Chowan River Patriot: Chowan County Regional Fair . . .<br>An Edenton Friday Night!

The Chowan County Fair is coming on 9/28. This is coverage from a couple of years ago, before I got distracted by politics.

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I love going to the fair. I can still remember when I was really young the time I won a dog at the fair. Even though my parents would not let me keep it, I never ever forgot the feeling that sometimes you get lucky and win! It is a feeling we all enjoy. Dreams. Fairs bring that back. You can take a chance on a game, take a ride on a ferris wheel, see animals up close, participate in a contest, win a ribbon, see others fulfilling dreams, remember your own dreams. There is nothing else like it.

Friday night I headed out to the Chowan County Regional Fair in Edenton. It is the biggest one in this area and always fun. Turning off the road leading into Edenton I followed the signs until I got to the entrance. After parking, I found the ticket stand, bought my tickets and headed on in.

One of the first exhibits was the Chain Saw Sculpture exhibit with the artist actively cutting another sculpture from wood.

This year the entrance led through the exhibit hall, where lots of businesses and organizations tried to separate you from some money, or at least get your attention. At this exhibit three local realtors, Lori Snell, Becky Wilder and Lois Byrum (shown below) were ready to help anyone needing either a house or a business location.

Exiting the exhibit hall led you into the midway area, with rides and concession stands for food and nick knacks.

I also never fail to take a quick tour through the live stock sections and buildings to see all the animals. When growing up on the farm, we had most of them at one time or another.

I couldn't miss taking a few minutes to stop by and see my friends Brenda and E.C. Toppin (shown below) in the fair office. E.C. and Brenda are two of the people who help to organize and put this fair on each year. E.C. is also the brother of Ron Toppin, a man I spent a lot of time with last year during the political campaigns, and whenever we went through Edenton we usually stopped by to see E.C. and say "hi". This night E.C. and Brenda were just starting a dinner of some great smelling ribs.

It was getting darker outside and while in the office to see E.C. I met a couple of the security people who were trying to find the parents of a young man who was lost. As I got back out on the midway I stopped by to get a picture of some of the other security people who work to keep us safe. Thank you!

I always like to stay at the fair until after it gets dark. Somehow it becomes like a different place at night. The lights are simply beautiful. The rides which are exciting during the day become like dreamland at night. To me it is two separate experiences for one price. What a bargain.

On the way out of the fair I ran in to E.C. again (shown below) down at the Veterans Booth near the exit. As you can see from the second picture below, the people were still pouring in to the fair even at near 9:00 PM when I was leaving.