State fair is flooded with sunshine and crowds

Almost 300,000 pour onto the fairgrounds in a week, already surpassing last year's total.

By LINDA GIBSON

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 18, 2000

TAMPA -- Betty and Neal Kleindolph are part of the record crowd of 288,600 people who have attended the Florida State Fair since it opened Feb. 10.

The Kleindolphs, winter visitors from Muscadine, Iowa, who stay in Holiday, stood in front of a rock-climbing attraction Thursday just to watch.

They've been coming to the Florida State Fair for almost 30 years and had a few discoveries about this one to share.

One was the Miller Tent, where they saw a swing band called Sin Sity Suitz.

"Senior music," Mr. Kleindolph, 75, said. "We thought it was terrific."

Mrs. Kleindolph, 77, actually found a booth serving food that wasn't fried. She said it was in a building next to the one housing rabbits.

"They had baked potatoes and sandwiches, and everything was a dollar," she said.

Rick Vymlatil, executive director of the Fair Authority, said the warm, sunny weather has helped attendance considerably. As of Thursday, with another weekend still to go, preliminary figures show this year's fair already has beaten last year's total attendance by about 30,000 people.

Becky Carr, 27, of Lakeland, has been coming to the fair since she was 7. Her father would pull the kids out of school for the day, making it a big event.

"So we continue the tradition with ours," she said, pointing to three girls, ages 4, 7 and 8.

It was the first visit for Jeremy Rosen, 3, from Clearwater. He liked the bumper boats. His mother's friend, Zack Larson, 24, carried a red stuffed bull with big beige horns that he "won" for $40. It was far bigger than Jeremy.

How long would he carry that thing, he was asked.

"Until I drop," he answered.

A word of warning to those brave enough to try the Ejection Seat, which flings a two-seat chair into the air much faster than the human stomach was meant to travel:

Microphones in the chair broadcast screams and expletives over the entire fairgrounds.

The fair runs through Monday. Admission is $7 for adults, $4 for children 6 to 11. Those 5 and younger are free. Tickets for rides are extra. Gates open at 9 a.m. For information, call (813) 627-3247 or (800) 345-3247 or visit www.floridastatefair.com.

-- Linda Gibson can be reached at (813) 226-3382 or at gibson@sptimes.com.

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