Polk County Fair

Thursday night Gina and I went to the Polk County Fair. In a small community like Mena, the County Fair is one of the highlights of the year. Everybody attends the fair. The kids are all excited for the carnival to come to town. There are animals, exhibits, booths rides and lots of fun.





We enjoy looking at the exhibits from the local schools. We used to know lots of kids here in town and would look for their exhibits. Now we are getting so old that we don't know many kids, but we enjoy looking at everything; the flowers, the vegetables, the quilts, the photography.













One of our favorite things to do is go to the animal barn. The kids work so hard at displaying their animals. We got a kick out of watching kids out beside the barn working on their roping skills. While we were there they were judging the sheep. I had to laugh because the judging was running late because the judge got lost on his way to the fair. Gina made lots of friends with the animals. It is nice to see all of the animals, but we didn't spend much time looking at the chickens because of the overbearing odor. The pig named "Bacon" made me smile. I guess everyone is clear on "Bacon"s future.





















It seems like everyone has a good time at the fair. We got to see lots of people we knew. Gina seemed to know everyone there. I guess it's good to be the Credit Union lady. The attendance seemed to be a bit down the night we went, but it was probably because it had rained a lot. the parking area was a muddy mess, but we were able to get around the fair without to much trouble.









As the sun began to go down the midway and carnival rides started getting busy. It was really pretty to see the rides against the colorful sunset sky.














If you have never experienced a small county fair you have really missed out on one of life's little pleasures!

G Is For Gear Heads

It's time again For ABC Wednesday. If you aren't participating in ABC Wednesday, you are missing out on a lot of fun. This week the letter is "G". G is for Gear Heads. This weekend Gear Heads from all over came to Mena, Arkansas for the annual Wilhelmina Rod Run.











This years Rod Run marked the 34th anniversary. It was first held on Rich Mountain at Queen Wilhelmina State Park for several years on Labor Day weekend. The rod run was later moved to the weekend before Labor Day due to the already high volume of use at the State Park and the fact that it overloaded the personnel at the state park. The Wilhelmina Rod Run is always well received by the local population and is looked forward to each year.













Although the Rod Run is held at Queen Wilhelmina State Park, many of the vehicles are displayed in Mena on Friday and Saturday night. These pictures were taken at the Friday night show held around the restored Mena Depot.













Each year Daddy drives one of his cars to the Friday night show. This year he took his Berlina. These cars were factory built, by the Phillips Motor Car Corp. They were built by hand, on a brand new 1980 Corvette, with the styling of the 1936 Mercedes 540k cars. These cars are super rare since less than 90 cars were ever built. The factory was in Pompano Beach, Florida.













Jumper Davenport was there with his 1957 Cadillac Convertible pulling a beautiful old wooden Cadillac boat. The combination was a real crowd pleaser.











One of the most unusual cars there was a fully restored Packard coupe that the owner bought from a museum and changed the entire drivetrain to make a modern driving street rod that looked completely stock. He told us that the wheels were what intrigued most people. He had them machined from a block of aluminum to look as close to the original wheels as possible.




















What a great show. I'm looking forward to the Wilhelmina Rod Run again next year.