This just in …
… Well, I hope everyone’s been going to the Greene County Fair this week! It’s been quite a hectic time for the Messenger staff as we’ve been covering the many wonderful events and activities that have been happening throughout the week. From the truck and tractor pulls to the 4-H shows, from the live musical performances to the many fun throw-up rides (and I use that term as a compliment), the fair’s theme “Fun for the Whole Herd” is certainly turning out to be an accurate description. If you haven’t had a chance yet to visit the Messenger booth, be sure to stop by and get yourself some goodies. And if you haven’t yet picked up a copy of our 2008 Fair Guide, then by all means, get one while they last… … While we’re talking Fair, I wanted to say “Congrats” to Lindsey Longstreth, who was crowned 2008 Greene County Fair Queen during the pageant on Aug. 1. Lindsey, who is the 16-year-old daughter of Brian and Melody Longstreth of Waynesburg, won this year’s title. Also, applause goes out to Rachel Finnegan, who was crowned Lamb and Wool Queen during a pageant on Monday. Rachel is the 16-year-old daughter of Debra Finnegan of New Freeport. I’ll be dishing out more applause to more winners in next week’s column…
…Although by the time many of you read this the fair’s ending will be right around the comer, there will still be plenty of fun to be found at the fairgrounds on the last two nights. Friday will feature the return of the popular Demolition Derby at 7 p.m. The day will also feature the 4-H and FFA Stockmans Contest at 10 a.m. and the 4-H and FFA Tractor Driving Contest at 10 a.m. On Saturday, the fair will feature Team Penning at 11 a.m. followed by an evening of truck and tractor pulls. So you better head out to the fairgrounds, because the fair’s not quite done yet…
…I have to be honest, I did have an unusual – and not all too pleasant – experience while attending the fair this week. (And no, I don’t mean the unpleasant feeling I had in my stomach after consuming a hefty amount of curly fry bricks and hot sausage sandwiches.) At one point, I decided to ask the operator of the ferris wheel if I could ride the wheel to the top and have him stop the ride long enough for me to take some aerial photos of the fairgrounds. The operator complied to my request, and soon I was strapped in and moved to the very top of the ride. The ride stopped, and I happily snapped a few shots…until I leaned too far ahead and nearly tilted my car upside-down. I panicked and quickly rocked backwards, causing my car to nearly flip over the other way. Clutching my camera, I think I let a mid-range shriek escape from my mouth as I tried to balance myself upright. After what seemed like hours (which in reality was less than 10 seconds) the ride slowly began to move forward and before he knew it the ride operator was face-to-face on ground level with a sweaty, wide-eyed, heavily-breathing, scared news reporter. What bothered me the most, however, was after I climbed out of my seat and headed for safety I watched as a couple of little kids got on and one said to the other, “Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if we got stuck at the very top, for like hours?” And it was at that very instant that I became quite sad, because I realized that that little kid was ME, thirty stinking years ago, before I got old and became a big chicken.
Then, I had a sudden flashback…I remembered that there was a time, many years ago, at the fair when I did get stuck on a ride. (I believe it was called the Zipper or the Big Dipper.) And I was inside the darned thing when it started to run but then suddenly stopped. And I was stuck in that contraption for a long time. (Again, it was probably a matter of seconds. But my memory has quite an imagination.) And I remember being somewhat scared, but also thinking that it was “cool.” And I thought about the recent ferris wheel incident, and how the 10-year-old Steve would have probably loved being up there, laughing and kicking his legs and rocking that car to the point of danger. And most importantly, he would have looked at 40-year-old Steve and laughed at him for being such a big chicken. Man, I just LOVE getting old…
…Anyway, let me switch gears: Though the fair is coming to an end soon, the Messenger staff is not resting on its overalls. We are gearing up for the 55th Annual Bituminous Coal Show, which kicks off its week-long festival with the annual golf outing and cheerleading competition on Aug. 16 and the Coal Queen Pageant on Aug. 17, the annual event will also once again feature many events, such as the state mine rescue contest, pet and bicycle parades, a baby contest, a live performance by Devon Allen Johnson and Ruff Creek, a car show, the King Coal parade, and much more. Should be a fun week in Carmichaels next week. Look for more detailed information about the upcoming Coal Show in next week’s issue…
…Finally, I wanted to welcome aboard Dave Stofcheck to the Messenger staff, who will be covering and writing about Greene County sports for our publication. Dave has been working for our sister paper, the Herald-Standard, for many years and is a heckuva sportswriter who really loves and knows sports.
We know he will be a valuable asset to our sports section, and we know he is pumped up for the upcoming high school football season.
You can check out his first column in this week’s sports section…