A Fair of the Heart. Affordable family fun. Those lines accurately describe the Jefferson County Fair and Rodeo, which concluded last Sunday. Throughout the weekend, hundreds of volunteers put their hearts and hands into creating a community event that is the highlight of summer in Jefferson County. On behalf of the fair board, we are so grateful to them all.
When the fair started 39 years ago, it was my husband, now the stick horse show announcer, Brud Smith, who came up with the clever phrase, A Fair of the Heart. It took a lot of heart to believe that a run down, abandoned facility that was a county dumping ground, complete with broken windows and piles of junked bedsprings, could become the fairgrounds, and center of the community. From the start, families were instrumental in making the vision come true.
The McCauley family was there at the beginning. Before the fair board was formed, Mick and Margy McCauley helped transform the red barn into a place suitable for square dancing. The couple, who have pie, floral, and kids’ horse show and rodeo awards named in their honor, instilled that love of the community in their children, Eddy and Marilyn, and their grandchildren.
