FARMINGTON — Walter Howard waved his parking wand toward a line of vehicles where empty spaces waited to be filled Wednesday morning at the Farmington Fair.
The 77-year-old Strong man was directing a van into the aisle.
He has been an attendant for three or four years and likes it.
“It’s only one week out of the year,” he said. “You meet a lot of people. A lot of them, it is the only time you get to see them.”
It was slow going for parking attendants when the fair opened for the day, but by mid-morning it was picking up.
“It doesn’t get hectic, there is crew enough to handle it,” he said as he used his stick with blue ribbons on the end to direct traffic.
Most people are very good about being directed to a spot.
“A lot of them don’t go where you tell them to go anyway, but we get enough so that we can take care of it. No problem,” Howard said.
The retired sawmill worker said there is nothing fun about the job except seeing the people.
He is on the job 10 to 12 hours a day.
“It doesn’t bother me to stand on my feet,” Howard said. “It’s pretty good pay when you don’t work the rest of the year.”
On this day, the sun was shining, the weather just right for a day at the fair. The 171st annual Exhibition Farmington Fair, sponsored by the Franklin County Agricultural Society, will run through Saturday.
The Exhibition Hall boasts displays of the summer’s harvest, artwork, jams and jellies, photos and fancy work among other items.
Over near the pulling ring, Courtney Lancaster, 15, of Anson was holding the bridle of Pete, a friend’s Percheron.
He weighs about 1,810 pounds, she said.
Lancaster’s horse, Prince, a Belgian, was back at the trailer. He weighs 1,700 pounds and would be participating in a twitching session later on.
“In the twitch, your horse hauls a log around the course that is supposed to represent trees like you were working in the woods with a horse,” Lancaster said.
She and her family use horses to make a little extra money to haul out wood to sell for firewood.
She likes the work and the fair.
“I love how it’s a family event. I get to spend time with my horses,” Lancaster said. “Horses are my life.”
dperry@sunjournal.com
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- Walter Howard, 77, of Strong directs parking traffic Wednesday at the Farmington Fair.
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- Farmington Fair parking attendant, Walter Howard, 77, of Strong, left, said Wednesday that he enjoys his job.
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- Courtney Lancaster, 15, of Anson, holds the bridle of a Pete, a Percheron, a friend’s horse Wednesday while waiting in line at the pulling ring at Farmington Fair.
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- Some sheep check out a visitor Wednesday from a pen at the Farmington Fair.
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