It's all in the smile

MUSCLE SHOALS - The little boy tugged at her hand, trying as hard as he could to lead his mom to the ticket window.

"We've got to hurry; the ride is going to start," he said, eagerly awaiting his chance to climb aboard the swirling apple.

Moments after the attendant strapped the little boy in the ride, the giant red and white apple started swirling around and, as if by magic, a big smile spread across the child's face.

How does the manager of the North Alabama State Fair measure success? It's simple.

"Smiles; it's all about the smiles," said Norman Ross, the manager of the fair.

Ross said when he can see people leaving with smiles on their faces, he knows they've had a good time.

And judging by the joyous faces, contagious laughter and screams of excitement heard at the fairgrounds all week, fair officials have reached their goal.

Most of the smiles were from the thousands of children who converged on the fair.

"We want the children's experience at the fair to have an ever-lasting effect," said Corky Jones, unit manager for W.G. Wade Shows, which operates the midway attractions at the fair.

Jones said more rides are geared to younger riders and families.

"We're all about family; we try to do more and more for children and families," Jones said.

Not only are there more rides geared toward younger children this year, fair officials also had for the first time a children's activities center in one of the exhibit buildings.

"It had a lot of hands-on activities for kids, things that they could participate in," Ross said.

The activities ranged from a paint-the-barrel contest, to a little red wagon parade contest, coloring book contest and face painting.

Ross said there were jars filled with candy and money for the children to guess the number and amount in hopes of winning a prize.

"We have someone there making animals and other creations out of balloons," he said.

It's all a part of the experience of the fair, he said.

"There are new generations of first-time fair goers coming every year," Jones said. "We want them to have a good time and come back. We want their time here to be fun and memorable."

Tom Smith can be reached at 740-5757 or tom.smith@timesdaily.com.