Fair weathers storms, heat well

Preston Gentry, 2, learns that being a farmer means hard work at the Bedford County Fair while his mom, Pamela, holds the bucket and his father, Randy, looks on. The education area lets pre-schoolers hunt for eggs, milk a pretend cow, and pick apples, among other activities. (T-G Photo by Mary Reeves) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

Thunderstorms? Excessive heat and humidity? The weather may have put a little dent in the numbers at this year's Bedford County Fair -- but not much.

"Attendance is up," said Judy Gambill, president of the Fair Association. "The gate's been higher than it was last year."

She said the rain Tuesday night did keep some people away, but numbers attending the next night were higher than ever.

"It's going real good, considering we had rain Tuesday come through there," she said. "The heat may have hampered us a little bit."

With the unusual cold front moving in behind Tuesday's storms, bringing temperatures down to the 80s instead of the 90s, Gambill is hoping to see the attendance go even higher. Of course, it helps that some of the fair's most popular events are still ahead.

"My All Pleasure Horse Show is starting at 7 (today). That's always a big event," said Gambill. "We don't affiliate with anybody, it's just a fun show for everybody."

Gambill calls it her show because it many ways, it is hers.

"That's how I got started with the fair, I got the horse show going for them," she said. "The first year, we had 35 entries. Last year, we had 382."

The All Pleasure show has 23 classes, ranging from gaited to spotted saddle. In fact, if you want to count the "Stick Horse" class for riders 6 and younger, which opens the show, there are 24 classes. Light-shod, heavy-shod, Western pleasure, country pleasure, and model classes fill out the schedule. There are four championship classes.

"You have to show in a previous class to qualify for the championship class," said Gambill.

The horse show isn't the only thing to grow at the fair. While some entries have been down a little bit (another aspect of the heat, Gambill believes), other entries have increased.

"The chicken and rabbit entries are up from last year," she said.

The "Wild and Woolies Review" is this afternoon, a fun exhibition of not only sheep, but sheep byproducts.

"It's like a dress review," said Gambill. "The (exhibitors) have to wear something made of wool. They're judged on the outfit and exhibit a sheep at the same time. They have categories for all ages for that."

The lawnmower pull, another popular event, also takes place tonight at 6:30, just before the horse show. Dwayne Drake and his band will play at 7.

Saturday will feature the mules and donkeys , with exhibits, shows and a mule pull. There will also be an antique tractor pull.

"That draws a lot of people. We'll have the antique tractor display, too," said Gambill.

Country music singer Rickie Lynne will close the fair Saturday with a concert beginning at 7:30 p.m. Lynne, who performs the hit single "Lipstick," has appeared on Good Morning America, CMT, GAC, and the Grand Ole Opry Live. He's also opened for Carrie Underwood, Sugarland and Gregg Allman.

"It's been a good year," said Gambill. "Everybody's been commenting on the fair, a lot of good comments. I think $5 to get in and see what you can see, that's good entertainment for a whole family."

Once the fair ends, though, more work begins for Gambill and the rest of the fair board.

"After the fair is over with, we look at what we've had in previous years and try to add something new for the next year," she said. "The talent show was new this year -- it went real well; we had a lot of entries. There's a lot of talent in Bedford County."