THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 8, 1996 TAG: 9608070110
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CAROLE O'KEEFFE, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: 91 lines
FOR SOME, the horse show the Saturday before the 16th annual Franklin/Southampton County Fair is a serious event. Not for Robin S. Johnson, 32, of the Whaleyville area of Suffolk.
``Make it clear,'' she said. ``I go for fun.''
Johnson will ride and show Breezy, a male she's had for seven years.
She's considered taking lessons, Johnson said, but hasn't gotten around to it.
She's no stranger to horses, though. Growing up, she always had ponies. And she has had her other horse, Harley, since he was 5 months old. She trained him for riding and is the only one who rides Harley, now 3 years old.
When Johnson and husband Steve ride together, he rides Breezy.
The horse show begins Saturday at 9 a.m. with registration at 8 a.m. in a new arena area at the Southampton Agri-Civic Center. During the fair, Aug. 14-18, it will be used for car parking next to a new, third gate at the fairgrounds.
Entry fees for juniors (up to 18) and adults are $1 and include open hunter, open to horses and ponies - riders chooses height of fence; beginner hunter, open to horses and ponies, riders may trot or canter fences - 18 inches, 2 feet or 30 inches; saddle seat pleasure; open to Arabian, half Arabian, saddlebred walking horses, racking horses, Paso Fino and/or any other type of horse or pony; and lead line - open to any rider who is not competing in any other class.
The horse show is just the beginning of the county fair. There are three big name country entertainers: Jeff Carson, Aug. 16 at 7 and 9 p.m.; Bryan White, Aug. 17 at 7 and 9 p.m.; Stephanie Bentley, Aug. 18 at 6:30 and 9 p.m. Also comic ventriloquist Steve Brogan will perform at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. Aug. 16 and Aug. 17. and at 6 and 7:45 p.m. Aug. 18.
The Queen's Pageant takes place Aug. 14 at 6 p.m. Candidates are Jennifer R. Ashby, Catherine A. Butler, Christy M. Davis and Evelyn T. Drewry. Unless there are other last-minute candidates, one of those will take over the tiara and sash from Michelle Turner, the 1995-1996 Fair Queen.
The talent show is set for Aug. 15. Those who make it to that show and contest will have made their way through a preliminary contest in early August.
Some of Saturday's high points include an ``old'' arts and crafts exhibit and demonstration on the fairgrounds between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Several of those displaying old crafts will be members of the Berley Cort chapter of the Society for Creative Anachronism, a group which researches and re-enacts lifestyles of medieval peoples from around the globe. Berley Cort gets it name from Berlin, Sedley and Courtland, the three communities from which most of its members come.
Patti Watkinson-Hancock and Dawn Reed Gunn are members. They along with their husbands and children will be decked out in medieval-like garb and will be showing, among other things, how to use organic materials to dye natural fabrics, like wool and cotton. Some interesting colors are goldenrod, pecan and onion skin.
The group also makes soap scented with such home-grown florals as lavender, paper product and wooden looms, natural fiber dolls, yarn and string weavings and hand-made paper, to name a few. Others sew pouches, make baskets and fashion jewelry from shells and stones.
Some even less serious events on Saturday are the Tiny Tots Contest at 10:30 a.m.; the Horse Shoe Throwing Contest at 11 a.m.; the Greased Pig Contest at 1 p.m. and the Watermelon Eating Contest at 1:30 p.m.
Chainsaws buzz off at 3 p.m. when the idea is to cut several slices from a log within a limited time.
Sunday promises a Pig Kissing Contest and then a Hog Calling Contest. And interspersed between and among all, plenty of the best local and out-of-town entertainment, not to mention lots of county fair food.
This year, in addition to the several concessions in a row of permanent wooden buildings, there will be some five new concessionaires who will bring their own self-contained trailers to the fairgrounds.
New on the menu will be Mexican food, soft-serve ice-cream and several desserts, said fair manager Wes Alexander.
The fair committee is working with some $85,000 budget this year, up $10,000 over 1995. About $20,000 has been spent on improving the fairgrounds and the surrounding parking areas.
The money was spent on a new picnic pavilion and picnic tables and many truckloads of sand to fill in a low-lying area that will be a showplace for several exhibits including the National Guard's super-jeep called the HmmmV, or hummer.
Parking lots have additional lighting, plus there is a third gate to the fairgrounds, named gate C. The entire grounds have been enclosed now with chainlink fencing. MEMO: Admission to the Franklin/Southampton County Fair is $3, free for
kids 6 and under. Tickets for all five days cost $10. Call 653-2572. The
fairgrounds are located about midway between Franklin and Courtland off
Route 58 Business. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by CAROLE O'KEEFFE
Robin S. Johnson will ride in the County Fair Horse Show. by CNB