Barry Hart — August 2010

August 2010

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CONTENTS

Growing great memories at the State Fair

AMEC executive vice president Barry Hart

by Barry Hart

It’s August in Missouri, and that means the corn has tassled, the heat and humidity are up and the fish have gone to deeper water.

That can only mean one thing: It’s time for the Missouri State Fair!

Dr. Jon Hagler, Missouri’s Director of Agriculture; Mark Wolfe, our State Fair Director and his staff; and the Missouri State Fair Commission have put together the best fair ever! This year’s fair runs from Aug. 12-22.

Electric co-op members have their own special day at the fair, Aug. 20. On that day, stop by the Missouri’s Electric Cooperatives Building for a free energy-saving CFL bulb.

You won’t want to miss the fair on Aug. 19, either, as our first lady Georganne Nixon is having a pie contest. Bring your favorite pie and maybe you will win first prize! The rules and forms are on the fair’s website.

Veteran state fairgoers have a routine they follow when they arrive at the fair. A good game plan might go like this: Park the car and head to the Agriculture Building. Grab a ham biscuit from Alewel’s Country Meats. Eat it while you check out who grew the largest watermelon and pumpkin, winning the $100 prize from Rural Missouri. It’s too early for ice cream from the Missouri Beekeepers Association, but that will come later.

Next stop is the Conservation Building, where you can imagine tangling with that giant bass in the tank.

No visit to the fair would be complete without paying your respects to Otto, the Talking Highway Patrol Car, who delivers a vital safety message in an amusing way. Woe to any parent driving to the fair without their seat belt on or maybe just a little too fast!

MoDOT has a lot of new construction going on, and you can find out all details at their building. What’s even more fun is to spend some time relaxing in the roadside garden outside the building.

By now, you’re probably getting hungry. I recommend skipping the funnel cakes and other fair food and heading straight to the eating places hosted by Missouri’s cattlemen, pork and poultry producers.

Making the rounds of the livestock barns, the farm machinery and the vendors in the Commercial and Varied Industries buildings leads back to State Fair Boulevard and the Missouri Farm Bureau Building, newly renovated for 2010. Maybe this will be the year you win that John Deere lawn mower.

By now you are probably ready for a nice, cool break. The best place for that is the electric cooperatives building, where you can browse the displays in air-conditioned comfort. The “coolest spot at the fair” will be packed with many new exhibits, including the latest in energy-saving ideas.

You may see someone you recognize from your local electric cooperative as staff from electric co-ops around the state will be on hand to answer your questions. You can also meet the staff of Rural Missouri, which brings “People from our Pages” back to the fair. A major focus will again be on the Our Energy, Our Future campaign. We hope you will join the crusade to protect Missouri’s affordable electric rates as Congress debates the climate change issue.

The State Fair began as a way to showcase farm and rural life, and that mission continues more than 100 years later. At the fair, city folks will get an opportunity to better understand the challenges that face rural people. Our best — whether it’s a pumpkin or a power provider — will be there for all to see.

With concerns about the economy and family budgets, this is a great year for us to get our family fun vacationing at the Missouri State Fair! If you want to see all the activities planned each day during the fair, go to www.mostatefair.com.

Hart is the executive vice president of the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives.

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