, who wants to go first?" Tiffany Prentice, a second-grader at Bell Shoals Baptist Academy, got pushed to the front of the line. She did as Umiker instructed, but jumped back when Arlene kicked and knocked down the blue bucket. Joy Fuller, her classmate, was next, and succeeded. A thin stream flowed from the cow. So did surprises from the children. "It's white," said one boy. "Of course it's white," said the girl next to him. "Milk at home is white." Joy, 7, was overjoyed. "It felt like . . . pig skin," she said. "With hairs on it." Opening day went smoothly, except for one minor incident of "willful and wanton reckless driving," said the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. About noon, in the northeast parking lot, mounted officers noticed a Home Depot Pontiac race car revving its engine. A deputy ordered the driver to stop, but he responded by gunning his engine more. He then sped off and got close to a school bus, which was unloading kids. He also nearly struck a security guard, deputies said. They followed him into the Administration Building and arrested him. Jerry Dale Phillips, 46, of Orlando was arrested on charges of reckless driving and taken to Tampa General Hospital for treatment for an injury suffered when he fell trying to break free from custody, deputies said.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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Headlines From the Times local news desks |
TAMPA -- The shiny black rooster in pen No. 47 let out a cock-a-doodle-doo so piercing almost every head turned in the dusty poultry tent. But his lungs were no match for Marisol Clark, a Ben Hill Middle School student who let out shriek after shriek as The Zipper -- that caged amusement ride -- flipped her upside down.
