Crowds flocked through the sprawling carnival, riding for thrills and questing for giant plush trophies in aisle-after-aisle of games at the Jefferson County Fair Thursday through Sunday.  Fans filled the bleachers of the Edward Jones Arena for the tractor pull, demo derby, and sky diving events.   Live music graced two stages.  The 4-H club exhibited arts, crafts, baked goods and horticulture in the main hall.  Sunday was kids’ day, and the fair offered special entertainment at the Family Pavilion.  Children laughed at the magician’s antics and lined up for balloon animals.  Winners of the greased pig contest took home bragging rights and a $10 bill. 

At the start of Saturday’s tractor pull, two announcements of a lost two-year-old boy in a red shirt were followed by a third announcement, correcting the boy’s description.  He was, in fact, wearing a white shirt with red and blue plaid shorts.  Moments later the announcement, “And he’s been found!” was met by cheers from the crowd. 

One popular attraction was the exotic petting zoo where, for 75 cents per cup, patrons could feed the menagerie.  The camel was the star of the show, arching its neck to devour whole cupfuls in one gulp, crumpling the cup in its jaws, and dropping it with a hint of pride and amusement its eyes. 

Vendor booths sold everything from funnel cakes and wood carvings to heavy equipment and bathroom remodeling.  Although patrons could find nearly every fried food and sugary concoction known to devout carnival-going-humans, one essential was hard to find: drinking water. This reporter found only two booths selling bottled water, and no drinking fountains.  Both of the booths in question were selling 16.9-oz. bottles of Aquafina for $2, without any super-thirst-size options.  Upon request for drinks, a barbeque vendor explained that her food booth wasn’t allowed to sell any beverages.  (The brisket was fantastic, though.)

Organizational exhibitors handed out brochures and information.  One such exhibitor was David Christian, a navy veteran, displaying video of the Jefferson County Veterans Wall of Honor.  The Wall of Honor is a computer-driven video display in the lobby of the Jefferson County Administration Center in Hillsboro.  “Our Wall of Honor is unique in that we’re trying to recognize all Jefferson County veterans by name,” Christian said.  “Every serviceman has a story to tell.  Some are horrific and some are heroic.”  The oldest picture included is of a veteran by the name of John Henson from south of Festus.  Henson served in the Mexican-American War in 1846.  Christian says that he relies on applications from family members, family historians, family genealogists, and friends.  Christian is raising funds for improvements to the Wall of Honor.  He hopes to collect historical information and make the Wall of Honor accessible on the internet.  According to Christian, the Wall of Honor is one of many things Jefferson County can be proud of, and as he sees it, if people are proud of their country, state, county, neighborhood and home, they will also be proud of themselves, and they will be excellent citizens. 

If county pride is an indicator of good citizenship, the sense of camaraderie at the Jefferson County Fair would seem to indicate strength in our community.