Your Fair Lady as a child

And it begins - my journey into the world of the carnival. I will be "embedded" in the Ottawa County Fair through July 31.

In a way, it is like going home, both my parents worked at state and county fairs while I was growing up. My mother always worked the "ring toss" a game were participants threw plastic rings at bottles of water. If they got a ring around the bottle they'd win the gold fish swimming in it.

My grandmother would bring me down to visit my mother while she worked and I loved watching the goldfish swimming in their transparent worlds. During the season the game provided an endless source of pets for me - I can't tell you how many goldfish funerals I attended standing beside a white porcelain toilet crying as my parents flushed down yet another fish that had gone belly up over night.

My mother's game was called a "walk down" game, where people threw down their money and than walked away, my father said. He worked the "shake down" rides, where "we shake them up until all the money falls out of their pockets," he said laughing. "It's not like we were going to run down the fairway saying 'Excuse me did anyone loss $3?"

Calling my father after I'd finished up at the office reminded me of the fun we use to have as a family. The season I became obsessed with the "ladder" and my parents kept forking over $20 to watch me try to inch my limps up this rope-ladder teetering as I tried to balance my body only to end up laying on my back under it like a stranded beetle.

Or the family tradition of riding the most volatile rides until one of us pukes. Oh, the nauseous-gut-wrenching memories - I wouldn't trade them for anything.

Well it is now hour 15 and I am finally heading to bed. It will continue tomorrow too early.

By OLIVIA COBISKEY
Staff writer
At 9 a.m. Sunday morning only the chattering of cicadas and birds could be heard at the Ottawa County Fairgrounds.
Fiberglass elephants, caterpillars and bees their smiles frozen in anticipation of the hordes of expectant child waited stacked on the back of semi-trucks to be brought to life.
But by 11 a.m. the carnival started to awaken and with each passing hour it took shape preparing for Monday's opening at 4 p.m.
One of nearly 20 food vendors, Marv Day of Hamilton was busy Sunday getting the signs ready for "55 B.B.Q."
Now, I'm sure everyone knows what pulled pork and ribs are but what are red neck fries? I just had to ask.
"They are fries with chile, pork, and cheese on them," said Day from the top of his 10-foot ladder. "We also have Hillbill-e Tea."
That's sweetened tea for you northern folk.

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