It’s impossible to look through the pictures from the opening weekend of the Neshoba County Fair and not have a giant smile.
There’s columnist Sid Salter, his nephew Brandon Pratt of Meridian and myself, each wearing sombreros and fake mustaches as we enjoy the Saturday night fiesta that overflowed our cabin into the neighbors along Founders’ Square.
The fiesta was a celebration of the engagement of Sid’s daughter Kate, who teaches at Mississippi State, and Nate Gregory, a government reporter for the Columbus Dispatch.
Family and friends filled the cabin, all wearing sombreros, serapes, and fuzzy, black mustaches for the full effect.
We whipped a couple of candy-filled pinatas to the delight of the kids, held a “Mexican hat” dance-off, raced to see who could put the worm back in the bottle (gummy worms hidden in crushed Oreos, dug out with no hands and then dropped in giant bottles), but mostly celebrated being together with family and friends.
My iPhone is filled with pictures of 18-month-old granddaughter Ellie Kathryn trying to scale the chicken wire fence at one of the carnival games to get to the fuzzy rabbits inside.
Every time I tried to divert her, she would instantly turn and race back to the rabbits as soon as her tiny feet hit the ground.
Equally entertaining was watching her in the petting zoo where step-son Marshall and I leaped to the aid of a poor baby chick who she had picked up by the neck to hug as she does her stuffed animals.
I was trying to show her some baby ducks in a box, and her reaction was to attempt to climb in with them.
Saturday morning I waited at the finish line to see my friend Casey Clark chugging around the race track on the final lap of the grueling triathlon. I didn’t know how he was still standing after the half mile swim, 27 mile bike ride and seven mile run.
Lisa made a picture of me listening to one of the dozens of entertaining stories told by Snooky Williams, of Water Valley, and another of the good time Mississippi Press Association President Jim Prince, of Philadelphia, and I were having.
There are shots of all the beautiful cars that filled Founders’ Square Sunday morning and of the first day of harness racing Sunday afternoon.
I have a few pictures of the many good eats I over indulged on such as Penn’s chicken, fish, shrimp and fries; a giant corn dog; two funnel cakes; half a snow cone I split with 4-year-old granddaughter Addi Claire; not to mention the abundance of treats from our Fiesta, including some of my wife Lisa’s homemade ice cream.
The best of it all, however, is knowing there are more good times to come as the Fair continues through this Friday.
